Gary Nelson’s “The Black Hole” (1979) was a transitional film for the Walt Disney company.
Here is the first PG-rated Disney film, a lavish sci-fi adventure intended to compete with “Star Wars” (1977). It also showed the Magic Kingdom attempt to make movies that appeal to a more grown-up audience.
While history has rendered “The Black Hole” as a Mouse House cult film that maintains a divisive reputation, it is fascinating to see how closely this aimed to be Walt Disney’s “Star Wars,” decades before the studio would wind up making The Force one of their own.
In the distant future, the crew of the USS Palomino (which includes Robert Forster as the Captain and Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Perkins, Joseph Bottoms and Yvette Mimieux as his co-pilots) discovers a legendary vessel floating through space. Not only is the discovered spaceship gigantic (it includes a massive topiary and resembles a Victorian castle) but is commanded by the mysterious, brilliant, and long-lost Dr. Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell).
Reinhardt’s intentions seem vaguely sinister, as does his crew, which includes a large, blood-red, praying mantis-like robot named Maximillian. While Reinhardt initially seems dotty from being lost in space for so long, the Palomino crew learns that he has dark intentions that relate to a nearby black hole.
Schell is exceptional playing the creepy, possessed doctor. He’s another Frankenstein searching for the “ultimate knowledge.” Otherwise, the performances aren’t very good, with Perkins and Borgnine faring best.
The main characters are ill-defined and might as well be identified as “Astronaut #1” and “Astronaut #2.” A character remarks that he didn’t know he was playing second banana to a robot. It’s a funny, accurate line.
The mid-section drags and is too talky, testing our patience and taking too long to build suspense. John Barry’s grim waltz of a score is memorable, if a bit much.
Disney released its first PG-rated film, The Black Hole, in 1979. pic.twitter.com/PVjVKPP4vg
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The ample bluescreen special effects don’t always convince, but the model and optical F/X are still excellent. A moment where a group runs across a platform and barely escapes a glowing, mountain-sized meteor as it rolls towards them remains jaw-dropping.
Once you get to the all-stops-out finale, there’s the hugely satisfying battle between V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and Maximillian; however, this rousing scene underlines the film’s core weakness. We’re always drawn in by the robots and spectacle, not the humans.
There’s no Luke Skywalker or Han Solo equivalent in this crew.
The wild finale includes otherworldly visions, not quite on the level of “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) but crazy enough – the bad guy ends up in a literal hell, merging with his most foul creation, in an unsettling, Dante-esque landscape.
Almost as unsettling but too brief is a drive by the pearly gates. It’s not Kubrick but, like “The Black Hole” overall, it’s still majestic and admirably bonkers.
References made early on to Cicero and David and Goliath are wasted; I wonder if the filmmakers considered who their audience is and how young the demographic was? Likewise, the decision to establish a character’s psychic connection to her robot, which is headier a concept than the movie knows what to do with.
FAST FACT: “The Black Hole” disappointed at the US box office, failing to capture that “Star Wars” magic. The film earned $35 million in 1979.
We see that V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and B.O.B. can fly but it takes the heroes far too long to take advantage of this. Sometimes human characters appear to be breathing in space (!) and sometime the pull of the black hole can be defeated and sometimes not.
Neil degrasse Tyson gave a pass to “Interstellar” (2014) for accuracy but likely wouldn’t be as gracious here.
“The Black Hole” was a wild contrast to the likes of “Unidentified Flying Oddball,” “The Cat from Another Planet” and the other live action goofs the studio was releasing that year. Aside from the “Night at Bald Mountain” segment of “Fantasia” (1940), few Disney films (even the scariest bits from “Pinocchio,” “Bambi” and “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”) were ever this dark and somber.
The murder of a character by Maximillian’s circular saw is a stunning bit of violence. While not entirely removed from the Disney output of its era, Nelson’s film gets across its desire to be taken seriously and stand out from the likes of “The Shaggy D.A.” or the usual Kurt Russell-starring farces of the time (not that there’s anything wrong with those movies).
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Thematically and even visually, there are strong reminders of “Forbidden Planet” (1956), particularly with Robby the Robot a clear influence on V.I.N.C.E.N.T, B.O.B. and Maximillian as much as C-3PO and R2-D2. I like the clunky comic relief robots, V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and B.O.B., but Roddy McDowall (“Fright Night”) and Slim Pickens’ bantering is no match for Anthony Daniels and a series of bleep-bleeps.
Maximillian, on the other hand, is chilling and intimidating, particularly when we witness the kind of mayhem it can create.
Considering the animatronic puppetry of the onscreen robots and the sit and ride nature of the ship, much of the film plays like a promo for an eventual “The Black Hole” ride. Aside from a projected reference to the film on the People Mover at Walt Disney World, it seems we’ll have to wait for a proper theme park adaptation (though, come to think of it, Spaceship Earth at Epcot Center is pretty close).
Perhaps “Forbidden Planet” was the strongest narrative model but “The Black Hole,” in terms of its three-act structure, has a lot in common with “Event Horizon” (1997).
Now there’s a double feature!
If “Forbidden Planet” provided the strongest story and visual influence, then the marketing was right out of George Lucas’ playbook: the line of “The Black Hole” products, with action figures, bed sheets and books, took up as much Toys R’ Us shelf space as any of those Tie-Fighters and Darth Vader masks.
Alongside Disney, the other major studios making an obvious grab for the “Star Wars” audience with “Star Wars”-influenced films was UA/MGM, with the 007-in-space “Moonraker,” and Paramount Pictures’ “Star Trek- The Motion Picture,” neither of which are considered classics or on par with the adventures of Luke Skywalker, but both are glorious 1970’s relics.
Not to be outdone, 20th Century Fox, which was looking like the king of the hill after the unprecedented success of “Star Wars,” had their own outer space event film open in ’79…the one with Ellen Ripley, where John Hurt gets the mother of all tummy aches.
Peter Ellenshaw concept art for Disney’s THE BLACK HOLE, 1979. #scifi pic.twitter.com/trW5Zayb5T
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Despite the flaws, “The Black Hole” remains grand, incredibly silly and loads of fun. A standing rumor that it will be remade resurfaces every few years, and the suggestion that Joseph Kosinski may helm it is appealing. Yet, seeing an all-out space opera from Walt Disney Pictures is no longer the novelty that it once was. Besides, the retro-cool visuals and startling darkness of “The Black Hole” remain its two greatest assets.
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