Product Details

• Actors: Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Garrett Morris, Cynthia Davis, Corin Rogers
• Directors: Michael Schultz
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: January 18, 2000
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000035P59
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,339 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #4 in

  Movies & TV > African American Cinema > Soul Cinema

• For more information about "Cooley High" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Cooley High has frequently been compared to American Graffiti, and for good reason. Like that classic, Cooley High has a loose, multicharacter structure, autobiographical origins, and the rich texture of its time. Set in Chicago in 1964, the movie follows aspiring writer Preach (Glynn Turman) and local basketball star Cochise (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, who went on to star in Welcome Back, Kotter) as they wander their neighborhood, drifting in and out of their classes at Cooley Vocational High School. The two friends pull pranks, crash parties, commit petty crimes, and generally try to enjoy their lives in an impoverished urban environment. Preach falls in love with a smart girl named Brenda (Cynthia Davis), whom he wins over by reciting poetry--leading to one of the silliest and sweetest love scenes you'll ever see. When Preach and Cochise go on a joy ride with a pair of young hoods, they end up arrested. Their history teacher, Mr. Mason (a superb Garrett Morris), gets them off, but the hoods think the boys sold them out and come seeking revenge. Cooley High depicts the rough life of African Americans in the 1960s with honesty and humor, offering no easy solutions or pat lessons. It's a roughly made movie, but Turman and Jacobs are both excellent, and there's an attention to reality that makes it engaging, refreshing, and ultimately moving. The soundtrack is a great compilation of 1960s soul, including the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, and Smokey Robinson. An unjustly neglected film that deserves rediscovery. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description
Often called 'the black American Graffiti'but with "far more vitality and more variety" (The New York Times), Cooley High takes a nostalgic, poignantand hilariously funny look at black teen life in 1960's Chicago. It's 1964. JFK has just been assassinated. Martha & The Vandellas, Little Stevie Wonder and The Four Tops rule the airwaves. And two high school students discover themselvesand the taste of freedomfor the first time. Preach (Glynn Turman), aserious-minded writer, and his best friend Cochise (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), a basketball hero headed for college, are best friends at Cooley High. Together they cut classes to go to the zoo, crash parties, put the hustle on some hustlers and dream about getting out of their impoverished, rough neighborhood. But when an innocent joy ride makes them the targets of two vengeful hoods, their alreadyuncertain futures seem even further out of reach. Featuring a "well-handled mix of comedy and dramawith a soundtrack of Motown gold" (Blockbuster Entertainment Guide) and a "universal appeal"(Los Angeles Times), Cooley High is "the best American comedy so far this year" (Village Voice)!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

10 of 10 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 - See all my reviews (TOP 500 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.