Movie – Cocoon
Score : 6.5/10
Year : 1985
Country : USA
Language : English
Duration :1h57
A group of friends from a retirement community, used to sneak into an abandoned house to use the pool continue their trespassing even once a mysterious group buys the house and start to regain their youthful stamina whilst swimming…
Cocoon is a very different science-fiction movie because the main cast are senior actors and actresses; instead of changing actors to play their younger selves once these people regain their vigor and de-aged as some sci-fi shows have done, Cocoon remains with the seniors. It deals, obviously, with some serious topics such as aging, illness and death – you get that right from the few first minutes. But, it’s not just about old age VS rejuvenation. It’s also about camaraderie, friendship, and many travels in a boat to recuperate some rock samples (am I kidding? You’ll see!).
Cocoon’s a bit of a mixed bag ; the cinematography is alright for most, lacks a bit in some areas, and some of the budget seems to have been kept aside for the special effects (yes, there are some. Be patient with it as the movie’s a bit slow to develop).
The music for the adventurous/ science-fiction parts is good, but the retirement segments aren’t my cup of tea (as I often say).
The acting from the main cast is actually good but hey, one expects veteran actors to be good at their craft, right? And they are:
Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy.
Only a few younger ones: Steven Guttenberg, Tahnee Welch and Barret Oliver.
The dialogues are … very 1980’s I’d say… they do contain some adult references but nothing is ever shown, only implied.
There is something about an old continent which I think was a mistake to include in the story... I won't say more...
Overall the pace is ok ; as I mentioned above, it’s a bit slow to start – but it lets the viewer get attached to the characters. The ending is surprising, for a movie of this type – this is where a good part of the budget was used….
As for my score, 6.5, because I felt it was better than a 6, but maybe not quite a 7…
*****
Cocoon... in the medias
There are quite a few DVD editions for Cocoon. My French EAN 3344428029852, released in 2007 is very limited.
The movie is in 16/9 1.85:1 aspect ratio, it's presented with Dolby Digital sound, 4.1 for Englsh and 2.0 for French dubs. There are only French subtitles which must be chosen in the menu because they cannot be activated (or de-activated) whilst watching. It's 1h52, which is 5 minutes shorter than IMDB's announced duration. The only bonus is the trailer.
This dvd is region 2.
Oddly enough, the French edition from 2002, EAN 3344428007508 has additional languages : Italian, German and Spanish, all in 2.0 like French is, whilst English was already 4.0.
There are subtitles for each of these additions.
That edition also only offers trailers for bonus material and is also region 2.
I saw on UK amazon a bluray edition, EAN 5039036066266 which improved the sound to 5.1 DTS HD-MA but I don't know the special features yet.
I hope they are at least like the US BD edition, EAN 024543657989 (and limited to zone A, unfortunately) which consist of a commentary by the director, and 5 featurettes, additionally to the trailer and tv spots.
Comments
Post a Comment