Rating: 
Summary: Birds are our Allies!
Review: Last night I saw the horrifying film "Arachnophobia," and my eyes were opened. Let me now tell you, "The Birds" is dangerous extremist propaganda. "The Birds" recklessly demonizes our avian friends, at the expense of global stability. Have you ever heard, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Well, spiders are on the warpath, organizing as we speak. We must mend fences (or bird houses, if you will) with our avian allies and forge ahead -- to combat apocalyptic arachnids! Let's put it this way, folks. For every one bird you shoot, hundreds of spiders are free to carry on for their evil empire. For the first time in decades, I'm asking Americans to sacrifice! The Birds earns 5 stars as the epitome of dangerous agitprop. But I highly recommend "Winged Migration," and the Disney movie with "Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder...." These films actually teach us how to appreciate birds! And that's something the spiders and their backers soon must reckon with, believe you me. You may have one question at this point: "Why did the birds take out Tippi Hedren?" A high level Cabinet source (or near-Cabinet level source) informs that Hedren was in the spider camp! Enough said. Birds are now, and have always been, on our side.
Rating: 
Summary: The Birds (1963)
Review: Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies.
Running Time: 120 minutes.
Not Rated, but equivalent to a PG-13 for its violence, some gory scenes, and brief language. Hitchcock's unforeseen success of "Psycho" put him in a tough spot--so many high expectations were placed on all of his films thereafter that it almost was not fair. Many of his films were scrutinized due to the fact they weren't as explosive or haunting as his 1960 classic and "The Birds" is no exception. While it portrays the story of avian, murderous birds terrorizing California with a horrific sense of dread and atmosphere, this film is a showcase for a cast of exceptional actors and actresses who do not even have a chance to show their stuff. Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren are throw into an unusual relationship when the area is attacked by flesh-eating birds of prey (for no apparent reason mind you), setting the stage for a showdown of man versus flock. The premise seems laughable, but Hitchcock uses his uncanny tools to create a film that possesses great cinematic urgency, using the birds as a sharp shock of terror. With such attention placed on horrific scenes (such as the Tippi Hedren pay phone scene that has become a classic), the incredible ensemble cast does not have time to develop themselves as characters and vital chess pieces of the film. "The Birds" is a well-respected thriller and for good reason, but it is no "Psycho" and it should not have been created in attempt to be one.
Rating:
Summary: "How Could We Possibly HOPE To Fight Them?!"
Review: That quote used in my review title is from my favorite scene in 1963's "The Birds", Alfred Hitchcock's tale of nature gone crazy. "The Birds" stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, and one of my favorites of all-time -- the beautiful Suzanne Pleshette. The underrated Miss Pleshette plays school teacher "Annie Hayworth" in this movie, and is just great in her part, IMO. This was just the 4th movie role for the then-25-year-old Suzanne. For Tippi Hedren, age 31 when the movie was shot in late 1962, "The Birds" was only her 2nd motion picture appearance (and first U.S.-made film). "The Birds" is all about how the whole bird world suddenly goes amok and begins orchestrating concentrated, unprovoked attacks on the population of a small California community. Hitchcock (as usual) builds the suspense up, little by little, during the film. Despite the lack of computer-generated technology, Hitchcock still manages to create a quite realistic array of special effects, featuring hundreds of real and fake birds blended together in many scenes. As I said at the top, my favorite scene in this flick is not any of the various "attack" scenes -- but, instead, the nerve-racking, tension-filled "Tides Restaurant" scene (Chapter #12 on the DVD), which is dialogue-driven and very well done, and eerie, in my opinion. The restaurant scene is made all the more believable and realistic by the casting of England-born actress Ethel Griffies as bird expert "Mrs. Bundy". Griffies was 84 years of age when she made "The Birds". It was her 90th (of 92) films. Mrs. Bundy's presence in this scene (coupled with her character's "expertise" on all matter bird-related) roots the scene in "fact", and makes these "impossible" bird attacks on the town even more frightening. When Mrs. Bundy says that all the continents of the world "probably contain more than 100-billion birds!", it puts things in better context. And now the audience begins thinking: "Gee, what would happen if all of these birds attacked at once?" A scary proposition indeed. This Universal "Collector's Edition" of "The Birds" was released initially on March 28, 2000 -- 37 years to the day after the movie premiered in theaters. This single-disc, single-sided DVD delivers a finely-tuned Anamorphic Widescreen image, in its original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1. The print looks very clean and virtually blemish-free. Colors look natural and "warm". The audio is in 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono (in both English and French). The Hitchcock series of Universal "Collector's Edition" DVDs all contain very informative (and virtually feature-length) documentaries. And "The Birds" DVD is no exception. The "Making Of" program for this film is terrific. A very satisfying effort from the "featurette master", Laurent Bouzereau. Here's a complete summary of this disc's Special Features ................. >> "All About The Birds" Documentary -- Lots of interesting behind-the-camera tidbits are offered up by the stars and crew in this featurette. Running time = 79 minutes. >> Newsreel Excerpt featuring remarks by Alfred Hitchcock (Run Time = 1:55.) -- I love this extra bonus, for Mr. Hitchcock's droll, humorous comment to his audience regarding the title of his current film project. He dryly utters: "There were four words in the title. But we cut the first word, "FOR" -- and call it simply 'The Birds'." (This is followed by prodigious laughter from the "National Press Club" gathering. LOL!) >> Another Newsreel Clip, "The Birds Is Coming" (Length = 1:15). >> "The Original Ending" -- This "alternate" (and very intriguing) ending to the film was never shot. But this bonus offers up some script pages and original sketches of what the scene would have entailed. This ending is also discussed in some detail during the "All About The Birds" feature on this disc as well. >> "Deleted Scene" -- This, like the "Original Ending" extra, isn't a video bonus either. It details (through script pages and still photos) a scene from the original script that was never used in the final cut. >> "Tippi Hedren's Screen Test" -- This is really some cool stuff. A lengthy "test" featuring Miss Hedren acting out several scenes (which have nothing to do with this film) opposite Martin Balsam (who, of course, had co-starred in Mr. Hitchcock's previous picture, "Psycho"). You can even hear "Hitch" giving directions off-camera. Video quality isn't very good and it hasn't been color-corrected, but it doesn't really matter here. This is a fabulous bonus, lasting 10 minutes. I'm glad this was dug out of the archives for this DVD release. >> "Stroryboard Sequence" -- This "Gallery"-like bonus shows storyboards linked with actual related film frames from the movie. Nicely done. >> Original Trailer. >> Photo Gallery. >> Production Notes, plus Cast & Crew Bios (text features). The DVD's Menus are simple and "static", with the Main Menu accompanied by the only real "score" that shows up in this film -- the sound of flocks of birds (up to no good, of course). It's quite amazing to think that this picture contains absolutely NO MUSIC whatsoever. Not a single note. But Hitchcock's previous effort, "Psycho", if placed in the same "music-less" state, would have been much less effective. Can you just imagine "Psycho" without that Bernard Herrmann score? Impossible! And, by the same token, it's difficult to imagine "The Birds" WITH any music. Just wouldn't "feel" right somehow. Mr. Hitchcock worked wonders, with AND without musical adornment attached to his feature films. I suppose that's part of the reason he was "The Master". The DVD has with it a 4-page booklet, with a Chapter List for the 20 chapter breaks on the disc; plus some personal notes by Alfred Hitchcock and his daughter, Pat (who oft-times popped up in small roles in her dad's movies -- although she was not in "The Birds"). This paper insert also re-produces five "Lobby Cards" advertising the film. For all Alfred Hitchcock aficionados, this DVD of "The Birds" is a must-have item. Fine picture quality, good bonuses, and .... Suzanne Pleshette, to boot. What MORE do you want, for heaven's sake?! :)
Rating: 
Summary: The Birds
Review: I thought The Birds was a really good movie. I liked how they didn't use music when the birds started attacking them.The end of the movie was very unsatisfying. I wish the birds would have chased them at the end. The actors were really good. Melanie (Tippi Hendren) was good at acting the part of being attacked. The other actors weren't all that good. The little girl didn't do a good job at being scared and worried. Alfred Hitchcock is a good writer. I think this is one of his really good books.The part when the crows were standing on the jungle gym was funny. Mitch (Rod Taylor) did a good job at playing his part. I would recommend this movie to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: The Birds
Review: The Birds was a very good movie. It took me a while to get into it but by the end I was very satisfied. I thought it was very cool that it had no music in the movie because it was the only movie I have ever known that had no music in it. Melaine (Tippi Hendren) was a very good actress, she did very well in this movie but I have never seen her in another movie but she was very good. I also thought it was very cool that Alfred Hitchcock plays a very small roll in this movie just like in all of his other movies. That is my favorite part about Alfred Hitchcock movies. My favorite part in this movie was when Melaine gave the love birds to Mitch Brenners (Rod Taylor) little sister.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I viewed this video in my Film Appreciation class of 2004 and it was a video I do not recommend. It had no music what-so-ever and the noises were just not natural. The actors were awesome but the acting was poor (Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor). It had many things in it that I did not view as a good thing that you would put in a movie. Bad acting and no music would make a person watching it go crazy. I gave it three stars do to the fact that it had no music and bad acting.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully executed DVD of the classic thriller
Review: Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor are the gorgeous stars of this Hitchcock masterpiece, beautifully preserved in DVD with lots of fun and informative bonus features. A must-have for your classic film collection. Only thing missing is Suzanne Pleshette's participation in the "Behind The Scenes" documentary.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the climax?
Review: Okay, difinitive Hitchcock. Fair enough. But, this movie was far too drawn out and slow-paced to simply have the people drive away at the end of the movie and not solve the situation. What happened to the birds and the rest of the people that lived in the town? That's what I would like to know. I might have given this movie a higher rating, but the ending, and the way it just left me hanging, was disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: so so
Review: [WARNING: movies spoilers ahead] Recently I watched Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Birds. Out of these four, I only liked Vertigo... the other was not much of anything new, probably due to so many other movies imitating it... but god... even if none did that, can Rear Window be so highly acclaimed as it is? It feels only like a low budget Hong Kong black and white movie made in two weeks. The plot sucked. For The Birds, I guess there is some hidden meaning to the ending, but can it be made more clear... right now it feels like a horror movie with no ending. I can accept other movie having no ending, such as Yi Yi or Rebels in the Neon Light... but a horror movie or action movie just ending abruptly? Even some re-run of Hitchcock on the TV that is 30 minutes long have more twist and surprise and ending better than The Birds, Psycho, and Rear Window.
Rating:
Summary: Is it evil that this movie makes me smile?
Review: I love the Birds directed by Alfred Hitchcock! It's just a bit funny watching people FREAK out when a seagull is swooping at their head trying to kill them!
Although not really a scary movie - it's quite well done...and makes you think...could this happen one day?
| 
