The Birds

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The Birds

PG-13

1963

1h 59m

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

73 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Melanie Daniels meets Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings with her the gift of two love birds, and they strike up a romance. One day birds start attacking children at Mitch's sister's party. A huge assault starts on the town by attacking birds.

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Critics Consensus

Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Alfred Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history.

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Brendan Gill

The New Yorker

08/15/2022

Hard as it may be to believe of a Hitchcock, it doesn’t arouse suspense, which is, of course, what justifies and transforms the sadism that lies at the heart of every thriller. Here the sadism is all too nakedly, repellently present.

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Wendy Ide

The Times (UK)

08/01/2022

There’s a fair amount of beak-based eye trauma.

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James Powers

The Hollywood Reporter

03/28/2017

Hitchcock prolongs his prelude to horror for more than half the film, playing with audience suspense with comedy and romance while he sets his stage. The horror when it comes is a hair-raiser ...

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Max Allen

Horror Movie Talk

Dec 4

6/10

it is a fine movie that kept me engaged enough throughout most of it but not really anything special to me.

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Joshua Polanski

The Rapidian

Oct 29

His bird attacks invite an array of valid interpretations, and anyone can well garner new theories ready to be applied to the classic. That’s the genius of the film: they all work and none of them work at the same time.

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Christopher Lloyd

The Film Yap

Oct 27

4/5

After a lifetime of avoiding Hitchcock's goofiest film, your critic takes the plunge with the foul fowl and finds, despite some unconvincing 1960s special effects, the movie does take wing.

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Gabriel

Oct 2

Hitchcock is awesome!

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Eron F

Jul 24

I watched this movie when I was a kid and took the opportunity to share it with my grandchildren on the big screen! To top it off we had dinner and a movie for our evening out.

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Dallas H

@FozzieMcFly Mar 17

One of my favorite facts about this movie is that there is no original music score composed for the soundtrack. It's all purely bird noises. The only music heard during the movie would be atmospheric, such as a song playing on a radio. Another fun fact is the wonderful use of hand-painted mattes, combined with live film photography, to alter the bird's-eye view of Bodega Bay, and the use of bird mannequins creatively placed in certain spots to fool the viewer into thinking more birds are appearing on screen than actual live birds brought in for the movie production.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 8

Successful horror movie in 1 hour and 59 minutes. Ages 13 and older.

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Ryan A.

@ranthony249 Dec 13

Far more intense than I thought a 60s horror movie could be.

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Ted B.

@Movieaddicted Nov 17

3.5 stars; Like most movie buffs, I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock's genius. For me, I don't consider this one of his greatest achievements. I would only rate it as fair relative to his other films. Whenever he got an idea for a film, he would go to any lengths to paint it on the big screen. He is so visual in his presentation. The schoolyard scene in this movie, where you initially see a single crow landing on a gym set, is a perfect example. Because you know there will be plenty more birds soon, based on the earlier attacks, no accompanying music is required to build suspense. It is left to the audience's premonition of what is about to happen that builds an intense amount of tension. Mr. Hitchcock's attempt at the creature feature horror of the '50s, with no explanation as to why, leaves the average audience with a shortfall in the cinematic experience. However, I rate his films 1.5 stars above an average movie simply because of the brilliance of Hitchcock's ability to manipulate an audience.

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Alfred Hitchcock

Director

Rod Taylor

Mitch Brenner

Tippi Hedren

Melanie Daniels

Suzanne Pleshette

Annie Hayworth

Jessica Tandy

Lydia Brenner

Veronica Cartwright

Cathy Brenner

The Birds: Official Clip - The Gas Station Explosion

1:48

The Birds: Official Clip - Eyes Pecked Out

1:13

The Birds: Official Clip - I Think You're Evil!

2:53

The Birds: Official Clip - Crows Stalk the Playground

2:02

The Birds: Official Clip - Escaping The Birds

2:57

The Birds: Official Clip - Trapped in a Phone Booth

1:37

The Birds: Official Clip - The Birthday Party Attack

1:52

The Birds: Official Clip - The Seagull Attack

1:03

The Birds: Official Clip - The Birds Invade Through the Chimney

2:11

The Birds: Official Clip - Attacked in the Attic

2:55

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Synopsis

Melanie Daniels meets Mitch Brenner in a San Francisco pet store and decides to follow him home. She brings with her the gift of two love birds, and they strike up a romance. One day birds start attacking children at Mitch's sister's party. A huge assault starts on the town by attacking birds.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Evan Hunter, Daphne Du Maurier
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 28, 1963, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 22, 2023
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2014
Runtime: 1h 59m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)