Rating: 
Summary: excellent film and acting
Review: I think this movie was extremely well directed and acted- Yes Stroud may have been a really lousy guy, a disturbed psychopative killer, but the movie is really more about how Stroud or anyone for the matter could do something with themselves in prison (i.e. become a world authority on birds) under such horrible conditions- I also think it is interesting that Stroud would not give in to anyone an aspect which I personally know was very intriging to Burt Lancaster about Strouds character. As for whether this movie was over dramatized, so what! that is what movies are about , it you want all truth go see a documetary. For movies to have and audience appeal the charater has to be likeable or appealing on some level or its hard to connect- This movie is also a great anti- death penaly movie - this film is well worth seeing and an unusual film for its time!
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for your dvd collection!
Review: Not the most accurate depiction of the "Birdman" Robert Stroud, but this is still one of the best films ever made. Burt Lancaster is incredible and Telly Savales adds a lot as well. Like Cool Hand Luke, this movie is about a prisoner that refused to give in to the system. An amazing prison drama that everyone should see.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for your dvd collection!
Review: Not the most accurate depiction of the "Birdman" Robert Stroud, but this is still one of the best films ever made. Burt Lancaster is incredible and Telly Savales adds a lot as well. Like Cool Hand Luke, this movie is about a prisoner that refused to give in to the system. An amazing prison drama that everyone should see.
Rating: 
Summary: Birdman of Alcatraz
Review: Obviously, in the hands of Hollywood the story of Robert Stroud, is going to be simplified and sugar-coated in order to make an entertaining and palatable movie for the general movie goer. Whatever the truth is about Robert Stroud, it is an interesting story, and in and of itself, the movie version is quite good. Bert Lancaster is a superb actor, and this is very evident in his role as Robert Stroud. Although I do have some reservations about how the truth was distorted for this movie, it is enjoyable and entertaining, and very much worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Not really factual....
Review: Stroud never kept any birds on Alcatraz and although Lancaster portrayed him as a misunderstood genius to the point where people were writing letters to petition the "kindly old man's" release.The truth of it is that Stroud was a homicidal maniac. He killed his first man at 19, killed a fellow inmate and killed a prison guard because his mother had been denied visitation. When Stroud came to Alcatraz he was put into solitary because he was a risk to both his fellow inmates and the guards. He was not liked by inmates or guards and when his health began to fail, he was put into a solitary room constructed especially for him, on Alcatraz. During his stay at Alcatraz ,Stroud was known as a agitating individual and constantly caused problems for his keepers. He spent his time writing letters to the Fed. Bureau of Prisons informing them that he was keeping a list of those he planned to kill upon release. He was also known to compose letters that bordered child pornography as well. This film is pure entertainment and a very good performance by Lancaster. But dont be fooled by "this victim of society" [line].
Stroud was a violent psychopath, nothing more, nothing less.
Rating: 
Summary: an irresponsible and dishonest film
Review: This is more than anything a message film about prison and
the criminal justice system. Its worst mistake is that
rather than using a fictional character to make its point, it
twists the life of a real inmate to fit with its message.
Robert Stroud was a poster child for all the ideas about
crime that this film was against. He was an antisocial
and very dangerous killer who never "got better" and could
hardly have got worse.
His work with birds was more an indicator of how bad a person
he was. It showed that he was smart, capabile and not irrational
in the sense of an ill person. He did what he did to other
people because he liked it, not because he was ill or stupid
or had no other opportunities.
Stroud was in Alcatraz because he couldn't function in normal
society and he could also not function in prison. He is in
many ways the poster child *for* capital punishment because
his behavior is such that he leaves society with little other
choice.
It would certainly have been possible to make good points in
a film about prison reform during that era. But Stroud should
not have been used to make them. Those behind both the book
and the film knew at the time what they were doing. And they
did it anyway.
I would suggest "I am a fugitive from a chain gang" as an
alternative.
Rating:
Summary: Burt Lancaster: He Had It All
Review: You know that someone is a great film star when he or she can convey great charisma and deliver an A+ performance in a very quiet role. Burt Lancaster was one of these stars. He wasn't known for quiet roles but if that was what was called for, he could deliver. Lancaster's character, Robert Stroud, was a real criminal who had to find a way to endure long term penal confinement. Today he might become an outsider artist or be attending college classes in prison. Decades ago, when these things were yet unknown to our prison system, he had to be even more improvisational. Thus, he became an expert on birds and their diseases and treatments after a wounded sparrow came to his attention. This intense portrait of a character couldn't be any more opposite from Lancaster's most well known performance as Elmer Gantry, the barnstorming evangelist with earthy appetites. Lancaster was also a very physical actor who liked to move around in a film but he was able to restrain himself beautifully within the confines of this role. One really has to look to find junk roles done by Lancaster because he was very committed to the art and craft of acting, even at this point in his career when he was the most "bankable." Everyone else involved in this film also does very good work but I don't think the project would have seen the light of day without Lancaster's coming on board.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked "Shawshank Redemption" or "Murder in the 1st"..
Review: you will like this movie. If you are in any measure a Burt Lancaster fan, you will LOVE this movie. A quiet but powerful and thoughtful comment on the American prison system and its failings. Compassionate and at times funny picture that treates guards and inmates both as real, dimensional people instead of Nazis, saints, or demons (unusual even in a fact-based story).
| 
