Blu-ray Review – Fire Birds

When "Top Gun" became a box office sensation in 1986, it inspired Hollywood to dream up their own takes on military might and stylish jingoism. It's not an easy recipe to follow, with the dramatic reach of "Top Gun" open for debate, but it certainly put a lot of scripts into development, with each project seeking to replicate what director Tony Scott managed to pull off with relative ease. 1990's "Fire Birds" is a little late to truly cash-in on the need for speed, but it has the drive to be the next big thing for action movies and military salesmanship, making heroes out of helicopter pilots out to protect America from harm, though personal issues and relationship woes come first. It's goofy, painfully simplistic, and partially miscast, but "Fire Birds" cannot be discounted as pure entertainment, given wings by stars Nicolas Cage and Tommy Lee Jones, who work very hard to make the insistent banality of this creation at least somewhat engaging with their pronounced idiosyncrasy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com