Customer Reviews

Cocoon

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For most of Ron Howard's career as a director, a majority of his work lands in the "feel good" cinema category. It is only recently, that Howard has been tackling darker subjects. One of the best films, from his early in his filmograghy, is 1985's Cocoon. This lighthearted fantasy proved that getting older can be a good thing.

When a group of aliens comes to Earth, on a secret mission, their strange behavior as humans, causes a group of senior citizens to become curious. As it turns out, the alens have special powers that cause the retirees to feel rejuvinated and stops the aging process.

The cast is what makes the story work. Don Ameche, who won an Oscar for his role here as Arthur Selwyn, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, his real life wife, Jessica Tandy, Brian Dennehy as the alien leader Walter, Gwen Verdon, Jack Gilford, Maureen Stapleton, and Herta Ware, all make the sci-fi elements, that much more compelling. Heck, even Steve Guttenberg playing boat skipper Jack Bonner, who helps the aliens with their mission, gives a solid performance here. The film uses special effects sparingly to enhance the story. Sure, things can get a bit schmaltzy at times, but thanks to Howard's recipe it never goes overboard. Cocoon has something for all age groups to enjoy.

The extras on the DVD are pretty good. The audio commentary with Howard offers some nice gems about what it was like to work with a cast brimming with some true stars of Hollywood's golden age. The behind-the-scenes featurette and the underwater training footage was originally part of the publicity for the film's release. We also get a look at how the special effects were created, profiles of Ron Howard and the cast, the theatrical trailer, TV spots, and a still gallery. Viewers can watch the movie, in either the full screen, or widescreen anamorphic format.

Cocoon is timeless. And given the youth obsessed culture in which we live, it's a nice change of pace, that's worth a peek on DVD.

I can't add anything to the other reviews, except to say this movie has an EXCELLENT soundtrack by James Horner. The fantastic music definately adds to the movie's excitement and emotion. In fact, it's so good I'd also recommend buying the soundtrack CD.

In 1985, the well-known actor/director Ron Howard directed the charming and endearing sci-fi film "Cocoon". Set along the Florida coast, a group of aliens that have taken human form return to Earth to retrieve shipmates that they were forced to leave behind in suspended animation thousands of years ago. They hire a boat owned by Jack Bonner (Steve Guttenberg), who believes that his employers are nothing more than a group of divers and is very attracted to one of them who is named Kitty (Tahnee Welch). The alien in charge goes by the name of Walter (Brian Dennehy). After retrieving some very large objects from the ocean depths, the aliens take the objects to an indoor swimming pool within a large beach house that they have rented. Next door to the beach house is a retirement home. The aliens' activities as well as the desire to swim within the pool tempts several of the retirement home's eldery residents to sneak into the private beach house. These residents, which include Arthur Selwyn (Don Ameche, 1908-1993), Benjamin Luckett (Wilford Brimley) and Joseph Finley (Hume Cronyn, 1911-2003), start to feel invigorated after taking a swim in the pool; so they invite their wives to join them: Marilyn Luckett (Maureen Stapleton), Alma Finley (Jessica Tandy, 1909-1994) and Bess McCarthy (Gwen Verdon, 1925-2000). As their health and strength continue to improve, the six try to keep their illicit swimming pool activies a secret, but are not entirely successful. Further, not everyone offered restored youth approves.

With its brilliant story, acting and directing, "Cocoon" won Don Ameche an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and the film itself won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Other memorable characters in the film include Bernard Lefkowitz (Jack Gilford, 1908-1990), his wife Rosie Lefkowitz (Herta Ware), Benjamin & Marilyn's grandson David (Barret Oliver) and Susan (Linda Harrison, who played the character Nova in the 1968 "Planet of the Apes"). Memorable scenes include the swimming pool scenes, Jack and Kitty, the six residents doing various activities that they otherwise couldn't do, no longer a secret, and the closing scenes. Overall, I rate "Cocoon" with 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it.

This is a charming comedy based in the science fiction the addresses the issue of immortality, everlasting love, and the price paid for either. It was a movie the could potentially move the easy criers to tears, and will make anyone watching it laugh. The cast is great and Ron Howard has outdone himself. Truly enjoyable.

Cocoon directed by Ron Howard (Who was an actor in the TV shows The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days) is a cute sci-Fi/fantasy/comedy movie that is about elderly people living in a retirement home who discover a nearby house with a swimming pool and when they decide to go for a swim they discover the pool is filled with mysterious cocoons and soon after they start acting like they are much younger and more energetic. The Cocoons belong to a group of extraterrestrials that includes Brian Dennehy and Tahnee Welch (daughter of Raquel Welch). The Elderly people in the retirement home include Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley and husband and wife Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy and the movie also stars Steve Guttenberg who plays the owner of the boat chartered by the aliens. This is a cute movie and I highly recommend it!

A group of aliens arrives in a Florida retirement community to rescue their colleagues who have been cocooned and settled beneath the sea. The aliens unzip and zip on their human costumes - the initial unveiling, witnessed by the boat captain, is beautiful and worthy of an award - and stash their rescued buddies in the compound's swimming pool. The retirees, after swimming in the pool, experience personal rejuvenation: they make love like teenage boys, eat like athletes, and Don Ameche's Olympian diving performance is memorable in itself. And then the retirees, now in on the secret, are asked to choose between attaining immortality by leaving with the aliens - or living our their lifespan on earth with their surviving loved ones.
Wonderful, heartening and heartbreaking, inspiring film, directed by Ron Howard, and soooo beautifully cast.

Sometimes forced, but also very forward and real as well. My own grandmother lived in the very same retirement community featured in the film before it reached theaters, and many of the bittersweet scenes are very genuine to me , handled well by an excellent cast of seasoned actors (some of most poignant scenes for me are when things are acknowledged without dialogue...seeing people of your own generation passing away before your very eyes as practically an everyday occurance, for example...). The grandparent talking about having to be parted with his grandchild someday--regardless of his destination--was something I could relate to in my own life, as I`m sure many people can; the topic is timeless.

Now in my thirties, I look back at the relationships between generations, the subject of divorce becoming more of a reality that was increasingly hard to ignore in my own generation, and the way we treated Seniors in general and do today as well. The characters are not the passive and doddering old folks we`ve come to stereotype; they have lives of their own, individual personalities, and their "eccentricities" are those of everyday people and how they approach both life and death.

Yes, the soundtrack in particular is reminiscent of "E.T." and "An American Tail", and yes, it is overdone in parts and very `80`s, but the main story revolves around not the Sci-Fi elements, but around the relationships of friends and loved ones facing the reality of aging. See it for that, and don`t miss the great chemistry between the likes of Jessica Tandy ("pre-Miss Daisy" with her husband Hume Cronyn), Don Ameche, Maureen Stapleton, Wilford Brimley, et.al. Take away what you will from the movie; it has enough touching and funny moments worth seeing.

I've long been a bog fan of Ron Howard. I loved his acting and I also love his directing, past & present. To me, this movie ranks as one of his best.

In all fairness to the Christians that have written reviews, I'd have to agree about the language issue. I probably would've cut back on the profanity if I'd have written the script. But on the other hand, this movie didn't have the typical nudity & violence that many movies did in the 90's and still do today. So, on that end of things, it's a much better movie.

I saw this movie at a friend's house back in the 80's. Back in the fall of 2000, I bought a used copy off of the internet for myself. I usually watch it 2 to 3 times a year. I'm still amazed at the themes that are in this movie. You'll find things like marriage, family, friendship, moving on, handling tough times, and priorities, among the many. I always find myself re-examing my life after I see it.

To those that emjoyed it, I agree wholeheartedly with what's been said by those reviewers. To those that didn't, I would simply ask this: How does this movie rank with movies that actually make the theaters today? Think about it.

What a wonderful movie. This movie Cocoon takes place in a nursing home in a coastal town. The inhabitants of the nursing home, Don Amache, Maureen Stapleton, Gwen Verdon, and I can't remember any of the others escape the nursing home and find an indoor pool that didn't belong to them. They played like children in the pool, until the pool manager told them they had no right to be there. At that point they had found space cocoons with aliens inside. Those cocoons were originally placed in the ocean, but had been placed in the pool. In the end the residents
moved with the aliens to their planet so they could live forever.

The cast in this movie was wonderful, especially Gwen Verdon who played Bess McCarthy, her best role since DAMN YANKEES. You are sure to love her. She has red hair, buck teeth, her voice is like a quiet whisper. I liked the part at the beginning when she was leading the residents in a dance singing. "And swing em to the left, and swing 'em to the right. Then you do the twist with all your might. Shake it to the front and shake it to the back. That's what we call dancing!"

This is a must have for anyone who likes action movies.

Enjoy

This movie has a lot of wonderful fun and heartwarming moments in it. You can watch this with all members of your family without worrying about inappropriate language or scenes. The story is so compelling that you'll want to watch this video over and over. Enjoy!