The Birds
 | The Alfred Hitchcock CollectionStarring: Malcolm Atterbury, Veronica Cartwright, Lonny Chapman, Richard Deacon, Ethel Griffies Universal Studios, 1963, VHS Tape Customer Rating: 305 reviews Recommend This product is currently not available and cannot be purchased. It means that we have no merchant offers for this product at the moment or it was discontinued by the manufacturer. |
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Vacationing in northern California, Alfred Hitchcock was struck by a story in a Santa Cruz newspaper: "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes." From this peculiar incident, and his memory of a short story by Daphne du Maurier, the master of suspense created one of his strangest and most terrifying films. The Birds follows a chic blonde, Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), as she travels to the coastal town of Bodega Bay to hook up with a rugged fellow (Rod Taylor) she's only just met. Before long the town is attacked by marauding birds, and Hitchcock's skill at staging action is brought to the fore. Beyond the superb effects, however, The Birds is also one of Hitchcock's most psychologically complicated scenarios, a tense study of violence, loneliness, and complacency. What really gets under your skin are not the bird skirmishes but the anxiety and the eerie quiet between attacks. The director elevated an unknown model, Tippi Hedren (mother of Melanie Griffith), to being his latest cool, blond leading lady, an experience that was not always easy on the much-pecked Ms. Hedren. Still, she returned for the next Hitchcock picture, the underrated Marnie. Treated with scant attention by serious critics in 1963, The Birds has grown into a classic and — despite the sci-fi trappings — one of Hitchcock's most serious films. — Robert Horton
Title: The Birds (The Alfred Hitchcock Collection)
Sales Rank: 10867 in VHS
Actor: Malcolm Atterbury, Veronica Cartwright, Lonny Chapman, Richard Deacon, Ethel Griffies
Studio: Universal Studios, 1999-08-03, Theatrical Release: 1963-03-28
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language)
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Running Time: 119 minutes
Package Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.5 x 1.2 inches, 0.45 pounds
- The ultimate pagan movie
- A world where nature is out to destroy man and there is no salvation from any god. A world where jealousy, competition, and lust simmers below the surface. A world where three women compete for the affections of one apollo-like beauty of a man. A world where something as simple as throwing away a match can set off a series of events that leaves an entire town… More reviews
- inferior to Daphne du Maurier's short story
- This Hitchcock classic simply isn't up to the horror of the original du Maurier short story--an avian world holocaust with the imminent extinction of the human race. Hitchcock's catastrophe is apparently limited to a few miles of North California coast.
Possibly this was done to produce a Hollywood more-or-less happy ending but it was a mistake. That combined with the limited acting… More reviews
- One of Hitchcock's more memorable films
- After seeing The Birds again, including Hitchcock's tongue and cheek "lecture" in the trailer for the film, (1963) as one reviewer has written, it,s the suspense during those moments of silence between those unrelenting onslaughts of violence against their chosen rivals, human beings. The big question that is not answered in the film, is why the birds… More reviews
- CLASSIC HITCHCOCK
- Modern day movies can never compare to the Great Alfred Hitchcock. This legandary film is Amazing. Any Hithcock fan will totally agree with me.
… More reviews
- The Birds-WOW!
- When I rented this movie, I expected to see a dated film with awful special effects. What I got was a whirlwind of suspense and mystery.
Tippi is your average upper class wealthy women. She meets a man in a bird shop looking for some lovebirds and is instantly intriuged. When the man can't find the love birds and leaves, she… More reviews
