Cocoon (1985)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1985
Running Time	112:23
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (65:24)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Ron Howard
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Wilfred Brimley Don Ameche Hume Cronyn Brian Dennehy Jack Gilford Steve Guttenberg
Case	?
RPI	$36.95	Music	James Horner

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English for the Hearing Impaired Finnish French German Greek Hebrew Hungarian Icelandic Italian Norwegian Polish Portuguese Spanish Swedish Turkish French Titling German Titling Italian Titling Spanish Titling	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Hands up if you know which film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 1986 awards ceremony? Surprise, surprise, it was Cocoon, which also picked up the Best Supporting Actor award for Don Ameche. How can a film that is essentially a character drama earn the award for visual effects? Well, I really can't say lest I spoil the story!

    I remember very well the night I went along to see Cocoon at the cinema (it was in the city centre - suburban megaplex thingies didn't exist then). I had actually won these tickets in a radio station competition and this was pretty much the first time I  had won anything - so it was quite a big deal. There was quite a bit of publicity over this film at the time, with most of the attention on the director. You see, it was one of the early films for Ron Howard. Back then, he was still mostly known as Ritchie Cunningham from Happy Days (for some reason I still think of him as such) and many thought it a bit of a novelty that he could direct.

    I have rambled a bit about my personal experience with this film, just to have something to say in the plot synopsis. You see, Cocoon is one of those films where if I described the plot too much I would give away the major surprise, and if you haven't seen it, I don't want to be the one to ruin the experience.

    Ben Lockett (Wilfred Brimley), Art Selwyn (Don Ameche), and Joe Finley (Hume Cronyn) are among an aging group of retirees living in a rather boring old people's home (is there any other sort?). They discover an indoor pool in a empty mansion next door and proceed to take a daily swim that soon becomes the highlight of their day. When a strange yet unassuming quartet of travellers arrive (lead by a demure Brian Dennehy) and rent the house with the pool for a few days, the oldies are scared off. The newcomers also hire a young charter-boat operator in Jack Bonner (Steve Guttenberg), whose boat they use to retrieve a series of large cocoons from many miles offshore. They store the cocoons in the indoor swimming pool, thinking they will be safe. Meanwhile the oldies decide to sneak back and continue their daily swim, not perturbed by the existence of the cocoons in the pool. A strange feeling begins to overcome them after swimming in the pool - they find all their ills have gone and they feel rejuvenated and young again. Have the discovered a fountain of youth? To tell any more will spoil the whole surprise, so for those of you who haven't caught up with this heart-warming tale, take a look as it provides some nice comfortable and light entertainment.

    This film also spawned a rather insipid sequel. Made in 1988, Cocoon - The Return was not received particularly well by the public or the critics. I can't even mention what it is about as that would spoil the plot for this review, so you'll just have to wait until that disc is released.

Video

    Presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, this transfer is also 16x9 enhanced. For some reason, I was not really expecting great things from this video transfer. Something in my head just told me not to get too excited and expect a quality print, and after viewing the theatrical trailer in the extras, I feared the worst. But I need not have worried. Apart from a couple of issues, it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting.

    The transfer is certainly not as sharp as many transfers of similar vintages that I have seen. There are times when it is very soft. This is most notable during the darker scenes (see around 27:29 when Jack and Kitty are below deck on the fishing boat for probably the worst case). There is a reasonable amount of edge enhancement also present, though apart from the most notable occurrence at 11:32, it is mostly minor in nature. Shadow detail in these scenes does border on losing clarity, but this may be intentional and part of the source print. Grain is quite plentiful in its appearance, but mostly well controlled and minimal except for the opening scenes (which are really quite ordinary). There is no low level noise.

    Colours aren't exactly what I'd call vibrant, though there are few problems. Skin tones are natural.
   
    There are no MPEG artefacts. There is no aliasing or shimmer present because it is simply not a sharp enough transfer for it to occur. Film artefacts are numerous, though, and are mostly small apart from a couple of rather large examples (there is a large scratch at 4:50). They will be mostly within the tolerance level of most viewers .

    There are lots of subtitles to choose from, but for some strange reason, you are unable to select them on the fly while watching the film. You must navigate back to the main menu to do so. Quite frustrating. I watched the film with the English titles on for the whole film (I couldn't turn them off without stopping!) and found them more than adequate for the job.

    This is a dual layered disc with RSDL formatting. The layer change is barely perceptible at 65:24.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are a total of five audio tracks on this disc. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is joined by French, German, Italian, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. I listened to the English track in its entirety and quickly verified the presence of the other four. One major negative of the audio tracks on offer is that, like the subtitles, you are unable to select them on the fly during the film. You must navigate back to the main menu, select your track and then select resume to head back to where you left off. Quite frustrating when there are five tracks to sample.

    While the dialogue was mostly adequate, I did find myself on a couple of occasions flicking back a scene or two to catch what was being said. The dialogue at 72:30 is quite poor and drops in volume quite noticeably. Without the subtitles on I struggled to understand what was being said here. Overall, I would have liked a bit more oomph from the overall dialogue mix.

    The music is a real mixed bag. The actual audio quality is fine, but the worst of the 80s in on offer here, with some real dire synthesised offerings. Check out when the oldies are all in the disco for perhaps the worst example, complete with a break-dance solo. As a result, the soundtrack is terribly dated at times. Thankfully, there are also some jazz offerings that provide a more timeless appeal.

    Despite being a remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 track, there is very little surround channel use. In fact I thought they had gone to sleep, until suddenly at 98:10 they sprang into life during the coast guard scene. Nicely done here and keeps the viewer on their toes.

    The subwoofer sees a little bit of action - mainly towards the latter stages of the film. It is pretty well integrated into the soundtrack and does not draw undue attention to itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    Not a great deal to get excited over here I'm afraid.

Theatrical Trailer

    Running for 1:30 minutes, this is a very poor quality trailer with lots of grain and a generally grubby appearance. Presented in 1.33:1 pan and scan, with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Thankfully not much of the plot is spoilt by it and it does make the film seem less of a science fiction flick than it actually is.

    It would appear that this title is not yet available in Region 1, making for one of the rare occasions when we have it before them. It is available in Region 2 and from the information I can gather it is to exactly the same specification as the Region 4 version.

    Cocoon is quite a unique film. The performances from the quite elderly cast are excellent. It isn't really a science fiction film, even though that genre is fundamental to the plot. It really is a character-driven drama that deals with the greatest of human weaknesses - growing old.

    The video is nothing spectacular, but is serviceable with few problems other than being a little on the soft side.

    The audio is also nothing spectacular, but also does the job, with only a couple of minor problems.

    The extras? Well a rather grubby and grainy trailer does not really inspire much.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall