History Film / Birdemic

* PrimaDonnaDirector: Production videos show that James Nguyen is quite the "my way or the highway", abrasive director, which might explain why so many cringe-worthy dialog remains in, as he's seen angrily telling people to read the script as is. He then [[http://www.sugarraydodge.com/2016/08/birdemic-director-james-ngyuen-attempts.html attacked]] the maker of a parody of ''Birdemic''.

* ShownTheirWork: Exploding birds aside, the film actually contains quite a bit of information about real-life effects of global warming (melting polar ice, changing ocean temperatures, invasive species, etc.)

* NoisyNature: The "golden eagles" and "turkey vultures" make a constant, repeating seagull cry while attacking.

** Rick thinks "a day without sex is a day wasted." (This character was reused from the other film by Nguyen, ''Julie and Jack''.)

** In Nathalie's photoshoot, she wears Vietnamese fashions like an ''ao dai''. For their date, Rod and Nathalie go to a Vietnamese restaurant. Director/Writer/Producer Nguyen is from Vietnam.

* BusFullOfInnocents: A bus full of people are trapped by birds. The heroes "rescue" them.

* CrazyPrepared: Ramsey is either a survival nut or a domestic terrorist, considering how he just happened to have a bunch of guns in his van when the birds started attacking.

* SpaceWhaleAesop: If you contribute to global warming, the polar ice caps will melt, pine beetles will breed out of control, and ''angry, exploding animated .GIF birds will attack you''.

* CaptainObvious: The back of the DVD cover describes Nathalie as "a sexy lingerie model", as opposed to all those plain, unattractive lingerie models we see so often on the Victoria's Secret catalog covers.

''Birdemic'' is a 2008 American independent horror film written, directed, and produced by James Nguyen. The story is a WholePlotReference to Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'' and tells the story of a romantic couple whose relationship is interrupted by a sudden attack of killer birds, with a very overt GreenAesop.

* FanService: Nathalie in her underwear.

''Birdemic'' is a 2008 American independent horror film written, directed, and produced by James Nguyen. The story is a WholePlotReference to Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'', and tells the story of a romantic couple whose relationship is interrupted by a sudden attack of killer birds, with a very overt GreenAesop.

* ActingUnnatural: An unintentional example - early in the movie, Alan Bagh, who plays Rod, was [[PerformanceAnxiety hyperconscious of the camera being on him]] and apparently couldn't walk naturally on camera and ends up looking like he's made of wood. Then he starts talking, and it becomes apparent that everything about him is wooden.

** Nathalie also mentions more than once that Rod is different from all the other guys she's dated, who were only into her for the sex. So apparently All Men Are Perverts, Except Rod. Even then, it's a BrokenAesop: Rod tries to invite himself in to Nathalie's apartment after their first date. Though, it might be argued that Rod's intents were virtuous, and Nathalie didn't want to tempt ''herself''.

* AsYouKnow: At the end of their double date, Rod helpfully points out to the others that the movie they just finished watching was ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth.'' It's shoehorned into the dialogue so awkwardly that it's clear Nguyen was desperate to name drop it.

** Green Tech - to the point of giving Rod a hybrid Ford Mustang.

* DeusExMachina: Rod, Nathalie and the children are [[RuleOfSymbolism saved by doves who chase off the eagles.]] Never mind the fact that eagles prey on doves.

** Rod in many scenes, such as his muted reaction to Nathalie walking out of their hotel bathroom in her underwear, killer birds attacking him and his company, and selling his company for one billion dollars. About the only time he shows any sort of emotion is when he makes his million dollar sale near the beginning, where he shouts "Whoo-hoo!" while MilkingTheGiantCow. He's back to his normal bland self seconds later.
** Ramsey doesn't seem terribly upset over Becky's death. But neither is the audience since the suspenseful music is playing for a good 15 seconds before the bird actually kills her.
* EasyEvangelism: All it takes is one viewing of "Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' to convince Rick to be more eco-friendly. Rod and Nathalie listen to at least two speeches about the dangers of global warming and accept what they hear without question.

-->'''[[Podcast/RiffTrax Kevin]]:''' ''(seeing Nathalie)'' What were people's complaints about this movie again?

* GenreShift: So abrupt you can hear the gearbox break!
* GreenAesop: Characters speak highly of green technology before GaiasVengeance rears its head and various characters assert that global warming is killing the Earth.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Ramsey wishes people could "just give peace a chance" but he drives around in a van filled with assault rifles and pistols.

** They use coat hangers to fight off the birds in the first scene with them. The coat hangers [[http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2011-03-07-Birdemic07_ST_N.htm weren't part]] of Nguyen's original script. Rod and Nathalie were supposed to grab a shower rod from a room to fend off attacking birds. There were no rods available at the Motel 6 where they were filming the scene, but there ''were'' coat hangers. The actors were aware of the {{Narm}}.

** Rod somehow invents cheap affordable solar power between scenes. He never displays the intelligence to pull off such a feat and can barely pronounce the term "solar panels."
** The actress playing Nathalie is plenty attractive enough to play a model (in fact, Whitney Moore ''is'' a model, as is Alan Bagh (who plays Rod), but for someone who just landed a Victoria's Secret gig no one seems to have any confidence in the future of her career.

* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: Dr Jones is guarding a bridge across two small ponds which would take only a few minutes to walk around.

* LethalChef: Rod's bright idea to try and cook a fish without cleaning and gutting it first. [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome Apparently this leads to Susan getting sick and dying in-between the first and second movie.]]

* MeetCute: The movie doesn't even try one. Rod sees Nathalie at a restaurant, stares at her creepily, then follows her out like a stalker. He strikes up the world's most boring conversation with her, and somehow gets her phone number.
* MoodWhiplash: The movie shifts abruptly from a poorly executed romance to a monster movie thriller at the halfway point. Besides the two brief encounters with CGI birds, no suspense is built up prior to the HalfwayPlotSwitch, unlike ''Film/TheBirds''
* MundaneMadeAwesome:

* MyGirlIsNotASlut: Rod defends Nathalie to Rick, who implies she's a GoldDigger (or at least, that women are swayed by material wealth).

* TheQuietOne: The solar panel salesman is unusually soft-spoken, and seems to be intimidated by Rod throughout their scene for some reason.
* ReactionShot: Neither movie apparently trusts the audience to believe that a character is dead when they've clearly been killed by a bird. In both movies, each time anyone is killed by a bird, it always cuts to a reaction shot of their dead body, as if to confirm for the viewer each and every time that yes, this character is now dead.

* SanitySlippage: Ramsey suffers one, and "rescues" some people best left unrescued. And the audience.

** At one point, the characters go out on a double date to see ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' - reportedly one of James Nguyen's favorite movies of all time.
** Ramsey's line, "Why can't we just give peace a chance?" is one to [[Music/TheBeatles the Beatles.]]

*** The male lead is named in honor of Rod Taylor, the actor who played the romantic lead in ''Film/TheBirds''. Nathalie's name could also be a reference to the actress who played the female lead of that movie - Nathalie "Tippi" Hedren.

* SpaceWhaleAesop: If you contribute to global warming, the polar ice caps will melt, pine beetles will breed out of control, and ''angry, exploding animated .GIF birds will attack you.''

* TakeThat: Dr. Jones's comment about "playing cowboy with nature" seems like a slap at [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush George W. Bush,]] who was in office when the film was made and wasn't known for being environmentally-friendly.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Nathalie's mother is featured heavily, but once the birds attacked is never mentioned or heard of again. She's revealed to be alright in the sequel, but then disappears again before the next bird attack.

->[[PottyEmergency It's taking a shit]].

* CoversAlwaysLie: "From writer/producer/director/visionary James Nguyen The Master Of The Romantic Thriller[[labelnote:Note]]Read: a guy who had directed two movies before, which could loosely be called romantic thrillers but cannot even loosely be called proof of "mastery"
of the genre[[/labelnote]] comes the story of a sexy lingerie model (Whitney Moore) and a successful software salesman (Alan Bagh) on a weekend getaway to a quaint Northern California town. But when the entire region is attacked by millions of homicidal birds,[[labelnote:Note]]Read two dozen badly done superimposed CGI birds, while ''real'' birds go about their business ignoring the human characters[[/labelnote]] their picturesque paradise becomes a winged hell on earth. Can mankind now survive the avian onslaught of BIRDEMIC? Hollywood legend Tippi Hedren of Hitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'' co-stars[[labelnote:Note]]Meaning appears in ''archive footage''. From ''Nguyen's other film''. On a ''television screen''. For ''one scene''.[[/labelnote]] in the global cult movie phenomenon that Videogum says might end up being the greatest film of all time!"[[labelnote:Note]]They were being sarcastic.[[/labelnote]]

* CoversAlwaysLie: "From writer/producer/director/visionary James Nguyen The Master Of The Romantic Thriller comes the story of a sexy lingerie model (Whitney Moore) and a successful software salesman (Alan Bagh) on a weekend getaway to a quaint Northern California town. But when the entire region is attacked by millions of homicidal birds,[[labelnote:Note]]Read two dozen badly done superimposed CGI birds, while ''real'' birds go about their business ignoring the human characters[[/labelnote]] their picturesque paradise becomes a winged hell on earth. Can mankind now survive the avian onslaught of BIRDEMIC? Hollywood legend Tippi Hedren of Hitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'' co-stars[[labelnote:Note]]Meaning appears in ''archive footage''. From ''Nguyen's other film''. On a ''television screen''. For ''one scene''.[[/labelnote]] in the global cult movie phenomenon that Videogum says might end up being the greatest film of all time!"[[labelnote:Note]]They were being sarcastic.[[/labelnote]]

-->--'''[[WebVideo/JonTron Jon Jafari]]''', concerning this very film

** Dr. Jones' name was likely inspired by [[Film/IndianaJones Indiana Jones.]]

----

* GaiasVengeance: The birds have become mutated suicide bombers due to global warming, apparently in the span of a day.

* AuthorAppeal: Green Tech - to the point of giving Rod a hybrid Ford Mustang.
** Also in Nathalie's photoshoot, she wears Vietnamese fashions like an ''ao dai'', and for the date Rodd and Nathalie go to a Vietnamese restaurant. Director/Writer/Producer Nguyen is from Vietnam.
* AuthorAvatar: The protagonist of this (and those of the director's other two films) are tech salesmen. Guess what profession the director used to work in? The protagonist attracts a Victoria's Secret model by creepily stalking her.

** At each stop during the day of the attack, they get a large amount of water. At the first stop, they get a 24 pack of water bottles, then 2 1 gallon jugs of water at the next and then shortly afterwards stop to get water from a stream.

* CaptainObvious: The back of the DVD cover describes Nathalie as "a sexy lingerie model", [[SarcasmMode as opposed to all those plain, unattractive lingerie models we see so often on the Victoria's Secret catalog covers.]]

** The actress playing Nathalie is plenty attractive enough to play a model (in fact, Whitney Moore ''is'' a model, as is Alan Bagh (who plays Rod), but for someone who just landed a Victoria's Secret gig no one seems to have any confidence in the future of her career. (Judging by Mom, however, this may be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that she might lose her looks earlier than she'd like.)

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Dr. Jones's lecture on global warming is set to rousing, majestic music that lends total authority to his words.

* TakeThat: Dr. Jones' comment about "playing cowboy with nature" seems like a slap at [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush George W. Bush,]] who was in office when the film was made and wasn't known for being environmentally-friendly.

** Ramsey's line, "Why can't we just give peace a chance?" is one to the Beatles.
** Dr. Jones' name was likely inspired by Indiana Jones.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: In James Nguyen's director commentary, he draws attention to several examples. For instance, the man who steals Rod's gas is wearing a cowboy hat, as a reference to Dr. Jones' warning about "playing cowboy with nature."

* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The first half of the movie is a romance, while the second half is a horror movie, mirroring ''TheBirds''.

** There's also several references to another one of Nguyen's favorite films, ''TheBirds''.

*** The male lead is named in honor of Rod Taylor, the actor who played the romantic lead in ''TheBirds''. Nathalie's name could also be a reference to the actress who played the female lead of that movie - Nathalie "Tippi" Hedren.