The Birds II: Land's End – Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1994
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writers: Ken Wheat, Jim Wheat, Robert Eisele
Cast: Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, James Naughton, Jan Rubes, Tippi Hedren, Stephanie Milford, Megan Gallacher, Richard K. Olsen

Release Date: August 30th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 32 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $42.98

"Ted and Mary have just moved, with their two young daughters, to the sleepy coastal town of Gull Island so that Ted can complete work on his thesis. Everything couldn’t seem more picturesque about their new, seaside home…that is, except for the increasing number of aggressively behaving birds. After surviving an unprovoked nighttime avian invasion, Ted becomes determined to figure out the cause of their unusual behavior; an investigation which leads him to uncover the sinister goings on in the nearby waters. All the while, the birds increase their now deadly attacks, moving up from family pets to human victims…" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm interpositive."

The Birds II: Land's End comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.8 GB

Feature: 23.7 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Colors are nicely saturated, flesh tones look correct, image clarity and black levels are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English, and included with this release are removable English SDH subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and the ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a stills gallery with music from the film playing in the background, a locations featurette with production assistant Craig Edwards titledThe Locations of Birds II (10 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an interview with composer Ron Ramin titled The Silence of the Birds (17 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), a making-of documentary titled Don't Remake Hitchcock Movies (54 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), reversible cover art, and an embossed and spot gloss slipcover limited to 6,000 units.

Summary:

The Birds II: Land's End was directed by Rick Rosenthal (Halloween II), though it bears the Alan Smithee pseudonym because he had his name taken off the final product. The screenplay, which is adapted from Daphne Du Maurier’s short story of the same name, was co-written by Ken Wheat and Jim Wheat (Pitch Black).

Is The Birds II: Land's End a sequel, a remake, or a reimagining of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds? The answer to this is in the eye of the beholder. The Birds II: Land's End takes the same story that served as the foundation of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Other connections to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds include Tippi Hedren, who is in both films, albeit portraying different characters, and The Birds II: Land's End makes a reference to the Bodega Bay bird attack that happened thirty years ago.

All of the films by Alfred Hitchcock cast a long shadow that makes trying to remake or reimagine them a futile act. And though The Birds II: Land's End is not trying to replicate Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, the result is an inferior film that does not fare as well with the same source material as Daphne Du Maurier’s short story. Also, The Birds II: Land's End was a made-for-television movie, which in and of itself comes with its own limitations.

The cast are only given so much to work with, and for the most part, they do a good job. Outside of Jan Rubes (Witness) in the role of an old man named Karl who lives in a lighthouse, no other performances leave a lasting impression.

Though The Birds II: Land's End appears to have a good foundation when it comes to resources, by the time it was unleashed for the world to see, something went awry, and some unneeded changes were made, which led to its director removing their name. Ultimately, The Birds II: Land's End is devoid of all the things that make Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds an extraordinary film.

The Birds II: Land's End makes its way to Blu-ray via a definitive release from Vinegar Syndrome.

Written by Michael Den Boer