Customer Reviews
Good portrait of Charlie 'Bird' Parker - By: Phoust, 07 Sep 2007 
"Bird"(1988) directed by Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven,1992; Mystic River,2003; Million Dollar Baby,2004) is first & foremost a great 1940s period drama. Secondly it just happens to be about one of jazz's great musicians, Charles "Bird" Parker. Bird was a great jazz innovator with the development of Bebop which reallly moved jazz on from just being mere entertainment toward art, drawing heavily on the music of Stravinsky & Varese. Sadly Bird died just as jazz beginning to feel the threat of Rock 'n' Roll although jazz would continue to evolve further into the 1960s.
Clint Eastwood's direction can't be faulted in this loving portrait to Bird who is performed by Forest Whitaker (Platoon,1986). The film uses stylisticallly a lot Film Noir elements & at times resembles films of the period. Even if you're not a jazz fan check it out because it's a good film & that reallly is Bird playing on the soundtrack.
This Film Changed My Life..... - By: Stefan, 10 Aug 2007 
I was a punk rocker when my girlfriend at the time made me sit through this, but by the end my life was turned around music wise & I became a Jazz head.
Even though I later discovered that Eastwood had played around with some facts in the film, this still is a outstanding story of a man who lived a true "Jazz" sytle life, the music, the drink, the women, & the drugs which sad to say made his music so perfect & blue.
Even if your not a jazz fan you should at least give the film a chance.
One of Eastwood best todate....
Very good film - By: S J Buck, 18 Nov 2006 I've just bought this in HMV so I don't know why Amazon can't supply it (update they can now)!
Anyway its a very good biopic of the great Jazz Alto Saxophonist Charlie Parker. This is a warts & alll film, so alll the bad things in Birds life (drugs etc) are covered as well as his marvellous playing. For the film his original sax playing was used, but new backing was put to it using modern musicians (such as Herbie Hancock). I imagine this was done to improve the overalll sound quality.
In many ways its a very sad story, but Eastwood shows a steady hand & does a good job balancing the great music with his troubled life. Well worth getting.
