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Firebirds suffered from the same problem many military movies suffer from. The writers knew exactly squat about the subject matter. This movie had potential to be really excellent. Nick Cage and Tommy Lee Jones are two very good actors. However, they had crap to work with. The first problem was Apache pilots are a completely different breed than fighter jocks. They were badly portrayed. Sure, they are cocky and arrogant, but those "macho" lines were soooo corny. No self-respecting rotary wing aviator would be caught dead spouting that garbage. Secondly, the helicopters were shown fighting jets and other helicopters. That's like trying to win the Indy 500 in a Yugo or portraying Schwarzanegger as a ballet dancer. Sure its vaguely possible, but no sane person tries it. Finally, Sean Young, while very attractive was not the right person for the role of Billie. All in all, Fire Birds had the right elements and the concepts, but they were jumbled together badly and handled wrong. Leave it on the shelf and get Full Metal Jacket or Saving Private Ryan and see a military movie done right.

i actually enjoyed this movie,which is basically Top Gun with Apache helicopters.i don't think it was a great movie,but it was entertaining.sure there's some bad dialogue and the movie is pretty low key for its kind.the romance angle comes off as silly and unnecessary.but the flying sequences were OK.at least they could have been worse,and i have seen worse.the movie doesn't exactly stretch the acting talents of Nicolas Gage,Tommy Lee Jones,Sean Young,or anyone involved,for that matter.the story is not original,either.yet,like i mentioned earlier,i was entertained,and that's something.for me,Fire Birds is a 6/10

The remarks of Mr Alex Ward are pretty much right on the money however, the one problem is that the directors DID consult with people from Ft Hood. If you watch the credits, Ft. Hood is listed in the end credits for thanks. However, this just goes to prove that in the early 90's it still wasn't important to be factually correct on many things, and even though the directors consulted people at Ft. Hood, Hollywood wants their movies a certain way. This is sad because this could have been an "Independance Day" type movie. Alas, it fell far short. For young kids though, it is a good boost for kids wanting to be helicopter pilots. But sorry when all you kids grow up and learn the truth of Helicopters.

Military Apache helicopter flier Nicolas Cage butts heads with instructor Tommy Lee Jones and romances fellow pilot Sean Young in "Fire Birds", a silly "Top Gun" rip-off that just did not take off in 1990. The U.S. government has decided to help various countries in the world with their drug-trafficking problems by fighting the enemy with assault choppers. Future Oscar-winners Cage and Jones just seem to be lost in the ridiculous material and Young could never act to start with. A silly script and second-rate direction complete the air-field of nothingness. 2 stars out of 5.

This film is nowhere near as bad as people on here claim.

Alright, it's not original, and it's not accurate, but it's a fun way to spend an evening.

Not to mention the AWESOME performance from Tommy Lee Jones. He delivers line after line of cocky deadpan humour to perfection in this film.

If you are a Tommy Lee Jones fan, this film is a MUST see, as it has him at his very best. If you loved lines like "dammit, we've only got an inch of topsoil left!" in under siege, or the "Alright people, listen up, we have a fugitive on the loose!" speech from The Fugitive, you are going to love some of his stuff in this film.