One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [VHS]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [VHS]
by Milos Forman

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, William Redfield
Director: Milos Forman
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 133 minutes
Release Date: 1998-02-03
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Studio: Warner Home Video

VHS Movie Reviews of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [VHS]

Movie Review: Great Title, Greater Movie
Summary: 4 Stars

Based upon the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey, the book, along with this great film, is said to be some kind of social commentary, being a clash of the establishment and rebellion. Some people say that this movie is merely just a footnote of the times. I disagree. In 2009, I can watch this movie and understand it greatly, and I can still appreciate this movie's many little sayings on various human qualities (according to the reviewer, the novel is more trippy or something. Beats me). Oh, and it also has fun and freshness thanks to the many quirky characters (hey, it's a mental hospital!).

Unlike what other people say, I don't think this movie is really a product of it's time. Such themes as sadism, supression, and other means of control are nothing new, things that are probably just human nature and happen all the time. People who get great pleasure from controlling others who are inferior regarding mental strength is nothing exclusive to the early 60's. Teachers these days sometimes do it to kids. Roommates can do it to another roommate. Observing others, and you will most definitely find many elements of human nature. I agree with Jim Emerson in that the characters actions are all human nature, not just the mindset of it's times.

This also is a character study that I don't mind studying at all. These kind of characters are quirky, totally likeable, with tons of traits that make you feel emotions for these characters portrayed on screen (being fictional, no less). They do it with ease. Randal McMurphy is a rebel who is likeable, and I feel that Nurse Ratched is a despicable human being, with no sympathy toward her. These two central people fight for their own beliefs, and it's great to see Ratched's tryannical and slightly sadistic and cruel iron fist slowly go down in a vain attempt to stop the rebel. Sidestepping the battle between the two, the rest of the ward is just as good, with the same kind of traits. The Chief is a noble, interesting, and mysterious man who really makes an impression. You can learn a lot more by reading the book on this character (since the book is narrated from his eyes). I also find quite al iking for Billy on a particular note, simply because I feel it's just so bad to have a mother who prevents her son from liking women (what a life that must be). His demise in particular makes you wince when you think about it.

I could go on and on, and while they don't feel like your friends or anything of that nature (I tend to only feel that way about Dazed and Confused), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest feels just like one of the classic stories where you love reading about them and the story, and don't feel like your falling victim to the 3rd person syndrome.

I also think the directing is very nice, as well as the music and visuals. Sure, this isn't a highly stylized picture of any sorts, in fact, the grainy picture (thanks to the picture of the DVD and the movie's old print, I think) makes it seem kind of flat, almost documentary looking style. However, while that's cool, the directing is top notch, effortlessy made. However, I think what also makes the movie look special is what he captures. I think this guy captures some great shots, and there's nothing more. Oregon is a beautiful state (this whole movie is shot on site), and the scene where he breaks the inmates out of feels is as refreshing on screen as it would be in real life. The music makes the movie even more better. Especially a scene such as described works wonders, because the music is light, and beautifully captures the whole moment of it. Easy to see why Milos Forman got an Academy Award for Best Director, his 1st out of his 2nd Academy Award (Amadeus).

I admit that I kind of beamed when I read "Smashingly Effective, Emotionally Powerful" from the late great Pauline Kael, hearing it from a critic such as that (she seems very opinionated and doesn't shower praise like some other critics). I only thought the bad thing was the ending, which was good but not as good as the novel version. While this movie may not quite live up to that, I feel that One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to still be a film that has q bit of everything, including humor, some tragedy, some social commentary, and a place with people you would probably want to visit more than once. This is an entertaining and powerful movie worth seeing again and again.

B+

Movie Review: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Summary: 5 Stars

Excellent.....I had forgotten how well written this movie was and the acting
is superb....

Movie Review: A great classic movie with some interesting view points
Summary: 4 Stars

I've had some bad experiences in the past with blu-ray discs and older movies. Most of the time they are just scamming people out of a couple bucks by putting it in a blu-ray box.

This isn't one of those movies, the picture quality and sound quality are above and beyond the original. Definitely a great addition to my blu-ray collection.

Movie Review: An Emotionally Provocative Piece
Summary: 5 Stars

The edition is fairly generous with it's bonus material.It doesn't stretch for eight hours, but the commentary is interesting. As for the movie, It genuinely a classic example of the art of film. It is made beautifully in terms of cinematography and the characters are only played by extraordinary actors. It's not the same Jack from "Chinatown", "The Shining", or Tim Burton's "Batman". "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a turning point in his career and it solidifies his versatility as an actor. This DVD edition was great collectors item and is good for any Nicholson fanatic or film fan.

Movie Review: Cuckoo
Summary: 5 Stars

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" with Jack Nicholson, and Louise Fletcher was and still is a great film. As you possibly know this film won five Oscars countless other awards. I think this is a sad and feel good film all in one. I rank this with other redemptive films which I think are always the best kind. There is very little of extras on this disk but the notes.

If you have library of films I HIGHLY recommend this one and enjoy.

Write your own review

Summary of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [VHS]

A nice rest in a state mental hospital beats a stretch in the pen, right? Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a free-spirited con with lightning in his veins and glib on his tongue, fakes insanity and moves in with what he calls the "nuts." Immediately, his contagious sense of disorder runs up against numbing routine. No way should guys pickled on sedatives shuffle around in bathrobes when the World Series is on. This means war! On one side is McMurphy. On the other is soft-spoken Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), among the most coldly monstrous villains in film history. At stake is the fate of every patient on the ward. Based on Ken Kesey's acclaimed bestseller, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest swept all five major 1975 Academy Awards: Best Picture (produced by Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas), Actor (Nicholson), Actress (Fletcher), Director (Milos Forman) and Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman). Raucous, searing and with a superb cast that includes Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd in his film debut, this one soars.

One of the key movies of the 1970s, when exciting, groundbreaking, personal films were still being made in Hollywood, Milos Forman's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest emphasized the humanistic story at the heart of Ken Kesey's more hallucinogenic novel. Jack Nicholson was born to play the part of Randle Patrick McMurphy, the rebellious inmate of a psychiatric hospital who fights back against the authorities' cold attitudes of institutional superiority, as personified by Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). It's the classic antiestablishment tale of one man asserting his individuality in the face of a repressive, conformist system--and it works on every level. Forman populates his film with memorably eccentric faces, and gets such freshly detailed and spontaneous work from his ensemble that the picture sometimes feels like a documentary. Unlike a lot of films pitched at the "youth culture" of the 1970s, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest really hasn't dated a bit, because the qualities of human nature that Forman captures--playfulness, courage, inspiration, pride, stubbornness--are universal and timeless. The film swept the Academy Awards for 1976, winning in all the major categories (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay) for the first time since Frank Capra's It Happened One Night in 1931. --Jim Emerson

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