Fire Birds (1990) : Cage v Cartel [Mike’s Review]
Today on Cage Club we fight the War on Drugs in “Fire Birds”. This is a very simple film but that doesn’t detract from it’s entertainment value. It’s a very thin plot with not a whole lot of conflict but for some reason it never really get’s all that boring. That is probably because Nic Cage is in this movie as well as Tommy Lee Jones. The two play off each other very well and while their story isn’t really all that interesting, somehow their charisma combined with lots of footage of Helicopters flying around the desert make for a quaint film that works in the end.
The movie starts with a quote from George Bush the 1st regarding the world wide War on Drugs. America has decided to lend it’s armed forces to any friendly nation that want’s help destroying the drug threat and most importantly, The Cartel. In this film Nic Cage plays Jake Preston, a chopper pilot who has engaged the enemy in South America and his name is Stoller. Stoller is an ace Scorpion Chopper pilot that works for the Cartel and gunned down Jake’s squad. Jake will spend the rest of the film at Apache Helicopter Training Camp learning to fly a new chopper and training for the return mission to South America to take out the Cartel once and for all. This mission is called Operation: Fire Bird. Along the way he meets the not tough and very fair instructor Brad Little played by the fast talking Tommy Lee Jones and Jake’s maybe on again off again girlfriend Billie played by Sean Young. Billie is also a pilot who flies surveillance for the main fighter choppers and is there to train for the mission as well. There is pretty much zero conflict between everyone and they all get along rather swimmingly. The one main conflict that arises is that Jake discovers he has an “eye dominance” problem when he tries to fly using only the targeting computer. However that issue is remedied with the help of Brad Little without much coaxing because it turns out he had the same eye problem as a youth too. It seriously only takes about three minutes of screen time for Jake to fix his eye issues and then he compromises Billie so I guess they are back together. Everyone passes flight school and it’s off to South America to battle The Cartel and the big baddie, Stoller. When they get to S.A. they are ambushed and must take to the sky immediately in an impromptu air to air combat battle against the Cartel’s fighter jets and Scorpion Chopper piloted by, you guessed it, Stoller. Brad Little is blown out of the sky but survives thanks to Billie and some quick thinking. It’s actually my favorite moment when Brad must instruct Billie on how to assemble the rocket launcher before the fighter jet shoots them to death. Thanks to Jake’s ace maneuvers he is able to get the jump on Stoller and blast him to kingdom come. The American’s save the day and destroy the entire Cartel thus ending the War on Drugs forever.
This movie is incredible simple and devoid of any real driving conflict throughout, but somehow it’s still a really fun time. The DVD box says if I liked “Top Gun” I will like this movie, but this is not exactly Top Gun with Helicopters. The plot is super thin as well and there just isn’t anything to place this movie above average. While watching this my conspiratorial mind started to form a theory as to the creation of this movie. I believe this movie may actually be some form of pro Army American Propaganda directed towards teens that loved “Top Gun” as a mass recruiting device. It’s kinda brilliant marketing for the Army and I wouldn’t put it past some pro War producers to make a movie that’s basically one long anti Drug ad. It also depicts the Army as a really nice place. Your instructors are strict, but fair and never reprimand you for goofing off. The Helicopter simulator is basically one huge video game just like in the local arcades. Plus, there are now girls in the army and if you are the best in class there’s a chance she will sleep with you. The movie makes the Army look great and depicts the Cartel as this simplistic organization akin to COBRA or HYDRA, this cartoonish cult always out to destroy America by getting kids hooked on drugs. This movie does take place the same year as The Gulf War kicked off so call me crazy if you want but I think I’m onto something. You should check out the podcast episode for even more in-depth conspiracy analysis.
In conclusion, despite all the shortcomings and possible brainwashing, this movie was still pretty fun. I did genuinely enjoy some moments, especially the scenes in the simulator. While talking about this for the podcast Joey and I came up with a few little beats that could improve the movie, a few moments that the story could benefit from. First there needed to be a rival pilot who was also out for Cage’s spot in the mission. This would add loads of natural conflict to work with such as a possible fist fight scene deep into act two. The Instructor played by Tommy Lee Jones needed to be less of a nice guy and actually reprimand Cage when the character deserves it instead of laughing it off of ignoring it. There had to be at least one or two scenes fleshing out the Cartel. They are faceless and nameless aside for Stoller and there for I don’t really perceive them as a real threat or care when they are killed. You may have also been able to flesh out the relationship with Billie as well a little more, possible having a love triangle between her, Cage and the rival pilot. It’s really not that much of a rewrite but then again I don’t really think the people who made this wanted to see much more than lots of shots of helicopters.
That about does it for “Fire Birds”. The movie has a real family friendly feel to it which means it’s not in the same class as Top Gun, but that isn’t a bad thing. It’s not as slick or cool as most movies but it’s got a lot of charm and that goes a long way. I felt the performances elevated the material giving it an earnest and genuine tone. It’s very pro American military and I did get a creepy propaganda vibe from it but not so much that it spoils the intent to entertain. Coming up next week Nic Cage returns to the streets of Louisiana and reunites with his best bud Brad from Ridgemont High. Cage and Judge Reinhold reunite as they vie for the affection of the girl the movie is named for, “Zandalee”.
Mike
@the_mikestir
