Fire Birds

Fire Birds is an action film about a US military effort to shut down a powerful drug cartel operating in South America. The cartel's compound is defended by a skilled pilot flying a heavily armed Scorpion attack helicopter, and earlier attempts to strike the site have ended badly, with several American aircraft lost. The Army brings in a new attack helicopter and trains a group of pilots to fly it, among them Jake Preston, who must master the demanding machine before the unit can take on the cartel's air defences.

David Green directed the film from a screenplay by Nick Thiel and Paul F. Edwards, with Bill Badalato producing. Nicolas Cage plays Jake Preston, and Tommy Lee Jones appears as Brad Little, alongside Sean Young as Billie Lee Guthries, Bryan Kestner, Dale Dye and Illana Diamant. Released in May 1990, the film runs 85 minutes and was made for about 22 million dollars, taking roughly 15 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb it holds a rating of 4.8 from around 7,900 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5 out of 10 from just over 200 votes. A critics' rating of 3.3 from 24 reviews places it below even the modest audience scores.