Birdy (1984) on Netflix
In 1960s Philadelphia, Birdy and his friend Al share a fascination with birds and flight. After Vietnam, Birdy believes he is a bird and is hospitalized; Al tries to reach him.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.2/1026,857 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes84%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1960s Philadelphia, Birdy and his friend Al pursue Birdy's hobby of catching pigeons and keeping them in an aviary Birdy has built outside his home. After Birdy falls from a refinery roof and believes he flew, his parents dismantle the aviary. The boys restore an old Ford, but an Atlantic City trip ends in arrest and the car is sold. Birdy builds a bedroom aviary with canaries Perta and Alfonso. After Vietnam, Birdy is in a military mental hospital, silent and believing he is a bird. Al, his face bandaged, is in the same hospital and tries to reach him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Birdy (1984)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For the scenes where Al Columbato's face is disfigured and swathed in bandages, Nicolas Cage lost 15 pounds and had two of his front teeth pulled out, saying he wanted to look like he had been hit by a bomb.
- Birdy was the first film to be partially shot with the Skycam, a computer-controlled, cable-suspended system created by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown, using 100-foot posts, four computer-controlled hanging wires and a lightweight Panavision camera holding 200 feet of film.
- The Skycam worked on its first take, but Alan Parker wanted the shot filmed faster; on the second take the system broke down after 40 seconds, so the rest of the sequence was shot with a Steadicam mounted on an improvised camera dolly.
- To let his British crew work on Birdy, Alan Parker made a deal with the IATSE union that forced him to employ at least four members of the two camera locals so that cinematographer Michael Seresin, camera operator Michael Roberts and editor Gerry Hambling could join the film.
- Birdy's flight on an ornithopter was filmed at the Newby Island landfill in Santa Clara County, where the exposed garbage and methane smell worried the cast and crew; a nearby reservoir where Birdy was to land was dropped after a water test showed it was hazardous.
- The film's napalm strike was staged by the special effects department with fifteen 20-gallon drums of gasoline rigged with explosive charges, and the explosions were captured using four cameras.
- Peter Gabriel built the Birdy score from tapes of previously recorded material spanning four years, remixing them with music producer Daniel Lanois for select scenes in the film.
