Cocoon

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.

"Cocoon" is a good Sunday afternoon, put-your-feet-up-and-sit-back type of film. Nothing more, nothing less. It's real old fashioned entertainment. And while I like this film, I really am surprised just how revered it is. Some call it a "classic" which really is stretching things just a tad. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but having just watched this film again, after not having seen it since it originally came out, I was struck by just how under-developed the whole film was. The focus of the film is (deservedly so) on the elderly characters who get a new shot at life, so to speak. This then relegates the rest of the characters to nothing more than background dressing. Perhaps there were a few scenes (reels, maybe?) that were cut from the film or just not filmed. And yes, I know that a lot of people will decry my review as being "ageist" -- however, this being a sci-fi film, one would think that the alien angle would have been beefed up a bit more. As it stands, the revelation of the alien's identities and intentions are so conveniently and expediently accepted by the characters that one would presume the aliens are capable of mind-control; however that would be to introduce a sinister underpinning to the film and that sort of complexity would have gone against what Ron Howard was trying to convey. I would assume that Ron Howard just didn't have a strong handle on the material, nor a clear vision of exactly what he wanted to convey with the story. I personally felt that Wilford Brimley's decision to go away with the aliens was terribly insensitive to his grand-son's needs, not to mention unrealistic. I know it's "only a movie" but some kind of wisdom (in keeping with the older makes wiser notion, if nothing else) would have made for a stronger conclusion.Steve Guttenberg's character was completely under-developed, apart from playing boat captain, then peeping tom, then fodder for the token alien-human love scene. The same for the alien characters. I mean, casting Brian Dennehy and then not utilising his talents is like casting Robert De Niro in the role of Darth Vader and not using his voice either!There are a lot of aspects (characters and situations) that Ron Howard had to juggle with this film, and once again, it comes down to his handling of the material that impedes the film. The inclusion of Guttenberg's and Tahnee Welch's love interest is obviously in catering to a younger demographic, and really wasn't necessary. It plays out as tacked on and not realistic or natural. More screen time and development of these two characters would have served the film better and made the love scene less intrusive and more necessary to the plot.Overall, this movie is a good movie, very entertaining and it is great to see some veteran older actors/actresses getting their due, however, it's just not a true cinema classic. I would suggest that anyone wanting to see a film concerning old people that most definitely IS a classic, do yourself a favour and buy David Lynch's "The Straight Story" one of the warmest, sincerest and original films ever conceived. And don't let the fact that David Lynch directed it put you off. If you only think Lynch is capable of producing "weird for weird sake" type films (and I love Lynch's work), then allow "The Straight Story" (and yes, the title is meant to be somewhat ironic) to dispell those preconceptions.

I was unable to find Cocoon 1 anywhere to stream online and I thought I would get this DVD collection so I could get both of the movies. What I found out.. was there was good reason why the film was not available on streaming. I was playing the film in a stereo audio, while the movie played back in a mono sound.As a person with a dead left ear I was unable to hear most the lines. Thank goodness for subtitles.

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.

Family friend wanted it.

Ever think about taking a dip with an alien? You will after seeing this. Good fun!

This is one of my 'very good value for money' dvds. It is not a very old production. 1980s in fact. Set in a retirement village with older actors - lead by Don Ameche - it really is a lovely film. Quite charming in fact. There are aliens lead by Brian Dennehy who is an absolute sweetie and there are the cocoons which they collect from the sea and place in the swimming pool to keep them safe. It is an unusual very kind story which I found totally entertaining.

Eureka keeping pulling out the stops to bring us quality editions in Blu-Ray releases and Cocoon is a prime example of that. When I started watching it after years away from the film I was worried it wouldn't have the same effect like it did the first time round but im happy to report it was even better. Maybe the older you get the more you appreciate what it means to be older and feel young again.The booklet included is a great addition with lots of interesting facts and a handful of extra's to keep the faithful more than satisfied. Its a must buy for any fan, we just need Cocoon The Return now.

Just received my steel book copy from amazon today i am pleased to report to any fans of the film that this UK edition has all the extras from the USA edition- Directors commentary with Ron Howard,5 featurettes, trailers,tv spots.Picture quality superb,5.1 DTS sound great also i confirm the run time is 117 mins NOT 107 mins as on box Oh sorry to nit pick as already spotted by a reviewer major cock up by FOX unbelievable this the credits printed on the back of the steel book are for the sequel COCOON THE RETURN!!!!!!!!!!! it beggars belief how these people keep their jobs what about quality control never mind False advertising,i will still keep hold of my steel book copy might make it very collectible in years to come. Hope this helps you with your purchase of this great movie enjoy. Mark, Wallasey, Merseyside. 6/3/14.

I bought these because I loved the movie way back when.....The movie can still motivate me like it did in the old days. It tells the story of residents at an elderly home, who find a pool with cocoons in it. When they swim in the pool they're rejuvenated and they suddenly meet the aliens, who are there to collect the cocoons, which actually have aliens inside who were left behind thousands of years ago. They promise not to tell anyone, but of course things go bad between the team and one of the members.At the end the group from the pool is offered to join the aliens when they go back and they agree.In number two the collection continues where the first one left off. The elderly group returns because they have to find the remaining cocoons and they decide one by one to stay on earth because they miss their family......One cocoon is found by scientists, who, like in most movies, do their studying of the alien even when they can see he/she is dying.

at the height of eighties film making both cocoon films were brought out,in the first a pennyless hungry fishy boat skipper has a group hire his boat for 27 days ,in the meantime at a nearby test home three old friends keep trespassing to use the pool ,when the cocoons are brought in they revitalise the o.a.p.s with drastic implication that the aliens who are in the cocoons waiting to be taken home now have to be put back into the sea.a really good family film in cocoon 2 they come back to earth with the oaps to regain there friends in the ocean ,but as one of the aops dies one of the couples decide to stay on earth with their daughter and grandson,the other couple one prefnant in her 70s decide to go back with the aliens and jack the fisherman is shown by one of the aliens a premonition of having a nice house and car wth a wife a nd two children,a great pair of film for all the family