I recently decided to watch Disney’s The Black Hole simply because it had been years since I’d seen it. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, and in some ways the 1979 sci-fi movie exceeded expectations.
The Ghost Ship
The Black Hole opens as the USS Palomino returns from deep space on an exploratory mission to find other intelligent life. The ship’s scanners detect a black hole nearby and as the crew investigates further, they discover the hulking mass of a large spaceship floating lifelessly near the black hole’s event horizon. The crew, which includes Anthony Perkins as the ship’s scientist, Robert Forster as captain of the Palomino, Ernest Borgnine as a wily, journalist, and Yvette Mimieux as the ship’s resident psychic, is baffled as to who could have beaten them this far into space.
But after a perfunctory search of the Palomino’s computer data base the mysterious ship is identified as none other than the USS Cygnus, another exploratory ship that disappeared over twenty years before. The Palomino’s crew decides to move in for a closer look, almost out of sheer curiosity, but all hell breaks loose when their ship is sucked too close to the gravity well of the black hole. Barely averting disaster and making it back to the relative safety of an artificial zero gravity field surrounding the giant Cygnus, the Palomino manages to dock with the larger ship to try and make repairs.
The crew discovers, to their astonishment, that the ship is not deserted and lifeless, but in fact contains a man, Dr. Hans Reinhardt (played by Austrian actor Maximilian Schell), and a host of humanoid robots that help maintain and run the ship’s navigational and support systems.
But something is wrong aboard the USS Cygnus. And besides the fact that Reinhardt seems to be a raving lunatic, the crew’s unease is only compounded by the strange human-like appearance of the ship’s robotic crew.
The Black Hole is Better Than You Remember
The Black Hole is a pretty good flick for a science fiction film made by Disney in 1979. The space effects are actually quite beautifully realized, and the storyline is compelling enough to keep you engaged. The acting, although a bit over-the-top at times, is fair if a bit outdated even for its time. Ernest Borgnine plays the role of the Palomino’s cunning journalist Harry Booth, and he is fun to watch in almost anything. Robert Forster is the ship’s ever-serious captain, but he is convincing in the role, despite his clumsy attempts at action sequences, and the rest of the cast fills in nicely. Yvette Mimieux looks pretty nice in her space jumpsuit—something I failed to notice as a kid. The cinematography is even impressive, blending sweeping shots of a beautifully rendered outer space with interior shots of the Cygnus.
Of course there is an element of cheese involved, though. It is the height of the disco-era, after all. Besides all of that, though, The Black Hole seems to take its sci-fi cues straight from the Star Trek television series’ playbook, complete with ridiculously awkward hand-to-hand combat and action scenes. And although Maximilian (Reinhardt’s menacing, red robot) and the faceless humanoid crew members are pretty well-designed characters, his crack army of robotic sentries are so terrible by comparison that I found myself wondering if the film’s SFX guy called in sick the day these costumes were designed and built. I mean, come on, these “robots” are clearly guys in suits, and you never for one second accept that they are anything but that. And I don’t buy the notion that a guy in a suit is going to look like a guy in a suit no matter how you dress him up, because our pals over at Industrial, Light, and Magic managed to turn Anthony Daniel’s into a pretty convincing robot in Star Wars by simply…putting him in a suit.
The Music
I should also mention that John Barry’s music for the film is quite good, but that the way it is edited together with the film itself is pretty clumsy. Let me clarify that remark: The music is well written. It is orchestral and fits the film well. But the way it ebbs and flows from static scenes to action scenes is poorly done, almost as if the film were tinkered with by less skilled editors after the actual editor cut it all together. Sadly, what is actually a good film score, is poorly used and serves to enhance the cheesiness of the movie at times.
At the end of the movie, The Black Hole attempts to make some sort of statement about the nature of man, good, and evil and how our actions may affect our souls in the afterlife. Which is fine. I don’t mind some deep thoughts, but this just felt…tacked on. I must admit that when Reinhardt and Maximilian somehow meld towards the end of the movie, and the resulting abomination stands ominously atop a rocky outcropping looking out at a host of robed figures marching single file as fires leap and spit all around them, it’s pretty freakin’ eerie! And even though the symbolism is probably lost on me, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking sequence. I just wish that the film’s writer and director had given us a bit more carrot to lure us into the trap. I might have been willing to go that extra mile with them if they’d taken the extra time and care to make it all flow.
Time to Remake The Black Hole?
But who knows, maybe that Joseph Kosinski remake that was announced 10 or so years ago will dive depper into those themes–if it ever happens. And from what I read after looking up news on the remake after rewatching the original, it sounds like Kosinski was shooting for something a little more philosophical, because the studio reportedly shelved the project due to its similarities to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. That comparison notwithstanding, I can honestly say that I’m not terribly upset about this getting a remake. If Kosinski gets some latitude in making the film and isn’t forced to do something that is…well, Disnified, we could be in for a real surprise. And considering Top Gun: Maverick crushed the box office in 2022 and “saved Hollywood’s ass” according to Steven Spielberg, Kosinski might be in a position to do whatever the hell he wants.
For now, the original will have to do. And if The Black Hole never gets remade, that’s probably ok too.
Share Your Opinion
Anyway, that’s my take on The Black Hole. But what do you think? Can this Disney classic be improved upon or is it better left alone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.