Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9671 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-04-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on William Wharton's transcendent novel of the same name, this film is about many things: friendship, war, and, of course, birds. The framing device is an effort by a horribly scarred combat soldier (Nicolas Cage) to break through to his best friend, Birdy (Matthew Modine), hospitalised after seemingly being driven mad by fighting in the Vietnam War. Cage then flashes back to their boyhood, where Birdy, a canary aficionado, was considered the school weirdo but managed to be a solid companion none the less. Directed by Alan Parker, it works best as a coming-of-age story, but misses the bizarre psychological transferences of the book, in which Birdy imagines himself within the world of canaries he creates in his bedroom at his parents' house. Modine is fine as an out-of-it misfit enraptured by his own little universe. --Marshall Fine

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
DVD 5
French\German\Italian\Spanish
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital Surround English French Spanish
Mono German Italian
Dolby Digital Surround
Mono
Interactive Menus
Scene Selections
Theatrical Trailer
Filmographies
Arabic\Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\French\German\Greek\Hebrew\Hindi\Hungarian\Icelandic\Italian\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Spanish\Swedish\Turkish

Synopsis
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.