Rating: 
Summary: A Powerful and Intense Movie with Terrifying Scenes
Review: THE BIRDS is a wonderful film, intensely touching with it's much analyzed symbolism of human fragility. It is also scary with imaginative attacks and wonderful sequences. The Tides Restaurant sequence is a wonderfully black sequence of comedy, terror, and logic ending at the only conclusion: if it's true, "we haven't got a chance..." The subplot of Lydia, Annie, and Melanie is wonderful to analyze. Every time you watch or read about this film, you learn more about it's symbolic undertones(coincidental or intentional, I don't think it matters). Watch again and again for it's cool and cold atmosphere and clever sequences and directing by Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, who definitely suceeded in this film. Personally, this is my 4th or 5th favorite film, the first four being REBECCA, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, and SHADOW OF A DOUBT, and REAR WINDOW. For the VERTIGO, PSYCHO, and NORTH BY NORTHWEST fans, I love those too, not too far behind.
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Summary: You'll look twice at the budgie after this!
Review: If you've ever, even momentarily been scared of birds, this movie is the most terrifying thing you'll ever see. The birds start attacking us; nobody knows why, the movie never attempts to explain it - they just do. (Not knowing makes it scarier.) They just suddenly start ganging up and pecking the hell out of people.Even if you aren't scared of birds, you will still appreciate the technical audacity of Hitchcock's last inarguably great film "The Birds". It begins slowly (which only adds to the menace), and builds to an impressive climax. It must be said that some of the special effects have dated. There are real birds here, but they're supplemented by drawn in ones. But as a piece of drama, this is unbeatable; it also manages to play around with conventional narrative devices, leading some critics to dub it a "tone poem." Bernard Hermann's score - entirely made up of bird noises - is impressive, as are the performances - particularly from Tippi Hedren whom Hitchcock admired so much he used her again later in his career - but this film belongs firmly to the director. Technically, it's his finest achievement, and will draw applause from those viewers interested in cinematic tricks-of-the-trade. But, of course, as with other Hitchcock films, it also packs a punch for audiences who want a good yarn and aren't interested in camera angles and editing and blah-di-blah at all. It has a brilliant, mesmerising quality to it and an atmosphere full of real menace and dread. The scene where the birds come through the fireplace is exceptional. Even if you aren't afraid of birds, you'll look twice at the budgerigar after watching this fantastic thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: Terror on horror hill
Review: This is as scary as Oprah on an atkins diet. Don't be afraid, afraid of the birrrrrrds! Quit it. This is a movie and replicates the book perfectly. See for yourself. I never had interest in this movie, but when i saw it for myself. KA-BANG! An instant horror. Good Job Alfred Hitchcock!
Rating:
Summary: The master at his best
Review: Hitchcock has always been my favorite director! The first time i saw the Birds I was mesmerized to say the least, plus the fact that it terrified me, but i still watched it anyways. The location shots are outstanding to say the least. Ive been up to Bodega Bay qite a few times in the past years and head for The Tides Restaurant and as soon as i make it home I pop in the vdv of the Birds! The color has been restored and its in WIDESCREEN
for the first time ever.
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Summary: It gets better every time you see it...
Review: Alfred Hitchcock apparently spent the better part of two years trying to find subject matter that he felt would be worthy of a follow up film after 1960's PSYCHO. He bought Daphne duMaurier's short story, "The Birds", and very quickly decided that he would only retain the title, and the bird attack plot point. Evan Hunter and Hitchcock crafted the screenplay structure, and after a staggering amount of technical pre-production, Hitchcock made THE BIRDS. It opened to huge acclaim from the public, if not critics, and is one of the master of suspense's best remembered pictures. As it should be. And with the stunning new DVD edition, this terrific movie at last gets the home video treatment it so richly deserves. The transfer is immaculately sharp and clear, letterboxed at the 1.85:1 ratio used for theatrical exhibition, and the mono digital sound is clean and vibrant. The letterboxing actually gives the film more breathing room, and some of the sequences, especially the complex technical passages such as the attack on the school, and the spectacular attack on the town, have a visceral punch that's ratcheted up by the clarity of the digital image and sound. Don't be put off by the many sodium process shots that were necessitated by the demands of the screenplay; they are perfectly cut into the film, and give the movie a primitive realism that is perfectly in keeping with Hitchcock's stylized view of reality. His films are all designed within an inch of their lives, and the audience is all the better for it. The extras on this collector's edition are quite valuable. A featurette entitled "All About The Birds" presents interviews with actors Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Veronica Cartwright, along with various technical personnel, and is lively and full of information about the film's production. Also featured are Tippi's screen test, production notes, a trailer, and web links. This is one package that beautifully showcases a film which gets better each time you see it.
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Summary: Sure to Ruffle Your Feathers
Review: Hitchcock's macabre classic finally gets its due on this DVD Collector's Edition. The film, which by turns thrills (the various bird attacks) and amuses (the frequently bantering dialogue), is presented in all its widescreen glory -- an important consideration for Hitchcock enthusiasts, given the director's meticulous planning of his films' visual compositions. "The Birds" features some great cinematography, a nerve-wracking soundtrack, and some finely wrought performances (particularly those of Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Ethel Griffies); all are well-served by the film-to-DVD transfer. There are a wealth of bonus features, including newsreel footage of Hitchcock and Hedren publicizing the film, an extensive stills gallery, and a fascinating behind the scenes production documentary. Especially intriguing are the ad-libbed screen test clips pairing Hedren with "Psycho" player Martin Balsam while Hitchcock provides verbal instructions off-camera! All in all, a most welcome addition to my DVD collection, and one I'm pleased to recommend for yours.
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Summary: The Birds
Review: The Birds suspense movie well i would say it was at the time it was. I thought that i was directed perfectly for its time. I know now any teenager would look at this movie and be like what this this but i have seen it and i enjoyed it. You thave to thgink that to the time and it was a great movie at the time. In its time it scared people out of their mind but now you wathc it its like you are watching a comedy. The players in the movie were great they fit the parts perfectly, Melanie Daniels was played by tippi hedren a rich girl that falls for a man Mitch Brenner who was played by Rod Taylor, she fallows him to a small town to bring him a couple of birds he ordered. She ends up saying and things get bad in this ocean front town.
Rating:
Summary: A nightmare comes to life - thanks to Hitchcock!
Review: Although Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as the greatest director of suspense and "thriller" movies in Hollywood's long history, in his direction of "The Birds" (1963), he outdoes himself. Even more than "Psycho", which started the modern "slice-and-dice" genre of horror movies, "The Birds" is a truly disturbing and surreal experience - a nightmare which comes to life on film. In my opinion "The Birds" is unlike any other Hitchcock film - it actually comes closer to movies such as "The Sixth Sense" or even "The Matrix" in the way it takes the "real world" we are all familiar and comfortable with and turns it into something that will cause you to lose sleep at night. The film's plot is deceptively simple: Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a rich and rather spoiled young woman, meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), a handsome and rather mysterious man, in a pet store in San Francisco. She is intrigued enough to follow him to his home in Bodega Bay, a charming but isolated small fishing town on the northern California coast. There she meets the local schoolteacher, Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), who once had a brief affair with Mitch. Annie takes an immediate dislike to Melanie and her interest in Annie's old boyfriend. Eventually Melanie meets Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy), a high-strung and suspicious woman who leans upon her son for emotional support and stability. However, this soap-opera style plotline is simply the background for the REAL story in the movie: as the film progresses the birds in Bodega Bay and the surrounding countryside begin to act strangely - they suddenly attack humans for no apparent reason, and start gathering in large and ominous groups on power lines and rooftops. Eventually the birds become murderous - they kill a local farmer by crashing through his bedroom window and hacking out his eyes. Then they attack the schoolchildren and the townspeople in yet another of Hitchcock's famous film sequences. As the frightened and baffled townsfolk are hemmed into their homes and stores like "birds in a cage", they blame Melanie for bringing this terror into their once-peaceful little town. The film's famous climax occurs at the home of Mitch and his mother, as a massive flock of birds attacks the home at night and tries to get inside to kill our heroes. To make this film even more disturbing and bizzare, Hitchcock decided not to have a musical score, and there is no music whatsoever - only the terrifying screeching of the birds as they attack. What makes this film work is how Hitchcock deftly takes "everyday", normal things - such as sitting on a park bench and smoking a cigarette, and turns it into something bizarre, surreal, and truly frightening. Although some critics have refused to label this film as one of Hitchcock's best, it does rank as one of the scariest thrillers of all time. Beware of "The Birds"! (But you'll love the movie).
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Summary: Hitchcock Didn't Have a Computer; He Didn't Need It
Review: Alfred Hitchcock knew how to make a movie. This is true despite his not having the high tech at his disposal that today's filmmakers have for making a film that needs all of these attacking birds' sequences. What he used instead was his imagination and also the best collaborators in the business for every aspect of the film. Most importantly, he did not get so lost with the wonder of his special effects that he forgot that his prime job was to make a movie that worked. This was my primary thought upon finishing this excellent movie and comparing it to all of these dismal action adventure yarns of today which have little to recommend them besides their state of the art special effects. Hitchcock gives us a small coastal town in northern California that a socialite, Melanie (Tippi Hendren), visits for a few days to follow up a chance meeting she had back in San Francisco with local resident Mitch (Rod Taylor). This romantic interest is soon eclipsed by a much bigger event that begins shortly after Melanie's arrival, when a seagull attacks her hairdo (the nest like French Twist fittingly enough). The bird attacks on the populace begin shortly after this and consistently escalate in the number of birds involved. Hitchcock used a combination of real and machine made birds for his bird cast, even employing a bird wrangler for handling the real ones. Hitchcock never deals with why the birds are attacking. He simply develops the possibility that it could happen and how powerless we'd be if it did. So meticulous was he in staging his sequences that after a solid week of being attacked by birds in the house's attic, Tippi Hendren had to be hospitalized for exhaustion she was such a wreck. In the "making of" film that is also in the DVD, you learn the incredible preparation Hitchcock did for every single aspect of this film, including the drawing of it from start to finish on storyboards. He didn't zero in on just one aspect of making a film but concerned himself with every single detail of it. Rod Taylor and Tippi Hendren had the roles of their careers here. They are not Jimmy Stewart or Grace Kelly, used previously by Hitch, but in Hitch's hands they are up to the task of this very unsettling film. You feel like never going outside again after seeing this film much like you felt like abandoning taking showers after "Psycho."
Rating:
Summary: It's the end of the world
Review: It's interesting to see how critics today look at this film vs. how critics received it in 1963 (some of them even thought Hitchcock was losing his mind). I personally think the film is one of his most terrifying - it's certainly the most graphic (the scenes where Jessica Tandy and Tippi Hedren discover people dead are examples), and not incorporating a musical soundtrack even heightens the suspense (all you hear throughout the film is the squawking of the Birds in the background). The Hitchcock touches are still evident, however: odd characters interspersed throughout (the restaurant scene is a good example of this) and his wonderfully macabre sense of humor (example - the famous scene where Hedren sits in front of the school jungle gym, which slowly becomes covered with birds). This film is one that most either love or hate; personally I feel Hitchcock can virtually do no wrong, and this film is an example of his ability to elicit terrific performances out of those who, under other directors, tend to give rather mediocre performances (Suzanne Pleshette, Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor). The special effects are also very impressive for 1963 - yet it still lost the Oscar to, of all films, "Cleopatra" (what special effect were they referring to in that film, I wonder? Elizabeth Taylor's behind?) In my opinion, an under-rated classic that is worth a place on any film fanatic's shelf.
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