The Black Hole - U.S.S. Cygnus

[boradis]

If it weren't for the ham-handed religiosity this would have been a decent SF film.

[scupking]

Such a great movie. I remember the first time seeing it when I was a kid and still love it today at 28 years old. I can't wait for the remake. I love how odd the ending is and how it makes you think.

[johnbarry007]

John Barry`s music is just stunning

[gallantmon8]

Goddammit, I have this on DVD.

[Takeshi357]

This film came out the same year as Moonraker, to which John Barry also composed the soundtrack. One can definitely find some similarities between the two scores.

[Big12189]

...And then Dr. Weir appears.

[11jcmc11]

transhumanistic lucifer, tripped out...

[tsunchoo]

'habitable life' - yeah bit of a clanger..

i like the way they needed the white line drawings just to see what ship it was..

it is a pretty decent film though..

[ReverendSyn]

I like the "Dante's Inferno" line at the beginning. Nice foreshadowing of Reinhardt's fate.

Even more so if you go by the popular theory that Maximillian was the brain of Frank McCrae imprisoned in a robot body and forced to do Reinhardt's bidding after his murder. And then Hans gets imprisoned in Maximillian for eternity. Which would re-inforce the theme of Dante's Inferno, that of cruel ironic punishment based upon your sins.

[starsiegeplayer]

@ReverendSyn Not sure about the idea of Maximillian being a cyborg with Frank McCrae's Brain. It might explain the "protect me from maximillian" but it would seem odd that Frank McCrae would kill his daughter's friend.

[ReverendSyn]

@starsiegeplayer Ah, A logical point. I'm glad you asked.

The way I figure it, Hans figured Frank would naturally be hostile towards him, so hardwired all sorts of failsafes into Max that he figured would keep him in line.

Hans in his arrogance didnt count on Franks willpower being strong enough to override it all. It seems only fairly recently that Max had been demonstrating antagonistic behaviour towards him.

[ReverendSyn]

@starsiegeplayer Basically, at the time Maximilian killed Durant (And, later when he attacked Kate and company trying to escape) Frank had not yet overridden the failsafe protocols keeping him in line. Part of Max seems to operate under an AI. Franks brain was there simply to give Humanoids orders. It was the AI that killed Durant and Frank couldnt stop it

What Hans feared was that Frank WOULD completely override the failsafes through willpower eventually. And pretty soon. But not just yet.

[aboltyfh]

Anthony Perkins performance made me forget he played Norman Bates. Great movie! I saw this in the theater as a double feature with Sleeping Beauty when I was 8 years old. I have it on dvd and wish there was a special edition dvd with commentary and a behind the scenes section.

[MCavarg00]

a surprisingly nice sci-fi for that year (no match for SW episode IV of course :D)

[theallseeingoracle]

This is one of the movies that nearly sunk Disney

[evildaveprime]

Hard to believe this was a Disney movie.

[pbanta62]

I still love that John Barry score! This movie was part of the "golden age" of the great sci-fi movie scores: "Star Wars" by John Williams, "Star Trek--The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith (which also was adapted for the "Next Generation" tv series),and "Aliens" by James Horner (who also composed the great "Star Trek II" theme). Williams, Goldsmith, Barry, and Horner, the "Big four" of the great sci-fi movie themes in my opinion!

[000266617]

The first Disney film without a "they lived happily ever after" ending. A disturbing film, with a mentally disturbed robot named Maxillmillian.

[Membrane556]

I saw this when I was six on HBO and Maximilian gave me nightmares.

I think Max in a way represented Reinhardt's dark side.

I also thought the Cygnus was one of the coolest looking spaceships in scifi.

[IanDavidOnDU]

WTF is "habitable life?"

[KaitainCPS]

@IanDavidOnDU

That was a misspoken line by Mimieux, but it was left in the movie.

Sometimes happens. There's actually a minor misspoken line in Empire Strikes Back by Billy Dee Williams: he's clearly supposed to say (talking about the Empire): "It's always been a danger and it looms like a shadow over everything we've built here." Instead, he says "It's always been a danger BUT it looms like a shadow over everything we've built here", which doesn't really make sense.

[manzo7500]

Great score by John Berry

[phocjame]

lol, Dr. Evil's theme...

[mfuji00001]

PLEASE POST THE REST OF THE MOVIE -_-

[KaitainCPS]

One of the few mainstream sci-fi movies to portray weightlessness as a standard component of space travel, even if they're inconsistent about it.

[juniorphreak]

What a great opening theme.

[booji90]

Thanks for posting this! The Barry soundtrack and the animation combine to make my all-time favorite opening credits sequence. I just found the soundtrack on iTunes. Pity there still isn't a high-quality CD version.

[Magnetohydrodynamics]

The super massive black holes actually has a very limited gravitational force when outside the event horizon and the disk of gas that circles it.

[spyder1138]

The ending of the film is also really, really dark. It can be taken in many different ways, but one of the theories (which is present in the novel) is that everyone physically died. As the book said, no one can survive the pressure of the black hole, but the gravitational pull keeps your conciseness and soul intact. Their bodies were destroyed, but they are aware of where they are, however they are unaware that they are dead.

Pretty dark for a Disney film.

[PoPoNellie]

Someone on IMDB theorized that the ending was really them surviving the black hole and finding a new habitable world. THe sequence with the voices was the psychological effect of the black hole on the crew and the panning in to Kate is then her subconscious thoughts of what happened to Reinhardt and the Cygnus crew and how they (the Survivors) were being shepherded by angels through the black hole to safety.

[ionia23]

That's one of the things that made this movie so brilliant. The filmmakers themselves have NEVER stated what the closing sequence actually means, it's entirely left open to your own interpretation. In many ways what Dr. Rhinehart said was true "In there, long cherished rules of physics simply do not apply".

[ionia23]

That's one of the endings in the storybook, kate and vincent's ESP merging all their consciousnesses together, but i don't think it applies in the film (just my opinion). The whole thing is open to interpretation, one of the most brilliant aspects of the film.

[LoneSniperSG]

@spyder1138 THIS. IS. GRIMDARK!

[beasst94]

@spyder1138 there was darker stuff than this earlier in disney films

[000266617]

I belive it wasn't completely dark with Vincent because the film wanted a kid audience along with the adults. (like Star Wars did) But I belive Maxmillian with his whirling blades in the stomach became more adult than Star Wars with that scene. It went beyond the usual Disney movie with this and a few cuss words.

[8bitpuntoes]

I have very fond memories of this movie. I saw it in the theatre wehn I was 6 and loved it. Maximillian scared the hell out of me tough... Yes, the SFX where not on par with Star Wars (which were, back then?) but the whole black hole business was very fascinating. I even got Vincent and Maximillian toy robots for my birthday. I still have a pop up book!

[bigwoolleypenguin]

This is a fantastic film , theyll never be able to make films like this again. CG effects will never be able to quite capture that feeling " real " special effects do.

Never mind the incorrect physics / technical discrepancies. You have to just "suspend disbelief " and let yourself go and enjoy it . This is true with anything like this. If you cant do that , forget it and I wouldnt bother watching it .

Fantastic film , love Maximillian Schell.

[000266617]

Someone wrote about "protect me from Maximillian" My theory is that "Maximillian" is the evil side of the doctor, the bad part that he can't control. He begs for help, but it is something he must defeat himself. In the end, he loses his battle with Maxmillian to the point of becoming totally Maxmillian (evil) The others have a good and bad part in them also, but don't let the bad overcome them, but the good. (Id, ego, superego?)

[jakesbrain]

What does it say about Maximillian's character that he was apparently named after the actor who plays his boss?

[PoPoNellie]

The name of the robot Maximilian was written in the script long before Maximilian Schell was hired for the role of his creator, however it is ironic that by the end of the film he becomes essentially trapped in "Maximilian's Shell"..

[ReverendSyn]

Nah. Maximillian is really Frank McCrae, when Reinhardt had his crew killed for mutiny, he used Franks brain in Max in order to control them since they would not follow Reinhardts orders. Thats why Hans was afraid of him. He was afraid Frank would override his failsafes and kill him in retaliation

They make a point about Dantes Inferno which focuses on cruel irony. Has is imprisoned in Maxs body as punishment for what he did to Frank. That's Franks Angel asccending to Heaven

[AEigner]

@000266617 except the reporter who lets his bad side overcome him and bails on them... then gets blown out of the sky for his trouble - poetic justice ; )

[NellieForbush]

I hate when Anthony Perkins dies in the movie. This is a good movie

[000266617]

We are breaking You Tube rules here. We are having an intelligent discussion of the film when the rules are we are supposed to fill up the place with dumb comments.

[Grimnian]

How refreshing to find Black Hole fans who are clearly intelligent, thoughtful and and on a higher level than most of the people on You Tube. Made my night! : ))

[Turanga1i1a]

Damn - this reply system doesn't seem to work well. I was replying to a comment by 00266617.

[000266617]

You are right Turangg1i1a, You Tube replies and comments get tossed out of order and after a while makes no sense and are hard to follow.

Anyway, I ' think if you had to choose your death, you'd take the colorful animated pixel stuff over Maxmillian's whirling blades to the guts.

[BlackDeathFalcon]

A great Disney film

[000266617]

When a black hole was discovered several films about them appeared. In the first Star Trek, Voyager goes into a black hole, in "Flash Gordon" he goes into one and a different world is there. Because there was a mystery about them, science fiction writers , and others with imagination, made movies on what we might find.

[leighthal1967]

This film is RIPE for a remake

[000266617]

One source; "The Black Hole" was also notable for being the first Disney film not to have a universal rating, due to mild language (being the first Disney film to include profanity of any type) and scenes of human death never seen in a Disney production before (e.g., a character is eviscerated). This was The Walt Disney Company's first PG-rated production,"

[unitron]

Dragonslayer (A favorite Dark Disney film)and Tron both have Murders too. Im not sree about the years how ever...your toughts?

[000266617]

Didn't see the two films you mention. Any of them have anyone have their guts ripped out with whirling blades from a sadistic robot?

[Turanga1i1a]

Well, in Tron, there's an execution where one figure is completely liquidated - only blood & guts were replaced with pixels & blips!

[ReverendSyn]

"Murder" only really applies to human beings. Programs got deleted, but as they arent human, it doesnt really count as murder.

[OLDSCHOOLHHSEX]

WRONG-Guess U havent watched both movies of SHORT CIRCUIT =) Our own Conciousness IS ACTUALLY A BIO-LOGICAL PROGRAM,so when people made computers & robots(Or Machine such as like Knight Rider) is given a Consciousness (Or Awareness) high leveled enough of its own to where*IT becacomes a HE* To know what Death Means->ESPECIALLY when its its OWN DEATH about to be Committed by somebody else-that sentienent concionous is going to say Its MURDER-If an A-I has that LVL of awarenes?-Its still MURDER

[unitron]

@ReverendSyn The "Androids" on the Bridge of the ship I think are whats left of the actual crew....

[jadefalconmk1]

@unitron The androids on the Bridge were the ships crew. The only Robots on the Cygnus apart from Old BOB and Maximillian were the Sentry Robots. The humanoids were distinguished by having the mirored faceplates and long robes. It's never mentioned but I suspect a mixture of surgery and cybernetics kept them alive.

[ghosterdude]

@ReverendSyn i believe it's called "retirement"

[Potrimpo]

@ReverendSyn Technically since Reinhardt destroyed what made them human, isn't that murder?

[DorianMichaelsIII]

@unitron Both movies came after this one (Dragonslayer in 1981, Tron in 1982-- this was made in 1979)...and while Tron's murders were somewhat bloodless and Dragonslayer's were anything but, Dragonslayer's violence could be explained in that it was codeveloped by Disney in tandem with Paramount Pictures, while Tron was a wholly Disney production. I could be wrong about all that though-- this is just speculation on my part. Thoughts?

[BlackDeathFalcon]

I agree on the Black Hole remake, leighthal1967.

[leporidus]

The second movie I watched in a cinema. The first one I watched a second time in a row. The look of the Cygnus fascinated me.

[Windclaw]

It might sound like a silly pipe dream, but I'd like to see a nod to this film in Kingdom Hearts III.

[blackhawknj]

I enjoyed this movie, well done, did a good job of setting up its universe and backstory. I met Ernest Borgnine last year at Chiller Theatre in NJ.

[pbanta62]

This was a kind of clunky sci-fi, but it had a lot going for it that made it watchable: The rousing John Barry score, the uniquely gothic look of the space craft, some decent acting, and the first Disney movie to have "damn" and "hell in the script! Pity the movie was taken down by some of the scientific absurdities and the religious overtones of the final act. It still has its moments.

[bwtupman]

When I saw the movie as a kid - I was around 7 I guess - the final scene of the evil Doctor, trapped in Maximillian, standing on the burning mountain, strongly affected me. It was almost like a religious vision of some sort, for a kid. The religious overtones of the final act raise it into a movie of high strangeness - it would not be as good a movie without them.

[mellobbello]

i can totally relate. it was a strong image of hell in the tradition of dante and vergilius

[AEigner]

@bwtupman I'll never forget that super-creepy scene with the hellfire and Reinhardt's eyes googling around inside the metal head. That is permanently burned into my skull. I agree with another poster that the final scene is like the elongated last moment of consciousness they all have as their deaths are stretched out over near infinite time.

[Jay3451]

I just watched the movie on Turner Classic Movies last weekend. It was part of a month long Disney family movie block.

[ajag33]

3:14- The most bland and wooden movie quote of all time.

[tshippy36]

damn good. even my kids love this flick and i was nine when it came out. I hope it doesnt get redone maybe a touch up, this cast just fit to good

[KyleWalkers]

A classic film!!!

[algoyo]

This was a very ambitious film, effects-wise. Actually more believable than many of its comtemporaries, such as Star Wars.

[unitron]

The space scenes definatly but not the robot action .... i dunno, maybe they wanted it that way to be "kiddie" for the kids. Again, space scenes are awsome !

[Windclaw]

I don't think they INTENDED for kids to see this one, as it had THE first on-screen murder scene EVER in a Disney film (Snow White does NOT count). Cropped to keep it 'clean' but a murder none the less.

[Kickasss119]

especially the parts with STAR and his retarded campy shooting moves... still good though lol

[Nowhereman10]

I would love to see the robots on the Cygnus made into less "clunky" designs, some not even really humanoid, like was described throughout Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the original movie... Basically nasty, scary looking and lightening fast things that you could believe overpower the Cygnus' human crew, and would require every bit of resourceful thinking and sheer dumb luck on the Palamino's crew's part to escape them.

[perfectionbox]

One could do an incredible remake these days, and add in life based on plasma and magnetic fields living near the event horizon, a Type 2 civilization marshaling unbelievable energies. One couldn't communicate with them -- it would be like an ant talking to a human -- but just watching them work would be the mindtrip of a lifetime.

[TheCastellan]

Most remakes never live up to the original, though. o_o

[jakesbrain]

This is one of the few films that really deserves a remake. Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie as it is-- I loved it when I was a kid-- but I think if you could do a remake with harder science and slightly less cutesy robot characters, the story would still work. (If you've seen any pictures of what black holes are really supposed to look like, this movie got it mostly wrong.)

[Windclaw]

I think whats stoping Disney (even though the DVD release still carries the Disney name), is that fact that it IS a dark film. Dark for them anyway. On-screen murder, spooky imagery, and images of hell that are none to kind friendly...if there is such a thing.

[blickblocks]

I agree. If it were to be remade a little less camp, it would be great. Maximillian is a terrifying character.

[OLDSCHOOLHHSEX]

1 other best MOVIE RE-MAKE:->The LAST STAR FIGHTER... First 1980's film that *made full usage of the 3D CGI GRAPHICS*

[vicioussource]

Does anyone know where I can find this theme for download?

[alucard624]

Still one of my favorite films after all these years. The music is so good. I wish they would release it on CD. My first exposure to this came from the story of the Black Hole record my dad had when I was a kid. Then I saw the movie. I was enthralled from the minute it started. The music creeps me out in some spots and I remember being freaked out at Durants death. I had never seen anything like that in Disney film up to that point.

[jakesbrain]

Disney actually has released the soundtrack (or most of it) on iTunes. Look up BLACK HOLE on the iTunes Store and you'll find it.

[alucard624]

I actually got the soundtrack through iTunes last week. Good sound and quality. But, is it just me or does Track 2 seem like it is missing some music at the beginning. Like the scene where the music starts when the door closes on the crew on the Cygnus in the reception room? Sounds like a fade in to later in the track on the soundtrack.

[ess1898]

This is one of my favorite movies of all time.

[PotatoGunsRule]

I'm glad I'm NOT ALONE in LOVING the soundtrack and movie! It meant a lot to my in my youth...I think it was the first direction I had towards science. The choice of the ship name "Cygnus" may have been no accident. According to the WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA of 1979, the FIRST black hole was discovered in the Cygnus gallaxy!

[blickblocks]

The theme is more memorable than the film! Still love the film though.

[Windclaw]

I'd hope you would uplaod the whole thing.

Truly a magnificent and underappreciated film.

[WrathofBergeron]

Habitable life? It means the human race seeks to become parasites.

[drschizo]

lol, so naive and vintage =)

[padwanplayer]

I still wonder what "habitable life" means...

[Tommykey07]

Yvette Mimieux probably botched her line in that scene but it wasn't caught. It's one of those things where you know what she really meant, likely "habitable planets" .

[unitron]

I agree, what would "Habitable Life" be? Living on another living being??

[unitron]

Late reply as I never thought anyone would even post :) this time I have to "thank for thanx" heh. Glad someone enjoyed !

Uni

[footlover2345]

i loved the soundtrack to this film, they shuld remake this film it wud be cool

[dtmunoz]

Exactly Fabeman this a gr8 movie for me as a kid my brothers too, we were fascinated by this movie and the music, thanks for the upload Unitron

[FabeMan]

I already watched this when I was a child. I still get goosebumps when I hear the awesome soundtrack.

What a great masterpiece! Thanx for uploading! :)