Wampyrii doesn't live here any more. Play nice y'all. :)
Wampyrii doesn't live here any more. Play nice y'all. :)
Member since:15.09.2000
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Directed by Ron Howard, Cocoon is a light-hearted sci-fi comedy which although quite watchable, also inexplicably garnered two major awards. An Academy Award for its special effects and an Oscar or Don Ameche in the role of best supporting actor. Perhaps 1985 was a pretty grim year for movies...or perhaps I am just far too cynical and this movie is far better than how it appears on the surface.
The basic storyline is an update to the fountain of youth idea, putting a bunch of geriatrics in the lead roles and letting them refind their lost youth and exuberance. How? Well a couple of aliens land on the Earth with a purpose. They rent a large house with an indoor pool deep in the heart of St. Petersburg, Florida(like the human equivalent of the elephant's graveyard in the US so I'm told lol) and set off to look for something in the ocean. Whilst they are gone, a feisty bunch of old folks from the local rest home use the pool for their midnight swims, breaking out of the home and into the house to do so. The aliens, lead by Walter(Brian Dennehey) rent a boat from Jack Bonner(Steve Guttenberg), and retrieve some strange rock-like cocoons from the ocean floor, placing them on their return into the pool. The old folks still break in and use the pool, despite the strange new additions and begin to notice strange things happening to them. The bondage of age seems to be dropping away and they can do all the things they used to do when younger...they are suddenly more youthful and vital...
Its not a fantastic movie, but its gentle and effective in what it tries to do. It wants to tug at your heart strings and that is exactly what it manages to achieve. The general performances here are good, as they ought to be because most of he cast have been plying their trade for a hell of a long time(people like Jessica Tandy and Don Ameche) and the scripting manages to not be TOO sickening and saccharine...but only just. Special Effects are another thing. Yes they are ok, but they they look like the left-overs from 'Close Encouters', a movie which was filmed almost ten years previous to this one. Had things not moved on by then? Guess not, if the Academy are anything to go by. I wasn't greatly impressed, but there you go...
Overall, its a good movie, which is fun for all the family. Do not expect high action thrills and spills, or aliens which are anything other than highly benevolent despite the fact that it soon becomes clear that the old folks are actually killing their bretheren by bathing in the pool. This is a family movie, and one you can feel safe leaving your kids in front of, knowing that there is nothing here which is going to cause offense etc. Its very much a feel good movie and one which will hold your attention better than most others of its kind at that.
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In 1985Cocoonwas a significant trend-bucker amongst summer blockbusters. Whereas other ... more
genre efforts were devised to lure a teenage audience into FX extravaganzas, this looked like one for their grandparents. Except that it turned out to be a gentle, a...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In 1985Cocoonwas a significant trend-bucker amongst summer blockbusters. Whereas other ... more
genre efforts were devised to lure a teenage audience into FX extravaganzas, this looked like one for their grandparents. Except that it turned out to be a gentle, a...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A group of delightful and very human people meet up with some very bizarre and ... more
not-so-human beings, who are visitors from a distant galaxy. They have come to Earth on a rescue mission to retrieve a secret which has laid hidden on the ocean floor for th...
A group of senior citizens residing in a rest home find their lives turned upside down ... more
after they are offered the gift of eternal youth by benevolent aliens in Ron Howard’s wonderful tribute to the human spirit. Brian Dennehy is Walter an alien ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Cocoon [DVD] [1985]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78548127.jpg "Cocoon [DVD] [1985]")
Jul 19th, 2001
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