The Black Hole (1979)

Featured Audience Ratings

• AJ V

  
  I saw this movie when I was a kid and I found it profoundly boring. It's another of the Star Wars wannabees, this one's from Disney too. I didn't care for it, but I may give it another try someday.

• Conner R

  
  Sure, it isn't all that amazing if you pit it up against Star Wars (which everyone seemed to do), but this is more of a pure sci-fi movie anyway. It doesn't get much more hardcore than a movie about black holes and their purpose. Of course Robert Forster steals the show as… More
  Sure, it isn't all that amazing if you pit it up against Star Wars (which everyone seemed to do), but this is more of a pure sci-fi movie anyway. It doesn't get much more hardcore than a movie about black holes and their purpose. Of course Robert Forster steals the show as the too cool for school captain and you have to love Maxamillion the robot with spinning swords of doom. Visually, this is pretty interesting. It's not too flashy, but really has the realistic backdrops when they count. This movie's only real flaw is being too short and not covering more post black hole. With that said, it is really fun and a largely unseen yet important sci-fi movie.

• Tim S

  
  I know it's definitely not one of Disney's top live action efforts, but I adore it. I think it's an enjoyable movie, warts and all.

• Jani H

  
  "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… More
  "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 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.

• First L

  
  Borgnine. 70s mustache. In space. Disney. Star Wars created a "space" fad in the late 70s, and the Disney corporation was determined to cash in on it one way or the other. They did indeed see the dollar signs. What they unleashed on the public was a movie perfectly in… More
  Borgnine. 70s mustache. In space. Disney. Star Wars created a "space" fad in the late 70s, and the Disney corporation was determined to cash in on it one way or the other. They did indeed see the dollar signs. What they unleashed on the public was a movie perfectly in tune with the space fad, but not the seventies one, the fifties one. It's a throwback, not only to pre-2001, but to pre-star trek days. A spaceship crew and their robot are floating through space, their mission: to find "habitable life". They come across a black hole, and a derelict space station sitting on the edge of it. It turns out the space station is using some sort of "anti-gravity" invented by it's mad scientist to keep from being sucked into the black hole. The mad scientist has invented an army of robots and holds the crew captive with the intent to force them to come along with him into the black hole. What follows is another hour and a half of crude special effects and silly robot feuding. It's not a bad adventure, but there isn't alot going on here. Although I did learn one thing about robots: if you ever happen to find yourself in a robot breakroom, and they're having laser shooting contests, don't challenge the black robot cause he's a dick and will cheat. Also, Ernest Borgnine in space with a mustache will steal your rocket ship everytime.

• Michael G

  
  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… More
  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 halfway 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.

• Lafe F

  
  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… More
  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 scientific 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.

• xGary X

  
  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… More
  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 floating Pez dispenser are particularly feeble.

• Mark E

  
  The most underrated sci fi movie of all time..great story,brilliant characters..very dark for a Disney movie.

• Robotbling -

  
  The Black Hole was suggested by a friend of mine as one of those rare classics that most people haven't heard about or seen, and so we decided to give it a go. At the time of its release, The Black Hole was Disney's most expensive film ever, billed at nearly $30 million… More
  The Black Hole was suggested by a friend of mine as one of those rare classics that most people haven't heard about or seen, and so we decided to give it a go. At the time of its release, The Black Hole was Disney's most expensive film ever, billed at nearly $30 million dollars. Despite the poor critical reception it managed to make a profit and was even nominated by the Academy Awards for its special effects, which required motion control cameras built by Disney after a deal with Industrial Light and Magic fell through. Like Star Wars, it is fondly remembered by robot fans for V.I.N.CENT (Vital Information Necessary Centralized) and its other robot characters. The crew of an exploration space ship discover another Earth ship floating in perpetual equilibrium with a nearby black hole. They decide to investigate because the crew's telepathic scientist's father was supposed to be on board the other ship, which didn't return to Earth despite orders 20 years prior. They discover that the ship is run by the mysterious Dr. Hans Reinhardt and a crew of mostly silly robots, including Maximilian, a red security guard robot that seems to have a mind of its own. The Doctor tells them that the human crew mutinied when he refused to return to Earth in order to study the black hole. Of course, all is not right aboard the USS Cygnus -- some of the robots are quietly observed holding what appears to be a funeral. Half of the robots aboard the ship are true robots that enjoy a round of shootin' at the arcade gallery and look like a mix between Darth Vader and Daft Punk. Others, however, are actually the zombified human crew members that underwent "treatment" by the Vampire-like Doctor. The Doctor's horrifying secret is revealed just as he is preparing to enter the black hole, and around this time everything starts to go to hell. In quite violent (though bloodless) fashion, Maximilian suddenly kills one of the human characters with his retractable spinning blades -- a scene made all the more shocking due to the film's tone leading up to it. Eventually everything gets sucked into the black hole, followed by a sequence ripped off from 2001: A Space Odyssey infused with unmistakably Christian imagery. The special effects aren't terrible given the film's age but, given that you can clearly see wires holding up floating characters, the USS Cygnus looks like it was built out of toothpicks, and matte paintings stick out like a sore thumb, they mostly add to the film's inherent camp value. At first appearing to be a run of the mill kid's space adventure designed to ride Star Wars' coattails, The Black Hole breaks all the rules of the typical Disney family film. Apparently this led Disney to create other labels for its more adult-oriented films that wouldn't gel with the traditional Disney image. At an hour and forty minutes it's a bit long, but worth checking out with friends if the mood is right. A remake by some of those involved with the TRON reboot was announced in November 2009 (the film's 30th Anniversary).

• Chad R

  
  I loved it when I was a kid. After rewatching, the special effects that were tops in the day are a little antiquated but still fun to watch. The backdrops and the deep space scenes are still beautiful. The crew of an exporation deep space ship comes across a seemingly derilict… More
  I loved it when I was a kid. After rewatching, the special effects that were tops in the day are a little antiquated but still fun to watch. The backdrops and the deep space scenes are still beautiful. The crew of an exporation deep space ship comes across a seemingly derilict ship poised at the edge of a black hole gravity well. As they investigate they discover the ship run by robots and the batsh!t crazy Captain Nemolike Dr. Reinhardt. with his badass killer robot Maximillian. My favorite parts included the Wall-E like robot V.I.N.CENT and the helpful ancient older version of vincent - B.O.B. I believe the kids will still like this one. The dialoge and the acting is a bit cheesy but still entertaining.

• Lee K

  
  This movie hardly ever airs on t.v. to me seeing this as a kid in the theaters think its one of Disney's finest. Great story, awesome f/x for the year it was shot. If you get chance to see this have a look.

• RJ M

  
  Disney's answer to Star Wars. While it doesn't reach those heights, it is a true example of 70's excess in science fiction. Part space adventure, part haunted house movie, part disaster movie, it features an array of special effects that are still dazzling to this day.… More
  Disney's answer to Star Wars. While it doesn't reach those heights, it is a true example of 70's excess in science fiction. Part space adventure, part haunted house movie, part disaster movie, it features an array of special effects that are still dazzling to this day. The crew of deep space exploration ship find a derelict spacecraft, missing for 20 years, perched at the event horizon of a massive black hole. Upon investigation, they find the sole survivor of the mammoth ship, and the robot army he has created to serve him. While a dazzling spectacle, the storyline gets too philosophical for kids, and much of what is said during the middle of the movie will leave them scratching their heads. But not to fear, there's plenty action including laser gun battles, heroic rescues, and a spectacular scene of our heroes trying to survive when a meteor shower strikes the ship. The acting is solid, with a great mad scientist performance by Maximillian Schell. The end of the movie is none too subtle with it's religious implications about what could be on the other side of a black hole. Great visuals, epic scope, a stirring score, and good old fashioned fun make up for most of the movie's heavyhandedness and stands as a cult classic in science fiction.

Read all 13 featured audience ratings