Fire Birds

Fire Birds (1990)

  • 10% of critics liked it
    (21 reviews)

  • 41% of users liked it
    (6,705 ratings)

Nicolas Cage stars in the below-par action film Firebirds -- a dying ember from Reagan-era nationalistic jingoism. In this Top Gun retread, Cage plays Jake Preston, a hotshot Army helicopter pilot who is being trained to use the U.S. Army's Apache aircraft to destroy the drug fields of a South… More

PG-13,
Directed By
Genres
Action & Adventure
In Theaters
May 24, 1990 Wide
On DVD
Feb 3, 2004

Critic Reviews

  • John Hartl, Seattle Times

    If you think of movies as big-screen video games, see Fire Birds. If not, you may want to skip this Top Gun with copters and cartels.

  • Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer

    David Green structures the film in the mold of the time-honored boys-into- men military exercise, but don't go looking for The Sands of Iwo Jima.

  • Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times

    Lean, mean, clean and empty-hearted, Fire Birds is a video-game recruiting poster with a bomb ticking inside--a bomb that never goes off.

  • Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

    Sir. No, sir.

  • Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

    The action here is more like something you'd expect to pop a quarter in a machine for.

Read all 14 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Jason O


    Jake Preston (Nicolas Cage) is a helicopter pilot training for war against a famous nemesis. Jake is the most skilled flyer of everybody, but he has a team of other helicopter flyers behind him including Brad Little (Tommy Lee Jones), who helps Jake train to be an even better pilot.… More

  • Dean !


    At last!!! I have been trying to remember the name of this film and find it for ages! Known as Wings of the Apache in the UK. This is basically Top Gun with the Apache gunship helicopter...I didn't even realize at the time Nicholas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones were in this! Must have… More

  • Daniel J D


    I saw this movie by accident. Tommy Lee Jones had some good throwaway lines though.

  • RJ M


    A blatant Top Gun ripoff, this movie showcases the US Army Apache Helicpoter. Nicolas Cage assumes the Tom Cruise role as the hotshot helicopter pilot training to fly the Apache. Tommy Lee Jones is the token instructor who's seen it all, but remains in awe of the hotshot new… More

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