The Black Hole, 1979 - Movie Review

Director: Gary Nelson
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, Slim Pickens
Running Time: 98 minutes

Another great review by the mighty Paul S

Well, it was a quiet Sunday for me for once. All house tasks done, breakfast at 2 (full English of course) and I was reviewing the glossy TV guide. That's where i saw it, jumping out of the page in bold News-Of-The-World-glossymag font - The Black Hole, Channel 5 (who'd of thought it eh? five channels!), 15:35. OK then I thought, washing nearly finished I can make this.

But those that have seen the film will understand when I say my first thought was Maximilian. What a scary robot that was! I went to the pictures to see this. I understand it's a Disney production so we went as a family to watch it. I definitely fell asleep. My older brother on the other hand stayed awake, 'cos he had Maximilian as a trading card, whereas I had Oscar.

Anyway, the plot. Well, bit intense for a kids film. It's about a doctor that robbed a spaceship, gave out a distress signal, watched all the crew die, replaced them with robots, and hung around the edge of a black hole with a hard red robot for company. Oh, and also went a bit mad.

If I remember correctly (it was 3 wks ago man) a crew had to stop there for refueling/repairs and found the doctor. (on an aside, Im sure it's the same fella that played Hans Zarkov in Flash Gordon, can LFF work their wonder here? - Nope it's not that dude. In this one the mad scientist was played by Maximilian Schell and Hans Zarkov was played by Topol - LFF) with his robot staff. Oh that's it! He converted them into cyborg people to sustain their life.

Now Disney thought they could jump on the Star Wars newly-opened genre with this, but forgot that kids like explosions and fighters, laser beams and hyperspace! all this gave us was a trippy 10 min sequence when they entered the black hole. it was like 2001 for kids!

That aside, watching it as an adult on a Sunday with a beer and nice cigarettes (ahem) it was a different matter. I understood what the doctor was on about! The tension between them, the 'accidental' death (still a bit graphic for a kids movie), the token hot scientist. Visually it fine, but its more of a dialogue film, really well written to be honest. Kinda like Reservoir Dogs in space!

I haven't given it the justice it deserves here, I know. So re-watch it and post your response. I promise you won't be disappointed!

As a kid - 4/10
Re-watch as adult - 8/10

A hidden gem
HOME

The Black Hole's V.I.N.CENT is 30 and heading our way

It is the 30th Anniversary of Disney's The Black Hole.

The Black Hole is Disney’s 1979 science fiction film about a group of space travelers who come across a long missing spaceship teetering on the edge of a black hole, and their discoveries within the ship and beyond… the vast, empty nothingness where space and time end. Anything that crosses its border enters a universe of the complete unknown or gets smooshed to nothing in the intense gravitational field.

V.I.N.CENT (Vital Information Necessary CENTralized and voiced by Roddy McDowall) was one of the cool robots from the film - the other being the sinister Maximilian, who is one of the all time evil robots.

“The Black Hole” was the Walt Disney Company’s first PG-rated production. Directed by Gary Nelson and starred Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, and last but not least, Ernest Borgnine the motion picture has found a loyal fan base.

To honour the anniversary of the film MINDstyle are working on this new action figure and it looks lovely. Still early days as you can see from the concept work, but it looks like they've started putting them together. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Source: ToysREvil

The ending of The Black Hole always freaked me out when I was a kid.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

HOME