Fire Birds (1990)

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

'Wings of the Apache' is a truly awful film. I can find little good to say about it. During the first five minutes I was 'on the edge of my seat' only in a bad, jaw-droppingly amazed kind of way. I've watched many bad films over the year. I normally turn them off. However, I sat all the way through this one's one hour and seventeen minute runtime. I really couldn't avert my eyes.Most people describe 'Wings of the Apache' as 'Top Gun with helicopters.' Yeah, I think that's a reasonable description, only Top Gun was watchable for different reasons. The opening five minutes I spoke about is basically Nicholas Cage narrating over a bland action scene involving a helicopter dogfight over some mountains. Now, I'm no expert, but I seem to remember the first rule of storytelling is 'show, don't tell.' Yet Cage just tells us what's happening in a monotone voice. Apparently, the drugs cartels are now using helicopters to shoot down American helicopters. Does this actually happen in real life? Never mind, it does here. And Nicholas Cage – being the only guy who's seen the cartel's helicopter in action – must lead the charge against the lone chopper.He's ably aided by Tommy Lee Jones – a great actor in his own right, now reduced to barking orders in the most stereotypical 'drill instructor' way possible. Plus there's a love interest. Guess where that subplot goes? So Nick, Tommy and the token woman must train to fight the baddie then fight the baddie then save the day. Hardly inspiring, but I think the most unforgivable element of the film is the editing. It's just bad. It's like every shot has been filmed separately to every other one and then spliced together – badly. There's a slight pause between when someone answers the person original speaking, making conversations seem stilted (assuming the dialogue spoken was any good to begin with – and nine times out of ten it isn't).So, in case you haven't got the drift of what I've been saying, 'Wings of the Apache' is just bad. And I watched it all until the last credit rolled. Now I've seen it, I wonder why I did and yet I'm also curious as to why I may – one day – even watch it again, just to remind myself how bad it was. It's bad, but bordering on that so-bad-it's-good kind of way. If you're prepared for that, it will certainly keep your eyes fixed on the screen for exactly one hour and seventeen minutes.

The U.S. Government is willing to help any country that requires help in ridding themselves of drugs with support from the Army.Unfortunately, the drug cartels have countered that offer by hiring one of the best air-combat mercenaries and have armed him with a Scorpion attack helicopter.The army decides to send in it's best people from it's Apache Air Combat school.But first they have to be taught how to fly air-to-air combat missions..So the films not Top Gun, many people have said that, but it's not supposed to be that movie, this has Cage for crying out loud, and just when you thought he was going to put in a restraint performance, he goes balls to the wall.Yes, the story isn't great, and the film is laughable toward the end with it's dodgy explosions and awful dialogue, but it's endearing rubbish, that doesn't last for long, and is quit enjoyable whilst it lasts.Jones puts in another great performance, as does Cage, even though it's by the numbers stuff. Young is awful and thankfully her screen time just consists of her knocking back Cage, and shouting at him.as I said before, it's no award winner by a mile, but switch your brain off and you could do a lot worse with ninety.At least it's unintentionally funny.

Now that the movie is about 17 years old I decide to write a review. This movie came out about the time I was preparing for my selection to flight school. At the time I really wanted to fly the Apache, but would have ended up flying Blackhawk helicopters.It really made learning to fly helicopters in the Army a bit more glamorous than it really is, of course. It was, however, a good movie that helped to represent the Army's side of Top Gun. The downside is that flying helicopters is not nearly as fast as flying F-14's, A-4's, and F-5's. The upside is that flying helicopters is much more difficult than flying the fighters. This movie accurately depicted the concentration and skill that it takes to fly an attack helicopter.the need to get our girlfriends and wives out to the movie required the typical love plot that is always required to get and keep their attention and fill downtime in the film. Jet A was not even cheap way back in the 1990's.A former military buddy worked on the set of the film. He noted that Sean was pretty cocky and arrogant. When the day was over her limo would roll up with her minions and off they went, never addressing folks on the set. Nicholas Cage was a polar opposite and was very open to even having a drink with the guys and girls after filming was complete. He made sure everyone felt included, as I understand it. That must be one of the reasons that his career took off...he is just wonderfully charismatic.

The use of helicopters against jet fighters isn't as far-fetched as another reviewer claimed; an experimental exercise at Operation RED FLAG years ago demonstrated that, counter-intuitively, attack choppers actually do very well against jets as they are far more maneuverable. But there are other reasons why we won't generally see Apaches used against MiGs in air combat. "FIREBIRDS" was a good movie if all you're interested in is aerial photography and action. Some of the dialog was puerile beyond belief, and the "ex lovers" ploy between the two leads was clichéd as all get-out. Purely for aerial adventure: A- All other elements: D-