Customer Reviews

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Special Edition

5 star:		(181)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

More frightening than any horror movie, and more disturbingly tragic than any tearjerker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest remains a great film classic of any time. Shot mainly in a mental institution, and not remembered for pretty scenery, the blu-ray quality is nonetheless wonderful. This film has never looked so good. In terms of extras, there are additional scenes, commentary, 45min. making-of, and the original trailer. I think the only new or exclusive to blu-ray item, may be the 35 page in-case booklet of photos and notes. I'm happiest however, just to have this great quality presentation of a very deserving film.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Drama, 133 minutes
Directed by Milos Forman
Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif

Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors and he can pull off anything from serious drama, to horror, or even comedy. I loved his portrayal of Melvin Udall in As Good as It Gets, but I think R. P. McMurphy is my favorite Nicholson character.

McMurphy is placed in a mental institution for evaluation, but he's really just trying to avoid prison and hard work. We know that he's faking it the whole time. His fellow patients are a weird mixture of oddballs. Some are dangerous, others merely insecure. McMurphy discovers that most of the patients are there on a voluntary basis and he observes that they are no crazier than the average person on the street.

There's a great scene when McMurphy arranges a road trip of sorts and we see how some of the others function when they are in the real world. It does raise an interesting point about mental illness. How much is a result of our environment? Can some of the problems be remedied simply by being placed in the right environment?

The characters have plenty of depth and we gradually learn some of their hopes and fears. The best moment in the entire film involves Juicy Fruit, but I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen the film. If you have, you'll know exactly what I mean.

McMurphy is perceived as subversive and potentially dangerous. When Nurse Ratched (Fletcher) refuses to show the World Series on TV, McMurphy whips the other patients into a frenzy by acting out an imaginary game.

The acting talent on display is seriously good. You can see early performances from the likes of Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito, as well as Brad Dourif's breakout performance as Billy.

The film contains a lot of humor as Nicholson pushes his role to the limit, but there are sad and frightening moments included in the mix. The mood can turn from peaceful to chaotic in the blink of an eye, and reflects the true nature of mental illness. The ending is particularly moving and can be considered both hopeful and desperately sad.

According to IMDB, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest became the first film in 41 years to sweep the major categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best (Adapted) Screenplay. The accolades were thoroughly deserved.

This movie is the best movie i have ever seen.I have this movie and they filmed it in a real mental hospital.They had a tuff time finding a actress to play nurse ratched no one wonted to play that character because she was so evil Louise Fletcher did not wont to play this character either but she did and she did a good job. I give her alot of credit for playing this character because Nurse Ratched is cold hearted.

After reading the book numerous times, and seeing the film at least three times, it is a moving and enjoyable piece of modern culture a la Hollywood style. I can't help but clue into the author's own disappointment over the screenplay however. I refer to an interview with Kesey on NPR. The book's POV is that of the Chief's, and we do not get ANY of that in the film. Completely lost. And it is profoundly important to me that Kesey never in his life watched the film. On a personal note, though I love Jack Nicholson, he was part miscast in that his physical stature never equaled the novel's character. The part of the Chief was brilliant.

This has been buzzing around my ears among my friends and without a doubt; it is one of the best films of all time. Mixing mental health with humor is a tough brand to sell; come to fine out it took several years for this movie to be made. Kirk Douglas had bought the rights hoping to star in it himself, but struggled to find a studio who would produce it; his son Michael eventually did it, but had the foresight to stay off the screen. When you watch it, it's not hard to work out why no-one would touch it - it's subject matter was just too quirky and controversial for Hollywood in the 60s. The film was ideal for representing a burgeoning discontent with society during the post-Vietnam malaise; its audience, like its characters, was feeling enormous dissatisfaction with rules, authority, government and the stupefying way it was treating its people. No wonder that it struck such a chord with cinema-goers.

Many liberties that we take for granted are explored within the narrative of the film: communication (in therapy sessions, where the nurse leads the discussion) freedom (during the 'escape') alcohol (during the party) sex (Billy's turn with the hooker McMurphy imports). The reactions of Nurse Ratched and the orderlies symbolize the reactions of authority when we digress from its designated path; the response of the inmates is to return to the routines and drudgery they entail. The analogy with the restrictive nature of society is glaring.

Enter Randle McMurphy, no respecter of rules or routines, a man who is riotous but also unselfish. Brilliantly played by Jack Nicholson (a masterly piece of casting) McMurphy challenges the established norms and routines of the hospital in pursuit of fun, which irks and then aggravates Nurse Ratched. The positive impact on the other patients is clear and noticeable; it suggests that there is value in breaking away from social expectations, in being spontaneous, in occasionally pursuing personal pleasure or individual goals beyond those authority grants to you. The conclusion suggests that those in authority will do anything to silence those who challenge the social order, but that freedom *is* ultimately accessible, whether by death (McMurphy) or escape (Chief Bromden).

Social analysis aside, the movie is great fun: there are a lot of laughs, a lot of thought-provoking moments, and a few tears. It's certainly one of the finest moments in cinematic history - it came at a time when it was drastically needed by the viewing public, but its content and themes are no less relevant and interesting to us today.

THE MOVIE ITSELF:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the one authentically great movie Milos Foreman has ever made (and he has been imitating it ever since). Anyone familiar with the book will recognize that Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher do not look anything like the descriptions of their characters, and yet they capture the spirit of those characters perfectly. The action has been moved forward in time fifteen years to 1975. This is one of Nicholson's best performances. The movie has an objective, documentary feel to it. We miss out on some characterization because of this (especially the Chief's) but instead we get a sense of what it would be like in a real institution. Despite the subject-matter, it is very funny and has moments of true joy. It is a marvelous piece of 70's filmmaking and ranks as #12 on the IMDB Greatest Movies list. Definitely worth owning.

THE DVD'S:
The DVD's were made from a new transfer so they look and sound terrific. Unfortunately, it is a 2-DVD set, but all of the information could have easily fit on one disc. The only things on the second disc are some deleted scenes and a making-of documentary. The documentary is good, but not great. It tells of how Kirk Douglas first discovered the book and tried to make a movie out of it, but not of the friction when his son Michael (the film's producer) told him he was too old to be in it. There is also no mention of the film's success and its sweep of all the top Oscars. They don't even talk about novelist Ken Kesey (who supposedly was so against the film he still hasn't seen it).

Interesting perspective on early 60's mental health system. Louise Fletcher my favorite. I wouldn't want to be Jack Nicholson. Ya, thats Danny Devito! It's Great on Blu-ray!

C'est un film dramatique toujours au goût du jour. Les acteurs démontrent bien la vie en institution psychiatrique triste et monotone.

There is really not much you can say about this film that hasn't been said already. Brilliant! Brilliant! and more Brilliant! Jack Nicholson is amazing but even his stellar performance is hard to stand alone against such a superb effort by the rest of the cast. I had heard lots about it before I saw it and was surprised at how much it had an effect on me despite the hype. Cinema doesn't get much better than this.

Why this movie isn't a better seller is beyond me. Forget about whether it is "the best mental institution movie" ever made, it's one of the best movies, period. If you're really interested in the film, I highly suggest you read Kensey's book which has much more detail than the film. Sill, with Nicholson's acting (not to mention Nurse Ratched and everyone else, including Danny DeVito), you can't go wrong. I first saw this film the year it came out, and I was in high school. It blew me away then, and now, after all these years, it still blows me away. Truly one of the best ever made.