The Birds

The Birds (1963)

  • 96% of critics liked it
    (46 reviews)

  • 80% of users liked it
    (150,995 ratings)

The story begins as an innocuous romantic triangle involving wealthy, spoiled Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), handsome Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), and schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette). The human story begins in a San Francisco pet shop and culminates at the home of Mitch's mother… More

Play Trailer

PG-13,
Directed By
Genres
Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
In Theaters
Mar 28, 1963 Wide
Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Andrew Sarris, Village Voice

    Drawing from the relatively invisible literary talents of Daphne DuMaurier and Evan Hunter, Alfred Hitchcock has fashioned a major work of cinematic art, and "cinematic" is the operative term here, not "literary" or "sociological."

  • Richard Brody, New Yorker

    Few films depict so eerily yet so meticulously the metaphysical and historical sense of a world out of joint.

  • J. Hoberman, Village Voice

    Hitch's much misappreciated follow-up to Psycho is arguably the greatest of all disaster films -- a triumph of special effects, as well as the fountainhead of what has become known as gross-out horror.

  • , TIME Magazine

    The movie flaps to a plotless end.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Beneath all of this elaborate feather bedlam lies a Hitch cock-and-bull story that's essentially a fowl ball.

Read all 18 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Universal D


    Hitch is a pro, yah, and never forgets his audience ... but sometimes yah just gotta let the animal out and get yer own groove on, which is what ol'Al does with this outstanding fascination with the fascination with blondes ... and just what Hitch thinks about it. Tension… More

  • paul o


    And the oscar would go to the birds of the movie. The mass collection of many birds make an audience feel like bait towards the end. Its different and has a strange way of showing this with its early green screen technology. Another great entry for fans of the hitchockian genre.

  • Jason C


    I have the utmost respect for Alfred Hitchcock. He was a genius. A true testament to the man's brilliance, is that even after nearly 50 years, nothing is able to capture the towering suspense that Hitchcock directed with the semblance of ease. It's amazing, given the… More

  • Eric A


    The effects and acting certainly aren't what make the film great, it is the mystery and suspense that do it . As to why the birds attack, we will never know because Hitchcock wanted the audience to be able to make their own conclusion. It will leave you in a guessing game… More

  • Sophie B


    A brilliant and tense film that gives you everything but then takes it all away with the ending. I detest the unresolved and cliffhanger ending which isn't really an ending at all. What happened to the characters? What happened to the town? Did the birds ever attack again? So… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Also available on

UltraViolet Retailers

Other Retailers

Subscription Services

Not Available
Not Available
Not Available

Cast

See more (22)

Trailers & Clips

More Like This