Not Hitchcock's best but still Very Good and a personal favorite of mine

Rating: 9/10 (25 August 2003)

Hitchcock has made many memorable and suspenseful movies. The Birds is among them. It has chilling and very memorable scenes.
The acting in The Birds is good but definitely not as good as in say Notorious or some other of Hitchcock's movies. Tippi Hedren is good in one of her first roles but she is a little bit stiff in areas. Rod Taylor is good in his role. Veronica Cartwright is much more impressive here than she would be in Alien, she plays Cathy quite well. Jessica Tandy and Suzanne Pleshette give good, credible performances.
The premise of the Birds is interesting. Its Man vs. Nature, though its not the first time its been done. Its a conflict that ends in a surprising way, that during the time the movie was made, only Hitchcock would have ended it like this. It has a powerful ending.
The Birds is not a flawless film. The dialogue was not award material then and certainly not now, but for the movie the dialogue works well. However, the scenes are whats important in The Birds. The scenes are well put together and well shot by Hitchcock. One scene that is unforgettable in The Birds is when Melanie(Tippi Hedren) sees The Birds perched on the Playground equipment and the power wires and she slowly walks into the school. This is an absolutely chilling scene, the way its crafted.
Some may think The Birds has dated because of its special effects. I will admit The Birds special effects have not aged as well as say 2001's have but I think The Birds special effects are still exceptional. But maybe one may have to really like the movie to see that.
One thing that recently jumped out to me about The Birds is the main character, Melanie. Is she bad luck? The script shows us that the attacks didnt start happening until Melanie came to the little Calfornia town. But also her mother left her when she was young and in the end out of her and Mitch's (Rod Taylor) family, she is the only one that gets hurt. Also Annie dies when Melanie had been staying with her.
Overall, The Birds is definitely not Hitchcock's best film but it is very good and a personal favorite of mine. 9 out of 10.