One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Reviews Counted: 54
Fresh: 52 | Rotten: 2
The onscreen battle between Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher serves as a personal microcosm of the culture wars of the 1970s -- and testament to the director's vision that the film retains its power more than three decades later.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 2
The onscreen battle between Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher serves as a personal microcosm of the culture wars of the 1970s -- and testament to the director's vision that the film retains its power more than three decades later.
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Average Rating: 4.2/5
User Ratings: 229,520
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Movie Info
With an insane asylum standing in for everyday society, Milos Forman's 1975 film adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is a comically sharp indictment of the Establishment urge to conform. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, manic free spirit Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is sent to the state mental hospital for evaluation. There he encounters a motley crew of mostly voluntary inmates, including cowed mama's boy Billy (Brad Dourif) and silent Native American Chief Bromden (Will Sampson),
Nov 19, 1975 Limited
Dec 9, 1997
United Artists
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Cast
-
Jack Nicholson
Randle Patrick McMurphy -
Louise Fletcher
Nurse Mildred Ratched -
Will Sampson
Chief Bromden -
Scatman Crothers
Turkle Crothers -
-
William Redfield
Harding -
Dean R. Brooks
Dr. John Spivey -
Danny DeVito
Martini -
William Duell
Sefelt -
Brad Dourif
Billy Bibbit -
Christopher Lloyd
Taber -
Vincent Schiavelli
Frederickson -
Delos V. Smith
Scanlon -
Marya Small
Candy -
Louisa Moritz
Rose -
Mimi Sarkisian
Nurse Pilbow -
Nathan George
Attandant Washington -
Michael Berryman
Ellis -
Peter Brocco
Col. Matterson -
Alonzo Brown Jr.
Miller -
Mwako Cumbuka
Warren -
Josip Elic
Bancini -
Lan Fendors
Nurse Itsu -
Sidney Lassick
Charlie Cheswick -
Dwight Marfield
Ellsworth -
Ted Markland
Hap Arlich -
Phil Roth
Woolsey -
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All Critics (54) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (2) | DVD (37)
There's a lot here. But with a classic like Cuckoo's Nest, too much is never enough.
One Flew over the Cuckoo 's Nest is an earnest attempt to make a serious film. But in the end the movie backs away from both the human reality and the cloudy but potent symbolism that Ken Kesey found in the asylum.
Viewed 30 years after its release, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest remains a very good motion picture, although one that perhaps just misses the pinnacle of greatness where its reputation suggests it resides.
Jack Nicholson stars in an outstanding characterization of Ken Kesey's asylum anti-hero, McMurphy, and Milos Forman's direction of a superbly-cast film is equally meritorious.
Jack Nicholson plays McMurphy as if he were born to it, and the supporting cast provides fine, detailed performances.
Set in an insane asylum, the film involves the oppression of the individual, a struggle spearheaded by an ebullient Nicholson, turning in a star performance if ever there was one.
Top CriticCast, direction, score, look -- perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect.
I enjoyed the picture because it is an action romance, worked out in wonderfully inventive detail and presented with mesmeric immediacy by one of the screen's most resourceful directors.
The 35th anniversary edition of this great film contains many bonuses, such as original trailer, deleted scenes, new interview with producer Michael Douglas, and a wonderful segment called Completely Cuckoo with fascinating details about behind the scenes
Classic and brilliant, but violence makes it teens only.
Nicholson gets to use all the colors on his palette, from quiet, troubled contemplation to the disturbingly truthful, live-wire jesting with which he has become best associated. [Blu-ray]
A marvel of contemporary filmmaking with intelligence, entertainment value, and ponderings on life, manhood, and how society can be much scarier than nurses in white coats...
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest remains a stunning collective of method acting and 1970s social critique, even more so with this pristine and dense Blu-ray collector's edition from Warner Bros.
It's mostly Nicholson that makes the film work, with his fun, but very intelligent, canny turn.
A great cast, great screenplay and great performance makes One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest an enjoyable and thought provoking movie.
A rare screen adaptation of a beloved novel that maintains the emotional and dramatic power of the original while establishing its own distinctive approach to the story...
The genius of the film is that you never feel you're being preached at, but rather being allowed a fly-on-the-wall view of a systematic crushing of humanity.
To do further justice to a genuine classic, Warner Bros. make the movie available in a new, high-definition Blu-ray box set. (Ultimate Collector's Blu-ray Edition)
The film remains as fresh, shocking, depressing and exhilarating as when it was released.
Audience Reviews for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Randle Patrick McMurphy: Chief, just jump up, and put it in the basket. Jump and put it in the basket. No, not you Machini.
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- Randle Patrick McMurphy: I tried, god dammit. At least I did that.
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- Randle Patrick McMurphy: You guys complain how much you hate it here, and then don't even have the guts to leave! You're all crazy!
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- Randle Patrick McMurphy: Harding, give him one of your cigarettes.
- Harding: But it's my last one.
- Randle Patrick McMurphy: That's a fucking lie. Now just give him one.
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- Charlie Cheswick: Rules?! Piss on your fucking rules, Nurse Ratchet!
-
- Randle Patrick McMurphy: Jesus Christ Almighty! Do you nuts wanna play cards or do you wanna fucking jerk off!?
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Does Nurse Ratched deserve to be #4 on the AFI 's greatest villians list? | 2 months ago | 3 |
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Foreign Titles
- Einer flog über das Kuckucksnest (DE)
- Vol au-dessus d'un nid de coucou (FR)
