Exploring The Black Hole - The Movie That Changed Disney Forever
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2020
- Good Bad Flicks takes a long look into the history of The Black Hole. Directed by Gary Nelson.
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Movies, games, and the occasional editorial.
From A-Z list films, video games, and other overlooked goodness. 
Развлечения
How many people thought he was saying “Winston Hitler” when he said Hibler? It couldn’t have just been me.
Yeah sometimes it sounds like he's saying Hitler
I didn't even realize he was saying Hibler. Thank you for saving me a google search.
Even the captioning reads 'Hitler'!
Winston Hitler, child of two worlds
I thought Hitler died in 1945?
Maxmillian was one of the best designed villain robots ever put to screen, silent, and menacing with that eerie hum that he emits, that solid red blazing eye.
when perkins removed the mirrored mask of the humanoid - and it showed that "zombie-face" with that sound.....it shocked and horrified me.... for years I had to fast-forward that scene ...it still creeps me out.....like in that one sound one could hear one last breath crawling itself to the end eternally...like literally dying forever, not being allowed to go.....stuff for nightmares
Siskel and Ebert were a couple of old queens, that hated science fiction movies. Of course they weren't gonna like this movie, instead they'd rather see The Wizard of Oz in Outer Space...
Event Horizon is just the death metal remix of The Black Hole.
Event Horizon is what happens when someone drops a Lament Configuration on The Black Hole ship.
Definite similarities. The Black Hole had a great musical score, but overall I'd have to say Event Horizon is the better movie. For one thing, it doesn't have annoying comedy robots.
Yes .they need to throw in some event horizon into the remake.
yea except only 1 gave me nightmares. and it wasn't the death metal remix.
@@NastySasquatch Agreed, Black Hole was the more frightening of the two. Keeping the low rating meant the horror of the situation had to stay cerebral rather than visual, stays with you more.
The behind the scenes of this movie is like the goldmine of trivia.
Christopher Kaylor you know what I mean!?!
Accurate
When he said 'And then he married Walt Disney's daughter" it all made sense.
It's not what you know but rather who....
I can’t get past that the robots look like South Park characters hiding in garbage cans. Love the movie though.
The Cygnus is still one of the most beautiful ships ever designed.
You bet it is, I can't imagine a more perfect ship for that role. To mix that kind of creative flair with the total haunted house atmosphere is like nothing I've seen in film again.
I loved this movie as a kid and still do, I still think the ship is amazing looking.
I had a model of the Palomino, my dad put it together for me...Good Times!
Saw it at the theater. Blown away.
abso-friggin-lutely.
damn cathedral in space
This movie was a swan song to the golden years of practical effects. The models are stunningly gorgeous.
Not exactly a swan song, considering practical model effects continued to be used for another twenty years, e.g. the spaceships in Starship Troopers.
The rolling meteor one is awesome XD i love the shillouettes of the characters running past it, it looks awesome
Yes and no. Remember this came out the same year as Alien & Star Trek the Motion Picture (and was up against both for the vfx oscar, losing to Alien, a much much lower budget film). Other than arguably the design of the Cygnus the fx are inferior in every way on the black hole. I still love it though. Its been a huge but largely forgotten influence on sci-fi horror.
This was 1979. CGI didn’t really kick in until 1993. There was still a lot of practical effects still to come after _The Black Hole._
Kind of sad the designs where so goofy.
"We'll start filming with 90% of a script and figure out the ending when we get there."
Has that *ever* worked once in the entire history of cinema?
Yes. Star Trek TMP was still being written when the shoot was half done. A saucer separation and fight with the Klingons was mapped out and never shot. Days were spent filming a whole sequence with memory walls that was abandoned and replaced with five minutes of matte shots etc etc
It's very hard because ideally the movie should be setting up the ending. It shouldn't be something you just tack on because the movie needs to be over.
CASABLANCA !!!!! They re written the script on daily basis, they didn't knew what kind of ending will had...the result? A masterpiece !!! A classic for all times !!! There you have it !!!
Star Trek: The Motion Picture: While I personally enjoy the film (finding it the closest to an episode of The Original Series in movie format), general consensus would seem to indicate that this did not, in point of fact, work in the film's favor.
Casablanca: Every rule has an exception.
Gladiator started with less than thirty complete pages when they started
Although The Black Hole is one of my all time favorite movies, I never realized how interesting its backstory was. This was a fantastic and informative video. Great job!
This movie, for all its issues, holds a MASSIVE soft spot in my heart. The soundtrack is a masterpiece. I’ve not stopped listening to it for 40 years.
I see what you did there.
Funny... to me is just Interstellar made on the 70's...
it's funny how Disney back then was flooded with hate mail about THIS film's rating, but yet, they completely forget how dark and unforgiving "Bambi" was when that movie first came out.
I had it on vinyl and MISS it ! It is certainly one of the best soundtracks bar none and in the ranks of "The Imperial March" I had that one on vinyl it was a double as I am sure you know. House fire took it! Still love the way the soundtrack of TBH makes you feel like your spinning, dizzy, or getting sucked into the cosmos. The soundtrack is brilliant!
illumi NOTme : Want to own it again?
I love all the Disney "dark phase" films. The Black Hole, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dragonslayer, The Watcher in the Woods, The Black Cauldron, Return to Oz. Even Tron and The Rescuers are pretty grim. It wasn't all mermaids and Hakuna Matata back then.
I agree, and now Disney is in really dark days.
Dragonslayer was really dark, also nudity which was odd for Disney.
Loved the Rescuers!
@@johnw8578 Great film, also The Rescuers Down under.
Dragonslayer is "tits on a pillow" as my older sister puts it. It's so freaking awesome!
This movie is, by far, one of my all time favorites. This is one of those movies that instantly takes me back to a point in my life (childhood) when things were simple. I was mesmerized by the robot Maximilian...he just looked badass. I always found Maximillian Schell to be quite intimidating, but that's what I liked about him. The soundtrack is one I STILL listen to, even at 42 years old. Even if the ending didn't quite make sense...I still loved it. The visuals and the music that went along with those final scenes...just amazing. I never tire of watching this movie.
I always loved how the movie gets Metaphysical at the very end. Definitely Disney’s Ode to 2001: A Space Odyssey
With such a name I trust you like the movie ANGEL HEART too 😉
"They planned to shoot the film in order. That way when certain cast members died--" WHAT?! "--they could send them home when their work was finished." Oooooooh
The Black Hole: Di$ney's first snuff film =)
Should've said "When certain CHARACTERS died, they could send the cast members home.".
That's how I plan to make my own movies, in complete order following the written script.
he also sort of immediately followed that up by saying they hadn't actually finished writing the film yet. so i was like well then how did they know when they could send them home?
Fun Fact: The late sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison was briefly hired as a consultant for the film. On his first day, he jokingly suggested making a Disney porn film. He even mimicked the character's voices and imitated lewd acts. Unfortunately, Roy Disney overheard the whole thing. Needless to say, he was fired right then and there.
Harlan Ellison was renown for being very unPC and controversial in his statements (To the point of being bi-polar possibly?), so i'm not surprised. He was known for putting his foot in his mouth a hell of alot.
@@MGSBigBoss77 He wasn't unPC. Because there was NO SUCH CONCEPT then.
@@princeofcupspoc9073We all know political correctness only came into being in the year 2020.
Seriously though, *of course* it existed back then. Maybe the standards of what was considered PC were different, but the concept of scandalous statements are as old as time.
@@Quirderph Exactly what i was getting at. cheers!
@@MGSBigBoss77 I've met him (at a convention I helped run, we brought him over to the UK for Cult TV). He's a genius and a creative genius and funny and interesting but he's also a complete fucking arsehole.
I saw this movie when it was new in theaters. I was 7. IT BLEW ME AWAY!?! Terrified me as well. 40 years later I still love the film and the nostalgia it brings. I learned later that it was considered Disney's one and ONLY horror film. So glad my dad was a scifi fan. It made me one as well. Thank you for posting. A great review! I am now a subscriber. 😊
Thanks for the sub!
I'm hunting down the model kits right now....a couple Maximilian kits left and MAYBE 2 or 3 V.I.N.C.E.N.T. model kits left. I wish they would re-release the kits again....
Watched it again this morning. I'm almost 50. Even MORE unsettling as an adult vs when I saw it as a 6 year old.
Same. Dad took me to it also.
its not the only horror Disney, theres at least "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
I don't care what anyone says, this movie as well as Tron, are two of the best films Disney ever made.
I think the ending is the only reason it's still talked about today. It's unbelievably bold and striking. And makes the rest of the movie memorable.
Considering when Alien came out, "The Black Hole" looks ancient in comparison, but that's one of my favorite things about it: It looks like it's the most impressive sci-fi film of the fifties or sixties. I also love the "horror film for children" vibe
Horror film for children...........IN SPACE!
I really like your description!
I was a kid when I saw it in theatres. It was cool, very cool.
@@Bacopa68 production values and special effects were great but, writing and direction were... so flat.
@@robzilla730 As comment said, this was sixties horror for children. I was a child. It was perfect. Way better than the horror and sci-fi UHF stations showed opposite the network cartoons.
Black Hole & ALIEN came out the same year.... and ALIEN runs rings around Black Hole in every category.
John Barry’s score still impresses me over 40 years later. As you said in your excellent video, it was 100% digitally recorded and mixed. And Barry experimented with a new instrument that created sounds he wanted.
This is one of my favorite scores. My biggest disappointment is that the CD of the 2011 re-master is so hard to find and expensive.
The blaster beam !
Loved this movie. I took my father to see it when I was 16, my treet and this is one of the best memories with him. Thank you, I am now 57 years old,my father passed away years ago, this helped bring back a lot of memories.
God bless and I look forward to your next episode.
The Black Hole is one of my Top 5 favourite films of all time, Maximillian is terrifying and awesome and the soundtrack is just magnificent. It's basically Irwin Allen in space and I love it
Tried looking up Winston Hitler, all I could get was Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler. It's like nobody wanted to acknowledge him.
Edit: So it's Winston Hibler, not Winston Hitler. *Cue Curb you enthusiasm theme*
Lmfao
I kept thinking & saying aloud, "Is he saying Hitler?".... Lol....
I thought he was saying Hitler too! Glad I read your comment.
I thought the name was Winston *Hiddler* myself lol
@@WaspandUnicorn me too! I thought "his name is WHAT?!"
I love the ending to The Black Hole. It is so eerie, surreal and sublime that it still haunts me almost as much as it did when I watched it as a little kid. John Barry's musical score is absolutely magnificent and fits the movie so perfectly.
It's a shame that it didn't make more money back in the day, because it really was remarkable, but not in all the ways Disney had hoped.
I saw this film opening night, and while it was gorgeous, three things stand out in my mind about the film. How silent the crowd was during the film, how horrifying Anthony Perkins scream was when he died, and the first sound from the audience as the credits rolled was from a man two rows in front of me stating that "Disney should have stuck to cartoons" Everyone around me burst out laughing.
Glad to see you back, Cecil. Hope you're doing better, man.
Yeah I like your commentary. Your not trying to be funny like some other retrospective channels. That kinda gets annoying. I'm trying to hear facts, not jokes.
I loved this flick as a kid and still do.
Lot of people wanna drag this film and Disney in that period for going “dark” but at least they were trying to do something new and we got some great films like Black Hole out of it.
Once again you have outdone yourself. I’ve watched this video twice and every time I love all the detail you put into the video from how the miniatures were used and created to the acting. One of the best videos imo
Thanks! This was one I've wanted to cover for a long time and it wasn't easy putting all this history together. I'm glad it all turned out well :)
Watched the movie as a kid, loved it then, still enjoy it today. As for Tyson getting butthurt over it not being realistic, there used to be a time movies were meant to escape from reality. It's a nice break from the real world. Did love the crossfire sequence with the bridge too. And ya, the ending was a lil wonky, but how many people really know how things would happen in a black hole? Enjoy a great movie, bring the popcorn.
Maximillian is still one of the most teriffying droid monstrosties created.
...and Maximilian Schell's 'Reinhart' one of the best human villains of all.
Reinhart is the kind of mad scientist I envision when I think of the trope. I'm 35 yo, and first saw this movie as a kid. Rewatched it recently, and despite it being a terrible movie, I still love it.
Maximillian is so bad he wears a facehugger for a hat
@@jonperry7507 I hope to be known as this era's mad scientist (well, I'm really a computer expert and not an outright scientist). I started working on this in the end of 2000 and I am legitimately insane:
We are not digital and nothing in Nature is digital. Oxford quantum physics professor Andrew Steane wrote in his paper about quantum information systems titled "Quantum computing" at arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/9708022.pdf :
"The new version of the Church-Turing thesis (now called the ‘Church-Turing Principle’) does not refer to Turing machines. This is important because there are fundamental differences between the very nature of the Turing machine and the principles of quantum mechanics. One is described in terms of operations on classical bits, the other in terms of evolution of quantum states. Hence there is the possibility that the universal Turing machine, and hence all classical computers, might not be able to simulate some of the behavior to be found in Nature. Conversely, it may be physically possible (i.e. not ruled out by the laws of Nature) to realize a new type of computation essentially different from that of classical computer science. This is the central aim of quantum computing."
From what I understand they are forcing current quantum computers to unnaturally apply a binary state to something that has a infinite evolution of states. Think of the electron and the circle it makes around a nucleus. That 360 degrees circle it makes is infinite in precision, and that movement certainly has an effect on its surroundings. Basically, practical math is the descriptive language of the universe, and not the actual universe because it uses measurements.
I propose a "Dynamic Stateless Computer" that operates on "Logic Geometry" based only on connections, or links, or pointers - a much more simple computer than the three basic Boolean logic gates operating on mathematical binary bits that is every computer out there. The shape is the logic and the logic is the shape, sort of like a truth table that is dynamic where the "truths" change as it runs.
Quantum mechanics is beyond me, but if this only needs connections, ie a quantum entanglement, can we build a computer that operates and does its entire run instantly? Like I said, all I need is connections to perform logic... no need for information... the shape is the logic.
You are best off going to Github and seeing online without downloading the paper and models. When someone looked at my calculators, they accused me of: "You're not doing math! You're emulating math!" Look at the simple calculator first, it only does addition and subtraction. Then look at the complex calculator that does multiplication and division. As you well know, if I can do those things, I can do anything mathematically. In the main model I created if-thens, complex do-whiles, a randomizer and a relational database.
github.com/johnphantom/Dynamic-Stateless-Computer
Through the exercise of the most complex do-while I asked a question related to that, and the answer uses the ancient Chinese/Pascal's Triangle (which millions have looked at over thousands of years) in a new way: mathhelpforum.com/threads/combination-lock.17147/ I basically had to count nothing as something to count, as in you can have different items to count the permutations of but a default state of no item is possible for each, some or all to count in the permutations, and it doesn't seem anyone else in history was able to use the really basic mathematical concept of the Triangle in that way for the solution. The technique of the implementation is a little interesting, with it being able to reach any of the 209 possible combinations in 4 keystrokes or less - it's how it scales that is the curiosity, where if I had 18 wheels and 18 numbers to form a combination it would have almost 3x10 to 18th power or 2,968,971,264,021,448,999 possible combinations, each reachable within 18 keystrokes or less.
I don't have any idea as to how this would be physically built - none of the aspects of it, except for the dynamic logic that I also do not have any clue if it really is what I ask above. I just can do these things I demonstrate and in my extensive almost 50 years of digital computer experience I have not seen anything exactly like it.
Maybe you wonder about my computer experience? I have always been fascinated by computers, starting in 1972 using a prototype Cogar 4 that my dad got his hands on, when I was 3. By the time I was 5, Singer wanted to use me in a commercial to sell the computer, because if a 5 yo could start it, load the OS and then load games, that proved anyone could. My first mentor helped develop Ethernet after working for my father, and allowed me to hold one of the first breadboard ethernet cards developed when I was 10. My first real program (programming since at least 5 if you count the Cogar ASM I had to type to get to the OS and games) was in BASIC when I was 11 that I learned from a manual without anything more than a small example for each command, written with pencil on paper; a rudimentary AI demonstration called "Animals". Second program I made I had another computer (we had moved and left the one at my dads company behind when he sold it) and was a dot bouncing around the screen. Third program, with 12 year old's understanding of math, I attempted to do 3D. I first professionally programmed in 1982, started building computers and networks for a small computer company in 1986 owned by my second mentor, Peter De Blanc who lead ICANN for a period, was an official beta tester and developer for OS/2 2.0 and developed a device driver for it for the extremely complex Truevision Targa+ 64 video editing board (pic: imgur.com/a/hMe21Qe ) directly flipping bits on it in 1991. That's almost 30 years ago. My experience has only gone up from there. This dynamic logic is something I found, that I have never seen anything like even searching for it on the Internet for the past 20 years.
I am a little younger that this film. As a child, Maximilian made me run out of the living room and cry in my bedroom
This was a childhood favorite of mine. I even had the picture book.
I had that book as well, it's what introduced me to Sci-fi.
I remember having a book/record combination. Same for The Rescuers.
I used to have the book as a kid. Not seen the movie though.
I couldn't get a VINCENT model so I made my own out of old pots and pans and a red ball. I thought it was awesome but my friends said it looked like crap. It ended up falling apart.
Disney's "Read A Long Series", a book with a 45 vinyl, had them all....
I laughed and said "Who let Kubrick do the ending?" Then the narrator backs me up!
It’s specifically in the DVD commentary: scriptwriters are notoriously close-lipped about how they finished the story, and what the writers intended, but one of them finally blurts out “It was the studio, the studio execs kept pushing us to make it more like Star Wars, make it more like Kubrick’s 2001, so finally we just went high-concept and threw a bunch of kaleidoscopic heaven-hell reveals at it.”
I was told that the opening title sequence - the wire frame computer model of the black hole - who is actually created specifically for the trailers because they didn’t have any footage of the movie itself ready yet. And I remember that the very first trailers I saw, for it were nothing but the wire frame. They had no intention of actually using that in the movie, but since you’ve got people buzzing about the film, so much for months in advance, they decided to use it as the opening title sequence
Welcome back Cecil!
You owe us a Godzilla movie. Jerome Weiselberry is all done with hers.
It’s a great day when the host of one of your favorite movie review channels leaves a warm comment on the channel of my other favorite movie review channel! Cecil and Brandon are my spirit animals when it comes to obscure and retro movies. 😂
Absolutely LOVE this movie, I'm honestly saddened that we never got to see that Sequel/Remake from the director of Tron Legacy. Recently they finally made a figure of Maximilian and I NEED IT!!
My sister and I spotted the Maximilian prop on the MGM Studios Themepark Backlots Tour around 1989. We almost shat our pants. With joy.
"kind of ironic that, back in the day, 70's Disney was trying to emulate Star Wars and then in 2010, they just bought Star Wars."
And flushed them down a Black Hole.
Kind of a shame. I mean, with The Black Hole. There was a lot of potential. Too bad they missed the mark on everything.
Nathan Johnson AND they did not learn their lesson of not knowing the ENDING!!
Funny thing is, that George Lucas initially pitched Star Wars to Disney. They turned him down flat.
The movie was good other than the ending. Great characters, great story, and great lines.
Despite its faults I really enjoyed this as a child and still watch it on occasion as an older adult. Great cast, beautiful effects and being one and done make it special.
The ending of this movie is one of my favorites
Never did make a part two
The black hole is an underrated film, and I loved it. Maybe not the greatest film of all time, but it’s an ambitious and entertaining film nonetheless. When I heard about all the people complaining about the PG rating, it makes me wonder how people reacted to Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Disney’s first PG-13 rated film.
Gen X. I loved the film as a child. Still as a adult. The two robots having their last conversation, still makes me cry.
B.O.B.: “Carry on the tradition. We're the best...”
Cecil, after his wife died Bob Ross said “Gotta have opposites, light and dark and dark and light, in painting. It’s like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come. I'm waiting on the good times now.”
Your good times will come.
“There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live.....the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words: Wait and Hope.” ― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
you made me feel for Bob there.
I love all the "what ifs" that are sparked by these. Like "what if Sigorney had been in this?"
Welcome back, Cecil. You've been missed.
Well, at least we know she wouldn't have flinched at having her hair cut off.
What is the most typical comment about this film? “It’s not the greatest film ever, but I like it, one of my childhood favourites”. And that would be mine too. The interesting thing is a lot of people are fond of it, so given this enduring interest, what could possibly explain Disney’s disregard for it? The 40th anniversary has just gone by and their apathy was confirmed with a lacklustre Blu-ray with no extras, and that was a club only release. Honestly Disney, just license it to a label that cares about it and who can give it the release it deserves, forty years of neglect confirms you don’t care for this at all.
This is an incredible history of one of my childhood favorites. All the work you mentioned at the end of the documentary absolutely shows. Not only was this a great document of the making if the movie, you added great insights into its place in Disney & movie history. I can’t thank you enough for the heroic efforts you put into this, and I hope things are going great for you personally!
I forgot about that ending completely. Do you realize that makes The Black Hole most similar to Event Horizon? Really strange when you think about it
I love The Black Hole. Yeah the ending is nonsensical, but the movie as a whole is great.
Reinhart was a man who valued logic and order over fellowship and cooperation, in the end he became just another component within his robot Maximillion. The other human cast (Palamino Crew) members passed on into a new universe to an uncertain fate.
The true end of both groups are up for personal interpretation by the viewers. I love this because in reality the future consequences of actions are always uncertain.
The ending is the only part that does make sense
Beautiful movie, terrible ending.
The ending was my only real issue with the movie. I still thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of it. Even though my first viewing of it ever was only about 6 months ago.
@@oaf-77 The ending reminds me of a Space 1999 episode.
I adore this film. The concept, the effects, everything appealed to 10 year old me. I rewatched it last week with my husband who had never seen it so had no idea what had happened to the original Cygnus crew (spoilers). And I still get choked up when V.I.N.CENT catches Old B.O.B during the shootout.
I collected the action figures, built replica Cygnus models from Balsa wood and made short films.
It had a strong female character (most of the time), chivalry, honour and taught lessons on self worth (look at V.I.N.CENT talking with Old B.O.B. for example) and the importance of friendship. The actors seemed to honestly get on and their skills made the robots seem so real.
Thank you for putting so much work in to this video. You’ve made me nostalgic and happy.
One of my childhood favorites....I had a 4 inch plastic model of Maximilian.....and now I will stay a recluse, watching the DVD, seeing the melding of 50s to 70s Sci Fi into this visual feast. THANK YOU!
Thanks for watching!
now im curious about something wicked this way comes and the black cauldron back story
Ditto.
I third this recommendation
The people in charge of Disney Studios felt Black Cauldron was too dark and edited the movie after the animation was almost complete.
@Gary Hall Wish Disney or another studio would do live action versions of the whole Prydain book series.
Oh, heck yes.
A Disney classic that's criminally underrated. Am I right? I first saw the BLACK HOLE in 2002 and thought it was pretty good. It was kind of like Interstellar, if it was released in 1979.
Interesting comparison. I wonder if Chris Nolan was influenced by "The Black Hole".
Disney made a bunch of underrated movies in the 70s! If people can get passed silliness and just go with what they were trying to do.
@@Madbandit77 The original scripts for Interstellar were nearly identical to the Black Hole, but the villains were Chinese robots.
I first saw it as a kid, in 87... my mind was absolutely blown. It’s been one of my all time favorite films ever since.
In 1987 my rookie High School physics teacher showed the movie over two days in class. We nearly rebelled, as nerds we all were aware of how utterly inaccurate the science of the movie was and were baffled that he thought it would spark interest in the chapters on astrophysics.
Great movie. I'm 43 and this movie had me absolutely mesmerized as a child. An all time classic. Thank you for an awesome video. Well done sir.
Amazing video, man. If memory serves I was lucky enough to see this at least twice in the theater as a nine-year-old kid. This movie had such a profound effect on me. Those effects still look amazing.
I love The Black Hole and remember that scene with them running from the meteor and freaking out when they fell on the bridge. Very underrated, and I am hoping like some of Disney's other "darker films", finds some much-deserved recognition
Dragon slayer is another movie where disney steps out of their box
Hands down the best stop-motion (go-motion) dragon ever.
I just commented about that. I was a little disappointed when it didn't get a mention with the rest of them. I loved it as a kid and was well into adulthood when I realized it was a Disney movie with a split second flash of boob, lol!!!
Hands down the best review and historical account of this movie! Bravo 👏 I saw The Black Hole with my dad at a local drive inn, I was 6 , they had a fireworks display after pausing the movie when the meteor shower scene hits....needless to say, I am a huge Black Hole fan
Thank you! :)
It's one of me and my brothers favorite films. All our friends didn't get it and left many parties early in which we watched it.
I really like your commentary on this film, you've done a lot of work and it's a very comprehensive work.
You taught me something towards the ends of your video; it's simple for people to dismiss the film in its totality, but you can't discount the four months of grueling hard work it takes to put a show of this scale together, not to mention the week's or months in post production & editing. And no movie at the time terrified people with John Barry's spellbinding score. Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
astonishingly deep level of research there.
it stands out to me that the FX and miniature shots are stunning but everything featuring the actors seems shot in a hokey, low effort style. it looks extremely dated there. I remember being underwhelmed as a child too.
Yes, I saw it in the theater as a 11-year old and thought it was crap. Most of the effects were great- the black hole and the ship were stunning, but that only emphasized how cheap Vincent looked- he appeared to be mostly styrofoam. Also, the crew “costumes,” being nothing more than cloaks and mirrored plexiglass bowls screamed “we’re overbudget!”
The idiotic religious ending was not only tacked on, but seemed to negate everything preceding it. It really ruined the movie.
On the plus side, the musical theme was memorable and the acting was generally good.
I had a Black Hole lunchbox when I was in grade school. I loved this movie. Thanks for reminding me of it.
I had forgotten about the cereal box pencil holders until now, but I had a couple. Had the Sentry and Vincent action figures too. Oh, and one of those little storybooks with a 45 inside that would tell you to turn the page with a tinkerbell noise.
I've still got the Little Golden Book tucked away somewhere.
I had a big puzzle set. Well, big for an 8 year old.
Things I remember about this movie:
It had an overture, and one of the best soundtracks ever.
The opening credits. Yes, that cgi seems laughable today, but blew you away back then.
The Cygnus was and remains one of the most impressive space ship designs.
The high production value, everything looked gorgeous, especially in the big screen.
It was the first time I noticed the Dolby Stereo surround sound. I guess our old neighborhood theater invested in a new sound system after Star Wars.
Watching it again it didn‘t hold up as well as I‘d hoped. I‘m no longer 15 years old. But the memories are still great!
I also remember the silence and color scheme within the Cygnus, and while it wasn’t the perfect horror, it felt somewhat uneasy at the same time I saw it. Something wasn’t right, and the scenes established that sort of “lite horror” tone.
Thank you so much for making this review and exploration of the production of The Black Hole. I love this movie so much and I don't think it gets nearly the amount of attention that it deserves. Hopefully folks will see this and give it a shot. A new generation could fall in love with this overlooked masterpiece.
This is probably the closest we will ever get for a "making of" that I missed very much on the DVD release of this movie. I loved it back when it came out and it's still one of my favorite "classic s/f" movies
The amount of information and backstory to this movie is incredible. I'm really appreciate the great effort on your side, respect! :-)
"The Black Hole" is truly one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Thanks so much for this episode.
To this day, the world presented in the film, The Black Hole, is an amazing portrayal of a technocratic dystopia in a space film, it falls short on the individual characters, but the world presented is quite a hell of a ride
This was my most favoritest movie in the world when I was a kid. Now that I'm older and (supposedly) wiser, I'd find a lot of it very silly, but I would still enjoy it if seeing it for the first time. I'm with David Ansen and Richard Schickel, who both said that the movie was completely ridiculous and should be a bomb... but somehow, the fool thing WORKS.
I have a love for this movie to this day, and it still feels special. The Cygnus is BEAUTIFUL, and Maximilian is scary as hell. Seeing what Disney has become, I think Ron Miller had much more character than some of the zombies running the studio now. He had a hand in The Black Hole, Tron, Tex, Never Cry Wolf, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Night Crossing, and he was the one who got Who Framed Roger Rabbit off the ground. He took RISKS, something Disney is too cowardly to do today.
I loved this piece. It's good to see a fellow Black Hole fan, and I learned a lot of things I never knew about one of my all time faves. Now I'm gonna have to find out more about the remake scripts and some of the early drafts that didn't make it.
I suggest watching it again now , been 40 years, and it is easy to find on the net, full lenght off youtbe . The music will take you back alone.
@@chrisperrien7055 Oh, I have it on DVD.
So to put it simply, Too Many Cooks...
I love this movie despite the clashing tones and stiff acting from some of the performers.
Too many cooks... working on a Sci Fi movie... at Disney? Sounds familiar...
GoodBadflicks, this is an amazingly well done documentary! I felt fairly familiar with the behind-the-scenes story of the Black Hole but you brought so many fascinating facts to light! Excellent job, keep it up!
I love this movie. I saw it on release in 1979 - several times, in fact. It's the first Disney movie I saw where parents removed crying children. When Durant unmasks the 'Humanoid', you could hear several people in the cinema gasp. It's not a very 'Disney' image. I like the darkness, the utter creepiness of it - the Cygnus crew's quarters, where Holland discovers all the 'vanished' crew's clothes and gear intact. A haunted house in space, full of zombies (in the true sense), a mad, monomaniac, who wants to become god, and his lethal assistant - what more do you need? It might not have been popular on release, although oddly, everyone I know who saw it liked it - it has become rather cool since then. When the first images of a black hole were shown last year, it wasn't long before a meme appeared - the image with a tiny dot on it, which was enlarged to show Maximilian, arms aloft, as seen in the finale. Last year, too Funko released 'Pops' figures of V.I.N.CENT and Maximilian (I have them). It's a sadly maligned movie which you NEED to see on a big screen at least once. It will take your breath away.
"Noted scientific curmudgeon." I can't think of a better description of that party pooper.
Even highly intelligent people display moronic tendencies, like being unable to accept movies as simply fantasy, entertainment, and constantly demanding that everything be documentaries.
Hack and tool of the Khazarians' propaganda-media. Interesting is that he, an intellectually lazy underachiever, ended up at the Z(C)IA's subversive training institution, Columbia.
Haha! I’m a big fan of Neil, actually... but, c’mon, this was from the 70’s for goodness sake! Let’s cut the science some slack.
You don't have to be a scientist to think the movie is pretty dumb.
I saw this movie for the first time a couple days back,It was a surreal but well done for it's time
I remember watching this in the theater and being impressed with the visuals, but thought that the movie itself was just okay. I haven't seen it since. I had pretty much forgotten everything about it until I saw this and I kinda want to rewatch it now. Thanks for making this.
Thanks for watching!
I don´t like Roger Ebert but I want to defend him: I assume that by the robot which looks like Darth Vader he didn´t mean Maximilian but the black Sentinel Android.
I cannot be the only one hearing him say hitler not what I’m assuming is meant to be hiddler
Same. I felt like I may have fell into a different timeline.
yeah I kept shivering every time he said the guy's name
Yeah me too, ,it keep hearing "hitler"
I kept hearing hitler too, though hiddler would not be much better, seeing as there is a character in classic getter robo that is basically demon hitler... except his name is hiddler.
Im all IMDB'ing crew and everything like "OK I know Walt supposedly rooted for Nazis but...no way" haha 😅
When The Black Hole came out, and I remember, after watching the movie, having no idea what I had just seen. I asked my dad what the point of the story was, and thinking Star Wars was waaaaay better.
They might as well canned The Black Hole altogether, after Star Wars debut. Because, let's face it: Aside from Star Trek TMP, which itself was just a continuation of a already good story series, nothing was going to match Star Wars in terms of space-based sci-fi!
Comparing apples and oranges.
@@pancudowny I remember how awesome Battlestar Galactica was back then.
You know as a kid I never imagined Max was 'like Darth Vader'. Never. But as an adult I can see how other adults would equate that. Thing is.. Max is the Frankenstein of the movie more than a Vader.
Just noticed you were back. Hope you are being kind to yourself and recovering as best as you can from your personal loss. Thank you for making the world better with your content. Much love.
Welcome back! Dragonslayer is another example of a "darker" Disney movie.
I'd go one further and say it's the best of Disney's "dark period".
I've been waiting a decade for Dragonslayer on Blu-ray.
Dragonslayer WOULD make a great video!
Gary Hall Disney
I found that film in a used video store. Love it
It’s good to see you again, I hope everything is going well. I know that it’s rough but we’re all here for you.
This movie is a family favorite for my clan.
When I was little all I wanted was a Vincent dollie or toy and bless my brother for looking he never found one for me lol.
Black Hole is timeless for me and the ending though I never knew was this rushed STILL to this day gets me all anxious and curious for what their journey may have been like once they reached the other end of that black hole.
The soundtrack is amazing and both scares me and fills me with a sense of cautious wonder...🤩
I really miss good movies.
I wish that they had gone with the original concept for the film. P.S. I brought figures of the Maximilian and V.I.N.CENT robots a few weeks ago!
44 seconds in and I gotta say, The Poseidon Adventure in space sounds really cool!
What caught my interest is the Spanish title of this movie: “El Abismo Negro” (“The Black Abyss”). In fact the correct scientific word for a Black Hole in Spanish is “Agujero Negro”.
Suffer No Fools It does indeed... from “aguja” which means “needle”. Not to be confused with “hoyo” which describes a completely different thing which English-speaking people also call “hole”.
@@happyspaceinvader508 Do you suppose this was a poor translation, or one they felt captured the 'feel' of "The Black Hole" better than the more scientifically accurate term?
@@Cryptic0013 English-speaking people didn't invent black holes, lol. I'm sure the Spanish-speaking scientists created the Spanish term, just as English-speaking scientists created the English term.
What a great movie. I was a young teen when it was being shown at the magnificent Alabama Theatre, and my folks let me go downtown to see this movie all by myself for the afternoon matinee. That was almost 50 years ago now, but I still remember how exciting it was, and how much fun I had going solo.
Thanks for giving us " the rest of the story" about how The Black Hole was made, the people involved, and the work done by people I consider creative geniuses.
As for Siskel and Ebert, well... opinions are a dime a dozen, and everybody has one.
Thanks for watching!
This and "Fame" are my earliest memories of going to the movies. I was like 2 or so, but I still remember the experiences vividly.
this is a childhood favorite, as I had the record and read along book, along with Empire strikes back. It was excellent, and as I got older I watched and re watched this movie. Now knowing the technical expertise that went into it, I can appreciate it much more than I ever have. Thank you.
This movie's development in itself is a black hole
Mayo Chan Yes, and I think it was a black hole for writers; many wrote scripts that disappeared into a 'black hole' and never made it to the big screen.
I'm sure that where they coined the term development hell from.
Excellent video! I have no idea where you dug up all the information, but bravo!! As a kid, I loved The Black Hole! I remember owning the novelization and listening to a record storybook version with the actor's voices (especially Slim Pickins as Bob). I recently watched it again for the first time as an adult and didn't love it as much. I was very much impressed by the stunning visuals but disappointed by the often dragging story and bad ending. Still, I do own it in my collection and I agree with you that it was an ambitious film that was underappreciated.
Fantastic video on one of my favourite 70s Disney features.
The score by John Barry is my top of his work. I still remember the overture playing before the film. Pure cinema gold.
I saved up and purchased two V.I.N.C.ent toys, bashing one to make a B.O.B lol.
Decades later when I was assistant manager/ head protectionist of my local two screen cinema I played the overture of a film . Received a standing ovation for my efforts.
Funnily enough I found the ADF novelization before watching your video.
It's a far from perfect film but I love it.
Thank you again.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks :)
The backlash against the film makes me wonder if those “fans” were aware that the film wasn’t for little kids.
I have no idea how people could have mistaken the fact that this movie wasn't for kids, considering that it was Disney, and at the time, kids movies was all they did. Also, consider the fact that one thing out of the movie that they pushed in all the advertisements was the robots with the big, friendly, cartoon eyes. The way Disney advertised it, they were promoting it as a family film, IE.. for kids and their parents. It was like Gremlins using the cute fuzzy thing in the adds, and keeping the fact that the movie was full of evil, sadistic creatures that killed people, kind of a secret. Disney did the same thing with this film. It was a movie made for adults. The studio people got cold feet, because Disney only made kids movies. So they redesigned the robots to be very kid friendly, cartoonish, and very attractive to young kids.
Even as a kid, I thought it was awesome.
As somebody who was a child when the movie came out, it was very much seen as a kids' film at the time.
Except it was for little kids and their parents, and their teenage siblings. As a result it really wasn't for anyone..
@Daniel Appleton Parents take their kid to see this new Disney sci-fi movie that used cute cartoon-looking robots as the advertisement for it. When they get there, there's that wonderful scene where a guy gets shredded into hamburger by a robot that has lawnmower arms.
I loved this movie and watched it every time its turn came on “Wonderful World of Disney”, that was on every Sunday evening in Canada in the 80s-90s.
I loved the film back in 1979 and I still love it today. The John Barry score is amazing. I was 15 years old when it came out and I saw it multiple times in the movies
42:02 “Disney a juggernaut...it’s name finally placed over the blackhole”
Star Wars fans agree
I think this is actually a very good movie that only needed some twerks to be something really special. It's just a little bit to silly in some places with the robots and I think that clashes with the rest of the movie in an unfavorable way. But the whole relationship between Schell and his robot works really well and the reveal of the face is a pretty effective twist in context (at least in my opinion). I also like the ending, but 2001 is one of my favourites and I would say I even prefer the ending of The Black Hole to 2001.
The amazing John Barry score as well as the visuals are what make the film very memorable IMO. Lots of great character actors in this film as well.
Twerks? That’s a booty dance. I think the word we’re looking for is “tweaks.” 😂
@@richerDiLefto Was about to say...
What movie wouldn't be improved with some twerks?
The ending to 2001 was too-much of a thinker, much like anything Kubrick makes. As for The Black Hole: It starred Ernest Borgnine... and aside from Marty, Convoy--and maybe Airwolf--nothing he was in outside of the sit-com & first McHale's Navy movie was that great.
I read the comics and had the action figures. This movie has always had a weird place for me. I like the movie but it is so odd and mixed in tone. That said, the Cygnus is probably one of my favorite space ships of all time.
I met Ron Miller (and the charming Diane Disney-Miller) about 10 years ago. He was a tall, still imposingly built, handsome, and very friendly man. Love Bug related meeting.
Remember seeing this in the theater when I was a kid and rewatched it recently and still love it