When Steven Spielberg released Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977 he spearheaded a raft of American alien encounter movies which would continue for over a decade. Whilst best known for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg went on to make family friendly sci-fi films with a saccharine touch such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence and War of the Worlds. In very much the same vein Ron Howard dipped his toes into sci-fi with Cocoon.
Ben (Wilford Brimley), Arthur (Don Ameche) and Joe (Hume Cronyn) are spending their twilight years in Sunny Shores Retirement Home. The only excitement they have in sneaking into the swimming pool in an unoccupied house next door. Jack (Steve Guttenberg) is having a bad time, but when four strangers, led by Walter (Brian Dennehy), want to hire his boat for a deep-sea dive he thinks his luck is in. After Walter rents the house next door the trio continue to sneak in but suddenly find that the pool now has strange revitalising powers and weird lurking inside it.
There’s something a little special about heart-warming films such as Cocoon. Whilst it could only have been made in the ’80s, it still holds-up remarkably well today. Whilst the tone is generally light there aresome incredibly powerful scenes about old age. Even the effects still look impressive and there’s the kind of ensemble cast you rarely see in modern cinema. Cocoon is great family entertainment which is perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Special Features:
- New high definition transfer of the film
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Feature-length audio commentary with Director Ron Howard
- Five featurettes: Behind the scenes, Ron Howard profile, Underwater training, Actors, Creating Antareans
- Three TV spots
- Original theatrical trailer
- Teaser Trailer
- Cocoon: The Return theatrical trailer
- Collectors booklet featuring a new article on the film by critic James Oliver, and archival imagery
Cocoon is released on Blu-ray by Eureka Entertainment on Monday.
