Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Joseph Bottoms

Disney's foray into big-budget science fiction, close on the heels of Star Wars, had some of the most impressive special effects to grace theater screens in the 1970s. Graced by handsome prod...( read more  read more... )uction design--most notably a glass and latticework interstellar craft that looks like a battleship crossed with a modern skyscraper--The Black Hole is in many ways the most beautiful science fiction film of its era. Unfortunately, the graceful and gorgeous picture is jarred by dialogue that wouldn't pass muster in a comic book and a silly conclusion that plays like a murky, dime-store knockoff of 2001. Too bad, because the visual realization of the film is a veritable haunted house of futuristic phenomena, from the cloaked zombie-like drones shuffling through corridors to the devilish, crimson robot Maximillian, the strong arm of the mad scientist played by Maximilian Schell (a kind of wild man Captain Nemo with an even more ruthless temperament). Only the way-too-cute robot V.I.N.CENT (voiced by Roddy McDowall), a merchandising gimmick that looks like a Fisher-Price toy, mars the technological landscape. Robert Forster is the quietly authoritative captain of an exploration ship that stumbles across the seemingly derelict ship, and Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, and Joseph Bottoms fill out his crew. This is one case of a triumph of art direction and special effects over story--it's worth sitting through it to see the magnificent scene of the fireball rolling through the ship's enormous hull alone. The rest is just atmospheric gravy. --Sean Axmaker

Flixster Users

48% liked it

7,913 ratings

PG, 98 min.

Directed by: Gary Nelson

Release Date: December 21, 1979

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: April 20, 1999

Stats: 495 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (495)


  • April 17, 2009
    "Fascinating...
    - From a distance."

    This movie was nominated for cinematography and visual effects at the 1980 Academy Awards. 30 years later, everything about this film feels dated.

    If there's something I hate, it's bad acting. And "The Black Hole" is full of it. And to think ...( read more)that the movie has screen legends of some sort, namely Anthony Perkins and Ernest Borgnine. Awful performances by pretty much everybody.

    The action is lame, no excitement whatsoever. The awful score just makes the 'action' worse.

    If this proves anything, it's that robots should just shut up! Can't think of a more annoying, hovering piece of scrap metal. Where's R2D2 when you need him the most?

    Can't say that "The Black Hole" was a disappointment because I didn't have any expectations for it. It's not totally bad, may have some sort of nostalgia in it but for me "The Black Hole" is a movie that will only remain in my memories as a Flixster review.
  • November 15, 2008
    loved it as a kid and it didn't lose much of its appeal when i watched it again recently. it's just fun. the big red robot still chills me to the spine! brilliant casting with maximilian schell playing the bad guy
  • November 1, 2007
    I fell asleep in the theater when I was a kid and watching this recently reminded me why. The Black Hole is a somewhat decent story that spend too much time stealing pages from George Lucas' playbook than developing a story. It started off okay enough, but got sweaty about halfwa...( read more)y through. The action doesn't serve much purpose, the effects are pretty weak and well... it's just generally forgettable. The 2001 ripoff sequence at the end is reasonably disgraceful and Maximilian was a bad version of Darth Vader. But Vincent kicked ass.
  • July 1, 2007
    After "The Cat from Outer Space", this was Disney's next venture into the universe with "The Black Hole". It has laser battles, large ships which fly overhead, dashing heros, cutesey robots and fearsome enemy robots. But all similarities to Star Wars end there! This is a scientif...( read more)ic film with a full education on Black Holes, as much as we know about them. A spaceship crew encounters a long-lost space station hovering at the mouth of a black hole; home to a mad scientist and his servants. The scientist intends to fly into the Black Hole. The crew tries to stop him, but soon become prisoners to his insane plan. The characters and dialogue are funny; they take themselves sooo seriously, it becomes funny. The robots are cute. It's an all-star cast with wonders like Yvette Mimieux, Timothy Bottoms, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Maximillian Schell and Roddy McDowell (as the voice of "Vincent" the robot). I betcha Disney thought they'd hit Star Warsian Blockbuster status with this curiosity. It's a bit slow, overly serious and dull. The ending is scary and weird, with them going through the Black Hole, finding themselves in either Heaven or Hell, depending on how bad they've been throughout the movie; it was like a sci-fi version of the "Fantasia" The Night on Bald Mountain/Ava Maria segments. Sure, I bought all the Black Hole toys! I enjoyed it more than Battlestar Galactica. It couldn't top the fun of Star Wars however. It was released in theatres the same time as "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", which had a similar journey through into an unknown tunnel... There was a great dramatic and rousing soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith; even down to the whirling sounds of the Black Hole on the grid-trip opening title credits. I like to watch this every few years.
  • May 23, 2007
    Disney's attempt to jump on the Star Wars rip-off band wagon, this poorly executed sci fi has dreadfully cartoonish production design, a made for TV script and just feels cheap and shoddy all round. The "action" sequences in which a bunch of static robots shoot it out with a floa...( read more)ting Pez dispenser are particularly feeble.
  • November 13, 2009
    Super peliculón, llenó mi infancia de sueños de viajes al espacio.
    Muy buena. Me la pasaba dibujando a Vincent y a Maximilian en mis libretas de la escuela.. jaja
  • November 11, 2009
    I really enjoyed this movie when I was a kid. Then I thought it was awesome. I had a bunch of the toys from the movie. After watching it again as a adult I still enjoyed it but it does not hold up as it use to. Still the film has a solid story and some great F/X for its time . I ...( read more)always liked the look of all the robots in this movie. Hard to believe this was a Disney movie. This movie may not be for all Sci-fi fans. Some may find it boring and slow and maybe even cheesy. But I always liked this movie as a kid and still today as a adult.
  • September 5, 2009
    DW IF I WANT TO SEE THIS ONE...LOOKS SCARY TO ME :-(
  • September 2, 2009
    Loved it as a kid, but sadly it doesn't hold up well today. Still, I have to say it's not bad.
  • August 17, 2009
    There is the most powerful place in the universe in which you can't escape it. The U.S.S. Cygnus is perched precariously at the edge of a black hole - the vast, empty nothingness where space and time end. Anything that crosses its border enters a universe of the universe o...( read more)f the complete unknown. Capt. Holland and his crew are on an exploration ship and find mad scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt, protected by the masked zombie-like drones and the strong-armed robot Maximilian, aboard the derelict Cygnus.

    Flixster - Share Movies


    Directed by Gary Nelson, The Black Hole features great acting performances from the following cast:
    1.) Maximilian Schell (Dr. Hans Reinhardt)
    2.) Anthony Perkins (Dr. Alex Durant)
    3.) Robert Forster (Capt. Dan Holland)
    4.) Joseph Bottoms (Lt. Charles Pizer)
    5.) Yvette Mimieux (Dr. Kate McCrae)
    6.) Ernest Borgnine (Harry Booth)
    7.) Roddy McDowall (V.I.N.CENT)

    Flixster - Share Movies


    The Black Hole is a wonderful film where fact and fiction meet in science, as well as the newly made special effects (SFX) technology that made those things possible following the wake of the Star Wars popularity. Everyone is certain that you would get sucked into the hole - which is the leftover of a dead star's core - and I knew how strange things would be when you enter the inside of it. But yes, sometimes the movie is weird, and it's an interesting fact that this was Disney's first PG-rated title. It's also like 2001 but taken to The Black Hole, and while the story is taken slowly, there are some good action-filled sequences involving laser battles and such. Again, I can say that this is wonderful, and once you watch this film you'll never know what goes into the hole.

Critic Reviews


No recent reviews.

Comments


This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "The Black Hole" !

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Lost in Space
    Lost in Space (100%)
  • TRON
    TRON (100%)
  • Barbarella
    Barbarella (0%)
  • Alien
    Alien (100%)

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

The Black Hole : Watch Free on TV


The Black Hole Trivia


  • In what movie dose a man have "No manner of luck at all" when he cannot escape imprisnment after a hole is blown through the wall?  Answer »
  • What was Disney's first PG-rated movie?  Answer »
  • What Disney movie carried a different title in the U.S.S.R. because the literal translation meant something obscene in Russian?  Answer »
  • In the movie "Event Horizon", the spacecraft named Event Horizon disappeared into a ________ before reappearing 7 years later.  Answer »

Movie Quizzes


No quizzes for The Black Hole. Want to create one?

Video Clips


No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?