One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Job Well Done

If you were in a mental institution but had the opportunity to watch this film, the glass would be half full. September 24, 2008

Movie: 4.5/5 Picture Quality: 2.75~4/5 Sound Quality: 1.5/5 Extras: 2.5/5

Title: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Version: U.S.A / VC-1 BD-25 / Region Free
Running time: 2:13:42
Movie size: 17,720,721,408 bytes
Disc size: 21,099,357,516 bytes
Average video bit rate: 14.25 Mbps

Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
Dolby Digital Audio French 192 kbps 1.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
Dolby Digital Audio German 192 kbps 1.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Italian 192 kbps 1.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps

Subtitles: English / Danish / Dutch / Finnish / French / German / Italian / Japanese / Korean / Norwegian / Portuguese / Spanish / Swedish
Number of chapters: 34

#Audio Commentary
#Documentary: "The Making of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'" (SD, 47 minutes)
#Deleted Scenes (SD, 19 minutes)
#Theatrical Trailer (SD)
#Collectible Booklet - Digi-book - 32-page, full color booklet. September 1, 2008

How Times Change

While I commend the excellent acting of the main characters, I found the film to be boring. After an hour of Nicholson's antics and conflict with the hospital--enough already! The believability is poor. No wonder the novel's author sued. When the Chief is carrying the cabinet, he can barely walk and breathe. But the next shot shows it flying out the heavy-metal screened window like it was launched from a catapult. That action clearly made enough noise to awaken most of the hospital, yet we see many of the patients in that very ward slowly waking up due to other noise. August 31, 2008

One of the best acted movies ever!

The story is not just great--the acting is what really makes it. The acting is supreb, and I'm not just talking about Nicholson! I LOVE the scene where Sydney Lassick (Charley Cheswick) throws a temper tantrum wanting his cigarettes. It is so convincingly real! It was not under or over acted. He hit the nail on the head with that scene. And it is also one of the funniest--especially when the orderlies think Taber is freaking out when he is actually getting burned with a cigarette). Just excellent! August 17, 2008

"She Likes A Rigged Game."

At one point in this movie that is one of the great classics of American films, McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) says of Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) that "she likes a rigged game." And does she ever. She will keep order and conformity at all costs and has to be one of the most despised characters in filmdom. Watching the sparks fly between her and Nicholson as the inmate who fakes mental illness to get sent from prison to a psychiatric hospital is a joy to behold. Both Fletcher and Nicholson, who has never been better in a role, received Oscars for their performances as did the director Milos Forman ("Amadeus"). The film, adapted from the Ken Kesey novel, won best picture as well.

From the opening credits to the closing horrifying scene, this movie holds you in its spellbinding clutches. I cannot recall as good a group of supporting actors as the psychiatric inmates. The are totally convincing and you almost believe that they are actual patients and not acting.

The film makes a compelling statement about the way we treat mental illness in this country as well as so-called professionals who refuse to listen to their patients.

While there are many moments here that will make your laugh, the last few minutes of the film are as dark as anything you will see. It is even better than I remembered. July 20, 2008

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