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After thousands of years of absence, the Altereans return. Their arrival couldn't be more innocuous. Walter (Brian Dennehy), Kitty (Tahnee Welch), David (Barret Oliver), and Pillsbury (Tyrone Power Jr. ) seem quite human. Like any affluent vacationing family might, they rent a vacant home that includes an indoor swimming pool and hire charter fishing boat owner Jack Bonner (Steve Guttenberg) to take them out on exploratory SCUBA dives. But the vacant home rental is bad news to some of the residents of Sunny Shores Villas Retirement Community.  

Arthur Selwyn (Don Ameche), Benjamin Luckett (Wilford Brimley), and Joseph Finley (Hume Cronyn) had regularly snuck into the pool house for leisurely swims. They're not pleased with the notion of giving up one of their last remaining pleasures. But what's this?  The visitors spend their days on Bonner's boat. Windows of opportunity open; sneaking back into the pool will be possible after all. The three seniors find that the renters are placing large, odd looking, stone eggs in the pool. They decide to ignore them, but soon discover that the pool's water is now causing a remarkable change: their youthful vigor returns and physical ailments seem to melt away. What they don't understand is that the pool has been charged with life force to strengthen the alien ground crew to bring them out of hibernation for the long, interstellar trip back home.  

Cocoon is an exploration of mortality, the regrets of aging, the interaction between two alien cultures, and the consequences of careless inflexibility. Altereans and Terrans will find themselves in conflict, but a decency that transcends planetary origin will prevail. Walter allows Ben, his two friends, and their wives to share the restoring properties of the pool, with unfortunate results. But the human spirit will make amends and the Altereans will offer a gift of inestimable value.  

Director Ron Howard has crafted a charming and sentimental film that brings together plot elements and characters that might seem utterly incompatible. And yet, the emotional resonance of decline and mortality blends perfectly into this unique science fiction film. The veteran performers are excellent, both the three elderly lead actors and their onscreen significant others: Maureen Stapleton as Marilyn Luckett; Jessica Tandy as Alma Finley; and Gwen Verdon as Bess McCarthy. This is a gentle movie with a touching emotional core.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. This is a very nice transfer with minimal halos. Film grain is visible, but isn't intrusive. Small object detail and fine-grained delineation are well above average. Color accuracy, based on flesh tones, is excellent. Shadow detail isn't up to the best of transfers, but it is still quite respectable. There is a very slight softness that runs through the presentation, but based on the DVD's appearance, I believe it was caused by the film elements rather than by the telecine or during post processing. We're left with a nice film-like quality.

A second transfer is included on the second side of the disc. This full-screen presentation is pan & scan, as opposed to opening up a frame that had been shot with spherical lenses. Perhaps Howard didn't protect for 1.33:1.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 4.1 track is quite respectable. Be sure to disable EX decoding to avoid a collapse to the center surround, since the rear channels are identical. James Horner's musical cues are a crafty blend of big band jazz and a more traditional score orchestral. Presented with a nice feeling of spaciousness and pleasing fidelity, it's the best part of the soundtrack. Sound effects are fine, but not outstanding. The dialog remains crystal clear throughout.

The alternative languages are French Dolby Surround 2.0 and Spanish Monaural. Subtitles are available in Spanish and English, for which Closed Captions are also included.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

This DVD includes five shorts that left me with the impression that they were culled from one longer featurette. The narrator is common to the shorts, as is the style and granular structure. And the players and director all seem about twenty years younger here. Taken as a whole, the shorts cover the characters and plot, SCUBA training, casting, experiences with dolphins, and more. Reasonably comprehensive, you'll recognize the style as intending to promote the film rather than educate you on how the film was made. You'll find Behind-the Scenes Featurette (6:55); Ron Howard Profile (2:34); Underwater Training (3:35); Actors (2:52); and, Creating Antereans (3:57).

I enjoyed Ron Howard's director's commentary. He does tend to drift off from time to time, leaving noticeable silences in his monologue, but what he does share is quite interesting. We hear anecdotes from the shoot, discussions of his artistic intent, and the disparate styles of his players in which some preferred adlibbing while others liked to stick to the script. He's open and generous with his reminiscences. For example, I didn't know that Hume Cronyn had only one eye and that he was an accomplished boxer. Howard seemed quite amused by Cronyn's decking a stuntman during a fight scene because he had no depth perception.  Not quite as technical as my favorite commentaries, it was enjoyable nonetheless.

There are three TV spots, each 0:32 in duration, a theatrical teaser trailer (1:02), the theatrical trailer (1:27), and a theatrical teaser trailer for the film's sequel, Cocoon: The Return (1:22). Finally, there is a Still Gallery. The 117- minute feature film is organized into sixteen chapters.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

There are no PC enhanced extras included.

Parting Thoughts