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Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, English, Spanish, Korean, Subtitled
Soar to new heights in this spellbinding and captivating movie starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. To escape an irrational world, Birdy (Modine), an ex-Vietnam veteran, sits in an almost catatonic state in an Army hospital where he has come to believe he is one of the feathered creatures of his boyhood dreams. In an effort to break Birdy's silence his psychiatrist brings in Al Columbato (Cage), Birdy's loyal best friend of his youth. A battle-scarred veteran himself, Al desperately tries to reach the disturbed Birdy and bring him back to reality. The answer may lie in their youth where the eccentric Birdy first donned wings and the happy-go-lucky Al helped him to fly. Birdy is a movie about friendship. Part comedy. Part drama. Part and parcel unlike anything you've seen before. And all of it a soaring experience.
"Terrific performances..." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
"...hypnotic, evocative...compelling Peter Gabriel soundtrack." VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
"Two thumbs up!" Siskel & Ebert
Editor's Note
In Alan Parker's adaptation of William Wharton's acclaimed novel, the title character is a Vietnam vet hospitalized for postwar trauma. Lying in a state of amentia, Birdy (Matthew Modine) fantasizes about birds in flight, an obsession that has haunted him since childhood. Now this fascination acts as a barrier to reality and the pain of his years in Vietnam. After doctors' efforts fail to cure him, his childhood friend Al (Nicolas Cage)--also a discharged soldier nursing wounds from the war--is brought in to try to coax Birdy out of his hallucinations.BIRDY, told largely in stark, lyrical flashbacks from Al's point of view, is both a heartrending examination of the psychological consequences of war and an ode to the spiritually rejuvenating powers of friendship and imagination. The two young leads turn in powerful, humane performances. Parker (MIDNIGHT EXPRESS) provides innovative direction, most notably in the film's stunning, controversial ending.
Plot Summary
The childhood pal of a catatonic, war-scarred Vietnam veteran is recruited to assist doctors in bringing him out of his delusional haze.
| Features | Scene Selections | | Theatrical Trailer | | Bonus Trailers | | Talen Files | | Chinese Subtitles | | Korean Subtitles | | Thai Subtitles | | English Subtitles | | Spanish Subtitles | | Portuguese Subtitles | | Interactive Menus | | English Track: 2-Channel Dolby Surround | | Protuguese Track: Mono | | Digitally Mastered Audio | | Digitally Mastered Anamorphic Video | | Director's Production Notes |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Columbia Tri-Star |
| Release Date: 5/13/2008 |
| Running Time: 120 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1984 | | Catalog ID: 04579 | | UPC: 00043396045798 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, Portuguese Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Chinese | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.33:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Cannes Film Festival (1985) |  | Alan Parker, Winner, Grand Prize Of Jury |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Birdy's intensity is so captivating...that [the] story becomes irresistibly involving....[The two lead] actors work miracles..." 12/21/1984 p.C25Variety
"...[Modine] skillfully essays the offbeat troubled character....[Cage is] sensitive and strong....[The] supporting parts are excellently cast..." 12/12/1984 Entertainment Weekly
Rating: B 06/17/1994 p.56 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Nicholas Cage is tops as Al...whilst Matthew Modine is superlative as Birdy....A truly beautiful movie." 02/01/2007 p.49 The Motion Picture Guide 8 of 10
...successfully brings a complex psychological novel to the screen without omitting one salient point or complex image as it flows and flies along... Cage and Modine offer outstanding performances... All of the acting is first quality and the score by rocker Peter Gabriel is right on the money.
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