movie review

Cheyanna Fritz

Mr. Armstrong

4^th Hour/English I

12 October 2010

                                                The Birds

The Birds written by Daphne Du Maurier published as a book in 1952 was made into a film in 1963. The film was nominated for special effects Academy Award in 1963 but lost. Today’s special effects over top the ones used in the making of the birds.

The movie begins in San Francisco, in a bird shop, where Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) meets a dizzy blonde named Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) a rich girl. Mitch is looking for love birds for his little sister Melanie acts as if she what she is talking about in the bird shop he knows this isn’t true and that she doesn’t work at the shop and teases her because of it. She decides to visit Mr. Brenner at his family’s house in Bodega Bay. Mitch is there to spend time with his mother (Jessica Tandy) and younger sister Cathy (Veronica Cartwright) his father is deceased. Cathy’s birthday is the weekend that she is no in Bodega Bay. Melanie brings Cathy the love birds and lies to Mitch saying that he is friends with the school teacher Annie (Suzanne Pleshette) she turns out to be Mitch’s former girlfriend. When unusual events start to happen with the birds: a death, attacks, and other things, the Brenner’s being to protect them: boarding up windows and packing stuff in front of some of the doors. Mitch, Cathy, Mitch’s mother and Melanie are in the house and all fall asleep. Melanie awakes to the sound of flapping wings and slowly walks up stairs opens Cathy’s room sees a hole in the roof and walks into Cathy’s room. She shines the flashlight at the birds than they begin to attack her and when she cannot get out of Cathy’s room so she tries to protect herself from the birds. After a couple minutes of trying to protect her, she slowly slides down onto the floor after passing out exhausted. When Mitch and his mother find her they try to get her out but the birds just won’t allow it Mitch finally pulls her out, and fastens the door behind him. He picks her up and cares her in his arms down the stairs and softly lays her on the couch. She awakes frightened and begins attacking Mitch thinking that she is still in the room with all of the birds. Mitch’s mother begins dressing all of the injuries though they both no that she needs to go to the hospital. Mitch goes out of the house slowly and into the garage gets into Melanie’s car drive’s it to the door and packs everyone and the love birds in than drive’s it away. To get her out of the town and someplace with a hospital so her injuries can be taken care of.

This movie’s special effects shouldn’t even be considered well nor great they’re horrible even for that time in 1963. The ending isn’t even a reasonable ending in The Birds it seems as if there is no ending they just drive away and it’s a pretty go movie up to that point but the fact that it just ends and there isn’t a second movie. I understand that the book has a similar ending but that does not mean that the movie has to be the same way. In the movie there are some cheesy parts in this movie. The fact that they call this and scary movie is depressing it is in no where shape or form terrifying it’s just plain depressing how not scary this movie is. This movie wasn’t mad but I’m not going to say its scary I’ve seen scarier children’s movies. The film was nominated for special effects Academy Award in 1963 but lost I completely understand why it did lose. I would give this movie three and a half of a star if that the ending destroyed this movie for me. It’s not just because I didn’t like the ending but loved the story plot and story line. I will give the actors credit they did a good job.