14) Cocoon (1985)

(4 's out of 5)

"They say if we go with them, we'll live forever."

Director

Ron Howard

Cast
Don Ameche - Art Selwyn
Wilford Brimley - Ben Luckett
Hume Cronyn - Joe Finley
Brian Dennehy - Walter
Jack Gilford - Bernie Lefkowitz
Steve Guttenberg - Jack Bonner
Barret Oliver - David

Maureen Stapleton - Mary Luckett
Jessica Tandy - Alma Finley

Gwen Verdon - Bess McCarthy

The 1985 alien movie "Cocoon" is, I admit, another well-known sci-fi movie I haven't seen before in its entirety...until now. 

I recall this airing on television several times, but it never really piqued my interest enough to sit through it. 

Directed by Ron Howard, "Cocoon" includes a cast of A-list actors - Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Jessica Tandy, Maureen Stapleton. It's no obscure movie. It also stars Barret Oliver from that one well-known 80s movie..."D.A.R.Y.L.!" Oh, yeah... he was in "The NeverEnding Story." 

The story begins in a retirement home where a trio of old cusses, Art Selwyn (Don Ameche), Ben Luckett (Wilford Brimley), and Joe Finley (Hume Cronyn) often sneak into the big empty house next door for a dip in the indoor pool that's somehow still maintained.

Pretty soon, a small expedition team, lead by Walter (Brian Dennehy) rent the house, much to the disappointment of these old sneaks. 

Walter and his crew rent a boat from Jack Bonner (Steve Guttenberg) to recover some large, unusual rocks from the bottom of the ocean. 

What Jack doesn't know is that Walter and his crew are actually peaceful aliens from the planet Antarea, disguised as humans. And the rocks they're retrieving are Antarean cocoons that were left on Earth. 

Evidentially, the Antareans created an outpost at Atlantis 10,000 years ago. 

After Atlantis sank into the ocean, so did 20 cocoons with Antareans still developing inside. The other aliens left them behind. 

The Antareans keep the recovered cocoons in the swimming pool where the old guys sneak in for a dip. 

While on the boat with Walter and his crew, Jack peeps in on crew member Kitty (Tahnee Welch) through a hole in the cabin wall.

However, to his shock, she sheds her human disguise revealing she's actually an alien. 

Meanwhile, Joe, Ben and Arthur trespass into the pool with the cocoons stored in the water. They ignore them and take another dip. Little do they know that a life force emanates from the cocoons which gives the elderly men an invigoration and youthful energy the likes of which they haven't felt since their younger days. And, their respective ailments also disappear. 

Later, when back for a swim, the crew return early. The guys freak out and hide inside a storage closet in the pool house. 

Through slits the door, they witness the crew members shed their human disguises, revealing their true alien forms. And one of the aliens finds the guys hiding. They run out in a panic! 

After some time passes and the shock wears off, Ben apologizes to Walter and asks permission for himself and his pals to continue using the pool. 

Walter agrees only if they don't touch the cocoons and they don't tell anyone else about swimming in the pool, and how it's changing them. 

Of course, the other tenants in the retirement home notice how different Art, Ben and Joe have been acting. 

One of the retirement home residents, Bernie Lefkowitz (Jack Gilford) also notices and is bothered by the entire thing. The guys even take Bernie along for a swim, but he refuses to get into the pool. He insists that he and his wife have no need for feeling young, but would rather age gracefully.

Like Steven Spielberg's classic "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," this alien flick is family oriented with warmth and likeability. It has memorable characters and a relatable message. 

This is the fourth movie Ron Howard directed, after "Splash" with Tom Hanks which came out the year before. 

I think Howard is the next best thing after Steven Spielberg. Howard's movies often remind me of something Spielberg would come up with. 

Howard can capture similar emotions Spielberg often does in his movies - the drama, the warmth, the trepidation. Howard's line-up of movies covers a wide range of genres like Spielberg. And those movies can be huge blockbusters like "Apollo 13" or attention-grabbing like the recent "Hillbilly Elegy" from 2020.

"Cocoon" could easily be a Spielberg movie. But Howard is just inches from reaching the spectacular level Spielberg can.  

Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, and Don Ameche in "Cocoon."

The basis of the movie reminds me a little of Stanley Kubrick's movie. "A Clockwork Orange." Where "A Clockwork Orange" deals with man's free will to choose good or evil versus the good of society, "Cocoon" depicts aging versus our desire to stay young. Though old age isn't for the weak-hearted, there's no reason to hide from it. 

I know that's a major leap comparing "Cocoon" with "A Clockwork Orange" as they're completely different movies. I think it's the way each movie uses a character to depict both sides of their respective stories. 

In "Cocoon" the tenants of the retirement home want to be young again. However, Bernie Lefkowitz insists he and the rest of them grow old as they're meant to. 

"Cocoon" is a unique extra-terrestrial movie. I think it should be on level with "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" though each of the movies are very different. 

Concept designer Ralph McQuarrie, who also worked on a variety of science fiction movies such as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Battlestar Galactica," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the original "Star Wars" movies, is the conceptual artist for "Cocoon." 

"Cocoon" runs a little heavy with its sentimentality, but the story is well balanced. It doesn't rely so much on the aliens as it does with the experiences the main characters are going through. 

It's a sci-fi version of the fountain of youth. And, thankfully, the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. It's an enjoyable, thoughtful family movie that leaves its audience with the understanding that perpetual youth is a mere fantasy, and that aging isn't necessarily something to run away from or disguise. 

It spawned a sequel, "Cocoon: The Return," in 1988 which received negative reviews. I'll get to that soon enough...reluctantly. 

13) Explorers (1985)

(2.5 's out of 5)

"We're going where no man has gone before."

Director

Joe Dante

Cast
Ethan Hawke - Ben Crandall
River Phoenix - Wolfgang Müller
Jason Presson - Darren Woods
Amanda Peterson - Lori Swenson
Bobby Fite - Steve Jackson
Dana Ivey - Mrs. Müller
James Cromwell - Mr. Müller
Robert Picardo - Starkiller, Wak, and Wak and Neek's Father
Dick Miller - Charlie Drake

A sizeable handful of 80s and 90s movies have Joe Dante's name attached to them.

His movies have passed on through the tunnel of pop culture with seemingly flying colors, landing gracefully into modern times where they're enjoyed with nostalgic glee.

Dante directed "Gremlins" and "Gremlins 2: The New Batch," as well as "The Howling" "InnerSpace" (which I'm trying to get my hands on so I can comment on it here), and "Small Soldiers" among other popular titles. 

But his movie 1985 sci-fi adventure "Explorers" doesn't quite seem to reach the same lofty nostalgic heights of wide-range appreciation as some of his other movies. 

I only remember "Explorers" from seeing it on the rental shelf of my childhood video rental store, "California Video" back in the 90s. I've never watched it until a few days ago. 

Ethan Hawke, in his first big screen role, plays Ben Crandall - a teenage boy who is having a reoccurring dream where he's flying around in the sky until he's flying over a circuit board that resembles a city like something out of "TRON." 

He wakes up as the TV in his bedroom is still on, playing "War of the Worlds" from 1953. Classic! 

Right away, he scribbles the circuit board image he saw in his dream into his notebook..  

He can't wait to tell his friend, Wolfgang Muller (River Phoenix) about his vision. This is also Phoenix's first big screen appearance, by the way.

Wolfgang is a young genius who's interested in computers and science. You know... smart stuff.
Ben also has the hots for a girl in his class named Lori Swenson (Amanda Peterson). Like most boyhood crushes, Ben is preoccupied with the uncertainty of whether Lori likes him or not. Other than that, she serves no real purpose to the story outside of being the object of the main character's affection. 

Wolfgang and Ben invite Darren Woods (Jason Presson), a kid from their school, into their clique. 

Like most other 80s movies with child cliques, the boys are often bullied by the worst bullies imaginable. Darren helps Ben get out of near beating by the school bully, so he's in. 

River Phoenix, Ethan Hawke, and Jason Presson in "Explorers."

Once Ben shares his vision, Wolfgang jumps right into building some kind of computer microchip based on Ben's sketches. 

This newfound tech somehow generates a solid floating electromagnetic bubble. This zany bubble of his has the capability of travelling great distances at high rates of speed. 

Wolfgang observes that it's unhindered by inertia. The possibilities are limitless as to what they can do with this free-floating bubble technology. It can surely take them places where they otherwise can never get to...like outer space!

Darren manages to sneak Wolfgang and Ben into a junk yard where the boys help themselves to parts, including a car from a carnival ride. 

Together, they build a space craft which they name "Thunder Road" after Bruce Springsteen's song. 

Later, Ben has more dreams about flying through the sky towards a massive circuit board. And Wolfgang meanwhile creates a device to produce unlimited oxygen. 

With all these amazing scientific breakthroughs, the three boys come up with a plan to explore space and search for alien life. 

Their test flights take them all around above their town. Of course, they crash into things like the local drive-in. They're also spotted by police flying in a police helicopter. One of these local officers in the copter, Charlie Drake (Dick Miller), sees one of the child-pilots and thinks he's an alien. 

This close encounter spurs Drake to investigate this "UFO." He finds their ship hidden in a ravine and realizes it's clearly the work of kids. This somehow means something to him, reminding him of something from his past. 

The boys finally launch their ship into space - the final frontier. 

While cruising around in space, their picked up by an alien ship somewhere far away from Earth. After exploring the unusual spaceship, they meet some of the aliens who inform them that everything they know about Earth, they've picked up through television signals. 

There are some well-known names in this movie. To begin with, it stars Dick Miller and Robert Picardo. These two have appeared together in some of Dante's other movies. Both are in "Gremlins 2," "InnerSpace," and "The Burbs" which stars Tom Hanks. 

Dick Miller, a veteran actor, was also in the first "Gremlins" as well as "Matinee," "Small Soldiers" and several more recent Dante movies. 

There's even a 2014 documentary about him called "That Guy Dick Miller." He's been in a large number of Roger Corman movies as well, including "Little Shop of Horrors." Miller is an absolute legend in my book. 

Aside from these guys, and not to mention the young River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke, there's more big

names associated with this picture. Composer Jerry Goldsmith does the score. His tunes can be found in a ton of well-known movies and TV programs. 

Voice actor Frank Welker adds some voices in this movie. And my personal favorite detail, the name of the school in this movie is Charles M. Jones Junior High. Charles, as in Chuck, as in Chuck Jones, the animator. Looney Tunes fans know who he is! 

Chuck Jones has a cameo in "Gremlins" by the way. Otherwise, he's one of my favorite artists. In my book, he's as iconic as Norman Rockwell. And I love his work as much as that of Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, Angelo Torres, Sergio Aragonés and the eternally ever popular Don Martin. You know... the "usual gang of idiots!" 

Alright, enough fan boy-ing.

"Explorers" is a love letter to the sci-fi genre. It feels like a mix of "E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial," TRON," "The Goonies," and a hint of "The NeverEnding Story" mostly because of Ben's flying dream sequences. It also reminds me a little...just a little... of "Ghostbusters." The kids' personalities are similar to the personalities of the three initial ghostbusters from the first movie, which came out the year before. 

Wolfgang is a scientific whiz like Dr. Egon Spengler. Ben has a happy-go-lucky spunk and eagerness like Dr. Ray Stantz. And Darren has an unimpressed temperament like Dr. Peter Venkman.

"Explorers" came out the same year as another masterpiece of science fiction cinema, "Back to the Future." So, it had some rough competition in the theaters. Another popular sci-fi movie also came out that same year. I'll get to that one in my next review. 

There are dozens of science fiction movie references throughout this movie - "It Came from Outer Space," "This Island Earth," "War of the Worlds," "Star Trek" and of course the mother of all sci-fi flicks, "Star Wars." 

"Explorers" is a fun imaginative family adventure movie. It moves along nicely... until the kids make contact with aliens. And then it crash-lands from there. It goes from imaginative and fun to absurdly cartoonish, obnoxious, and irritating. 

The aliens they meet think earthlings communicate like way people present themselves on television - in cartoons, in gameshows, in news programs, and so on. Their nerve grinding contact with these absurd looking aliens drags out well past its welcome. 

And then the movie ends on an underwhelming note. 

At a screening of "Explorers" at the New Beverly Theater back in 2008, Dante said, "The problem for me is that the movie you'll see is not the movie I wanted to make. It's the movie I got to make up to a certain point and then had to stop. It's hard for me to look at it, cause it's not the film I quite had in mind." 

I can see that! It really shows. 

There must have been more backstory to Dick Miller's character. Unfortunately, it's built up and then remains unvisited. That subplot is a bit of a letdown.

Generally, Dante's movies are imaginative and relatable. They're creative and often have a lasting power. The fun Dante must have in making his movies shines through them. His stories are often adventurous without leaving the backyard (except for this, of course, since the kids are leaving their backyards for outer space). He manages to keep the elements simple though the stories have some complexities within. 

Still, "Explorers" is what it is. And what it is, is enjoyable...to a point. Watching it, my thoughts went from "this is pretty good" to "what the hell am I watching?" That's no exaggeration. 

I'm really curious to know what kind of movie Dante wanted to make. I know I've said this before about other movies, but if there's a movie that should get a remake, it's this one. And if that were to happen, I really hope Dante directs, and makes the "Explorers" he initially wanted to make. 

12) Rollerball (1975)

(3's out of 5)

"Understand it!"

Director

Norman Jewison

Cast
James Caan - Jonathan
John Houseman - Mr. Bartholomew
Maud Adams - Ella
John Beck - Moonpie
Moses Gunn - Cletus
Pamela Hensley - Mackie
Barbara Trentham - Daphne
John Normington - Ballard
Shane Rimmer - Rusty

Before there was "The Hunger Games," "The Maze Runner," "Squid Games" and even before Arnold Schwarzenegger was "The Running Man," there was "Rollerball." 

In fact, in the realm of dystopian sports movies, there's not too many before "Rollerball." The movie is based on the short story, "Roller Ball Murder" by William Harrison which was published in "Esquire" back in 1973. Harrison wrote the screenplay for this movie, which came out in 1975 - the same year another dystopian sports movie called "Death Race 2000" starring Sylvester Stallone and produced by Roger Corman was released. "Rollerball" is older by a few months. 

There were a few survival sports movies released before the 1970s. The earliest one I can think of is 1932's "The Most Dangerous Game." That was remade in 1942 with the title "A Game of Death." The 1961 horror movie "Bloodlust" about a young couple who's hunted by a deranged lunatic on a desert island has a similar premise. But these movies aren't really futuristic dystopian films like "Rollerball." 

Honestly, I never heard of "Rollerball" until I bought a copy of "Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies" by Gary Gerani. It's a wonderful companion for this blog, and the last book of his I needed to complete my set that includes, "Top 100 Fantasy Movies," "Top 100 Comic Book Movies," and my personal favorite, "Top 100 Horror Movies." 

In this movie, the future took place six years ago in 2018. James Caan plays Jonathan E., the captain and star player for the Houston rollerball team. In this movie's version of 2018, large corporations control society. So, that's not too far-fetched from current reality. Corporations have some much dominance that, before a rollerball game, fans stand to sing the corporate anthem instead of the National Anthem. 

Rollerball is a savage contact sport that looks like roller derby but involves beating opponents while trying to chase a metal ball around a rink, capturing it, and then throwing it into a hole for points. Anyways, Energy Corporation is one of those said ruling corporations, with Mr. Bartholomew (John Houseman) as acting chairman. Energy Corporation also sponsors the Houston team. 

Mr. Bartholomew tells Jonathan to announce his departure from rollerball. In return, he offers Jonathan a cushy lavish retirement. He instructs Jonathan to make this announcement during a televised special about his career in rollerball. 

It sounds like a sweet deal, but Jonathan refuses. Before the story begins, the corporation took his wife, Ella (Maud Adams) because one of the scummy executives wanted her for himself. 

So, obviously Jonathan is weary of the corporations. 

His friend and former coach, Cletus (Moses Gunn), who now works as an executive, is convinced that the powers-that-be within Energy Corporation are scared of Jonathan. But Cletus doesn't understand why that's the case. 

John Beck and James Caan in "Rollerball."

Meanwhile, the rules for rollerball are changed to make the game much more senseless and violent. The corporate execs make it that way as an attempt to get Jonathan to retire. These new rules are to be implemented immediately at the next game between Houston and Tokyo. This time, there will be limited substitutions and no penalties. 

The violence that's allowed in the game is turned up several notches as well. That way, the chance of Jonathan getting seriously hurt to the point of no return is greater than before. Jonathan isn't deterred. 

The violence is so bad that some of Jonathan's teammates are beaten to the point of death. His buddy, "Moonpie" (John Beck), is beaten on the cranium by three opponents during the game and left in a coma. 

After the Tokyo game, a bunch of unsympathetic executives along with Bartholomew decide the next game will be played with no penalties, substitutions or limits whatsoever. The idea is that this'll be Jonathan's final match as he'll surely die during the game. 

The executive powers think if Jonathan keeps playing, and continues exciting the fans, the greater the risk he poses in arousing thoughts of individuality among the controlled masses. 

As Bartholomew says, "The game was created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort."

Ella returns to Jonathan and tries to convince him to retire. She tells him that the next game against New York will be played to the death. Obviously, the executives set him up and are using Ella to get him to leave the game.

Regardless, Jonathan decides to play anyways. The game is an all-out free for all where anything goes. Jonathan just needs to play until the end. 

"Rollerball" has some Stanley Kubrick vibes to it. Thanks to its soundtrack, particularly Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" played in the opening, it feels a little like Kubrick's dystopian crime movie, "A Clockwork Orange." 

The dystopian feels are there with the deep corporate influence over society that demands allegiance while cramming the notion that individualism is a futile way of thinking. 

The story boils down to one man, disenchanted with the system, up against that system and then getting the better of it. 

It's eerily similar to our modern society. And it gets that point across with such ease.

There are so many lines of dialogue to consider. 

In a scene after the game at the beginning of the movie, Bartholomew and his hoard of suited up execs visit the locker room. Bartholomew, stiff necked and strutting his dominance, focuses some attention on Moonpie as he reclines. 

"Sweet dreams, Moonpie. That's a bad habit you've got there. You know what that habit will make you dream, Moonpie? You'll dream you're an executive. You'll have your hands on all the controls, and you will wear a gray suit, and you will make decisions. But you know what, Moonpie? You know what those executives dream about out there behind their desks? They dream they're great rollerballers. They dream they're Jonathan. They have muscles, they bash in faces."

One depiction that's particularly relevant is the corporate bosses attempts to erase history. This happens when Jonathan goes to a library to access a supercomputer known as "Zero" which stores digitized copies all books - heavily edited in accordance with executive ideologies. It's also a global source of all human knowledge. 

However, it turns out "Zero's" memory has mysteriously become corrupted. 

"The whole of the 13th century. Misplaced the computers, several conventional computers," the librarian tells Jonathan. "We can't find them. We're always moving things around, getting organized, my assistants and I. This - this is Zero's fault - Zero, he's the world's file cabinet. Pity, poor old 13th century....Now, we've lost those computers with all of the 13th century in them. Not much in the century, just Dante and a few corrupt Popes, but it's so distracting and annoying!"

Even with the overall decent writing, the only exciting parts of "Rollerball" are the actual rollerball scenes. There's barely any emotion in the talking scenes. It gets dull after a while, especially when sandwiched in between the high energy full-force sports scenes. 

James Caan, who was a fantastic actor with many memorable performances, and who is greatly missed, does well with what he's given. He delivers a character the audience can get behind and rally for. John Houseman, who's an actor that deserves much appreciation, also delivers a great performance and carries a lot of this movie on his shoulders. Houseman is like a poor man's Alfred Hitchcock. He has the voice and mannerisms for horror movies, and can use that same talent to be funny. 

Moses Gunn deserves recognition here. His name tends to randomly pop up in movies and television, and it gets my attention each time. No two of his performances are alike. It's no exception here in "Rollerball." 

Gunn has been in some of my favorite movies such as "The NeverEnding Story" and "Firestarter." I've seen him on "The Cosby Show" and on my favorite horror anthology series, "Tales from the Crypt." I've mentioned him before in a review I wrote on the TV movie "Bates Motel." I've never seen a performance from Gunn I didn't like. He also plays Booker T. Washington in the 1981 movie, "Ragtime" which I've been trying to get my hands on for a while as it's directed by "Amadeus" director, Miloš Forman.

Before I forget, Richard LeParmentier (Admiral Motti from "Star Wars" and Lt. Santino in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit") is in this movie, too. So, there's that. 

I'm being generous with my rating of 3 out of 5 flaming roller skates because of its cast, some of the dialogue, and John Houseman's performance 

Director Norman Jewison has directed some respected films such as "The Thomas Crown Affair," "Fiddler on the Roof," and "Moonstruck." Sadly, he passed away in January, 2024.

"Rollerball" tries to be a true thought-provoking flick, hoping to be taken seriously as a 'one man against the system' story. It has been a trope repeated so many times before and after. It works to some extent. Like I said, this movie is really only worthwhile when the actual game is on.

"Rollerball" was remade in 2022, which the Los Angeles Times called one of the most expensive box office flops of all time. I have no desire to watch it. Seeing the original film was good enough for me. As far as Gary Gerani's book...I guess "Rollerball" is among the top 100 sci-fi movies.