Cheap The Black Hole (DVD) (Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins) (Gary Nelson) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Black Hole

A worthy stab at greatness but not a "classic" by any means!
Trying to duplicate the success of the studio's landmark "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", Disney embarked on a journey to the stars in search of an enigmatic black hole. Great state-of-the-art special effects are the main attraction while good actors are burdened with some rather stilted dialogue and a, forgive the pun, "hole-ridden" plot. It's a shame that Schell, Borgnine, and Perkins have to suffer through such jargon, but they, along with the other cast members, manage to survive. And Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens provide voices to what may be two of the worst excuses for robots ever put to film.

John Barry's score has its moments of granduer, especially the opening theme, but the battle scenes music is almost laughable as a try at the John Williams's "Star Wars" arena. Barry has done much better.

The ending is highly unsatisfactory, confusingly blending the scientific and the religious. Like others have said, this strange attempt at trekking into "2001" territory fails.

Still, the film is for fans of the genre, of which I AM one, and I can recommend it solely on that note.

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My Guiltiest Of Pleasures
People would kill me if they read what I'm writing about "The Black Hole". However that's the way I feel about it. This movie was a flop at the box office and most critics weren't so gentle with it. But I really enjoyed this campy sci-fi flick from the Walt Disney Studios for many reasons:
1. I was overwhelmed by the teaser trailer (too bad it's not included on this DVD) where the green grid is moving all over the screen, ending with the Black Hole logo swifting and twisting in black. Awesome!!
2. The black and yellow logo in some of the posters, the one shown on the DVD case.
3. The U.S.S. Cygnus. WOW!!! What a beautiful ship.
4. The robots. Maximillian truly looks menacing. And V.I.N.CENT and Old B.O.B.; the cutest robots since "Star Wars"'s R2-D2.
5. The cast of outstanding performers: Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, and Roddy McDowell as the voice of V.I.N.CENT.
6. John Barry's majestic score.
7. The final scene, inside the black hole. Those images. Those visual effects. John Barry's music.

This movie might have had some flaws at describing a space version of "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea", but this is my most cherished guilty pleasure of all time.

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A forgotten, gothic sci fi epic from the 1970s
OK let's get the bad things about the Black Hole out of the way first of all. Some of the dialogue is unbelievably naff. It has an overtly judgemental morality which runs throughout the film from start to finish. Very occasionally the SFX slip, and you see wires holding up robots etc. Some of the scenes are cloying, particularly involving the antics of the overly cute, heroic robots... Also the makers would have done better to remember what effect the vacuum of Space would have on people NOT wearing spacesuits...

Put all that aside though and you are left with a minor sci fi masterpiece. Atmospherically the film is an outright winner - it is just so gothic, from its' sets, robots, and cowled and hooded undead crew. It also boasts one of the very best musical scores by John Barry. Visually it is stunning, Space has seldom looked this good. The blue/black background of space with its' dense clusters of stars looks as good as it did on the day that it was released. Unlike Star Wars and its' visibly dated mattes, this film has more than withstood the test of time.
The film's visual pinnacle though is the giant space ship Cygnus.
A cross between Brighton Pier and The Eiffel Tower, this gothic behemoth is like no other. The scene where its' lights are switched on suddenly and unexpectedly, is one of awe and beauty.
The exploration of the ship, culminating in the arrival in the control tower is stunning. Ditto the firing up of the ship's Frankenstein Lab like reactors and huge engines for its' final journey to the Black Hole. Even in its' death throes, this huge vessel retains a sad dignity.
Acting honours go to Maximilian Schell as an intergalactic Captain Nemo. Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimeux, and Robert Forster all provide very able support though.
The blood red robot Maximilian (I wonder how that name was arrived at...) is an inspired creation, and has a temperament to match its' colour scheme...

The dvd is great, picture and sound are both superb. Playing the film in 5.1 Dolby Digital on your home cinema is something else, especially when your memory of the film in the cinema is in mono. All sound channels are free of distortion and nicely separated. Both Surround channels in particular are superb.
Get this dvd if you can (it is due to be re released anyway) and add one of sci fi's most underrated films to your collection.