Noutions
Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
lucyharkess
I've been watching this film for as long as I can remember and only recently looked it up here. I was correct - it came out in the year I was born.It has everything you could want - mystery, aliens, a good story line and riveting actors!Jessica Tandy is like the grandmother everyone would want to steal and take home for themselves. This was the first film I saw her in (obviously) but from what I have read about her since - she certainly kept up here her fabulous acting career in this role.The twists and turns this movie takes are of course more obvious now that it's 2018 - but I was mesmerised by this film as a child. For me this is up there with the Goonies, Short Circuit and Batteries Not Included!Give it a watch!
slightlymad22
A movie I consider an underrated classic of the 1980's Cocoon, just gets better with age.Plot In A Paragraph: A group of aliens led by Walter (Brian Dennehy) and Kitty (Tahnee Welch) 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. They hire a boat from a local captain Jack (Steve Guttenberg) who helps them retrieve the cocoons. Once retrieved, they stored these recovered cocoons in the swimming pool of a house they'd rented in a small Florida town. Problems arise when three elderly people, Art (Don Ameche) Ben (Wilford Brimley) and Joe (Hume Cronyn) from a nearby retirement community have been secretly using the pool, and who discover a new lease of life after using the pool with the cocoons in it.All the lead cast are brilliant and Brian Dennehy is as excellent as always. Every time I see him on screen I warm to Steve Guttenberg, and I can't help but wonder what happened to his career, and looking on here, he didn't make a movie from 1990 (A sequel to "3 Men & A Baby") till 1995. Which is forever in Hollywood.The film marked the first collaboration between director Ron Howard and composer James Horner. Horner would go on to compose the music for many films directed by Howard.
utgard14
Aliens, disguised as humans, rent Steve Guttenberg's boat to help them recover some alien cocoons from the ocean. Then they store them in the bottom of a swimming pool next door to a retirement home. A group of oldsters from the retirement home take a swim in the pool and find themselves feeling youthful and reinvigorated.Charming, pleasant, and touching film from Ron Howard that's a showcase for a fine cast of elderly actors. Don Ameche, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Maureen Stapleton, and the other oldsters are all great but Wilford Brimley is the standout. It could be argued Steve Guttenberg is only in the movie to give it some youth appeal, to say nothing of his 'sort of romance' with Tahnee Welch (daughter of Raquel). But he doesn't detract from things at all and is likable throughout the picture. It's a truly unique and wonderful movie. One of the many classics made in the '80s, a decade that is vastly underrated by film snobs.
MongoTheMuser
This is a lovely, not-to-be-missed, golden-era style "Fountain of Youth" comedy and drama -- just add a touch of aliens! The incredibly talented cast of actors portraying the "old folks" all breathe wonderful life into each scene. Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, and Hume Cronyn do especially fine, natural portrayals here, as does Jack Gilford, although his role is more that of a single-note character. Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy and Gwen Verdon do stellar work here as well. This is a warm, lovable film about friendship and laughter in the face of aging. Mongo's Rating: 8.3 stars in a 10- star world. That's the Upside -- and this charmer of a film is nearly all so. The Downside? Steve Guttenberg nearly poisons the film with his sticky, clownishly hollow portrayals. He nearly brings his reverse Midas touch to bear here as well, but remains at the far edges of tolerability. Still, your nausea-meter may be pinging in the red, dangerously so, during his unavoidably numerous appearances.)
