Product Details

• Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Kim Basinger, Brad Pitt, Michele Abrams, Deirdre O'Connell
• Directors: Ralph Bakshi
• Writers: Mark Victor, Michael Grais
• Producers: Frank Mancuso Jr., Vikki Williams
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Live, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302662753
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,266 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Cool World (1992) [VHS] (1992) Gabriel Byrne (Actor), Kim Basinger (Actor), Ralph Bakshi (Director) | Rated: PG-13 | Format: VHS Tape

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Frightening and disturbing, December 31, 2003

By 

Gregory Bartz "Gregorius" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cool World (DVD)

You cannot judge this movie by conventional standards. This is not meant to be Roger Rabbit for adults, it is not meant to be Citizen Kane, it is not meant to be Wierd Science. It is meant to be a completely different genre all by itself, and must be judged as such.

This movie scares me. Not in the sense of "it scares me that anyone would make a movie this bad," but more in the Blair Witch Project kind of scary. What it lacks in plot and scripting, it makes up for in atmosphere and creepiness. The "wooden nickels" scene is an example of this; some guy throws a handful of wooden nickels to some innocent kids, and the nickels proceed to open their mouths and devour the unsuspecting children. It's this kind of random, disturbing event that makes Cool World worth watching. This is a wierd movie for when you need to go on a major acid trip but you don't want to actually put drugs into your system. It is the movie to watch when you want to leave all reality and morality behind and think about what could happen if we could interact with cartoon characters in a cartoon world that, unlike the "toontown" of Roger Rabbit, resembles our own world much more closely than we'd like to think.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subliminal, June 23, 2003

By 

JC (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cool World [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I can understand everyone else's opinions about this movie...
true, the script was a little messy...true the animation interaction with live action was quickly done...but all that is beside the greatness of this film, this movie remains one of my favorite movies of all time. WHY?

Because this movie is much more than what it is...obviously there are hidden messages/images in this film...especially in the ending when Holli picks up the "spike" on top of the tower in the real Las Vegas. The title "Cool World" is meant to be a sarcastic quotation. Holli seems to portray evil in the most appealing way. There is a lot of evil going on in the backround and foreground in this film throughout. Temptation (I believe) is the main subject, but there are other subjects tackled in the movie as well.

If you have only seen this movie once...it deserves a second look...and if you still don't get the message, then I can only say that "Cool World" is a reflection of who people really are, and it is ironic that so many people seem to hate this film. You simply cannot compare this to "Who Framed..." that film was a typical disney flick...Cool World is a satire of our society.

Kim Basinger's cocky acting as the real Holli, was done on purpose (I believe). Because it shows what would happen when you take someone such as a cartoon charater out of it's own environment. Kim Basinger pulled that off really well, she was supposed to appear more animated then the doodle Holli.

I don't even believe Holli is really a doodle...and if she is then obviously she may be the 'demon' of Cool World, besides all she does is use people throughout this picture...and whenever she is around...evil is in full effect...and when she's put in her place at the end...Cool World's scenery has changed a bit.

I'll leave the rest of this stuff to your own imaginations...I won't spoil it, cause there is much more in this flick. Cool World is a very complex film, and seems like it was written as a puzzle for people to figure out later on. Every time I watch it I noticed something about it that I didn't notice before. The themes in this film are very depressing, dark and gothic and a little to real, so I would not reccomend this picture to children; and I believe it was not intended for children. Cool World deserved better for sure. Highly mis-understood.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's A Real Cool World, June 15, 2005

By 

Ruth C. Abreu "mizz crow" (Natchitoches, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cool World (DVD)

I'll tell ya... if I read one more review written by someone born after 1980 dissing Bakshi, I think I'm going to start kicking rump and taking names. Do people diss Disney? Hardly, until they became such a movie mill that they are computer generating what used to be created by hand with a loving touch.

Look at "Cool World" as the AntiToonworld of "Roger Rabbit". The characters are psychedelic, psychotic, retro and bent. There is a great deal of (expected) sexuality and lewdness, pushing the edge of the PG-13 as far as it can go. Lots of puns and inside jokes it takes an adult to appreciate, something Warner Bros. cartoons were masters at. Granted, they don't always hit the mark here, and there's more chemistry when the Doodles are on than when the Noids take over.

But I dare anyone to watch that scene with Holli cooing "Let's Make Love" to a sweating Mel Torme wannabe while she's having trouble keeping her Noidness intact and not feel the simulataneous urge to salivate and giggle. The transformation of Noids to Doodles when the wand is removed is humorous... a lounge lizard literally becomes one, a cowboy becomes a horse, a female lead a blank eyed Orphan Annie.

The end cap, where Byrne's character becomes a dim witted but sincere superhero, is happily reminiscent of Captain Sternn from "Heavy Metal".

Yes, the acting is practically phoned in. Yes, the plot is odd. But get over it, folks, it's adult animation, and it's entertaining. I watch it again and again... and I always laugh.