The Birds (DVD)

...review with a quote from the Master himself, Alfred Hitchcock: "When a new Hitchcock film appears, the public and critics sit back at the start and say to themselves, 'Let's see him scare me.' My job is to get them up on the edge of their seats, and to keep them there. It gets more difficult all the time because one must find new ways to surprise an audience. Any time a viewer of one of my films can say to himself, 'I knew that was coming,' I've ...
...'The Birds' was based on the story of the same name written by Daphne Du Maurier - this was Hitchcock's third major film based on the author's works (after Jamaica Inn (1939) and Rebecca (1940). In the original story the birds were attacking in the English countryside, not in the Calafornian town used in the film. This film shows Hitchcock at his best as 'Master of Suspense' and covers a five day period from Friday to Tuesday. The film starts with ...

oldchem 05.08.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

The Birds (1963) was Alfred Hitchcock's first film for Universal Pictures, and it's my personal favourite of all the master's movies. I remember first watching it as a child and being absolutely terrified. I honestly don't know if it's related or not, but as an adult I have a bad phobia of birds, and I'm often to be found screaming at pigeons in city centres. Nevertheless, I still watch this movie periodically and - either because or in spite of ...
...scary as ever. THE PLOT: The Birds is loosely based on a collection of short stories by Daphne du Maurier, in which the English countryside is terrorized by violent, frenzied birds. Hitchcock's film transfers the action to California, in particular the small coastal community of Bodega Bay. The Birds actually begins as a sparkling light comedy, with reformed socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meeting lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in ...

sandrabarber 23.02.2003 (24.02.2003) · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...with his superb direction skills. The camera angles and sounds bring the maximal support to the viewers experience, but to be honest, it is simple not meaningful. For those that have seen the film alone, with no supporting material, you will mostl liikely have found that while your were suitably impressed with the direction, you were less than enthrawled. The story is a simple one of the birds simply attacking humans. thats it. It captures some of ...
...but you dont really understand the point. Now the the subject of this review: Why you must watch it on video... The video of The Birds comes with a copy of the the trailor for the film. This contains the one and only MR Hitchcock himself explaining why the events of The Birds take place. Thankfully this appears at the end of the cassette and so satisfies those viewers who get to the end and are simply questioning the meaning of the film. It turns ...

DavidBell2000 01.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

If you have not seen the film and don't think a bunch of seagulls and sparrows can hold you in suspense, think again. The great thing about a Hitchcock movie is that you always know you are about to enter a world where everything is just not quite right. This 'world' usually involves an innocent man wrongly accused and eventually on the run. The world of 'The Birds' has none of this. Nature has run amok and the characters, will and do go through ...
...music, I think adding to the suspense of it all. The bird attacks are in colour too, and the one scene showing a victim of the birds is quite shocking, even for these days. Something I think 'pyscho' could have done with. OK, so some of the birds were props and others even hand-drawn, but it still scared me, maybe we all like getting scared a little bit? If you are claustrophobic, I would avoid this film. Like Janet Leigh in the 'psycho' shower scene, ...

loulou6 27.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...'golden' era, this is almost the perfect way for a non-Hitchcock fan to get started. Here we have all of the familiar Hitchock elements: tension, drama, a touch of humour, a dose of horror, and an undercurrent of mystery and suspense. The story revolves around one simple starting point - What if the birds turned on us? That's it, as easy as that. If it doesn't sound complex then that's because it isn't, but Daphne De Maurier's story adds so many ...
...it is to the novel I don't know as illiterates like me haven't read it). Tippi Hedron takes the lead as Melanie Daniels, prankster extraordinaire, who falls for handsome Rod Taylor and follows him back to his family home on the coast. Leaving a couple of lovebords on the porch step she is attacked by a gull and ends up staying in the village. Cue lots of further bird attacks which grow in severity as the film progresses until barely a second goes ...

TheNeil 21.12.2000 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...to tell you. Watch the film. Although Hollywood has always come up with the goods in the special effects department, in this film they had to surpass themselves. I mean how do you get thousands of birds to act to your direction? You use models and drawings but they were realistic enough to fool just about everyone, well definitely me anyway. Amongst all the mayhem and gore there was the odd moment of humour like during the scene where Tippi Hedren ...
...on a perch in the cage on the back seat of her car the two birds swayed left and right as the car went around corners. Why Alfred Hitchcock put that in only he knows as it seems totally out of place. Without too much of a story to tell I feel that this film was made to shock and frighten and in that it succeeded, with the absence of background music adding to the tension. If you haven't seen the film then have a look but first put a cover over ...

jimbuck 18.12.2000 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...friendly harbour village? Or the setting for this 1960's classic horror? well, it's option 2. This black and white hitchcock classic has left me scared of birds (in particular - crows) for life. With graphic attacks (see man in phone box, man with no eyes left etc) by seemingly friendly birds, this film cultivates classic horror and a chilling view of menacing birds - playing on a minorities deepest fears and creating a majority! There are particularly ...
...your phobias. (eg - on the climbing frame at the school) the film ends with a silent escape and a drive through the birds, so as not to disturb them. The black and white old 60's sound adds a pyscho-esque tone (silence or screaming - not much in between other than the chilling squal of the birdies) Believe me - this film is definitely a must see. Unless you are a birdwatcher. ...

LisaWilliamson 20.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...- man, this was SCARY! The guy who had his eyeballs pecked out was bad enough, but Hitchcock's epic about birds terrorising an American town traded more on the tension created by the feathered demons sitting outside the school waiting and waiting and waiting and then - SHABANG! They're after us! Hitchcock is master of creating suspense like this and The Birds is one of his definite masterpieces building to a tense, if slightly unsatisfying, conclusion, ...

dave27 04.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...I was not disapointed by the film. I would have to say that this is due to Hitchcocks' movie bearing practically no relation to the short story. That said, he has given a slick, Hollywood treatment to an original concept which may otherwise have appeared grim and depressing (think along the lines of that other classic The Village of the Damned) His characters are full of a nervous energy which is in keeping with the plot. It may seem tame by modern ...

arbie 26.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)

...manages to scare people. With it's great storyline and special effects, I'd definitely recommend it to my mates. It's a film you can watch over and over again and it never loses it's appeal. As a lover of the classic horror films, I absolutely love this one! ...

smoggy_fuzzball 23.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of The Birds (DVD)