Actor Nicolas Cage starred in the Top Gun ripoff film Fire Birds, and it is an underrated 90s action gem. With Top Gun Maverick heating up the box office in 2022, it brings back memories of the many copycat films that followed the original Top Gun's success, including Fire Birds. Directed by David Green, Fire Birds stars Cage as Jake Preston, a hotshot helicopter pilot for the U.S. Army, who is pulled into an air-to-air combat training program, which is led by Tommy Lee Jones' Brad Little. After honing their skills in training, they're sent to assist in a mission with the DEA to take out a drug lord, who is also a formidable helicopter pilot. Among the other pilots in the Fire Birds program is Sean Young's Billie Lee Guthrie, who also happens to be Preston's ex-girlfriend. Additional cast members include the late Mary Ellen Trainor, Marshall R. Teague, and frequent Hollywood military advisor Dale Dye.
Just as Top Gun utilized the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, Fire Birds worked with the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force to use real aircraft in the film, specifically the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, which had only recently come into service (and is still widely used today). Top Gun's aerial coordinator, Richard T. Stevens, served as the second unit director on Fire Birds, lending his considerable talent to making the action sequences above and beyond what was written, employing well over 100 military personnel to assist in the production. The story for Fire Birds was conceived by two retired Lieutenant Colonels, Step Tyner and John K. Swensson, as well as Dye (a former Marine captain), with the script being written by Paul F. Edwards and Nick Thiel.
Fire Birds has all the usual tropes of a 90s action movie, from the arrogant yet charming lead to the gruff yet endearing mentor and all the one-liners and explosions that the script and budget could work in. It's Cage's very first action film, and he shows the energy and prowess that would later lead to him becoming a staple of the genre in films like Michael Bay's The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off. Jones is always great, even if the script isn't, and his mere presence lends a lot of credibility to Fire Birds, playing the mentor role with wit and attitude. The villains are little more than targets, and the plot itself offers the same kind of sentimental drama and corny lines that were par for the course in that era, but there is still much to be gleaned from Fire Birds that makes it a preview of things to come, as well as a rollicking entry for the action genre.
Why Fire Birds Wasn't As Successful As Top Gun
Unfortunately, Fire Birds was unable to emulate the box office success that made Top Gun a global phenomenon. Fire Birds' opening weekend on May 25th, 1990, brought in just over $6 million, debuting in 5th place. The reviews were scathing for the most part and noted the obvious duplication of the many things Top Gun set a standard for, but without the style and panache. Fire Birds played against other, much bigger 90s hits for its three-week theatrical window, including Back to the Future: Part III and Total Recall, both of which never gave the helicopter-themed film a chance.
While Fire Birds is far from being celebrated as a major cinematic achievement that was woefully under-appreciated, there's a strong amount of charm in the movie that nevertheless makes it feel part of the 90s action movie club. It's an underrated gem that tried too hard to be something else, but strangely succeeded in shining a light on the people involved, notably Cage and Jones, who would go on to further define the genre in much bigger (and better) ways. If nothing else, Fire Birds is an amusing look at how the success of one film can inspire copycats that may not be as good, but can still get points for trying.