MovieChat Forums > The Birds (1963) Discussion > Weak compared to some of Hitchcock's oth...

Weak compared to some of Hitchcock's others


I'm a huge fan Psycho, North by Northwest and Rear Window, but having only watched this for the first time recently, I found it very hard to enjoy. Maybe the premise of it hasn't aged well compared to the other greats of his, but I can see how it would have been terrifying being seen for the first time in the 60s.
To me what makes the likes of Psycho and Rear Window all-time greats is that they are timeless and (even with dated technology and special effects) the story is still believable, but personally I don't think The Birds falls into that category. The story is long and drawn out, the acting isn't brilliant and the characters don't react realistically

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It’s better than Vertigo, That is for sure.

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this always seems to be the black sheep of his later movies. but i disagree. look, this is by far his most technical and difficult to make movie. no other director would have touched this with a ten foot pole at the time. no cgi, primitive special effects, thousands of real birds. considering this, he pulled it off as well as he possibly could have. having been to bodega bay before and living in the bay area, it's my favorite of all his shooting locations. i love tippi and rod and the school teacher. it's not north by northwest but still a masterpiece in its own right

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I have seen 10 of his films, including all the famous ones, and I consider this his second best after Rear Window. Some of them, like Psycho and Vertigo, are super overrated.

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