Fearsome, Feathered Fiends

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2002)

Hitchcock directed many suspense films. In fairness to his impressive body of film work, only a handful is consistently cited as all 'round classics, and qualify as emblematic cinema 'templates' upon which modern filmmakers can draw much of the basics when it comes to putting together a practical thriller (of almost any movie genre, to be completely honest). His earlier works are sometimes mentioned in conjunction with his more popular ones.
The Birds marked a fixed alternate attitude towards B movies in general (until '63, they were not quite the marketable successes they are today), horror movies and even the more mainstream 'noir thrillers of the 1940s (such as those starring the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Ray Milland and Cary Grant; all of these actors starred in at least one Hitchcock film). Modern directors (like De Palma and Spielberg) owe a bit of gratitude to the late `Master of Suspense.'
'Birds' marked a definitive breakthrough in movies that dealt with the `Nature Gone Amok' thriller themes many genre fans have become all too familiar with in the past quarter-century. Without this one, films like `Frogs' (a camp personal favorite of mine, which works on a few notable levels), `Jaws,' and the more recent `Bats' would have been only inferior products of entertainment, had it not been for the various filmmaking talents of those involved with the 1963 picture.
The plot of Birds centers on a flighty, somewhat daredevil socialite Melanie Daniels and Mitch Brenner (an initial 'mama's boy') whom she becomes romantically involved with. Together, this unlikely pair (she's beautiful and he's handsome, but there is no obvious chemistry to link them as an item) do their darned best to shoo away an awesome flock of dangerous birds (crows, seagulls and finches) that have chosen to repeatedly convene and descend upon Mitch's Pacific coast hometown of Bodega Bay.
Overall the film is good. However, I would like someone to religiously do a remake and (in this rare case) benefit from the far better CGI FX we are more familiar with today. The FX in the '63 film deserves a few refinements, and although they were breakthrough achievements for its time, they can do with a welcome improvement here and there. Birds features a few interesting set-pieces, and any director willing to take the 'remake' challenge had better stick to them, if a modern version is to experience a grain of the original's success.
The supporting, Secondary Plot (The Mitch-Melanie Romance; however incidental and inferior this plot may initially seem) should not be tampered with in any way. It serves as a sort-of bizarre counterpoint to the truly unprovoked, concerted bird attacks which befall them and the Bodegan citizens.
See Hitchcock's "The Birds," and analyze it thoroughly (Don't bother watching the belated and pointless made-for-cable sequel, "Lands End: The Birds II"). Film critics have not said quite the right things about this one... Maybe these professionals don't take kindly to having their 'feathers rustled.'