Childhood Memories about a movie.

What are some of your earliest memories?

How far back can you remember?

I remembered watching a movie on television when I was younger.

It featured a flying boat with a lot of people who were elderly.

I’d reflect back on this movie and thought the boat was taking these people on up to heaven.

I can remember being tearful. I didn’t want them to leave Earth.

I’ve thought about this movie from time to time and decided to do a Google search and I discovered it was a real movie called, “Cacoon.” Of course my memory of the movie was a little foggy from what the movie was really about. I decided to go ahead and rent a copy of it and watch it.

I recall the boat in the movie being a lot larger. However, the movie was about aliens.

The movie was released in 1985. I’d imagine it made it to television about a year or two later in 1986 or 1987. I would have been either 6 or 7 years old at the time. This was the only time I believe I had ever watched the movie and I could only recall the one scene – a flying boat. I’m pretty sure I had dreamed about that scene in the movie a few times too because it had had such an impact on me.

As a child, I believed that was how people died. I thought they put “old folks” on a boat and it was lifted into the sky – or heaven. I was pretty fortunate in that I didn’t know anyone to pass away until 2000 when I was 20-years-old. The only grandfather who I had ever known had passed away. The two grandmothers who I had known passed away in the following years.

On a self-reflection note, I’ve always felt passionate about people and their feelings. I’ve always considered myself to be quite emotional (for a guy). I’d worry a lot about people.
Back to the movie, I rented it and watched it. It was a lot different from my memories as I had said above.

Here is the story line:

Aliens come to Earth to get their “Cocoons.” These are people they had left behind many many years ago (in Atlantis). Now, their cocoons were underwater (since Atlantis had flooded). The aliens go underwater to get the coccons to save their people. They leave the cocoons in a pool near a retirement center/ nursing home area. Several of the residents swim in the pool. The pool is rejuvenating. They start to feel younger and act younger. The cocoons are giving them life.

On a different note - I have a strong background in Recreation. I enjoyed seeing how this retirement center had opportunities for recreation for the residents. They played cards and games, went swimming, ate together in the dining room, went dancing. I think keeping active and participating in meaningful activities keeps a person young. The word “Recreation” can be broken down into two parts: “Re-Creation.”

Back to the movie:
One of the cocoon-aliens die. The main alien had never felt the pain of death because their kind doesn’t die too often. The main alien tells one of the main residents at the nursing home that he had never known anyone to pass away. The alien has empathy for the humans and asks them to go to space with them where they can live forever.
I suppose as a young 6 or 7 year old I thought meant “going up to heave and living forever.”
The U.F.O. comes down and picks up a giant boat with aliens, the cocoons, and most of the residents from the nursing home.
I thought it was n interesting little sci-fi movie.
I was so young in the mid-80s. Watching this movie as an adult allowed me to be open to many other things like: the one resident in the movie who said “rejuvenation.” I wouldn’t have known the meaning of that word when I was in first grade. I didn’t understand death and dying then. I didn’t understand much.

Here is a youtube video for the movie:


Here is a link for the movie at Amazon:


I recall several movies about aliens being released in the 80s.
The U.S. Department of State Memorandum of Conversation reports that:
"Reagan said that while the General Secretary [Gorbachev] was speaking, he had been thinking of various problems being discussed at the talks. He said that previous to the General Secretary’s remarks, he had been telling Foreign Minister Shevardnadze (who was sitting to the President’s right) that if the people of the world were to find out that there was some alien life form that was going to attack the Earth approaching on Halley’s Comet, then that knowledge would unite all the peoples of the world."

I had read somewhere else where Reagan had asked Gorbachev if they’d help the U.S. if an alien attack happened and Gorbachev said, “Absolutely.” However, I regret to say I can’t find that source.


The popular 80s comic book series, “The Watchmen” had used a “fake alien attack” at the end of the book to end the Cold War.
There were other alien movies that I recall from the 80s like Batteries not included.
Here are some links for the books and movies I talked about above for you to review: