Product Details

• Actors: Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis, Corin Rogers
• Directors: Michael Schultz
• Writers: Eric Monte
• Producers: Samuel Z. Arkoff, Steve Krantz
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: January 9, 2001
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000035P72
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #198,085 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sentimental Favorite; One of my all-time favorites, September 4, 2003

By 

Samhot (Star Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cooley High (DVD)

Never has a movie made me laugh so hard, as well as providing me with feelings of nostalgia and heartwarming sentiment. COOLEY HIGH (1975) features laugh-out-loud moments by the dozen, as well as containing many moments of reflective, poignant beauty.

The story here takes place in Chicago, 1964, and revolves around a poet named Preach (played by Glynn Turman), basketball player Cochise (played by Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), their other buddies, and what goes on in the day-to-day lives of these teens in urban life. We witness the boys frequently cutting class, stealing food, hopping buses and trains, chasing after girls, shooting dice, getting into fights, and all other sorts of typical teen shenanigans. The aforementioned outline may sound a bit redundant for a film (or maybe it could be due to the poor description I've given), but the aforementioned aspects are integrated into a unified whole, and in a compelling way. So, in the end, things work very nicely. If there's one fault I can think of (though it doesn't bother me, but may bother others), is that the storyline moves a bit fast, and many may wish that some of the scenes (or certain aspects of the film) would have been fleshed out more.

Amidst all of the wildness, Preach meets a lovely girl named Brenda (played by Cynthia Davis), and develops a relationship with her. This is one of the few aspects of the film to soften up what otherwise may have been just a brash comedy.

While Preach, Cochise and the boys all took lighthearted pleasure in lying, cheating and stealing -- it all seemed to catch up with them in the end, as a result of one wild ride in a stolen car. And later, a simple misunderstanding leads up to the tragic finale.

Before I close this review, I'm going to list a few of my favorite funny scenes:

(1). Preach and gang visit the zoo after cutting class. One of the guys decides to defend - and get friendly with - a Gorilla, after the rest of the gang were teasing it. What happens next is pretty foul, so I won't mention it here, but let's just say it had me laughing like a maniac.

(2). Broke and unable to afford money for the boys to see a movie, Preach and Cochise decide to pretend to be undercover policemen, and hassle two female prostitutes - making them believe they're going to be arrested. The ladies beg to be let off the hook, but Cochise decides to take a bribe - for money, of course.

COOLEY HIGH is a fantastic film. It could provide many with dozens of belly-laughs, as well as a tear or two. It's a beautiful portrait of life (the ups and downs of it), love and friendship. Viewers in their middle ages will find this film to bring back fond memories of their youth. It can also make some viewers come to the realization that certain qualities in this film are sorely lacking in the vast majority of today's cinema. Features actor Garret Morris, and excellent backing music by classic R&B artists like The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Diana Ross & The Supremes and countless others.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ghetto classic, September 19, 2000

By 

icebergslims "icebergslims" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cooley High [VHS] (VHS Tape)

this movie is one of the greatest to ever come out of the 70's i like the way this movie shows black people in a positive way and not as pimp thugs or muders this movie is a must have if you love old nostlagia that brings back child hood mememories i recommend this to every body from black people to white people who enjoy classi cinema this is one the greatest black movies of all time pick it up

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Treasure; Great Afro-American Film with Humor, March 2, 2002

By 

Tsuyoshi (Kyoto, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cooley High [VHS] (VHS Tape)

AIP produced so many exploitation films that captured the trend of the times (or call it "rip-off"), so it is inevitable that all black-cast of "American Graffiti" came out from there. But it is the result of the product that we should care, and though sometimes branded as a clone of that much more famous film, "Cooley High" is in fact as good as George Lucas's. If you claim it is even better, I won't disagree with you.

"Cooley High" gives lots of fun with multi-layered, loosely connected characters living in inner-city Chicago in 1964. Their life at school and impoverished environment is not easy, but the film never depicts them in the negative light as is often shown in other blaxploitation films, and among them the two uproarious, riotous leads played by Glynn Turman and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs are excellent. Turman is a bespectaled boy with a dream of becoming a writer, and with his friend Jacobs enjoy his life -- chasing a girl, cutting classes to go to a zoo hanging behind a bus, and having a midnight joy ride. But the last innocent fun turns a tragedy unexpectedly, which adds a very poignant touch to the ending of the film.

Though some claim, probably rightly, that the film's characters seem a bit stereotyped, the humor and fun are never to be dismissed, and those charming moments -- such as Turman and Jacobs (poorly) disguised as cops to get some money from prostitutes, whispering "We take bribes." -- are very funny and will be fixed in your memory. After all, the film has enoumous charms that still appeal universally, and that makes "Cooley High" an all-time classic. And listen to the great Motown soundtrack with the songs like "Fingertips Part 2" or "Dancing in the Street." Highly recommended.

It is a Japanese-made monster film "Godzilla vs the Thing" (aka. "Godzilla vs Mothra") that they are watching in the theater. It was released in USA in 1964.