They performed a frontal lobe lobotomy on Mac. He would be vegged out for the rest of his life. Chief knew he wouldn't want to live like that, so he put him out of his misery. When I saw this movie originally, the entire theater was cheering for Mac to kill Nurse Ratched. Oscars all the way around for both Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. Great film

28:56 Chief is looking at the two surgical scars on each side of Mac's head near the hairline, and realizes that Mac's been given a lobotomy, destroying many of the connections between the lobes of his brain. Considering the time since the surgery (the scars are nicely healed) and Mac's total lack of response, Chief realizes that Mac, as the person he was, is gone and isn't coming back.

It's upsetting to recount the number of times Mac had a clean chance to escape but didn't because he wanted to do something for his fellow inmates... he truly is a tragic hero.

McMurphy underwent a lobotomy at the end. A lobotomy is surgery that cuts away pieces of the brain. Earlier he had undergone electro shock therapy, which is also nasty, but not as horrific as a lobotomy. There can be no improvement from a lobotomy. His personality is gone. Actually the ending is very hopeful, though the journey there has had much suffering. When the Chief recognizes that he is a full human being he has regained his freedom and acts to become physically free by escaping. It is a very positive ending because it shows that we can break out of all the oppression and control around us and become full, free persons.

My heart soars when the Chief escapes out the window every time I see this movie.

Basically, Mac was making the patients better while Nurse Ratchet was making them worse. Mac was never crazy and was killed by corrupt individuals within a corrupt system.

One of my favorite films. The entire cast was excellent.

I see this story as an allegory. Nurse Ratched is the authoritarian leader. The people, the patients in this story, give her power over their lives in exchange for security and routine. She tells them what to do and when to do it and they like it because it's easier for them to live that way than to be responsible for themselves. That's why it's an important plot point that many of them are there voluntarily. Then McMurphy shows up. He's a nonconformist, he doesn't follow the rules, that's why he's being held involuntarily. He's basically a rebel and this is why he is almost immediately Nurse Ratched's enemy. Then he starts stirring up rebellion and the more the nurse tries to squash the rebellion, the more rebellious they become. Ultimately the nurse uses brutal measures to regain control. It's a happy ending though. The nurse has lost. Billy and McMurphy might be dead but the Chief, the most quiet and seemingly tame patient, escapes after being inspired by McMurphy.

Saw this when I was a kid and it taught me a lot about life and friendships. Really loved rewatching it through your fresh eyes because everything you say is so genuine and true. I always look forward to your videos.

I was in one of these places for 3 years from age 15 to 18 due to drug abuse, beginning in 1971. The hospital scenes in the film are very accurate. The patients are very real, head nurse, assistant nurse, the way the meds are dispensed is spot on, the basketball scenes, the escape (I did that twice, once to a ferry to Nantucket the other to NYC then Michigan then Missouri) the whole thing is very very accurate except one - lobotomies don't leave scars. They leave holes, the skull is bored into with a drill leaving a hole a little smaller than a golf ball. Eventually skin grows over the hole leaving a large indentation. Most patients have two, some have many more. The psychiatrist digs out pieces of the brain. And the patient - 100% vegetable, barely able to walk or talk. I knew many lobotomy patients, shock treatment victims too. And they call it "therapy". I was in the place with Michael Douglas's younger brother, Michael produced this film.

She is actually one of the greatest villains in movie history. Btw, haven't you noticed her hairstyle, she's got two horns!!

''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' is one of my all time favorite movies! Saw it the first time when I was 10 years old, it had a huge impact on me (story, characters, especially Jack Nicholson's ''R.P. McMurphy'', the evil ''Nurse Ratched,'' ''Billy'' and my favorite ''Chief Bromden'', the music, and the emotional ending) have seen it many many times since then. Another great Jack Nicholson performance is ''The Last Detail'' (1973), very funny, but also quite tragic. But of course, there are also more great early Jack Nicholson movies like ''Five Easy Pieces'' (1970), ''Carnal Knowledge'' (1971), ''The King of Marvin Gardens'' (1972) and ''Chinatown'' (1974). Greetings From The Netherlands.

This was in fact one of the very finest motion pictures ever produced. All star actors, acting so real, incredible.

when the chief said he was taking murphy with him he meant he was taking his spirit with him when he escaped

1. These hospitals did take in voluntary patients. Patients who had issues they wanted resolved and so put themselves in the hands of psychiatrists for help. They could leave whenever they wanted. 2. Nurse Ratched wasn’t acting as she did out of wanting to keep her job… that would’ve been the opposite action. She had a power/control kick. If/when patients got better, there would always be new patients being admitted… so she’d always be in a job anyway. 3. They were often given ECT electroconvulsive treatment in the old fashioned, ignorant belief that it would reset their neural integrity. This was a barbaric approach with no science behind it. It was eventually outlawed as a treatment procedure somewhere in the late 1950s or ‘60s if I remember correctly. 4. They gave McMurphy a frontal lobotomy… ie they cut away part of his brain. Again, this was the belief at that time that it would cure psychotic issues. Barbaric with no medical/scientific basis. Also outlawed around the same time. 5. Billy was also - I believe - a ‘voluntary’ patient. He had women issues probably due to a dysfunctional relationship with his mother. His pathological lacking of confidence became manifest in his stuttering. McMurphy (and Candy) instilled a lot of his missing confidence back in him. Ratched didn’t like that as it undermined her professional status. She intended to punish Billy by bringing up his mother (a friend of Ratched). This worked and sent him back into his psychologically damaged persona. 6. They turned McMurphy into - in effect - a vegetable. They took away the essence of the man… his personality, his vitality, his soul. Would you like to live like that? Hence why The Chief killed him. It was a MERCY killing. He couldn’t stand to see his friend reduced in such a way. Again, would anyone like to live like that? 7. Didn’t you recognise the young Danny de Vito?

Nurse Ratchet is a symbol for society's demand of conformity.

The book is amazing, it’s all told through Chief’s narration.

Thanks for the reaction, guys. Brad Dourif is such a versatile actor, from this to David Lynch's Dune, to LOTR, and Chucky and many things more in between.

Poor Scatman Crothers. Jack Nickolson gets him fired in this movie and then kills him in another.

I second someone else's suggestion- react to "Cool Hand Luke", starring Paul Newman and another great cast. It deals with another outcast of society who finds his freedom even while in prison.

This film is a masterpiece. I’m so glad you reacted to this one. It’s a personal favorite of mine. The acting is off the charts.

I know it's a ultimately a sad movie, but the reaction was so much fun! I'm happy you got to see Nicholson in a role in which he's not a villain! I thought you both had great things to say about it, especially towards the end, and after the movie. I love how Joy said immediately that she understood the title. (I totally agree! Only ONE flew over the cuckoo's nest!) I know you're seeing "The Departed" and "Chinatown" soon! Looking forward to both! THANKS!

Nurse Ratchet is not a dedicated health care professional. She's a tyrant, misusing the power she's been granted in this position, getting smug delight from every petty cruelty she's able to dole out. In the name of 'helping' the patients, she controls the men on the ward, taking quiet pleasure in robbing them of their choice, their agency, their dignity, treating them like children, beyond the needs of therapy. Instead of recognizing Billy's breakthrough, newfound confidence and lack of stutter, she takes it as a personal affront that someone might escape her clutches, and especially through such unorthodox means that she did not order, and therefore she browbeats him back into his pain and shame, more than he can handle. It's a small kingdom, but it's hers, and Mac is a challenge to her authority. He's not mentally ill, he's simply a non-conformist. And Nurse Ratchet is all about conformity. Which is why after he attacks her for what she did to Billy, she gets in her last bit of vindictive cruelty and recommends him for lobotomy. Mac ends up permanently brain damaged through surgery, severing his frontal lobe in his brain, turning him into a mindless vegetable. And Chief knew he would not want to exist like that....

man you guys sure react to some of the great films ever made. This is in my top 3 of all time. Heartbreaking ending though.

"Why kill him?" Its mercy. He's dead already.

Great movie with great acting, but very dark story, and for that very reason this isn't a movie I've ever revisited after seeing it in the 70's. Too depressing for me. But it was worth it once again to see this with your reactions. You need to see another classic 70's flick; MARATHON MAN with Dustin Hoffman.

The acting from everyone was phenomenal ,even nurse ratchet. She made you hate her.

I have to disagree. The film didnt become dark at the end. It was dark from the beginning. The nurse especially used her power to control everyone. They didn't like the way he stirred up the people. Made them care about things. She wants them to just be quit and follow the rules. She knew he wasn't crazy but convinced them to keep him so she could get her revenge for making trouble for her.

To me this movie teaches me, among many things, to not trust authority. Free spirits like Mac don’t hurt people unless they have to fight back against those who try to cage him. He doesn’t accept unjust rules. Finally I love how he taught the chief to be free.

A classic in my DVD collection. It was a mercy killing by Chief. Nurse Ratchet loves the power and control. A sadistic woman that caused the suicide. ✌️

Nurse Ratchet is one of the biggest villains of all time

I don't think that you two realize that nurse Ratchet is one of the most evil characters ever portrayed on film.

Ken kesey wrote his novel in 1962. It was written as the Chief's narrative. In 1962, mental institutions were places where patients were subject to terrible abuse. For the convenience of the staff, patients were kept docile in a fog of psychotropic drugs ("medication time, medication time"). Anyone acting out could be given EST (Electro Shock Therapy). This left the patient dazed and confused, but passive. Whole areas of memory might be wiped out by this procedure. Some people who were given the "therapy", would become unable to recognize members of their own families afterwards . For the harder to handle subjects, partial or full lobotomies were the solution. These poor souls had no one to advocate for them. No one but Ken Kesey. And Randall P. McMurphy. After the publication of Kesey's book and the release of the film in 1975, much light was brought to bear on the conditions in mental institutions, and much legislation was passed to protect patients from abuses. I love this film - Thank you for watching it.

"Cuckoo's nest" is really just another term for psychiatric hospital, just like "nuthouse" or "crazy farm."

Brad Dourif (Billy) was heartbreakingly good. He’s hasn’t had the career “I” hoped for him, but I thought he was super in “Deadwood.”

you two are some of the most observant and insightful reactors on KZfaq, keep up the awesome work!

I met Louise Fletcher on the set of the film she did just before Cuckoos Nest as my mom was in the crew behind the camera. in fact, my mom was asked to do a quick one-line cameo on the day I was there, and Ms. Fletcher not only coached my mom but sat next to me as they filmed the scene. but if I was really going to brag..... I'd mention the time Jack, Warren and Julie, Bob Altman, and most of his crew popped by our place for a bbq because they built a whole 1800's western set blocks from our home. braaaag.

Also the book begins with a poem, "one flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo's nest. "

Before it was a movie (and a play), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was a novel. In the novel, you learn where the title of the book/play/movie comes from. It comes from a nursery rhyme read to Chief by his grandmother when he was a child: Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn, Apple seed and apple thorn, Wire, briar, limber lock Three geese in a flock One flew East One flew West And one flew over the cuckoo's nest. To Chief, McMurphy represented that one unusual bird who flew neither East nor West.

My favorite movie. Jack is just the best actor ever. And dam everyone in this movie was so convincing

McMurphy was turned into a vegetable when he was given a lobotomy. He was such a force of nature and that was taken away from him. Chief did him a kindness, yes, by freeing him. Nurse Ratchet didn't want to help the patients. She just wanted to control them. This movie won a lot of Oscars, including Best Actor and Actress (or Supporting Actress), movie, director and more.

This film is absolutely flawless.

The scene where McMurphy is interviewed by the main guy at the start. They guy was a real head of an institution. And it was totally improvised.

Such a classic film, perfectly cast and a masterclass in acting.

The acting by everyone in this film is so good ,Sydney Lassick played “Cheswick” what a brilliant performance that gets overshadowed I think by the headliners, thanks again

I don't think he's been mentioned, but the guy that shows Jack and his family the hotel in The Shining, the one that talks to the kid from head to head without using mouths, is the employee that seems to be on their/his side. His name is Scatman Crothers

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won an oscar for best picture best actor by Jack Nicholson, best actress by Louise Fletcher and best director by Milos Forman. Thank you guys for reacting this masterpiece👍👍👍👍

They used to have free hospitals for the mentally ill. Back then society believed it was better to keep such people in institutions rather than allow them to live on the streets. It was possible to have a person committed against their will if a panel of like 3 doctors signed off on it or a judge decided you needed to be there. Laws were changed in the 70s and nearly all such hospitals are now long closed. This film had a part to play in that process. You cant confine a person against their will if they are cognizant enough to have self agency. Even if they aren't capable of holding down a job they are allowed to exist freely so long as they dont break the law.

I always have tears at the end of this movie tears of sadness and tears of joy .the music gets me every time

This movie came out at a time when there was a campaign to end incarceration for the mentally ill and close institutions like this across the US. Now the mentally ill make up a large portion of our homeless and prison populations. Not a positive move in my mind.

20:36 Scatman Crothers, who played Dick Hallorann, the hotel cook who Nicholson killed with an axe in "The Shining".

The voluntaries are free to leave, but they think they can't make it on the outside. And that's the way Nurse Ratched likes it. She doesn't want to help the patients, but to control them. That's why she wants McMurphy to stay in the hospital rather than go to jail. He has defied her authority, so she wants to break him. This is a great movie, and it's based on an even greater book. The narrator in the book is Chief Bromden, who is schizophrenic. He hallucinates through much of the story, and what he sees is a sort of commentary on reality. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in fiction.

Great movie, and great reactions....this one is a timeless classic. 💯

"One flew over the cuckoos nest" has been considered a slang term immates used to reference those who escaped. But It actually comes from a nursery rhyme or lullaby Chief Bromden's gramma used to sing to him, as a child. As it appears in the novel: Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn, Apple seed and apple thorn, Wire, briar, limber lock Three geese in a flock One flew East One flew West And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

If you don't recognize Nurse Ratchet as a clear cut villain, then I don't know what to tell you. 😄 And also lobotomy lobotomy lobotomy.

This was the 'Good Will Hunting' of its day, considered one of the greatest movies to win best picture at the Oscars. The ending is a big time tear jerking scene. Most villains are beloved like Darth Vader and Hans Gruber but when it comes to actually hating villains, Nurse Ratchet is #1. She really was trying to keep the patients crazy to keep her job as most of the patients were their of their own free will.

Great reaction! May I suggest Awakenings with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro? Great movie a bit similar but really really good acting :)

Lobotomy was a hell of an "invention". It was sold as helping with many psychological problems but mostly just destroyed the people. In general there were some really questionable practices in place in these wards. Stuff that could be straight out of a horror movie.

GREAT movie!My mother was in and out of mental institutions and I know how bad the Doctors are at their jobs.I visited her many times and people are just like that but drugged up to keep them docile.

Because of this movie a heartless nurse is referred to as Nurse Ratchet. Also it also was instrumental in stopping the lobotomy procedure

I am pretty sure that Louise Fletcher (nurse Ratched) won an Oscar for Best Actress in a drama for this movie.

What to realize is prior to the 1980s, this was the warehousing of the homeless. Many would have been picked up living on the street. With mental health or drug issues. While then they were forced to follow the rules. Now anyone who breaks the housing rules, would be kicked out of the shelter.

Classic , one of my all time favorites. Such a great cast of actors

Jacob's Ladder

Mac is 'unlawful good'. Nurse Ratched is 'lawful evil'. This is a common Anti-Hero theme in Seventies movies. It was in the Seventies that people stopped believing in government and institutions. The story itself is set in an earlier time - perhaps in the Sixties. Nurse Ratched has a Forties era hairstyle which sets her apart.

This film portrays a small part of what was and still is in some places, the reality of psychiatric hospitals, a sad reality, where people are crammed and treated like laboratory rats. I live in Brazil, and most of these types of hospitals, until recently, were ten times worse than the one portrayed in this movie. In this film we can see, in addition to Jack Nicholson, one of the best actors of all time, other actors at the beginning of their careers, with spectacular performances. A masterpiece.

Brad Dourif, who played Billy, is now best known as the voice of Chucky.

Electro shock therapy is still used for extreme depressive states, where it is actually useful.

Winner of 5 Oscars including Best Picture, one of the most powerful movies ever made.

You two should consider reacting to the movie, "Hair," which is a musical. You'll absolutely flip! One-of-a-kind movie!

Alot of leganday actors in the movie. It's one of the best. Watch Fear and loathing in Las Vegas.

People like Ratched should never be charged with the well being of others, but unfortunately many are

The title comes from an old school-yard children's rhyme. I cannot remember it, except for the chant "One flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo's nest!"

This is the first time I've heard of someone thinking Nurse Ratched was just doing her job to help them and keep them in line😲

If you like this one then check out "Cool Hand Luke" with Paul Newman. I think there are some thematic overlaps with this one.

Netflix ran a serise a couple of years ago called Ratchet and was about the early life of Nurse Ratchet finishing with her becoming the head Nurse in the asylum if memory serves me right, worth a watch guys..

For another emotionally moving movie try "Of Mice and Men" there are several adaptations ...I prefer the 1939 version.

Thanks for the review. I have seen this movie several times since I was young. Recently I rewatched this movie with my wife since she hadn't seen it before. She didn't enjoy it and her take on it was totally different than pretty much every person who watched it. She liked Nurse Ratchet and thought she ran a tight ship and didn't like Mac and the chaos he created in the ward. I found it very strange...

My top 3 films of all time, the book is just as good

One of, if not the, best movies of all time!

This movie is based on Ken Kesey"s book. These were his observations and motivations for the story. Ken Kesey was part of the LSD culture.

Nicholson's other greatest performance from the 70s is in "Chinatown"

Why kill him? The Indian did his friend a favour. They permanently brain damaged McMurphy, which is probably the most evil thing that could ever be done to somebody.

14:55 .......Why does Nurse Ratched want keep McMurphy on the ward?? Why??.......because McMurphy challenged her absolute, iron-handed, Soviet-style authority over the ward.....(I thought you might appreciate that). Also, just like Ivan Drago in "Rocky 4".......... .........."She must break him". ........and, she finally does. But, Chief finally rises from his own ashes as a result of McMurphy's sacrifice (yes, McMurphy's murderous intent upon Nurse Ratchet is a sacrifice to all on that ward) and finally breaks free.

Great movie with a tragic ending and not (as your reaction affirms) one you want to watch if looking for something to leave you uplifted. Very depressing. But if you want to get the aftertaste of that movie out of your mouth, by cleansing your palate with another Jack Nicholson portrayal of mental illness that actually has a happy ending, I highly recommend "As Good as it Gets." from 1997. Nicholson really nails it in his performance in this film. And just as the title suggests I doubt you'll find any of this genre that you'll enjoy more. "As Good as it Gets" is, by the way, my absolute favorite Jack Nisholson movie, with "The Last Detail" from 1973 clocking in as a close runner-up. Well worth checking out (and I do mean both of them).

Scatman also in Shining

This is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Nurse ratchets System Controlling the human spirit through fear and hate rather than freedom and love Macs way.

Brad Dourif (Billy) never became a star but raises the level of what ever movie he is in.

One of my all time favorite movies. Rollicking good time until the end.

"...but that's like 50% of the population.." - Harsh lol.

Nurse "Ratshit" is considered one of the biggest villains in movie history

Howdy from north Texas once again!!! Another great reaction y’all!!!! Keep up the great work!!!

Rather startling how many younger movie goers have not seen nor heard of this film. It "swept" the Oscars and is probably Jack Nicholson's most memorable role. And of course it's the Big Nurse who should be the one in the nuthouse.

This movie is in my top three. The Shawshank Redemption is the second for me...

While this film is Ken Kesey's take on society (Kesey actually worked at an asylum) as a madhouse, asylums were originally created to keep the mentally ill off the streets or out of the public eye, and prior to psychological treatments, they were also interested in how to keep the patients calm & quiet. That's essentially what drugs & lobotomies were for (and to a certain extent, what they're still used for). With the advent of the transorbital lobotomy (so-called "icepick lobotomy"), they could lobotomize patients faster and cut down on needing to keep them in a chemically-induced stupor. ECT is still used to "reset" a patient's overactive brain (however barbaric it seems, it tends to work- with some cognitive side-effects.) Early pre-scientific "treatments" called for ice baths, solitude, and a whole slew of activities that amounted to little more than torture. Nelly Bly, the famous 19th century reporter, went undercover and admitted herself to an asylum & described the horrid conditions for her book "10 Days in a Madhouse", which was made into a movie of the same name back in 2015 that you might check out. You might also check out the very good miniseries (I think it's on Netflix) "Ratched" which focuses on Nurse Ratched's early days as a nurse- sort of an origin story.

Nurse Ratchet was a dictator. She hated Jack Nicholson's character because he was a free spirit, an individualist who couldn't be controlled. He was a happy man, a man filled with life She couldn't rule him ,so she had to destroy him. But, in the end Jack won because the Chief and the other inmates followed his example and got his freedom.

My favourite film, easily seen it over 200 times. You got a thumbs up just for reacting to it but I'd give you a second thumbs up if I could for a lovely review. Nurse Ratched is too good at her job and doesn't like anyone to challenge her at all, then McMurphy comes and does exactly that.

The more I watch you 2, the more I like the reactions.

Early career-maker film for Jack Nicholsen. Danny DeVito. Christopher Lloyd. Louise Fletcher. Scatman Crothers.