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THE BIRDS
After his groundbreaking 1960 shocker 'Psyco', Alfred Hitchcock re-emerged three years later with 'The Birds' - a story of a California coastal town filled with an onslaught of seemingly unexplained, attacks by ordinary birds.
'The Birds' was based on the story of the ... Read review
Nothing equals The Birds for sheer terror when Alfred Hitchcock unleashes his foul friends ... more
in one of his most shocking and memorable masterpieces. As beautiful blonde Melanie Daniels ('Tippi' Hedren) rolls into Bodega Bay in pursuit of eligible bachelo...
Wealthy reformed party girl Melanie Daniels enjoys a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch ... more
Brenner in a San Francisco pet shop and decides to follow him to his Bodega Bay home. Bearing a gift of two lovebirds Melanie quickly strikes up a romance with Mit...
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Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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In THE BIRDS, Alfred Hitchcock's heart-pounding followup to PSYCHO, the director couples a ... more
tone of rigorous morality with dark humor to create a thriller that begins as a light comedy and ends as an apocalyptic allegory. Wealthy, reformed party girl Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) enjoys a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet shop and decides to follow him to his Bodega Bay home. Bearing a gift of two lovebirds, Melanie quickly strikes up a romance with Mitch while contending with his possessive mother and boarding at his ex-girlfriend's house. One day, during a birthday party for Mitch's younger sister, a flock of birds attacks the children in what seems to be a random incident. In fact, it signals the beginning of a massive avian assault on the residents of the town--a mysterious assault that no one can explain and from which no one might come out alive. Hedren (Melanie Griffith's mother) carries the picture in her first film role ever, embarking on a career as an icy-cool leading lady. Loosely based on a Daphne du Maurier story and a Santa Monica newspaper story, Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes, THE BIRDS also features groundbreaking special effects.
The Lemax Village Collection of lighted houses, figurines, accessories and landscaping ... more
will bring a smile to your face, and the spirit of the holidays to your heart. Whether you create a quaint display to complement your holiday décor, or build an expansive holiday town, a Lemax village will captivate and delight friends and family members of all ages.
Postage & Packaging:£4.75 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Classic Hitchcock - I can say no more !! Disadvantages: None
...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 ... ...THE BIRDS ==
After his groundbreaking 1960 shocker 'Psyco', Alfred Hitchcock re-emerged three years later with 'The Birds' - a story of a California coastal town filled with an onslaught of seemingly unexplained, attacks by ordinary birds.
'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 ... more
I'm starting this 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 lost him."
THE BIRDS
After his groundbreaking 1960 shocker 'Psyco', Alfred Hitchcock re-emerged three years later with 'The Birds' - a story of a California coastal town filled with an onslaught of seemingly unexplained, attacks by ordinary birds. '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 a white background, as silhouettes of dark bird-shapes rush through and destroy the credits as they appear. These birds are accompanied by screeching, flapping wings and birds cries.- Hitchcock has grabbed your attention from the beginning and you start moving to the front of your seat!!
Tippi Hedren (Melanie Griffith's mother) made her debut in this film playing a San Francisco heiress.
We first meet this character - Melanie - on her way into Davidson's Pet Shop, she passes an exiting customer (Alfred Hitchcock in his customary cameo role) being pulled along by a pair of terriers (Hitchcock's own dogs Geoffrey and Stanley)
A chance meeting with solicitor Mitch Brenner (portrayed by Rod Taylor) in this shop, where he pretends not to know her (the part she is playing is a 60's Paris Hilton type character) leaves her eager play a trick on him. She orders two lovebirds and sets out to deliver them to the coastal town of Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends the weekends with his young sister and mother (Jessica Tandy). Shortly after she arrives, Melanie is attacked by a gull, but this is just the start of a series of attacks by an increasing number of birds.
The way that Hitchcock keeps the viewer engrossed with playful little hints even though the first real attack doesn't come until around the film's halfway point is wonderful and makes the tension and terror becomes almost intolerable, but ecstatic too.
Suddenly, what we have been waiting for happens At the Bodega Bay school, while a birthday party is being held in the playground, hundreds of birds suddenly and bizarrely attack the children. This though is only the beginning, that night Melanie, Mitch and his mother and sister are besieged by hundreds of sparrows flying down the chimney at their home.
Could there be any more birds left to cause havoc on this little town? How will Mitch, Melanie and the rest of the town people cope?
The film does not finish with the usual "THE END" title because Hitchcock wanted to give the impression of unending terror
Over forty years after The Birds was released it remains one of the most chilling and disturbing movies ever made.
Are the birds an external symptom of the pain caused by broken relationships?
Is this Hitchcock's cautionary story about what happens when you keep animals in cages? I
Is it what happens when you cage your emotions?
These are all left unanswered, Hitchcock leaves those decisions for us to make.
CAST AND CREW
"Cast" Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels Rod Taylor as Mitch Brenner Susanne Pleshette as Annie Hayworth Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner Veronica Cartwright as Cathy Brenner
"Crew" Alfred Hitchcock - Director Evan Hunter - Screenplay Robert Burks - Photography Daphne Du Maurier - Original Story Bernard Herrmann - Sound Consultant Ray Berwick. _ Animal Trainer
AWARDS
Golden Globes (1964): Most Promising Newcomer - Female (Tippi Hedren) American Film Institute Ranked 7th in the list of AFI: 100 Most Thrilling Movies Ever Edgar Allan Poe Awards (1964): Nominated for Best Motion Picture (Evan Hunter) Academy Awards - Oscars (1964): Nominated for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects (Ub Iwerks) American Film Institute Nominated for the AFI: 100 Greatest American Movies list
DVD
I have been disappointed in the past with some older fims that have been transferred to DVD, but with The Birds the picture quality is fabulous with good colour quality and l clear sound.
Format: PAL Language English Subtitles: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs: 1 Classification: 15 Studio: Universal Pictures UK DVD Release Date: 17 Oct 2005 Run Time: 115 minutes ASIN: B00005N6RU
"Special Features"
All About The Birds - about how the piece came to be made, from the short story by Daphne Du Maurier to the production.
Deleted Scene - not really a deleted scene, but a collection of script pages and production stills from a scene between Mitch and Melanie that originally took place outside of the farmhouse after Lydia left for the neighbouring farm.
The Original Ending - shows the script pages and storyboard for the original ending where the town is desecrated by the birds.
Storyboard Sequence
Tippi Hendren's Screen Test
"The Birds" Is Coming - Universal Newsreel (trailer/preview)
NOTE
To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the film, in 2008 a "The Birds" Barbie® Doll was released dressed in a re-creation of the stylish green skirt-suit worn by the film's ill-fated heroine in It has a perfectly painted expression and accompanying black birds - I wouldn't think that there have been many films of this ilk that have commissioned a Barbie® Doll !!
CONCLUSION
For viewers who are willing to set aside the idea that this film is old-fashioned; or for viewers tired of horror films being merely blood and gore; this classic Alfred Hitchcock's film really fits the bill for terror and suspense.
"And remember, the next scream you hear could be your own!"
Advantages: Suspenseful, Scary, Superb Acting, Hitchcock Disadvantages: Some special effects now look dated
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)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Birds (DVD)
Advantages: The video contains the missing piece of the puzzle - the trailor Disadvantages: Those without the trailor have truely missed out
...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
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Birds (DVD)
Advantages: a classic Disadvantages: I really can't stand swooping birds now!
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
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Birds (DVD)
Advantages: Scary, atmospheric, tense etc etc etc Disadvantages: You won't touch chicken again
...'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
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Birds (DVD)
Advantages: Gets the heart working Disadvantages: Don't look at your budgie that way
...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
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Advantages: lovely mini-series to watch Disadvantages: bit long to watch in one go
Colleen McCullough wrote The Thorn Birds in 1977. The story of illicit love between a priest and a young girl, set in Australia, starting in 1920 and spanning the next 60 years in Rome and Australia.
The Thorn Birds was turned into a mini-series in 1983, starring Rachel Ward and Richard Chamberlain in the starring roles.
I remember watching this, I would have been 11 at the time and I have also read the book several times.
My husband gave me the DVD for Christmas, so here is a little review on The Thorn Birds.
CAST
+++++
Mary Carson - Barbara Stanwyck
Megan Cleary - Rachel Ward
Father Ralph de Bricassart - Richard Chamberlain
Fiona Cleary - Jean Simmons
Anne Mueller - Piper Laurie
Luke O'Neill - Bryan Brown
Dane O'Neill - Philip Anglim
Justine O'Neill - Mare Winningham ...
Advantages: Entertaining 70's cult movie Disadvantages: Not something to watch twice
is not a gory movie, the odd spot of blood or missing limb is tastefully done and to be honest with you your far more likely to be offended (in respect of blood and gore) watching an episode of Lost or 24.
The movie looks great considering its 26 years old and not necessarily designed to be the sort of movie that is seen again. Unlike Doll House the movie print is significantly improved and better restored for DVD audiences. The colourings are fairly weak with green and brown colours being more focused than any other.
While The Big Bird Cage is a very capable movie of this genre it's a disposable sort of movie that you would watch once, kind of enjoy but not watch it again, and possibly forget about it even quicker. I'm personally glad I saw it, but rather like my last sentence I would not partake in this again.
For those a little ...
It is the 1800s. After viciously robbing a bank, a small group of Confederate soldiers needs to take refuge to allow the dust to settle and to plan next moves. Whilst making their escape from town, one of them has accidentally shot a small boy and as such, they all realise that the authorities will not be far behind. They make their way to a local sugar plantation, where a disused house enables them to stash their gold and rest for the night, safe from the pounding rain and howling winds outside.
But the old house has secrets. Strange noises and nightmarish visions greet their every turn. What is the secret of the old house and who - or what - lurks in the dark corners? This will be a night that William and cohorts are unlikely to forget?
With a name like Dead Birds, you might expect Dead Birds to be a rather silly film. How much ...
LostWitness 18.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Birds (DVD)
The residents in a Californian coastal area are inexplicably besieged by flocks of birds.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS
Release date
17/10/2005
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
823 646 0
Sound
Bernard Herrmann
Barcode
5050582364606
Music Director
Bernard Herrmann
Screenwriter
Evan Hunter
Cinematographer
Robert Burks
Composer
Bernard Herrmann
Director of Photography
Robert Burks
Author
Daphne Du Maurier
Writer
Daphne Du Maurier
Special Effects
Lawrence A. Hampton
Languages
Main Language
English
DVD Description
In THE BIRDS, Alfred Hitchcock's heart-pounding followup to PSYCHO, the director couples a tone of rigorous morality with dark humor to create a thriller that begins as a light comedy and ends as an apocalyptic allegory. Wealthy, reformed party girl Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) enjoys a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet shop and decides to follow him to his Bodega Bay home. Bearing a gift of two lovebirds, Melanie quickly strikes up a romance with Mitch while contending with his possessive mother and boarding at his ex-girlfriend's house. One day, during a birthday party for Mitch's younger sister, a flock of birds attacks the children in what seems to be a random incident. In fact, it signals the beginning of a massive avian assault on the residents of the town--a mysterious assault that no one can explain and from which no one might come out alive. Hedren (Melanie Griffith's mother) carries the picture in her first film role ever, embarking on a career as an icy-cool leading lady. Loosely based on a Daphne du Maurier story and a Santa Monica newspaper story, "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes," THE BIRDS also features groundbreaking special effects.
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