Rating: 
Summary: Excellent movie.
Review: Jack Nicholson's performance in this movie was spectacular. He played a free-spirit who enters a mental institution to supposedly avoid jail time. It could also be a deviant way of studying sociology within a mental hospital. The inmates are plausible, and at the same time, very likeable characters a lot of people can identify with, and Louise Fletcher made the perfect Nurse Ratchet. I hated Nurse Ratchet with a passion, which only made me respect Fletcher and her amazing portrayal of her. The Indian guy was pretty cool too, and perhaps also was like McMurphy in posing as a mentally ill patient (the Indian was believed to be deaf, dumb and mute) to in a way study the world they live in.
The ending has to be one of the most moving scenes ever to be put to film. I don't want to give away the ending for those who want to see the movie, but it was a symbolic way of finding personal freedom in a rather confined world, especially when you're institutionalized.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: is an extremely moving film, and very funny also. I definitely recommend it
Rating:
Summary: One of the All Time Greats
Review: This is one of the greats, folks.
And if ever a movie deserved a Special Edition DVD, it's this one. I've watched the movie plus the 13 minutes of deleted scenes and the documentary on the making of the film and I'm still hungry for more. It deserves every second of attention.(I'd liked to have seen more discussion of the novel but, as has been known for decades, author Ken Kesey never saw the movie and distanced himself from it. He said it would have been like "watching his child murdered" or something. Go figure. How many novelists would have given their writing arm to see an adaption as good this one?) One thing that struck me watching the movie after all these years is how director Milos Foreman never misses an expression in every scene. From the documentary, we find out that he filmed without letting the actors know who was being filmed, so the acting and timing and editing become a marvel to watch. The cast, the writing, the director--it just doesn't get any better than this!
Rating: 
Summary: COOOOKU
Review: This is an old video but it was very interesting when I saw. If you like surprise endings, you will like this video. The message is if you pretend that you are crazy you will be taken seriously.
Rating:
Summary: See this movie, all you mental defectives
Review: This is one of those rare works where the movie is equal in quality to the book. Although there are differences between the book and the movie (most notably, the story in the book is told from the Chief's perspective), the movie compares well to the exceptional book by Ken Kesey.
The whole cast (with maybe the possible exception of the doctor who was played by the actual doctor in that institution) is outstanding. Look for faces of the now well-known Christopher Lloyd and Danny Devito in supporting roles. But the two stand-outs are, of course, Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. Anyone else playing those characters of patient and nurse is unthinkable.
Milos Foreman is so masterful at creating atmosphere that the viewer actually feels as though he were on the ward there with the patients.
The only extra on with the package is a pretty good "looking back" documentary. But the DVD transfer looks great and there is a nice Dolby Digital audio track. And you don't get this movie for the extras or the special effects; you get it because of the great story and performances. Own it. And read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Nicholson Flies High!
Review: Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Will Sampson, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Vincent Schiavelli, and Brad Dourif. This was the best Drama ever. It starts with a criminal named Randle Patrick McMurphy(Jack Nicholson) who is transfered to a mental institution because people think he is insane, although he is not. He causes a bit of trouble(he escapes and steals a bus, he steals a charter boat etc.) so Nurse Mildred Ratched(Louise Fletcher) becomes inpatient with McMurphy. McMurphy notices that the patients are being mistreated, so McMurphy teaches them a bit about standing up for themselves. There were 5 Academy Awards including Best Actor(Jack Nicholson), Best Actress(Louise Fletcher), and Best Director and Picture(Milos Forman). Brad Dourif was nominated Best Supporting Actor for an Acadamy Award and I think that he should have won. Jack Nicholson had his best performance in this movie. With a great story and just about a great everything, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" flys high for being one of the best movies ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Labotomy!
Review: Jack Nicholson plays Randall Patrick McMurphy, a newly acquired mental patient in Nurse Ratched's (mean, ugly lady) ward. He swears and cheats the other patients of their money because he really isn't crazy, you see. McMurphy manipulates the nurses to give him cigarettes and fights a good fight against authority. The novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey was more vulgar and outrageous than the film, but the film keeps the characters the same. The big chief was hilarious breaking out of the hospital at the end. Nobody could have lifted that sink out of the ground. Gargantuan! Even though patients lose their minds and drool all over the place, the orderlies have to clean up after them. In the end, the big chief cleaned up after McMurphy's mess.
Rating: 
Summary: DEFINITIVE JACK! DVD LACKS
Review: This review refers to the December 1997 release of this DVD(WB)...
With the new Special Edition ...(released Sept 2002) and for sale here, I thought you might be trying to decide on which edition to get. So don't cringe at my 4 star rating of this movie, I give the movie itself 5 stars at least! My review will be of the earlier edition.
First the movie... Jack Nicholson in top form plays Randall McMurphy, the newest arrival on the ward at a state mental institution. He has been transfered from prison to be "observed" to determine if he is really as "crazy" as he seems. He sees it as a kind of a vacation for the time he has left and at first is pretty happy to be there. He immediatley begins to breath a little life into this otherwise "sedate" ward, much to the chagrin of the overseerer, the very evil Nurse Ratched(played brillantly by Louise Fletcher).She is the devil in a nurses uniform. She has had complete control and her finger on the button of every patiteint there until the arrival of "Mac".
The other patitents (with excellant performances by Danny Devito,Christopher Llyod and Brad Dourif among others)normally obiediant and under her thumb start to come out of there shells and go along for the ride with "Mac". And what a ride,they have new experiences that make them feel like real men.(Look for Scatman Crothers on the night shift)
Nurse Ratched knows which buttons to press to get them back under her control though, and she's REAL good at it. So it is a battle of wills between Mac and Ratched, and I won't give away the results in case you havn't seen it.
The film under the direction of Milos Forman swept the 5 big ones at Oscar time(1975), and well deserved.It was also honored with many other international awards. We truley get a feeling for these men and the conditions they live under.
Now the DVD. For the most part. it's pretty good, the picture is clear, no graininess, but the colors seem a little dated. The widescreen in good (There is a standard format on the other side for those who prefer), The sound is not the greatest. The background music is great but the dialouge seems to go in and out, sometimes muffled sometimes to loud. It is in Dolby Dig 2.0. If your interested in the Extras, there are some (filmographies, tribute to Scatman Crothers, facts about the making of the movie), there is no live commentary.There are subtitles in Eng French and Spanish.
Although I have not seen the newly released special edition yet, I see that it has been digitally restored and is now in Dolby Dig 5.1. And for those that love the extras, looks like there are lots, including a documentary. If you are buying it for the first time, the new one is only a few dollars more, I say go for it if you can. I plan to upgrade mine, this film is unique and too good not to see it in the best possible format. In either case this is a must have film for your collection.
See Jack Run.......Laurie
Rating:
Summary: A Reminder of What Professionalism Should Be
Review: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest was a most unique, Academy Award winning film. Never before have I witnessed a motion picture where a character such as R.P. McMurphy, as well portrayed by Jack Nicholson, is admitted into a mental institution and as a patient quickly sees the lack of care administered by the available nurses and doctors. Quite disturbing is the idea that he is not formally educated and yet is the only one who truly sees the underlying problems that prevent the psychiatric ward from becoming a well-run facility. Also troubling is seeing that his attempts to address any concerns or solutions to the administrators are met with responses in the nature of "Don't bother trying to help us, little man. We know what's best for you and your kind". The cold attitudes and retorts that McMurphy and the rest of the patients deal with are primarily expressed by the head nurse, Mildred Ratched, who is the mouthpiece of the doctors and staff. As a medical worker and as a person, she keeps herself both physically and emotionally at more than an arm's distance from the patients. She is there to recite and strictly enforce her interpretation of the rules and regulations of the hospital, many of which are questionable and seem to be adding to the detriment as opposed to the benefit of each patient. Anyone who questions Nurse Ratched will often be replied to by her soft-spoken but inflexible demands that the rules are established and that changing them or bending them a little for maybe just one evening is unacceptable. Throughout the movie, Nurse Ratched and the rest of the staff seem to carry out this passive aggressive power trip of not just enforcing the rules but also tossing all the patients' concerns to the side and then fitting them around all the regulations present. Instead of acknowledging that their strict interpretations might be preventing the mentally ill from receiving the help that they need, they simply gloss over their lack of expressed concern or performance and believe that having everyone simply comply with the enforced hospital codes will be a fix-all. This classic is one of the most thought-provoking films I have ever seen, and it is regarded as a display of individualism versus institutional conformity. More explicitly, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is also a personification of how truly dealing with the heart of the matter can come into conflict with an institutionalized strict, letter-by-letter, interpretation of due process. And for those, including myself, who sometimes serve as figures of authority, there is a stark, but very important, theme that appears to emanate from this film. It is the following: There can be a very thin line between true professional conduct and that which does not quite qualify as such, even when intentions are good.
Rating:
Summary: Nicholson Flies High
Review: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is one of only three films in history to win the Academy Awards for best picture, actor, actress and director (It Happened One Night & Silence Of The Lambs are the others). They were richly deserved as Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Milos Forman are all outstanding. The film is based on the Ken Kesey novel and takes place in a state mental institution. Mr. Nicholson is R.P. McMurphy who is a convict and decides it's better to spend some time in the loony bin instead of jail. Once in, he stirs the pot and locks horns with the iron-fisted Nurse Ratched played by Ms. Fietcher. The film, as the book, looks at the rigidness of the so called establishment and it's goal of making everyone, through whatever means necessary, conform to its rules. Mr. Nicholson brings a manic energy and charm to the role of R.P. McMurphy. Ms. Fletcher is menacing as the evil Nurse Ratched and Brad Dourif is superb as a mental patient. Mr. Forman paints with broad strokes and he pushes things to extremes.
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