One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 6, 2025

Just in time for its 50th anniversary, Warner Bros. presents Miloš Forman's seminal drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on 4K UHD in both regular and Steelbook editions. Similar to Amadeus, it was recently restored from the original camera negative by the Academy Film Archive, with restoration funding provided by Teatro Della Pace Film and support by producer Paul Zaentz. Flanked by two lossless audio options as well as new and returning bonus features, it aims to be a definitive home video edition of the film... and while it doesn't quite achieve that goal in my opinion (and sadly lacks a Blu-ray copy), this is still a very solid release whose technical merits speak for themselves.

For a synopsis and appreciation of the main feature, please see Greg Maltz's review of Warner Bros.' 2008 Blu-ray, which took several of its cues from an earlier DVD release and was later kinda succeeded by an Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray. As my slightly higher score indicates, I'm a bit more receptive to the film's spell and recognize it as a certified classic that deserved most of its five Oscar wins; the Best Picture losers that year were Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, and Nashville, which certainly makes its biggest trophy at least somewhat debatable in many circles. Nonetheless, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest remains a uniquely bracing drama with terrific performances and still packs a massive emotional punch, and as such it's well worth revisiting via this sparkling new restoration.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from an earlier Blu-ray edition of the film.

For its 50th anniversary, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest got a well-deserved restoration several months ago by the Academy Film Archive, with funding by Teatro Della Pace Film and support by producer Paul Zaentz. The work included a brand-new 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative as well as a 35mm textless interpositive (for the opening shot and titles) with additional cleanup, and the results are similar to their terrific treatment of Amadeus' theatrical cut earlier this year. While this obviously wasn't a full-on reconstruction, the gains here are plentiful and, collectively, the transfer far exceeds WB's now-dated Blu-ray editions with their limited bit rates and ancient VC-1 encoding. It's also finally presented in the original 1.85:1, rather than 1.78:1 like most of WB's early-format catalog releases.

Fine detail and textures are vastly improved from start to finish, boasting a very attractive grain structure that looks authentic to its era and only contends with small amounts of noise in nighttime scenes and darkened corridors. Colors look great too; they're again faithful to the source and appear much more natural than the Blu-ray's palette, achieving an appreciated contrast between ivory-toned interiors and the cool blues and grays of night, with trips outside (whether planned or unplanned) offering a break from the typically sterile surroundings. The HDR grading is thankfully tasteful rather than showy, contributing to a dependably purist-minded presentation that feels like the next best thing to time travel. Only a few slight encoding hiccups keep it from true perfection, as the film runs at a mostly supportive bit rate on this triple-layered disc but shows trace amounts of chunky grain/noise here and there. Even so, it's an inarguably solid presentation and, by far, the best this film has ever looked outside of first-run theatrical showings.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

NOTE: This section was revised shortly after publishing to fix incorrect information about the 2.0 mix.

Unlike the earlier Blu-ray editions, this 50th Anniversary 4K release offers two main audio options: a DTS-HD Master Audio version of the familiar 5.1 remix from earlier home video releases, and a secondary track that's labelled "Original Theatrical" and "2.0 Mono" on the menu and packaging. The 5.1 remix is the default option and, though I'm not always a fan of such tracks, I don't necessarily mind this one as it's generally reserved in its use of the surround channels and improves dialogue fidelity while not completely altering the experience, although it features a few new foley effects that tend to stick out in various ways. Even so, this lossless version improves upon the Dolby Digital 5.1 iterations before it so, assuming you like (or at least tolerate) this mix, it'll sound at least a little better than before.

As for that secondary "Original Theatrical" or "2.0 Mono", the former description is slightly deceptive as this track was most likely sourced from an older home video master since, according to this title's restoration supervisor, the original mono elements could not be found. Not surprisingly, then, it sounds a bit rougher than most films from this era, as the dialogue is noticeably thin and occasional amounts of damage can be heard along the way. Yet purists will easily forgive these flaws for one reason: it's still a proper split-channel mono presentation of the original mono, which means there are no newly foley affects. (Thanks to forum member "squallmx" for helping to set the record straight.)

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and all extras listed below.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release ships in a keepcase with interesting cover art and a matte-finish slipcover with metallic highlights and a Digital Copy code. The extras are a mixed bag: we get two decent new retrospective pieces and the full version of an earlier documentary, but several legacy items are absent including an audio commentary (with director Miloš Forman and producers Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas), three deleted scenes, and the original trailer.

• NEW! Retrospective Featurettes - This pair of newly-recorded pieces is assembled from a recent webcam conversation between Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif, and producer Michael Douglas, who share memories of the film's inception, production, and adaptation from the novel and play, as well as the audition process, rehearsal sessions, standout scenes, and working with Jack Nicholson and Miloš Forman. Supportive clips from the film are included, as are candid photos from the set and other vintage material.

• Conversations on Cuckoo: Group Therapy (13:07)
• Conversations on Cuckoo: Moviemaking Memories (10:34)

• Completely Cuckoo (86:17) - This enjoyable feature-length 1997 documentary, directed by Charles Kiselyak, was originally cut down to 47 minutes and dubbed "The Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" on many earlier home video releases but, similar to the Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray, it thankfully appears in its full, uncut form here. This is a scattershot but very worthwhile effort with comments from several key cast and crew members including novel author Ken Kesey, director Miloš Forman, Kirk Douglas (who was originally set to play McMurphy), producers Michael Douglas and Saul Zentz, screenwriter Bo Goldman, and actors Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Vincent Schiavelli, Louise Fletcher, and more. Visually, though, there's rough road ahead: I'm not sure if this was originally filmed or shot on video, but it feels choppy and plays at 24fps.

• Deleted Scenes (5 clips, 9:25) - Unlike the earlier Blu-ray and other releases, three deleted scenes don't appear here, but we get "A Bunch'a Chickens At a Pecking Party", "Mr. McMurphy, Where Are Your Clothes?", "McMurphy Meets Nurse Ratched", "First Group Therapy Session", and "Shaving Chief".

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Miloš Forman's Oscar-winning drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest turns 50 this year and remains as visceral and potent as ever, and Warner Bros.' newly restored 4K edition is largely up to the challenge of offering die-hard fans and newcomers a definitive home video edition of this classic. The visuals represent a substantial leap over earlier Blu-ray editions, the audio options are fine, and the bonus features are very good despite several important legacy items strangely not making the cut. Overall, this one's a no-brainer and comes Highly Recommended.