Drama > F Drama > Forman, Milos > Oscar

Advantages: Bright, colourful, gripping story
Disadvantages: May seem dated, purely fictional story

...and surprising death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, complete with pauper's grave, pouring rain, and the dramatic 'Requiem Mass for the dead' bringing it all together. * * * * * It is always difficult to write a review without giving away too much of the story… Wolfgang Mozart is played by Tom Hulce (who also appeared in 'Animal House', I was informed by 'The Simpsons'). Peter Shaffer's original Mozart was vulgar and charming, with a sordid sense of ...
...see a deeper Mozart, all the above, but also flamboyant, colourful, honest, driven to poverty and alcoholism, exhaustion and depression. With the same 'Romeo and Juliet' prophetic foresight of tragedy, I felt great pain at the knowledge that this wonderful, handsome, young genius was going to die, either in the hands of fate, or a jealous villain. Which leads me to Antonio Salieri. A great composer at the time of Mozart, he is now almost forgotten. ... Read review

Advantages: Superb music, script, sets, acting
Disadvantages: None

...celebrating the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart directly it focuses on the reminiscing of an aged and insane Antonio Salieri - the “forgotten” court composer of Emperor Joseph II at the time of Mozart’s time in Vienna. Although the historical details of the plot are no more than hearsay and supposition, this hardly matters. The story is so beautifully written and moving that you cannot help but be moved by it. I don’t want to give too much of the ...
...to go away and experience it for yourself. Rather than spoilers, I would prefer that you had pointers! I first saw this film in the late 80’s and had watched my “recorded off the telly” version for years until it eventually gave up the ghost. I didn’t replace it for one reason or another but when I saw they had brought out a director’s cut edition with 20 minutes extra footage I put it straight on my Christmas list. I wasn’t sure what the new scenes ... Read review

Advantages: Jack Nicholson at his most iconic
Disadvantages: Nurse Ratched is a big meanie! Boooo!

...to McMurphy. He's the one that you can most easily empathise with. He watches his inmates with incredulity at first, but later his personality wins over the group. The inmates include Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Vinny Schiavelli and Brad Dourif, who were unknown at the time, but have since gone on to appear in numerous Hollywood films. They were well chosen, as in this context, they all appear strange, and at the time it was unknown as to whether ...
...as he'd like, and at one stage, she becomes an infuriatingly impassable wall of evil. It's a quite incredible performance that justifiably won her the 1975 Oscar for Best Actress. McMurphy organises parties, a fishing trip, and dreams of a breakout, but thanks to Nurse Ratched, his dreams don't quite come off as planned. When you watch 'the making of' documentary, or listen to director Milos Forman's commentary you get an enhanced vision of the ... Read review

Advantages: Great entertainment
Disadvantages: not for fast action fans particularly

...forever perfect. This is just one of a handful of movies out of thousands that I could happily watch twenty four hours a day, every day, for the rest of my life! What makes it so good? Read on if you want to know more…. The Story…. Randle P. McMurphy [played by Jack Nicholson] is a loud-mouthed fast talking convict. He has learnt that he can shorten his sentence and spend his remaining time in a nice cosy mental hospital, if he can convince the ...
...characters relationship with Randle is one that really stands out, as does his overall performance, only being overshadowed by perhaps Nicholson himself! Louise Fletcher is cold and annoying as "Nurse Ratched" the woman just oozes irritation. The kind of character you would like to see hit over the head with a fridge. It's not surprising the inmates refer to her as nurse "Ratchet". You need an evil Ratched to balance out the nicer characters and ... Read review

Advantages: A classic film, beautifully acted
Disadvantages: A little slow moving at times

...2. "The Making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," a 48-minute documentary featuring the actors, the moviemakers, and writer Ken Kesey recounting the history of the original novel to its stage and movie adaptations I found this bonus feature a good addition to the film. I did find that it went on a bit too long though and lost interest. That said though some aspects are fascinating despite it being a little slow. 3. Eight additional scenes An ...
...they did not include them into the final cut of the film. Overall I would say it is a very good film and the extras which come with the special edition are worth watching and are great value for money (£5.97 from Amazon). The 133 min film and over an hour of extras are great for first time viewers and original lovers of the film who would like to see the extras. I would definitely recommend this film. ... Read review