Fire Birds

Starring:Nicolas Cage, Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Young, Bryan Kestner, Illana Diamant, Dale Dye, Mary Ellen Trainor, J.A. Preston, Peter Onorati, Charles Lanyer, Marshall R. Teague, Cylk Cozart, Charles Kahlenberg, Gregory Vahanian, Bob Lujan, Scott Williamson, Mickey Yablans, Bert Rhine, Peter Michaels (IV), Richard Soto
Director: David Green
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

Here's one of the most exciting, nonstop action-adventure hits since TOP GUN! When an international enemy turns to high-tech weaponry, the U.S. Army enlists the aid of the Apaches -- America's elite airborne task force specially trained for aerial assault! Flying the world's most advanced attack helicopters, these hotshot 'Fire Birds' battle an evasive foe -- hovering, diving, and dodging death on dangerous secret missions inside hostile territory! Starring Nicolas Cage (MOONSTRUCK), Tommy Lee Jones (THE PACKAGE), and sexy actress Sean Young (NO WAY OUT), FIRE BIRDS is an explosive action-epic, full of aerial gunfights and combat acrobatics ... audiences will be blown away by every thrilling second of FIRE BIRDS!

Customer Reviews:

firebirds review.......2007-05-21

I was pleased with my order. It came quickly with regular shipping methods. It was in new condition.

"firebirds" flames out fast.......2006-01-25

nicolas cage is good as the wierd lonner type roles and has an oscar to prove it. however this role calls for more than that you have to be a straght arrow and he isn't. not one good part to this film. i was looking at my watch 5 mins. into this mess. tommy lee jones must have needed the money so i can forget his less than 100 % try as nicks trainner and commander. what a waste of time

fire birds.......2005-10-22

good movie, if you thought "Top Gun" was good then you'll probably like this one as well.

Passable entertainment, won't "hurt your brain.".......2005-10-12

I caught "Firebirds" in the theater during my first annual training with the National Guard after a 3 year Active Duty hitch. We were at Corpus Christi Army Depot doing what? Working on helicopters, natch. About 6 of us piled into a taxi and rode downtown to the el-cheapo theater for 90 minutes of cheesy salutes, whacky dialog, goofy actors and some pretty darn good Apache flying.

Is it accurate? No. Ask any Navy F-14 pilot how he felt in 1986 about Tom Cruise's adaptation of reality and he'll say the same thing that a lot of the Army Aviation folks have already said about Firebirds. That's because in Hollywood, in general, if "accuracy" or "correctness" gets in the way of "story," story generally wins out. (The obvious mold-breaker here being "Band of Brothers", but that had more to do with the original story being highly accurate) Heck, Top Gun's technical advisor says he stil has a hard time showing his face at F-14 reunions. But he learned quickly that while some of the things they show in a movie might not be accurate to the people who do it day in and day out, its still a movie and they have to make it look stylish or whatever. How exciting would watching an Apache crew go over their 10-20 minute long startup procedure really be? No, they hop in the aircraft, flip a couple switches, throw their brain buckets on, suddenly the rotor blades are at flight RPM and off they go. I know that's not reality, but I'm not watching this movie for reality.

With Firebirds, sometimes you just have to put your brain in neutral and enjoy Sean Young in a flight suit that is 3 sizes too small, Tommy Lee Jones going "full-tilt boogie for freedom and justice," and Nicholas Cage laying out droll one-liners for a paycheck.

At the very least, in the Spring of 1990, six guys from a National Guard unit in Michigan had a great time in a cheap theater in Texas hollering at the screen, hooting at Sean Young, and cheering when the bad guys go down in flames. What more can you ask for?

Time to go buy the DVD for my "cheesy Saturday afternoon movies" collection.

(Funny side note: When Tommy Lee Jones is doing his early-morning run on the flight line and all of his trainees come running past him, that's the Apache Training Brigade's flight line at Ft. Hood Army Airfield. During the Gulf War, in January 1991, I was there for an Apache course, and our smoke-break area was on the exterior stairs of the hangar pictured in the background at the very start of that scene. Kinda funny how that works!)

Forgettable.......2005-08-20

Since there are plenty of reviews, I will keep this short. I saw this movie in the past and forgot it completely, and recognized a few scenes about 45 minutes in the movie. This is a fair movie that, Yes, is forgettable. I picked this up locally for under seven bucks, and will keep it, but can only rate this movie as average. It is not horrible, but it is not over the top - Not a Top Gun.

Tommy Lee Jones plays a good part, but is a little over the top of a patriot, with some of his gung ho lines. Nick Cage does not come off that great as a cocky pilot - Tom Cruise did it in Top Gun. Sean Young as the woman pilot/love interest for Nick Cage - forget the love interest - does not add much to the story.

This movie is under 90 minutes and does not provide much time for character development or back story. The special effects and chopper runs are very good, but the sound is only in stereo. My amp can decode to NEO 6.1, but unfortunately, the mix for low bass is lacking. They did not re-mix the sound - No house shaking bass rumble of choppers in flight, crashes, and explosions.

Overall, this movie is OK and passable at a bargain bin price or a rental.

Average customer rating:

Charming
Love it!
The Wizard of Oz it's not.
Still Looking For Extras
The B/W Scenes Look Awful

Blue Bird
Starring: Shirley Temple , Spring Byington , Nigel Bruce , Gale Sondergaard , and Eddie Collins
Director: Walter Lang
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000LC4ZE4
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Amazon.com

A poignant story of a selfish young German girl's search for happiness, Blue Bird is a classic Shirley Temple film with a storybook Hansel and Gretel feel. This restored and remastered 1940 film opens with a purposely grainy, black and white world that reinforces Mytyl's (Shirley Temple) ill-humored attitude toward life. Mytyl consistently complains about everything and fails to see that she and her family are really quite blessed until her father is summoned to war. A dramatic switch to Technicolor, now bright and clear thanks to restoration efforts, marks the fairy Berylone's (Jessie Ralph) nighttime appearance and the beginning of Mytyl's and her brother Tyltyl's (Johnny Russell) quest to find the blue bird of happiness. Lead by "Light" (Helen Ericson), the children and their faithful dog Tylo (Eddie Collins) and scheming cat Tylette (Gale Sondergaard) journey through the lands of the past, future, and luxury only to find a prevailing unhappiness. In the end, it's a journey of self-discovery that leads Mytyl to find true happiness in a most unexpected place. This film marks a departure from the typically sunny and cheerful characters played by Shirley Temple and was, in spite of its lavish scenery and nominations for Academy Awards in both cinematography and special effects, unsuccessful at the box office. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

Description

Visually beautiful, full of imaginative sets, and splendidly photographed in rich Technicolor, this enchanting fantasy was Twentieth Century Fox's answer to "The Wizard of Oz". In a rare departure from her usual screen persona, Shirley plays a selfish, spoiled little girl named Mytyl, who doesn't appreciate her loving family. Only after a good fairy sends her and her brother (Johnny Russell) on a journey to find "the bird that means happiness" does she end up discovering happiness right in her own home.

Customer Reviews:

Charming.......2007-06-12

I had only seen this movie twice - both times in my childhood - but it stayed vividly in my memory over the years. It made a huge impression on me. I enjoyed watching it again last night after all this time, and it was as wonderful as I remembered.

A shock at first to see delightful Shirley Temple playing a spoiled brat, in time I began to feel that she enjoyed the different role and embraced the chance to play a character so different from any in her earlier works. The movie is beautifully filmed and in gorgeous colour.

The story is the usual moral fare for the period - an ungrateful child learns to appreciate the life she has after she sees life from the other side of the fence. Not a sophisticated tale by any means, but one that still left an impression on this reviewer when she was a child.

I don't think I could recommend it to adults who enjoy contemporary movies as it lacks so much when put beside the modern cinematic fare, but for those who enjoyed it as a child or who enjoy other movies of the time, it's a sweet piece of nostalgia that is well worth a look.

Love it!.......2007-05-22

I was counting the days for this movie to come out on DVD! I love it!

The Wizard of Oz it's not........2007-05-12

MGM and 20th Century Fox battled nastily over the rights to the Wizard of Oz for over a decade. When MGM won, they wanted to "borrow" Shirley Temple from Fox to play Dorothy. A bitter Fox refused and decided to counter with "The Bluebird". Eddie Collins, Fox's staple comedian, played Temple's dog, Tylo. Had Fox won the rights to "Wizard of Oz", he probably would have been the cowardly lion. So instead of Bert Lahr fame, he became an little known actor that only great nephews like me remember.
It was one of his last films before he died. In 1944, while in the middle of his first lead role, he died suddenly of a heart attack. The film was canned and had to be refilmed giving a young actor his big break. His name was Danny Kaye.

Still Looking For Extras.......2007-03-30

I have to agree with another reviewer that the Technicolor portions of this transfer look great, but the BW opening is fairly poor. I am also surprised that they didn't even bother to tint it to its original sepia color. And lastly, although I am glad that Fox is releasing these movies on DVD, would it really cost them that much more to put some REAL extras on these? It would open them up to a much wider market and boost sales. This series is a vast improvement over the first DVD releases Fox did a few years back, but there is still ample room for improvement for the girl who saved the studio 70 years ago.

The B/W Scenes Look Awful.......2007-03-29

Remastered and restored, really? From bad VHS copies, I'm guessing. While the color portion of the movie looks okay, the black and white portion at the beginning is downright awful. Whoever "restored" this film ought to be fired if they haven't been already. We have waited years for this to be realeased on DVD and they offer us this low-quality garbage. The studio should be ashamed.

Average customer rating:

Fire Birds [Region 2]
Starring: Nicolas Cage , Tommy Lee Jones , Sean Young , Bryan Kestner , and Illana Diamant
Director: David Green
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004VYI3

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