The Birds , a review by Dragonfire
The Birds 
Nothing equals
THE BIRDS for sheer terror when
Alfred Hitchcock unleashes his foul friends in one of his most shocking and memorable masterpieces. As beautiful blonde Melanie Daniels (
'Tippi' Hedren) rolls into Bodega Bay in pursuit of eligible bachelor Mitch Brenner (
Rod Taylor), she is inexplicably attacked by a seagull. Suddenly thousands of birds are flocking into town, preying on schoolchildren and residents in a terrifying series of attacks. Soon Mitch and Melanie are fighting for their lives against a deadly force that can't be explained and can't be stopped in one of Hollywood's most horrific films of nature gone berserk.
My ThoughtsI do enjoy this one, though a few things that happen don't make as much sense. It does seem a bit odd that Melanie would go to so much trouble to give the love birds to Mitch's sister, someone she doesn't even know. Melanie manages to find out all sorts of information about Mitch after getting to Bodega Bay even though she is a stranger. People weren't as careful about that sort of thing then, though it does seem a little odd that Melanie is accepted so quickly, especially by Annie.
The pacing is a bit slower for a while, though that changes once the birds start attacking. The scenes with the bird attacks are done well and are believably scary. I think the fact that the explanation for the attacks wasn't given makes that part of the movie scarier. There are a few somewhat gruesome things shown, though nothing is extremely explicit. Suspense is in a few scenes, though the movie isn't as suspenseful as some of Hitchcock's others.
Melanie is a nice enough character, though like I mentioned, her motivation for taking the love birds to begin with does seem a little..odd. That is an awful lot of trouble for her to go to. It also doesn't make the most sense for Mitch to act like he does when they first meet in the pet shop. It is fairly clear that they aren't getting along that well at that point, but in no time they seem to have changed their minds. That relationship does develop fast. Melanie does do something that is rather stupid at one point and I still haven't figured out why she did it. The cast does well with their parts and the characters are likable overall.
The movie does have a few issues, but it is still very entertaining and deserves to be seen.
I did post a review at Epinions a few years ago.
The Birds(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on August 1st, 2010)
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January 21, 2025, 05:53:47 AM
