The Birds

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Summary: The Birds
Review: I have been quietly afraid to see this movie as I was certain that Hitchcock's movie would scare the... out of me and have me fearing birds forever...This movie is a great show of Hitch's ability to deliver fear on a silver platter and keep it so stylish that I couldn't wait for the continuing scenes. It wasn't scary like I thought it would be, but suspenseful beyond my imagination!
An excellent movie and a perfect example of suspense and classic Hitchcock!

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Summary: WONDERFUL WONDERFUL MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I'm not one for scary movies, and I kept picking this one up in the video store and putting it down. Finally, I just decided to walk into the video store, pick it up, and go straight to the register. Boy, am I glad I did! This is such a great movie! It's suspenseful and funny at parts... and scary too! Not too scary though that it frightens you. There was parts where I was yelling at the charecters in the movie to not do something because you were sure that they were going to get attacked. It's a great movie that I really enjoyed, and I sure am glad that I rented it. The extra features are really neat too: reading the alternate ending and reading about a deleted scene, though reading about the deleted scene was a bit confusing because you weren't really sure where it was supposed to be. The documentry was very neat also... I seriously enjoyed this movie and I see why people like it so much. It's just a really really great movie!!! It's one movie that you've just gotta see! It's wonderful!!!!

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Summary: My favorite Hitchcock movie.
Review: "The Birds" is my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie for a number of reasons. Of all the Hitchcock films, this one has the most humor and the most suspense and scares. The acting is very good throughout and I really cared about what happened to the characters. There are scenes that have stayed with me after I saw the movie, including the attic attack near the end. Like all the best horror/suspense films, this one gives no explanation as to why birds are attacking, which makes it more terrifying. The DVD of this film has one of my favorite documentaries about the making of the film, with cast and crew interviews, storyboards, and matte paintings. The anamorphic widescreen picture looks good, and the sound is nice. Overall, this DVD comes highly recommended for the Hitchcock fans.

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Summary: Birdy num num.
Review: Thoroughly mean-spirited (just ask Ms. Hedren) Hitchcock film about a sudden, senseless bird-attack in a sleepy Northern California town. For my money, *The Birds* is Hitchcock's best movie -- an opinion probably not shared by many, but why be typical? Why do I think *The Birds* to be the Master's best? Perhaps it's the rigorous special effects, way ahead of their time. (And so complicated that Hitch never attempted anything like this again.) Perhaps it's the creepy little touches like, for example, no score . . . except for the experimental electronic sound effects that sound remarkably like avian screeches in Hell. Perhaps it's the force of Hitchcock's fury at America's mid-century complacency: people like you and me die in very ugly ways in this movie. (Significantly, children are attacked several times.) Perhaps it's the Oedipus subtext: when one character dismisses Rod Taylor's momma-fixation with the throwaway phrase, "Apologies to Dr. Freud, but that's not the problem," well, there's your clue -- it is indeed the problem. Perhaps it's the rather unnerving sadism that could conceive the scene near the end when Tippi's attacked in a besieged house. Perhaps it's the final shot -- one of the most grim, somehow, in movie history. Nothing else in the Master's canon is quite so fundamental in its brutality, doubtless because there are no maguffins here, no tawdry human motivations . . . just death and destruction. A chilling masterwork. Universal's DVD is excellent: superb picture, good sound, somewhat overly-technical "Making Of", and Tippi Hedren's screen test . . . during which you can hear Hitch (and Martin Balsam as well) well-nigh pant from lust.

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Summary: What's all the fuss about?
Review: I have to say that I was distinctly unimpressed with this film. Having read the book, I noticed that the tension and strangeness inherent in the situation did not come across strongly due to sleepy editing and the mere fact that the film dragged on for far too long. Yes, the acting is decent, as is the script, but it could have been so much better. It needed to be snappier, more abrupt, perhaps a little less subtle; haunting the viewer in a different way. Admittedly, it must have been hard to make, but I've seen better Hitchcock films. Read the book.

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Summary: "..grand thrills!"
Review: Classic Hitchcock is a particularily disturbing horror film, with icey Tippi Hedren visiting in Bodega bay with rugged Rod Taylor. The bird atacks range from tense to frightening, but will have your skin crawling. Not for the squeamish, but grand thrills!

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Summary: Another Outstanding DVD release from Universal!
Review: Forget the fact The Birds has never looked better on a television screen, presented here in widescreen format, with surround sound, and in a luminous, digitally remastered transfer. Forget about the fact that this DVD edition contains an original, outstanding documentary, "The Birds is Coming." If you are a fan of Hitchcock, this DVD is worth seeing for the screen tests alone, which are among the most valuable extras a studio can include on a DVD (let's face it, most audio commentaries are mediocre and vastly inferior to what can be found in print). If there was ever any question regarding the ambivalence of Hitchcock's relationships with his leading ladies, one need only watch these absorbing, yet profoundly disturbing screen tests, in which Hitchcock, in a stern and chilling tone, orders Tippi Hedren to try on various dresses and poses. As with Kim Novak in Vertigo, one senses a certain desparation in Hitch's direction of Hedren, in both this film and in Marnie. Tippi Hedren is no Grace Kelly, just as Grace Kelly was no Ingrid Bergman or Madeleine Carroll. Nonetheless, this is an outstanding picture and a highly recommended DVD special edition.

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Summary: Hitchcock takes a try at science fiction...
Review: The Master of Suspence switched gears and deleved into science fiction with this film about a small town being besieged by a flock of birds who seem intent on killing people even though no one can figure out why. It's an overly convoluted film with a quiet mysterious ending that makes you feel somewhat unsatisfied with it.

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Summary: Good DVD Treatment Of This 1963 Classic!
Review: I love having this movie on DVD now! Lots of nice extras on the disc, and great quality picture! I've always thought the acting in this Hitchcock film was top-notch! There's Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, and (one of my favorite actresses) Suzanne Pleshette. All do quite well here. This movie evidently was very difficult to make [from a special-effects point-of-view], with hundreds of "trick" shots throughout the picture. There are no computer-generated shots in this one, making the viewer appreciate all the more what Hitch was able to accomplish on screen! He creates a feeling of real tension and apprehension as the film progresses. My favorite scene is the one set in the town's diner. There are no birds in this scene, but Hitchcock manages to invoke fear in us merely with dialogue during this fascinating scene! Resident "bird expert", Mrs. Bundy [played by Ethel Griffies], steals this scene, in my opinion, with several authoritative remarks concerning our feathered friends, that serve to increase our anxiety greatly; i.e., "I've never known birds of different species to flock together. Why, if that happened, we wouldn't stand a chance! How could we hope to fight them!?" The DVD version also treats us to an alternate ending for the picture. The Birds is another in a long line of Alfred Hitchcock gems. Oh, Hitch, how we miss you!

Rating:
Summary: Average movie
Review: This Hitchcock movie may be scary and action-packed as well as suspenseful, but personally there are better ones. However, I liked this movie when there were some funny parts. One weird thing about this movie is the time it ends. It just isn't the right time to end the movie. So this movie may be written average, but still don't miss it.