SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

CB Excellent sets, atmosphere and cinematography. Dated story and science, but that doesn´t detract from the dark epicness that is The Black Hole.

moshomaniac I was born in 1981, and saw the Black Hole on television as a child, and immediately fell in love with the robots, production design(especially on the Cygnus, one the of the coolest-looking ships ever), and the dazzling effects with the black hole. That being said, yes, the movie does have its flaws. It feels like a combination of the swash-buckling action of Star Wars with the cerebral qualities of Kubrick. The movie soundtrack is rather annoying, especially the main title theme. But does that make it bad? No, just misguided. The movie's plot is cliché: A mad scientist wants to pilot his ship into the black hole in search of immortality. Some of the dialogue is cringe-worthy, and the ending tries to out-weird 2001. But the movie is still an underrated film none-the-less. For 1979, the visuals are awe-inspiring, featuring more special-effect shots than Star Wars. The characters, while stock, are still likable. The opening sequence, featuring a wire-frame computer generated black hole yanking you towards the center of the whirlpool is fantastic, and the enemy robot, Maximillian, comes in second only to the Horned King as Disney's scariest and most intimidating villain. Yes, Disney made this movie. As far as Disney live action films go, this is easily one of the most watchable. The best part is that there isn't any singing tacked onto it like so many of their Disney films of the time. The Black Hole was an experiment, some would say failed, but I say that while it may not be as acclaimed as others, this film is vastly underrated and deserves a second look.

meren The toy line from this film was great as well. The Special effects were great. also Roddy McDowell as the voice of Vincent for some reason some of the toys were only available in Canada or Italy Such as S.T.A.R. and the Crew of the Ship. The film also had some Religious aspects to it. The Idea of Heaven and Hell. I remember seeing this Film when I was a kid at the Drive in. I watched it time and time again when it would be on TV. It has a Cult following, and a Very Strong Cast. Anthony Perkins, Robert Forester, Maximillian Schell, The relationship between Dr. Reinhardt and the Robot Maximillian is a very interesting one. People always call for Remakes of Movies I see no reason to remake this film. It stands the test of Time. I am one who is tired of all the Remakes. I don't mind that George Lucas went back and added a few things in the original Star Wars films and Remastered them. You don't remake classic films. Some can be better then the original in some ways. But to me most of the remakes are busts. Some Movies have been remade 2 or 3 times over, even more in some cases. Death Wish is being remade, the Beguiled, when the originals were so good to begin with starring Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood Respectively. This movie is highly under rated, if anything it deserves a Sequel. But its too late for that as key actors from the original have passed away. It was ahead of its time like so many other Sci Fi films from around that era before and after Star Wars a New Hope came out.

jimbo-53-186511 The Black Hole is a film that actually has a relatively good and interesting premise and it's a shame really that this 'good' premise is very rarely taken advantage of. The idea of an eccentric, disillusioned lonely megalomaniac effectively turning his own crew into humanoid robots who obey his every command coupled with the idea of said lunatic then trapping the innocent crew members of a research ship on board his vessel has all the hallmarks of a film that could have been both insightful and thrilling, but as mentioned it rarely achieves these basic objectives...For a start, the narrative is a little threadbare and doesn't reveal much about what had happened on board Reinhardt's ship? What sent him mad? How did he create his army of robots? How did he survive there for 20 years? These are just a few things I could think of 'off the cuff', but I'm sure there are more weaknesses in the writing.Another failure with this film is in its complete failure to make the main antagonist interesting; Maximilian Schell's performance has all the trappings of a Bond villain (I couldn't help shake off the notion that I was basically watching Hugo Drax from Moonraker), but he's given no real depth meaning I ultimately didn't end up caring for him or his deluded cause. I also didn't find him a particularly menacing villain - although to his credit Schell is still the best thing about this film by a mile.The idea of a man going insane and turning his own crew into a humanoid robot crew is quite unique and interesting, but as mentioned the filmmakers only really scratch the surface here and never really develop this aspect of the story - the main focus of the story seemed to be about Reinhardt trying to enter The Black Hole which just never really held my interest to be honest.More notable problems lie with the utterly horrendous visuals; I was honestly gobsmacked how awful the whole thing looked - the whole thing looked like it was made on a budget of 75p. In fairness the poor visuals are complemented well by generally poor performances from everyone (I was especially surprised by Borgnine who is usually excellent). The robot helper Vincent (or Dusty Bin as I prefer to call him) was presumably intended as 'comic relief' but he really isn't that funny and when he meets his 'mate' on Reinhardt's ship their whole shtick can be likened to the lamest double act you're ever likely to see.The fact that this film has an intriguing premise, a creepy isolated setting and the potential for some interesting humanoid/robot insights AND yet still manages to be boring, uninteresting and not exactly enlightening is rather shocking in all honesty. With seemingly so much working for it this could and should have been so much better.