Over the weekend, on Friday evening to be precise, my Bonnie Bride and I decided to watch The Black Hole (1979). Why we chose to watch The Black Hole is going to remain a mystery as I am not sure how we decided to run that film.
The Black Hole poster - IMDB
Although not a great film, it is a decent film. The cast is rock solid, and included Ernest Borgnine, who I remember best from McHale’s Navy. The rest of the main cast I was not familiar with, but on review I did spot that a couple of the cast members appeared in films I have seen (Psycho and The Time Machine, both from the early ‘60s). Roddy McDowell and Slim Pickens, who are both very familiar performers, provided the voices of the robots VINCENT and BOB, respectively.
Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine - IMDB
I remember seeing The Black Hole when it was first released and thought it was an okay film, but not as good as Star Wars, which had been released two years earlier. I remembered very little of the movie, except for Borgnine being in it, and that one of the robots was pretty battered (that would be BOB), and oe of the laser pistols was a cool design. I also recalled the basic plot of a mad scientist (Maximillian Schell), channeling his inner (and less benevolent) Captain Nemo, wanting to take his ship through the center of a black hole, and that the crew was made up of zombified humans. My Bonnie Bride remembered a few other details, but not many.
In that respect, it was a fun way to go back and watch this movie and refresh my memory. The Black Hole was released the same year as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and, in retrospect, I have to say that I think that The Black Hole is a better film, mainly because it had a lot more action. Okay, let’s be blunt – there is a reason why that first Trek movie is frequently referred to as “The Motionless Picture” – very little action, and no Mad Scientist. Just a Mad Alien Spacecraft called Nomad, I mean V’Ger.
The science in the film, revolving theories about black holes, Einstein-Rosen Bridges (aka wormholes) are interesting, as at one point, it was generally believed that one could pass through these singularities and come out the other end in a different region of space (Joe Haldeman explored this theory in his novel The Forever War – a great book, by the way). Schell’s character, mad scientist Hans Reinhardt, has managed to stabilize the gravity locally around his spaceship, which is quite massive, while he worked out the means (and the mathematics to make it work). Meanwhile, the crew of the visiting Palomino are finding things are not quite right aboard Reinhardt's ship, The Cygnus, and a couple of them realize that Reinhardt is not exactly right in the head, despite his scientific brilliance.
As I mentioned, it may not be a great film, but it does have some redeeming qualities, both in the story and in the performances. The music score is also excellent, setting a mood of suspense around the film. It’s the kind of film that can be fun to watch when you can’t think of anything else you want to watch, or watch for the umpteenth time (although maybe Star Wars or Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan are good almost any time for the umpteenth time), then break out the popcorn and have a little fun and give The Black Hole a spin. Or watch Star Wars again. Your call.
Thanks for stopping by.
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I loved that movie when I was a kid. Thanks for reminding me of it.
It is a fun movie, and I am glad to have taken to the opportunity to watch it again. Glad to hear you liked it as well.