COCOON is a mild-mannered science fiction movie taking place in the vicinity of an old folks home somewhere along the coast of Florida. The main characters have plenty of "star power," and these include Don Ameche, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Maureen Stapleton, and Jessica Tandy. Some of these names are "household words" for people familiar with the history of American cinema and television, and so there is no point in reiterating what is already common knowledge. That said, I have admired Mr. Dennehy's role in the movie, NEVER CRY WOLF, and I have admired Don Ameche's role in THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.
THE PLOT. This is not a Twilight-Zone story with a surprise ending, and so I will go ahead and tell elements of the entire story. COCOON is more about character-development, and about making decisions along life's pathway. The story begins when some ordinary-looking visitor (actually aliens) approach a young boat-rental operator with a need to rent a boat for a month. They rent the boat, and spend their time busily plucking large moss-covered boulders from a sunken hiding place, and transporting them to an indoor swimming pool near an old folks home. Anybody who has seen INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (the black and white version, not the stupid color version) will easily guess what is inside the boulders. The viewer is exposed to humorous episodes and also not-so-humorous episodes of the old folks home residents coming to terms with their dwindling health, weakening eyesight, and threat to their mortality. As the plot unfolds itself, the old folks discover that if they swim around in the pool that contains the boulders (pods containing ancient, but living, aliens) they will feel younger again. Some of the more pleasant parts of the movie show the old folks playing a lively game of basketball, ballroom dancing at a Florida disco, and even break dancing. At any rate, the aliens eventually discover what is going on, and they soon realize that the behavior of the old folks in bathing in the pool has sapped the energy of the ancient aliens that reside within the boulders -- with the consequence that the ancient aliens lose their vitality and are on the verge of dying. The aliens then decide to replace the boulders in their original underwater hiding place, with the intention of picking them up at a later time. The story ends when the old folks, agree to be transported with the aliens in their flying saucer back to the alien planet.
SPECIAL EFFECTS. COCOON does not disappoint, as far as special effects are concern. The flying saucer is seen only at the very end, but at least, we are treated to a fine flying saucer. It is a standard flying saucer, such as that seen in ROSWELL, starring Kyle MacLachlan and featuring Dwight Yokum, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, starring Micheal Rennie, and ALIEN TRESPASS, starring Eric McCormack, Jenni Baird, and Robert Patrick. One original special effect is that the aliens take the form of glowing lava in the form of a human being, and when they walk around or even sit, brightly colored smoke is emitted from their body. The aliens come dressed in human skin, and a couple of the scenes shows the aliens peeling the human skin off from their body, and dumping the "skin costume" in a little heap on the floor.
CONCUPISCENCE. The boat operator is a young man, and he is portrayed as a likeable sleezebag. He is interested in the female alien, and in trying to persuade her to engage in concupiscent behavior with him, he says, "I am not trying to nail you." Eventually, the boat operator succeeds in engaging in concupiscent behavior with the alien, but on her terms. At first, he is disgusted when he spies through the keyhole of the room on the boat where the female alien stays. He watches her take off her earthling-type clothes, and then he sees her peel off her human skin. As I mentioned, the boat operator is initially disgusted, but he soon overcomes the slight problem that the alien is really made of glowing lava. And so, in one of the later scenes in the film, the young man and the alien (dressed in her usual human female skin) are in the swimming pool together, and the alien emits a glowing comet-sort-of-thing, and the comet-sort-of-thing bounces about the walls of the swimming pool room, and eventually strikes the young man, inducing a feeling of fulfillment. Anyway, ho-hum.
CONCLUSION. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is similar to COCOON in that both involve aliens that reside in pods. But the plot lines of these two movies are totally different. AWAKENINGS with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro is more similar to COCOON, in that both movies involve old people who are deteriorated, and are transformed into vibrant active folks who like to dance. In AWAKENINGS, the transformation was caused by an administered drug, while in COCOON the transformation was caused by a substance in a swimming pool. I think that both movies -- COCOON and AWAKENINGS -- have comparable lessons on mortality. The old people in the cast are a fine ensemble. It is an ensemble piece. Also on the plus side, there are no explosions in this movie, and nobody gets killed, and there are no bad words. On the minus side, there are several seconds of footage of local seabirds, that is, brown pelicans and egrets. But the cinematography of these avian creatures is not very good. Anybody familiar with the habits of brown pelicans could have provided much better footage, for example, of the way groups of two dozen brown pelicans glide in a straight line just a foot or so off from the surface of the ocean.
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Cocoon
Don Ameche
(Actor),
Wilford Brimley
(Actor),
Ron Howard
(Director)
&
0
more Rated: Format: DVD
PG-13
IMDb6.7/10.0
50+ bought in past month
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Genre | Fantasy, Action & Adventure |
Format | Subtitled, Widescreen, Color, Full Screen |
Contributor | Steve Guttenberg, Tahnee Welch, Herta Ware, Barret Oliver, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Jack Gilford, Gwen Verdon, Jessica Tandy, David Saperstein, Ron Howard, Maureen Stapleton, Tom Benedek See more |
Language | English, Spanish |
Runtime | 1 hour and 57 minutes |
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Product Description
Don Ameche (1985 Academy Award®, Best Supporting Actor), Hume Cronyn, Jack Gilford, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Wilford Brimley and Steve Guttenberg star in this charming fantasy adventure.
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : 1.85:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
- Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 3.2 ounces
- Item model number : 024543115878
- Director : Ron Howard
- Media Format : Subtitled, Widescreen, Color, Full Screen
- Run time : 1 hour and 57 minutes
- Release date : June 1, 2004
- Actors : Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford
- Language : Unqualified, English
- Studio : 20th Century Fox
- ASIN : B00020HAV0
- Writers : David Saperstein, Tom Benedek
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,598 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #68 in Fantasy DVDs
- #81 in Science Fiction DVDs
- #501 in Action & Adventure DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
2,240 global ratings
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1 Star
Want to return it
I requested a slip for return. When I opened up the package he stated that he only worked on the six certain DVD player I didn't want to fool with that.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2014
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2023
The ordered disc arrived in a timely manner, sealed, appearing to be brand new, which I am sure it was. Unfortunately the movie I received was formated for a region that I don't live. Therefore I can not reset my disc player making the twin movie disc unwatchable. Imagine our disappointment when after unwrapping the disc for family movie night to find a clunker movie. I would like to return and exchange it , if possible.
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2020
I applaud the Goodwill store from which I purchased this, through Amazon. It was exactly as described in condition and played perfectly. I ensured it was the right region disc for my player and opted for a like new or very good condition (at 25 dollars plus).
It was not cheap! Cocoon is very difficult to find during the pandemic for some reason - you can stream Cocoon 2 but not the original right now, and you can't buy it digitally nor as a DVD or blu ray, and if you buy it used you need to make sure it is the American version (region) so it will play on your player.
There have even been articles written on how it is next to impossible to find, with 1 author even reaching out to a friend who asked Ron Howard about it - like wtf is the deal with that? So there is a conspiracy theory about it but after watching it for the 1st time, I'd say the government would have no reason to suppress this and maybe they are just waiting for a relaunch or remake.
Frankly, it is well done enough to not look very outdated today in terms of special effects. That said, I don't get why it is legendary. I get Star Wars and the Matrix but not this. I'm giving it 5 stars for the Goodwill not the movie. I did appreciate the morals of the movie though.
It was not cheap! Cocoon is very difficult to find during the pandemic for some reason - you can stream Cocoon 2 but not the original right now, and you can't buy it digitally nor as a DVD or blu ray, and if you buy it used you need to make sure it is the American version (region) so it will play on your player.
There have even been articles written on how it is next to impossible to find, with 1 author even reaching out to a friend who asked Ron Howard about it - like wtf is the deal with that? So there is a conspiracy theory about it but after watching it for the 1st time, I'd say the government would have no reason to suppress this and maybe they are just waiting for a relaunch or remake.
Frankly, it is well done enough to not look very outdated today in terms of special effects. That said, I don't get why it is legendary. I get Star Wars and the Matrix but not this. I'm giving it 5 stars for the Goodwill not the movie. I did appreciate the morals of the movie though.
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2015
STILL DELIGHTFUL! Thirty years ago I remember Gene Shalit, film critic for the Today Show saying, "You know how you are always looking for a movie you can take your kids to? This is one you can take your parents to!" This movie is 30 years old, so now I am a senior citizen in charge of movie night at our retirement facility. We showed this one last week, and everyone--even guests of seniors--loved it! Humor, pathos, development of characters, and something to leave you thinking about. It is the story of three old geezers living in a retirement community, two with their wives, with the usual aches and pains but nothing really bad, who like the sneak next door to swim in the indoor pool of an estate that is on the market. A group of four or five people of mixed ages comes to town and rents it but does not live there, so the pool is functional. They also rent the services of a down and out day boater (Steve Gutenberg) for a month to take them diving. They bring up huge cocoon-shaped barnacle-encrusted rocks that they transport to the pool in the estate. In the meantime, the geezers are getting more and more spry as they sneak in for their daily swims. Sorry, you'll have to see the rest for yourself. And you will love it too.
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2017
It's a Ron Howard film? How can it be bad?
Cocoon is the story of three men living in a retirement village in Florida.
Each day they sneak into the empty mansion next door and go swimming.
One day, they see odd objects in the pool, but swim anyway.
What happens next is what takes this movie from mild fun to amzing.
Played to the hilt by veteran actors Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Jack Gilford, and Hume Cronyn, it co-stars Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy (Cronyn's real life wife) Linda Harrison (Planet of the apes),Barret Oliver, the lovely Gwen Verdon, Tahnee Welch and my favorite, Brian Dennehy, as a very likeable --well, his name is Walter.
The cast is perfect. They are all such likeable characters you don't want to let them go, which is probably why they made a Cocoon 2.
Do yourself a favor and watch this movie.
It's a feel good fest that will leave you thinking and make you want to watch it again.
Cocoon is the story of three men living in a retirement village in Florida.
Each day they sneak into the empty mansion next door and go swimming.
One day, they see odd objects in the pool, but swim anyway.
What happens next is what takes this movie from mild fun to amzing.
Played to the hilt by veteran actors Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Jack Gilford, and Hume Cronyn, it co-stars Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy (Cronyn's real life wife) Linda Harrison (Planet of the apes),Barret Oliver, the lovely Gwen Verdon, Tahnee Welch and my favorite, Brian Dennehy, as a very likeable --well, his name is Walter.
The cast is perfect. They are all such likeable characters you don't want to let them go, which is probably why they made a Cocoon 2.
Do yourself a favor and watch this movie.
It's a feel good fest that will leave you thinking and make you want to watch it again.
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024
Did not play on my dvd player !
Top reviews from other countries
Stephen Parkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Family viewing
Reviewed in Canada on December 1, 2023
This is a great movie for the whole family. Make popcorn.
samou
5.0 out of 5 stars
Zählt zu meinen Lieblingsfilmen
Reviewed in Germany on March 26, 2024
Musste ich mir einfach kaufen
Jamie Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2024
Love it
maria belen mejias garcia
5.0 out of 5 stars
La pelicula no esta en espanol los subtitles tampoco
Reviewed in Spain on January 6, 2024
En la cartilage del dvd pone language y subtitulo en espanol people solo esta en ingles
Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Consegna ok
Reviewed in Italy on July 18, 2023
Ottimo stato