CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

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

Scott LeBrun A team of space travelers locates a long lost, massive spacecraft, the U.S.S. Cygnus, perched in space near an imposing black hole. They meet its commander, the mad genius Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximilian Schell), who's created an army of obedient robot slaves and who fully intends to explore this black hole and see what might lay beyond it. It doesn't take our heroes too long to realize that they should get out while the getting is good."The Black Hole" came along at a very interesting time during the reign of Disney Studios, when they took some unusual chances with their projects and dipped their toes into genres like fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Also of note during this time are "The Watcher in the Woods", "Tron", and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". The result is a very dark and highly operatic piece of work that offers great fun, although it will have more appeal to older kids and adults than the very young due to its themes, plot details, and suggestion of violence. (As a matter of fact, some pretty nasty violence is suggested at one point, not that we ever see any blood or gore.) It does play as reminiscent of earlier works - Disney's own production of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", "Forbidden Planet", "2001: A Space Odyssey", and "Star Wars".Some of the visual effects may show their age now, 37 years later, but overall, the movie is quite agreeable as eye candy, and looks especially nice in its intended 2.35:1 aspect ratio. John Barry's music score is somewhat repetitive, but also utterly thunderous and ominous, perfectly suiting the material.The human cast is steadfast and reliable, with Schell making the most of his madman role. It's hard to go too wrong with a group of actors including Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Ernest Borgnine, and the lovely Yvette Mimieux. As was the case with "Star Wars", the cute robot characters tend to steal the show, V.I.N.CENT (voiced by Roddy McDowall) and B.O.B. (voiced by Slim Pickens). The towering red robot thug Maximillian leaves quite the impression as well. Director Gary Nelson cameos as the drone whose mask is removed.Great fun overall, which is made all the more memorable by its truly haunting ending.Eight out of 10.

Blueghost This film, even for a science fiction film, has flaws. As I've stated on the BBS (forum) here on this website, "The Black Hole" was written by a couple of screen writers who were used to writing westerns and police dramas, and penned for us a film that is essentially a haunted house with a mad scientist in space kind of movie.That, and it is a Disney film aimed at a younger audience but with some pretty dark story elements and imagery. And it's a double edged sword, because Science Fiction is not "horror", though the two do intersect at times.The characters are right out of central casting, the special effects are what you might expect from Disney, and overall even though there's a lot of money dumped into sets, costumes and everything else, it has that "Disney feel" to it visually and stylistically.But even so there is a certain amount of intrigue here that should keep the younger viewer intrigued. The film has some interesting visual segments, but nearly derails itself with the semi- controversial "ending". Keep in mind that this film was released in 1979, which means it was conceived in the wake of Star Wars' success, and was also playing catch up with a lot of the competition that went before it. In this sense it's a bit of a kludge film that borrows from a lot of other films and tries to retrofit things to make a coherent commercial feature film. And it works after a fashion in spite of some of the audience criticisms.Over all I think it's an entertaining film if you try not to apply too many scientific conventions to it.A Disney film made in a very transitional period of Disney studios, maybe give it a shot if you're a science fiction fan.

dakjets This is a great science fiction adventure, which came out in 1979. I saw this film for the first time at the age of 12, and I loved it then, I still enjoy it. I can see that there are very different opinions of it here. But if you love adventure and sci fi, you won't be disappointed.10 reasons to watch this film: 1) A great story, dark and entertaining all along 2) Great special effects, they still work today 3) One of the biggest and most scary star ships ever shown on film! 4) Good performances from well known actors like Anthony Perkins. 5) The film score from Barry is outstanding - chilling and powerful 6) A very very alternative ending... 7) It's a film ahead of the times, the story, the creepy truth, truly an inspiration of todays filmmakers. 8) It's spectacular 9) Prove those who turn it down wrong! 10) A perfect popcorn movie!