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Some thoughts on today's Anchor Bay reissue of "The Black Hole"

Published at:  Mar 30, 1999 5:54:07 AM CST

SPOILER ALERT !!

Glen here...



...with a gentle reminder that...for better or worse...today is the day Disney's The Black
Hole
makes its long awaited bow in a remastered, first-time-ever widescreen format (presented
in the film's original 2:35:1 aspect ratio). It should be available in local video stores (and on-line
outlets) starting immmediately.

When I first posted news that Anchor Bay would be releasing this title, I was astounded by how
many people seemed enthusiastic about the notion. And I was delighted - as I too was pretty
pumped-up about seeing this film get the treatment I felt it deserved for the first time since its
theatrical release.

Before you start sending me angry hate mail about this statement, please realize I have a long
standing belief that all films...no matter how lousy...deserve to be seen in all their glory - widescreen,
surround, you name it. This comes from a simple conviction that I really, really hate the idea of
someone else deciding for me that a movie isn't worthy of being seen the way it was intended to be
seen (framing, sound, etc.)

For years, audiences have had to endure a pan & scan, murky, downright ugly transfer of this
1979 Disney flop. The Black Hole was, simply, one of the crappiest looking video tapes
ever to hit the market. The oft aired master of the film shown on The Disney Channel was
somewhat improved, but not by much. It took a long damn time to get a watchable transfer of
TBH - but finally, it has happened.

The film is available in multiple formats: pan & scan video cassette; widescreen video cassette
(both cost around $14.95); a DVD which offers either pan & scan or widescreen and 5.1 surround
(about $19.95); and a collector's edition of the film (approx $39) which comes with various extras -
including a "Making Of" book, reproduced lobby cards, and information on a scripted but
abandoned alternate ending. I REALLY WANNA KNOW WHAT THE ALTERNATE
ENDING WAS ALL ABOUT, by the way - and I wish they'd done the same "Collector's Set"
thing for the DVD I just bought! ((Glen glowers, not entirely pleased)).

Why isn't Glen entirely pleased? Well, the "extras" offered on the DVD of The Black
Hole
are a bit anemic: a theatrical trailer (after seeing that trailer, it's no wonder no one went to
see the movie), a picture gallery, and....and....well, that's it. I know cramming cool "extra" stuff onto
DVDs costs money, but damn. With all that other stuff coming out with the
super-duper-mega-colletor's edition video tape, it seems like they might have been able to do
something a little more inventive with the DVD.

HOWEVER, what The Black Hole DVD lacks in extas is more than made up for by
the quality of its transfer. I'm no technical genius...hell, I even get lost in the Talkbacks about
surround systems and picture resolution which sometime get posted here on Coaxial...but this disc
looks great.

All of the nuance of the film's space sequences is entirely apparent. For those who don't
remember, The Black Hole is a film which portrayed ambient space as being very brightly
back-lit with dense starfileds, cloudy nebulae, and so forth. Sometimes, space in TBH is bright enough to silhouette ships. It's almost spooky at times. All of this imagery
works exceedingly well on the DVD. Where details and minutia were lost on the previous issues of
the video, this time around "the universe" of The Black Hole is vivid and textured.

The film's concluding Heaven and Hell motifs are strikingly presented in Anchor Bay's
widescreen reissue. Take special note of the "Dante's Inferno" / Hell environment to which
Maximilian Schell and the crew of Cygnus are relegated in the film's conclusion. I noticed faces in
the shadows of the mangled rocks of Hell which I don't remember seeing when I saw the film
theatrically - very refreshing. Maybe that's because I was younger then. Which brings to mind the
obvious question: how does the film play now, especially since it has been "legitimized" in a restored,
widescreen presentation?

To me...on an intellectual level...The Black Hole has always been an uneven and
frustrating blend of many elements and approaches. The film is an unending stream of contradictions
which keep it from being as good as it should have been, and obviously wanted to be.

The Black Hole is a children's movie whose subtext and execution (slavery, selfish
obsession, Heaven and Hell) are way too heavy for most kids to either appreciate or watch. At the
same time, the movie is loaded with "cute" elements which are clearly meant to seduce young ones
into a false sense of security while the film works its mean spirited, subversive spell on them.

It is a film whose commitment to scientific accuracy is both profound and psychotic: the opening
of the film features some rather impressive zero gravity effects inside the claustrophobic confines of a
small explorer ship; electricity subtly cracks along the electromagnetically attached "feet" of a little
robot as it effects repairs on the hull of a traveling space vessel. Cool! Later in the film a huge,
molten meteor thingie comes rolling down the central corridor of the film's principle vessel (the
Cygnus) - no one gets burned & the ship doesn't decompress (it is a singularly startling image
though, you gotta give it that); a few minutes later people are floating around in space with no space
suits on. Ummmm...

Some of the movie's production design is amazing - the interiors of the Cygnus are desolate,
eerie, and disturbing - like something out of a labyrinthine nightmare from which we can not
awaken. Then we have the ship's security robots, whose looks so pointedly rip-off Darth Vader
it is difficult to give the machines any credibility as legitimate entities within the story.

The list goes on and on. In short, The Black Hole is a movie with many, many
interesting elements which are swirling around in a desperate search for cohesion and identity - but too
many obstacles (inconsistent plotting and technical management) get in their way. As such,
TBH becomes a bizarre curiosity, and a tantalizing taste of what could have been.

All of this being said, there is something about The Black Hole which promotes a "guilty
pleasure" phenomenon among many people who have seen it - myself included. Perhaps this is
because the film is seen as a nostalgic throw-back to many of our childhoods - when it was okay to
like goofy stuff because we were kids, and didn't know any better. Perhaps it's because...for all of
its shitty scripting and wooden acting...The Black Hole manages to be just intriguing enough
conceptually...and haunting enough visually...to be accepted (and even appreciated) on some
subliminal level. Perhaps it's because the film is, in many ways, a remake of timeless tales like
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and is touching on various "classic elements" just enough to
keep itself afloat in the currents of our pop psyche.

Put me in a room full of people to talk about this movie, and I'll be the first person to rattle off
TBH's multitude of sins. But at the same time, I'd have to point out that the film offers many
images and concepts which I have carried with me since my childhood - and still seem effective
today. From all the e-mail I received when I first announced Anchor Bay's plans to re-issue the film,
I know there are others out there who agree. All things being equal, the film must have done
something right to have affected so many people for so many years - even if it's too
subliminal or esoteric to isolate herein.

The Black Hole was a film I have desperately wanted a good, widescreen transfer of
for many years. Frankly, I thought it would never happen. I am delighted that Anchor Bay has
released this title - even if the company may take some hits from a contingent of viewers who believe
TBH is best left buried and forgotten. Anchor Bay deserves a lot of credit for tackling this
project - and they've done a really nice job, all things considered.

Even if the DVD is a little chincy on the extras...




((Glen Note: I still want to know about the original ending...))





Questions? Comments? Praise? Ridicule ?


CLICK HERE to e-mail
Glen



Or call:



(512) 347-1992



Mail can be sent to:



Glen Oliver

P.O. BOX 160812

Austin, TX 78716-0812

USA





    + Expand All

    Readers Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 6:24:08 AM CST

    Anchor Bay

    by spike lee

    I want to praise Anchor Bay for releasing classic cult films on DVD and special edition VHS. In the past year Anchor Bay has released Halloween, Evil Dead 1&2, and others but they have slipped my mind for the time being, Its early. These special editions look great, and have the extras like trailers, and commentary. Way to go Anchor Bay!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 6:43:53 AM CST

    This glorious day

    by clerk

    "You must protect me from Maximillion. . ." This is the one flick from childhood that sticks with me until today. Star Wars may be on a different level, but somehow I mourn the disappearence of my Black Hole toys (especially Vincent) a little more. This is one of the releases that makes me consider purchasing DVD. Forget Battlestar Gallactica, remake this puppy!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 8:11:51 AM CST

    DWD: Paradoxes Aplenty

    by dwdunphy

    Glen's dead-on for two accounts- They could have added those extras onto the dvd without too much hassle and, yes, the science in this science fiction is woefully compromised. Add some hokey dialogue as well, but do you really have an awful movie? Actually, no! This was one of the last of the Star Wars wannabe movies that sprung up late 70s early 80s. Disney was just starting to see the possibility of stretching beyond their 'G' realm (I credit this as well as Tron and Something Wicked.. as the movies that helped prompt Touchstone and later, Hollywood Pictures). Think about the stuff in this movie and it's amazing that Disney made it at all. The gruesome fate of the crew, the death of Alex Durant, the entire 'damnation' sequence. Visually, some have said the movie was inferior but I find the visuals really fascinating even when not entirely believable. A nd yes, I believe movies should be letterboxed. Sorry, pan and scan fans but movies are rectangles, tv is square. The director and DP were shooting a rectangle and their hard work shouldn't be messed with for the sake of viewers with lack of vision. This disc is beautiful. Flawed but beautiful. I welcome Anchor Bay's Disney work, hope they get to The Watcher In The Woods soon and look forward to The Cat From Outer Space. Ha ha! Gotcha!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 8:24:24 AM CST

    The Black Hole: Great, crappy nostalgia

    by jimmer72

    Just like any other 7- or 8-year-old boy at the time, I loved almost ALL of the post-STAR WARS, late 70's sci-fi films and TV shows: SUPERMAN, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, BUCK ROGERS, FLASH GORDON, STAR TREK: TMP, and of course, THE BLACK HOLE. And, like GALACTICA, BUCK and FLASH, THE BLACK HOLE is crap. However, second only to THE MOTION PICTURE, it's the best-looking piece of crap I've ever seen! The special effects in HOLE are some of the most beautiful ever put on film. The "story" and "acting" and "script" are atrocious, but who cares! Maximillian haunted my dreams of youth, along with that Hell end sequence, with the mad doctor's eyes peering out from behind Max's visor. It doesn't make any sense, but it looks fantastic! As soon as I'm done typing this, I'm running out and grabbing my own video copy (widescreen, of course), and filing it under 70's Sci-Fi Boom Crap-a-thon with pride and joy!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 8:27:50 AM CST

    Thumbs up for TBH!

    by pope buck 1

    I completely agree with Glen's assessment of TBH. It is a seriously flawed movie -- you'll get no argument from me there. And it was clearly meant to follow in the awesome wake of Star Wars, ALMOST halfway to the degree of a Battlestar Galactica. The robots, which were obviously a bone thrown to the Disney marketing team, are the most blatant example of that. But there is something else there, too -- flashes and hints of something altogether more ambitious and grand. I remember when Glen first posted the news about TBH, the TalkBack turned into a list of reminiscences about the movie -- which uniformly were along the lines of, "Gee, I remember it kinda sucked, but there was still something SO NEAT about it, too! And I still remember it so clearly after all these years!" In other words, it's the opposite on the scale from "The Black Cauldron" -- which was something with inherently cool source material that JUST managed to completely blow it.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 8:43:35 AM CST

    DWD: Another "cult" movie DVD alert!

    by dwdunphy

    Elite's DVD of Frank LaLoggia's "Lady In White" is out now in a nice director's cut special edition. Grab it up when you get The Black Hole because I don't see either of them sticking around for very long!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 9:02:24 AM CST

    another dvd I'm waiting for...

    by bitchass

    Flesh Gordon! The first one is ok, but my favorite remains Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders. I have a crappy VHS copy I bought at a bankruptcy sale of a mom&pop movie place (when Blockbuster came to town), but to see this remastered, to be able to see the strings holding up the ships would be great.
    Plus, its only soft-core porn really, so no-one thinks you're a pervert when its sitting in your movie collection.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 9:02:24 AM CST

    Way to go Anchor Bay??

    by l'idiot

    Way to go Anchor Bay? Nope. Sure they release the films we love, but they do such a crappy job, they deserve to be smacked into bankrupcy. Have you ever seen Anchor Bay's annihilation of Halloween? It sucks. The daytime scenes are washed out and pixelated(!) and the night scenes are gray and ugly where they should be black and crisp. The sound is awful and there are absolutely no extras. Every time I catch sight of this movie's box I curse the name 'Anchor Bay.' One of my friends owns the kickass Criterion Laserdisc of Halloween, and everytime I mention the movie he has a good laugh at my expense. Now from what you guys are saying, I guess that Anchor Bay has cleaned up its act a bit. But there's no way I'm buying another disc from them. Maybe if they go out of business, a company that respects the movies enough to put together some decent extras, or at the very least a decent transfer, will take over Anchor Bay's selections and do things right. It's wishful thinking, I know, but we deserve better and so do the movies.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 9:33:17 AM CST

    The Black Hole

    by mckracken

    I remember sitting in my high school science class while the instructor asked us what exactly was wrong Scientifically with The Black Hole. Many students tried to answer (a few pointed out some things as you mentioned, people floating in space witout space suits..ummm) but the point the teacher was trying to make was: here was a movie about a black hole in space, and they portray it as a spinning sucking vortex of brightly colored gasses and stars swirling around in a whirlpool. But wait...UMM...Scientifically you can't SEE a BLACK HOLE!!! (makes for a very boring movie ...durr) A black hole is a black hole with the absence of light. Anyway, I thought it was a decent flick, I might even call it a classic bomb (for Disney anyway) despite its screw ups. When is the DVD of the Dark Crystal being released? (or is it now?)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 9:50:17 AM CST

    Black Hole visibility

    by troy

    True, you can't see a black hole, but you can see it effects. When objects fall into a black hole, they give off *visible* radiation known as Cherenkov radiation. The result is probably not a whirlpool effect, but just a slight glow around the event horizon of the singularity. So, yes, you can see the location of a black hole.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 11:02:56 AM CST

    The original ending...

    by encelladus

    I know that many "novelizations" of films appear in conjunction wtih the release, meaning the are usually written from the final approved script, not necessarily the final cut. That being said, in the movie where the ship suddenly rights itself and streaks toward uncharted space (the Delta Quadrant?) the novelization departs, explaining that all the souls aboard the lifeboat, including the robot, become merged, creating a new being something like the Star Baby at the end of "2001," and enter into a new consciousness at the other side. I don't know how they'd have done it on screen, but it'd been fun to watch 'em try! :O)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 11:51:33 AM CST

    Speaking of The Watcher in the Woods...

    by kmdr. coenig

    ...If someone like Anchor Bay DOES eventually release this on DVD, I wish they'd stick that infamous, costly, original ending on as a supplement. I've always wanted to see that huge fibre-optic creature they built for the finale. How bout it Anchor Bay?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 12:46:30 PM CST

    Black Hole "science"

    by vinylsaurus

    RE: Glen's comment about the ship falling apart, yet no one being sucked into the void. As I recall, the Cygnus had a wicked force field meant to keep it from being crushed as it was sucked past the event horizon. I always figured that field hadn't given out just yet, even as the ship was crumbling. Anyway, that's how my 12 year-old mind rationalized it 'cause I loved that movie. I wish I could score the Maximillian model kit my friend used to have - it would look kick-ass with a good paint job :)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 2:36:27 PM CST

    you know whats creepy decadentdave?

    by mckracken

    after all these long years, (15 of them they were buried in a used empty box of checks) I have had my Captain Dan action figure AND the evil guy (in the red outfit) action figure perched on a bookshelf above my light table sitting next to a CALIFORNIA RASIN bendable and a green, four armed Ovion action figure from Battlestar Galactica! Now THAT is truly creepy!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 4:30:08 PM CST

    AnchorBay

    by peaches

    If Anchor Bay would get the rights to Buckaroo Banzai, I'd sink all my money into buying shares in the company. Sure, it'd
    soak up my last $10, but still, someone needs to release this on DVD. And while they're at it, Big Trouble In Little China & Raising Arizona could do with the DVD treatment as well, seen as Fox would rather release all the Home Alone shitfests and crap like Hope Floats first. Excelsior!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 4:32:12 PM CST

    Bad Sound

    by clarkgoble

    Quite a few discs of _The Black Hole_ are missing the right hand sound track when played in dolby digital. They've been discussing this over on alt.video.dvd. I don't have a copy of the disc, but you might wish to read the reveiws there before going out and buying a copy.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 5:04:43 PM CST

    can't wait to see this again!

    by landbote

    I came across the crappy original VHS release of TBH at I Love Video here in Austin and I said to my wife at the time, "now that's a movie I'd like to see again sometime!" Yes, it was cheese, 100%, but it was like David Lynch's "Dune" (although "Dune" came far closer to NOT sucking than TBH did) -- it could have been soooo good.

    Now, don't get me started on Star Trek: TMP. What I want to see is a widescreen transfer of the "special longer edition" of it, with the deleted scenes, especially the one with Spock crying because he understands V'Ger. They only show these scenes when they air it on TV and in the pan-n-scan version on video, but the widescreen one is the short (what some might call the "still too damn long" version.)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 7:13:44 PM CST

    Black Hole Fan

    by indysolo

    I am a huge Black Hole fan. I've got the entire trading card set, some of the action figures (Pizer, Dan, V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and of course Maximillian), the soundtrack the novelization, the book and record set, and now the new DVD. I have loved this movie since I was 3. Bad science? Sure. Good, harmless fun? Absolutley!

    Regarding the new DVD the picture is gorgeous, but it is indeed missing the right front channel when played back in Dolby Digital 5.1. If you play it back in Pro-Logic it is still missing sound effects, because of the absent right channel. What a let down. I hope Anchor Bay sees fit to recall this disc and re-release it with corrected audio.

    Indy

    P.S. Just as a side note, when I was in 6th grade I remember seeing an educational film strip produced by Disney that used the characters from this movie. That would have made a cool supplement.

    P.P.S. Finally (I keep remebering Black Hole stuff), when I went to the Disney/MGM Studios 5 years ago, on the tour where you go into the room and they have the 2 kids flying on the giant bee from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, I saw Maximillian hanging from the ceiling, with other movie props. That was really awesome. I'm told, though I can't confirm this, that V.I.N.C.E.N.T. is at a FLorida Planet Hollywood restaurant.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 30, 1999 9:07:34 PM CST

    Soundtrack

    by crassus

    Glen & Co.,

    Has anyone heard whether this DVD thing will lead to a clean re-issue of Barry's soundtrack to Black Hole? My boot copy sucks!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 12:34:09 AM CST

    DISTURBING

    by dave lecter

  • Mar 31, 1999 12:39:30 AM CST

    no subject

    by dave lecter

    FORGOT TO LEAVE A POST..
    I saw this flick when I was eight and loved it.I saw it again about a year ago on the Disney channel and thought..this is the most disturbing thing I ve seen since Jacobs Ladder. I still dont know why the ending never got to me before. O r the scene when Max offs old Anthony Perkins. No blood but still ..and this was a kids movie.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 2:57:18 AM CST

    a little Anchor bay defense and put down

    by pagz

    Now, I've heard Anchor Bay bashed a little in some previous posts, but for entirely the wrong reasons! I quite like Anchor bay, I think they're one of the finest of the up and coming video houses. Now, someone complained about the Halloween print. I'm sorry to disappoint my frined, but you must have a defective tape, because that's the Criterion print. I was baffled by your story of the friend with the criterion LD, knowing that the tape was the same print. That said, Anchor Bay is not without it's faults. For one thing, some of their "widescreen" Videos aren't true widescreen, but a matted "wider" screen print. Check out "Day of the Dead" and compare Anchor bays widescreen to the pan scan and you'll notice some cropping on the tops and bottom of the screen. Nothing major, but something to be aware of. I'm concerned about the missing right audio channel, but am hoping it's merely a production error that will be fixed. Just on an interesting note, if you ever have access to a CED copy of TBH and a player, check it out, not only is it in stereo, but it has the theatrical overture intact and is a completely different transfer than the LD or VHS one. An interesting little tid bit I think.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 4:25:40 AM CST

    RIGHT CHANNEL?

    by jjb

    Just a thought about this whole right channel business(I don't have the disc yet) but could it be that it just has a mono surround channel? When Disney released TRON on DVD, for example, it was in Dolby Digital with discrete sound in the front left, center, right & LFE channels, but mono in the surround channel. Might this be the case? Please confirm or deny out there!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 4:27:25 AM CST

    RIGHT CHANNEL?

    by jjb

    Just a thought about this whole right channel business(I don't have the disc yet) but could it be that it just has a mono surround channel? When Disney released TRON on DVD, for example, it was in Dolby Digital with discrete sound in the front left, center, right & LFE channels, but mono in the surround channel. Might this be the case? Please confirm or deny out there!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 7:32:04 AM CST

    Walt Disney/Anchor Bay?

    by jimmer72

    Just a brief question, in case anyone has the answer: How the hell did Anchor Bay get the rights to a Walt Disney movie? With Disney constantly re-releasing all of its films ("masterpieces" and all), I figured they would have jumped at the chance to hype up a new release of THE BLACK HOLE themselves. Did they just chuck Anchor Bay a bone or what? Any ideas?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 8:37:05 AM CST

    Boring, dull, but it still sticks in my mind!

    by essemtee

    Like the others here in Talkback, I get a sense of nostalgia from The Black Hole, but only as images (BOB and VINCENT, and Maximillian). It sucks when you remember the mechandising better than the movie itself! Action figures, cereal free gifts, the Read-Along vinyl 45, etc. My point is, I could never find the movie on video anywhere, and now that it's been rereleased, I can give it a second chance, thanks to my now mercifully expanded attention span!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 10:39:29 AM CST

    What about 20,000 Leagues?

    by cnuzzi

    Any word on when TBH's inspiration, the great "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" will be coming to DVD?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 3:15:31 PM CST

    Barrys score and Anchor Bay

    by vilos cohaagen

    You guys should quit bashing Anchor Bay. They have given us widescreen versions of the old Hammer films and some of Argentos films and other cult films that no one else would bother with. Sure a few defective tapes may get out, but like someone else pointed out, most of their tapes come from the same masters as the laserdiscs or DVDs. If you have a problem, it's in the tape itself.

    Where Anchor Bay fucked up on the Black Hole release is that they didn't do an isolated score only track of John Barrys score. This is a very highly sought after score by soundtrack collectors who would have bought the DVD just for the score, leading to more sales for Anchor Bay.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Mar 31, 1999 5:42:09 PM CST

    Anchor Bay's acquisitions

    by edward peregrine

    At first I had sniffy suspicions about Anchor Bay, since they came from the ashes of EP quickbuckers Video Treasures and Starmaker, but they have more than made up for that now. I guess the reason their handling major studio stuff now is that the majors are too busy pushing their new stuff to give proper treatment to the peculiar stuff. I suppose A.B. started the Disney relationship when they licensed the ABC pictures library, and Disney figured it would be good sense to let them handle their old non-animated fare. I think A.B. now is doing reissues for Universal, and I'm sure they'll do a better job than those crappy LP tapes from Goodtimes. I'd like to see new tapes and DVD's of the two neglected Marty Feldman comedies THE LAST REMAKE OF BEAU GESTE and IN GOD WE TRUST myself--that one has a great cameo by Andy Kaufman.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 1999 6:59:12 AM CST

    Fab News

    by overboardcharlie

    Man, this is great news! I now know what to get my brother for his birthday!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 1999 10:08:02 AM CST

    Like puppets on a string...

    by fred4sure

    Perhaps if viewed in letterboxed format some of the obvious wires used to float the actors in the 'weightless' sequences will be less obvious.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 01, 1999 11:46:40 PM CST

    no subject

    by clavius

    I used to be embarassed when I told people that I actually enjoy this film. But I feel vindicated to know that I am not alone. TBH is by no means a great film, but theres a mystique to it that you just can't shake. I think that the CYGNUS is one of the all-time coolest starships in the history of SF films. I'm not kidding about this. Everything about it creeped the hell out of me, from being a ambigous shadow drifting among the stars to lighting up "like a tree on Christmas morning".
    I bought the Limited Edition of the video the day it was released and the book which is included has a dead-on description of the CYGNUS: "It looks just as much at home in the 18th century as it does in the 24th". That is so true, It's menacing skeletal shape looks like some long-dead dinosaur. And its' labryinthine innards give the feeling of being inside some giant living evil thing.
    I don't want to go on forever here except to say that i've been looking for a decent copy of The Black Hole for years and I am thrilled with the job that Anchor Bay has done with it. I am really beginning to dig this company. I also have the LE of Evil Dead and the LE of Halloween and both are spectacular! Keep up the good work Anchor Bay!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 03, 1999 6:55:12 PM CST

    THE MUSIC!! THE MUSIC!!

    by gr8h8m

    I just want to add to the chorus of "surprised-I'm-still-affected-by-TBH-on-some-weird-level" that's been posted previous.
    Couldn't care less about its (many) shortcomings - what matters to me is that this film deeply affected/freaked me out when I was a kid. All the things that've been mentioned already - but especially THAT shot of Schell's eyes inside Maximillian.
    One other thing - people forget the importance and power of music to film sometimes - and I can't remember for the life of me who composed the score to TBH (someone help me out?) - but that music has haunted me now for 20 years. I walk into Forbidden Planet in London, they're playing it, and I immediately get anxious flashbacks to some of those end images. If the DVD transfer is good, it might even persuade me to go and buy a player! (I'm serious!)
    Man, that film shat me up as a kid.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 04, 1999 7:39:24 PM CDT

    TBH

    by alcester

    i still enjoy watching this film once in a while, and the music is spooky too. its a guilty pleasure.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Apr 05, 1999 11:18:33 PM CDT

    1979

    by kev_berg

    I also wanted to remind you all that only did we have THE BLACK HOLE and STAR TREK: TMP in 1979, but we also had ALIEN and the only science fiction Bond movie (an oxemoren), MOONRAKER. Actually, MOONRAKER and BLACK HOLE have always seem somewhat similar to me. They had very similar villians (with similar goals) and of course John Barry's score in common. What a year for special effects, the nominiees for the 1980 Oscars for Visual Effects were 1941, Alien, The Black Hole, Moonraker, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. How do you pick from those movies, LOL. There all pretty groundbrreaking. If I'm not mistaking ALIEN was the one that one that year. Anyway, I haven't seen BLACK HOLE in a REALLY LONG TIME. I should probably give it a look one of these days.

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  • Apr 06, 1999 7:30:27 AM CDT

    That big red robot

    by journey

    Haven't thought about TBH for years, but as soon as I saw this thread an image of that menacing red "security" robot (Maximillian?) immediately popped into my head.

    That, and I too remember being disturbed by this film, more than anything else, when I saw it as a 9 year old.

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  • Jul 15, 2006 3:27:00 PM CDT

    So many people going into the Black Hole.

    by wolfpack

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