One
Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975/Blu-ray/Warner Home Video)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B+ Film: A+
PLEASE
NOTE: The film
has since been issued and an outstanding 4K edition and you can read
more about it at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16735/Beau+Geste+(1926/Paramount/Aircraft+Blu-ray)/CODA
There
are very few films that I have seen as many times as Milos Forman's
brilliant 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which not
only remains as one of my all-time favorite films, but over time has
only grown more poignant and has sealed itself as a genuine classic
and masterpiece of cinema. The film, even 30+ years later, still
captivates new audiences and now finds its way to the world of High
Definition via Blu-ray!
The
film begins as we are quickly introduced to R.P. McMurphy (Jack
Nicholson in perhaps his finest and most memorable role) who is being
checked in at a state mental hospital after causing some disruption
at the local prison, he's just a petty crook who can't seem to fit
into this world on either side of the bars. He is sent for some
'testing' to see if he might actually be clinically insane, but it
isn't too long before McMurphy is disrupting the routine life of his
fellow patience and under the disciplinary style of Nurse Ratched
(Louise Fletcher in her Academy Award Winning role). What ensues
next is perhaps one of the more interesting studies ever caught on
celluloid as McMurphy makes attempts to adjust to his new
surroundings it only seems that his attempt to fake insanity in order
to stay out of doing hard time is only causing him to crack, which in
turn makes him 'insane'. This paradox only makes the film stronger
as we see the decline of McMurphy and yet there are several scenes
that are noteworthy.
One
scene in particular that is often overlooked is when McMurphy escapes
from the courtyard, which one would think that he would high tail it
for freedom, but instead he hijacks a bus and gathers up the other
patience and takes them on a fishing trip, in which we actually see
them 'enjoying' life. There is a great moment on the dock when they
are about to set sail and one of the dockworkers asks them what they
think they are doing. Without a blink McMurphy introduces the
gentlemen to his 'Doctor' friends and uses the word 'Doctor' before
each of their names. The man somewhat believes him and off they
sail. It's a scene that is often overlooked, but McMurphy's biggest
incentive with his new friends is the fact that, unlike the nurses,
he treats them like humans, not drugged up zombies. He realizes that
while they might have certain 'mental' conditions that they still
enjoy life and things like fishing. Their trip comes to an end where
the police and hospital staff are anxiously awaiting their return to
grab them up and send them back to the ward.
While
this scene is pivotal in many respects it is only countered a bit
later when, after many attempts, McMurphy begins to realize that
these 'friends' of his actually ARE clinically insane or actually DO
have mental illnesses, unlike him. Not only that, but he then finds
out that most of them are there by their own powers and have the
ability to leave at any time. This baffles McMurphy who would do
anything to escape, yet at the same time he has had several chances
to break free and continues to stay, in particular a scene towards
the end when he decides to throw a huge party and get everyone drunk,
plus he gets some lady friends for some entertainment as well.
Nicholson plays the part so well and truly embodies the enigmatic
mind of R.P. McMurphy who remains one of the most trivial characters
ever created.
To
this day the film is one of the most relentless in it's approach and
of course it's controversial and often-talked-about and/or debated
ending, which I think serves incredibly well and has the guts to be
bold, daring, and yet intelligent in it's entire execution, which
harkens back to Forman's earlier films like Fireman's Ball and
one of my other favorite films and perhaps one of his other notable
works Loves of a Blonde.
Not
only would this film win 5 Major Academy Awards, but it would also
give director Milos Forman a formidable career in Hollywood after
making successful films in his native land of Czechoslovakia. It
would also catapult actors Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd and
give opportunities to the other cast members as well, if nothing else
it would seal their performance in this film as one of the greatest
films ever made. Several years ago Warner issued the film in a
Deluxe 2-Disc special edition on DVD, this Blu-ray release is
essentially the same extras as that release, but offers superior
picture and sound, which has some positives and negatives.
As
far as the extras are concerned there is a terrific commentary track
by Forman along with producers Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas, which
is very interesting and covers a lot of interesting ground with the
film, its origins and many other facets that will appeal to fans.
This is a great beginning, but the 'making of' is another terrific
feature that again will please fans, there are also some additional
scenes and the theatrical trailer included. These are all in
standard definition.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 anamorphically enhanced High Definition transfer is
significantly sharper, more refined, and looks more film-like than
the previous DVD releases of the film, however it's also a bit soft
and lacks some of the depth that other Blu-ray releases have looked,
however there are some great aspects to this transfer too. The first
is that in direct comparison to the DVD it's obvious that the
transfer here is cleaner with whites that are truer and not as dull
and near-yellow as the case was with the DVD and its limitations.
Since the film has a very neutral (think sterile) color palette there
are few moments of vibrant colors, which is intentional and the
Blu-ray gives a sense of depth that the DVD was never able to handle.
Skin tones are far richer and more accurate as well, which again
gives the film a greater sense of realism and helps transport the
viewer in. Black levels are more pronounced, but there are a few
moments of noise and that might require a heavier restoration to
improve upon.
As
far as the sound goes the film was given a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on
the previous DVD release, which was never sonically challenging and
'got the job done', but was nothing great. I was hoping that some of
the muffled-ness that was evident on the DVD would have been cleaned
up with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix, but instead we get a simply Dolby 5.1
on this Blu-ray as well, which is NOT acceptable in my mind since the
packaging boldly advertises 'High Definition Picture, High Definition
Sound' on the front. Even an uncompressed PCM 5.1 would have been
sufficient, but I guess not, at least not this time around. The
result is mixed as the overall audio lacks definition and the
pronounced effect that a good uncompressed sound mix is capable of,
especially with a film like this that has lots of dialogue and
moments where there needs to be discernable dialogue happening with
the verbal jousting that happens, but the lossy Dolby Digital just
can't keep up and the Blu-ray suffers because of that. A real shame.
Rounding
off this Blu-ray release (and making up for the poor sound) is a
terrific mini-booklet that serves as the packaging for the film that
contains some great write-ups on the film and some great photos as
well, which will serve as a good appeasement until a improved
transfer arrives with better sound, but all-in-all these are picky
details and the film (because it's so good) doesn't fail even with
some minor performance issues.
-
Nate Goss
