Cocoon (1985)

When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigour.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Tom Benedek (screenplay), David Saperstein (story)

Stars:

Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don Ameche	...	Art Selwyn
Wilford Brimley	...	Ben Luckett
Hume Cronyn	...	Joe Finley
Brian Dennehy	...	Walter
Jack Gilford	...	Bernie Lefkowitz
Steve Guttenberg	...	Jack Bonner
Maureen Stapleton	...	Mary Luckett
Jessica Tandy	...	Alma Finley
Gwen Verdon	...	Bess McCarthy
Herta Ware	...	Rosie Lefkowitz
Tahnee Welch	...	Kitty
Barret Oliver	...	David
Linda Harrison	...	Susan
Tyrone Power Jr.	...	Pillsbury
Clint Howard	...	John Dexter

Storyline

A group of aliens return to earth to retrieve cocoons containing the people they'd left behind from an earlier trip. These cocoons had been resting at the bottom of the ocean. Once retrieved, they stored these recovered cocoons in the swimming pool of a house they'd rented in a small Florida town. Their mission is hampered by a number of elderly people from a nearby retirement community who had been secretly using the pool, and who discover unusual powers from within these cocoons.

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Plot Keywords:

cocoon | alien | swimming | swimming pool | senior citizen | 

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Taglines:

It is everything you've dreamed of. It is nothing you expect.

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 June 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cocoon - A Aventura dos Corais Perdidos

Filming Locations:

Clearwater, Florida, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$76,100,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Zanuck/Brown Productions, SLM Production Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music used for part of the sequence when the Coast Guard and the police are chasing the boat is the exact same music used in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when Spock is in the engine room trying to fix the warp drive. James Horner did the music for both films.

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Goofs

When the four men are hiding in the pool closet and the Anterians come into to put the day's haul of cocoons into the pool, the tile floor is completely dry, though the men had just exited the pool moments before, dripping wet.

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Quotes

Jack Bonner: [after leaping off his boat and swimming away from the Antereans, then stopping to review his situation] I'm in the water... far from shore. It's at night... and they have my boat.... Shit.

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Connections

References The Creature Wasn't Nice (1983)

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Soundtracks

"A Week-End in Havana"
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Played when the men take their wives swimming

User Reviews

A different breed of science fiction, with the warm touch.

COCOON is not at all similar to every other science fiction movie (the ending is a pure exception), but this uses fantasy and magic as a way to express a heartwarmth feeling. What happens when the good elderly citizens of a retirement community discover the "fountain of youth"? It's movies like this going away from the perilous trap and concentrates deeply on our human characteristics. A large cast of older stars, including the late couple Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, contribute to the warmth and amusement of a non-violent "sci-fi" picture that is a breed apart from the rest. They act as if they're "young again" with incredible energy, and the moments offer the kind and gentle possibilities that wouldn't redeem this as science fiction, but it is. Ron "Ritchie" Howard gives this a whole new acclaim for internally giving us the human spirit that lies within an outside force. For those who crave hard on science fiction, COCOON is a slight misunderstanding due to the light-hearted story it has to offer. What's more entertaining than seeing old folks push over the limits of their acting potential? As Wilford Brimley once said in Quaker Oats commercials, "It's the right thing to do.". Which also means COCOON is the right movie for showing off a different dimension of our feelings inside. And different is right!