4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

      One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975.

      Directed by Miloš Forman.

      Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif, Scatman Crothers, Sydney Lassick, and Will Sampson.

      SYNOPSIS:

      Celebrating its 50th anniversary, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest makes its 4K Ultra HD debut from Warner Bros. The film looks stunning, and the studio has included a few new interviews; however, it’s worth noting that not all extras from previous editions are included, so you might consider keeping those older copies.

      Only three films have ever been nominated for all five major Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay) and won every one of them—One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is among them, alongside The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and It Happened One Night (1934).

      In revisiting Cuckoo in light of its 50th anniversary and the new 4K Ultra HD release from Warner Bros., I find it still deserving of this distinction. Based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel, it remains a raw and powerful depiction of how the system tends to overpower individuals like Jack Nicholson’s character, Randle Patrick “R.P.” McMurphy.

      McMurphy is admitted to a mental institution after pretending to be mentally ill to escape a work farm for a prison sentence he received for statutory rape. Inside, he meets various individuals, some of whom are there by choice: Martini (Danny DeVito), Charlie Cheswick (Sydney Lassick), Dale Harding (William Redfield), Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif), Max Taber (Christopher Lloyd), and the mysterious, seemingly deaf and mute Native American known simply as “Chief” (Will Sampson).

      Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) manages the ward with a cold efficiency and a strict intolerance for any nonsense, especially from McMurphy. He does his best to provoke her and pushes back against the institution by taking fellow patients on an impromptu fishing trip with a couple of female friends, but the system only tightens its hold on him.

      One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is not only remarkable for winning the major Oscars in 1976, with Nicholson and Fletcher earning awards for their performances; it also marked the feature film debuts of Dourif and Lloyd, with Dourif nominated for Best Supporting Actor, although he lost to George Burns in The Sunshine Boys. If you haven’t seen this film yet, it’s definitely worth viewing.

      The version included in this 4K Ultra HD release is the restoration completed a few months ago, and I would argue it represents the peak of its home video presentation. If you could somehow compare this to a first-run showing from decades ago, you’d likely see very little difference.

      Warner Bros. did not provide a Blu-ray with this release, which has been a common trend for their 4K editions in recent years, but a digital code is included. Additionally, not all bonus features from earlier DVD and Blu-ray editions are present, so you may want to keep those.

      However, there are two new interviews totaling about 23 minutes, recorded via Zoom, featuring Lloyd, DeVito, Dourif, and producer Michael Douglas (whose father had originally planned to make this film in the 1960s) reflecting on the film from its beginnings as a novel and later a play (DeVito reprised his stage role in the film) to its enduring legacy 50 years later.

      Also included is the excellent 86-minute making-of documentary from 1997, Completely Cuckoo, which had been cut down to 47 minutes in some prior editions but is presented in full here. It’s wonderful that Warner Bros. included it on this disc, as it was one of the last chances to gather much of the cast and crew, including Kesey, to discuss the film. Like many timeless classics, it won’t be long before there are no longer any witnesses with firsthand experience of its creation.

      Lastly, there are five deleted scenes that total just over nine minutes. Some previous editions contained additional footage not found here, for reasons unknown. A commentary track with Forman, Douglas, and producer Saul Zaentz is also absent, which is puzzling since it wouldn’t have taken up much space.

      I will conclude by mentioning the … intriguing … choice of cover imagery by the studio. It's unclear why they opted against using the iconic shot of Nicholson as McMurphy.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

      Brad Cook

4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

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4K Ultra HD Review – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 1975. Directed by Miloš Forman. Featuring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif, Scatman Crothers, and Sydney Lass…