Rent The Birds (1963)
3.8 of 5 from 373 ratings
1h 55min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- 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 school-children 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.
- Actors:
- Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies, Charles McGraw, Ruth McDevitt, Lonny Chapman, Joe Mantell, Doodles Weaver, Malcolm Atterbury, John McGovern, Karl Swenson, Richard Deacon, Elizabeth Wilson, Bill Quinn, Doreen Lang, Morgan Brittany, Darlene Conley
- Directors:
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Producers:
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Writers:
- Daphne Du Maurier, Evan Hunter
- Others:
- Ub Iwerks
- Studio:
- Universal Pictures
- Genres:
- Classics, Thrillers
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like Rebecca, 10 Films to Watch If You Like: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, A History of Films about Film: Part 1, Best Films Ever, Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know Eva Marie Saint At 100, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Audrey Hepburn, Introducing the Thesping Olympians, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Mel Brooks, Top 10 Stephen King Films, Top 100 AFI Thrills, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 13/05/2013
- Run Time:
- 119 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS 2.0 Mono, German DTS 2.0 Mono, Italian DTS 2.0 Mono, Japanese DTS 2.0 Mono, Spanish DTS 2.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Deleted Scene
- Original Ending
- The Birds: Hitchcock's Monster Movie - New!
- All About The Birds
- Storyboards
- Tippi Hedren's Screen Test
- Hitchcock-Truffaut Interview Excerpts
- The Birds Is Coming (Universal International Newsreel)
- Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock (Universal International Newsreel) Production Photographs
- 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics
- 100 Years of Universal: The Lot
- Theatrical Trailer
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 07/09/2020
- Run Time:
- 119 minutes
- Languages:
- Czech DTS 2.0, English DTS 2.0, French DTS 2.0, Polish DTS 2.0, Russian DTS 2.0, Thai DTS 2.0
- Subtitles:
- Cantonese, Complex Mandarin, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, Hindi, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Simplified Mandarin, Swedish, Thai
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Documentaries
- Expert Commentaries
- Interviews
- Screen Tests
- Storyboards
- And Much More!
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Reviews (5) of The Birds
Brilliant - The Birds review by CP Customer
This really uses subtle acting and camera skills to set the scene of suspense. A really classic film and would thoroughly recommend.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Iconic Horror Thriller - The Birds review by GI
A rather quirky film in Alfred Hitchcock's canon but probably one of his most famous. It has all his usual build up of tension and dread although it does veer into romantic melodrama for much of the first third of the film. However once it gears up into the main story it is impactive, exciting and at times quite scary. Former model Tippi Hedren, one of Hitchcock's famous blonde 'discoveries', plays rich San Francisco socialite Melanie who, on a whim, heads out to the remote seaside town of Bodega Bay searching for Mitch (Rod Taylor), a man she fancies and hopes to seduce. As they begin a romance of sorts, the town is struck by strange, at first isolated, attacks by birds. These grow in intensity forcing Mitch, Melanie, his mother (Jessica Tandy) and young sister (Veronica Cartwright) to retreat to their house where they face an onslaught from the murderous birds. There's some shocking scenes but the film excels in its ability to create a contrast of calm with a sense of dread throughout, aided by there being no musical score. Hitchcock's well known hatred for location shooting means that the edits to studio shots occasionally are a little too obvious and there's too much use of back projection but that said there's equally some highly memorable stuff on display here, an overhead shot of the town from the viewpoint of the circling seagulls for example. The story offers little, if any, explanation for the sudden bird attacks unless you choose to interpret the film's constant reminder that humans keep caged birds as a possible cause of the birds behaviour, or put simply are the birds taking revenge on humans? It's open to debate in any case. This an iconic horror film and one every film fan should make sure they see, it's a film that stays in the memory for sure.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Dated special effects. A classic. - The Birds review by JD
With Psycho, Hitchcocks best known film. Famous for good reason. At the time the special effects were the best available. The scenes of bird attacks now however are shocking only to the naive and very young. I was only 11 when I saw this film first and was very scared. An adult watching this now would have to be very sensitive to be scared. The scenes of struggling with a clearly stuffed seagull are mildly amusing. It has a 15 certificate so this gives it a target viewer of 15 - 18 (any older would certainly see through the production) or 50 plus (watching it for a second time or just a Hitchcock fan who missed it).
0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.