Our ongoing series looking at movies that took the blockbuster genre to the extreme and perhaps to excess. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
What Is It?
This movie follows a group of space travelers on a deep space probe, the USS Palomino, who stumble across a large spaceship known as the Cygnus holding a course at the edge of a black hole. The ship had been reported missing twenty years prior, so the crew of the Palomino decides to investigate. Onboard, they find the brilliant scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt, who is apparently the only surviving member of the ship’s crew and who plans to use the Cygnus to explore further into the black hole. Reinhardt, who at first appears cordial, actually has some hidden, dark secrets about his motives and the fate of the crew, which puts him at odds with the crew of the Palomino. The expected confrontation ensues, setting all involved on a treacherous course into the depths of the black hole.
Cast: Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowell
Crew: Gary Nelson (Director), Gerry Day (Writer), Jeb Rosebrook (Writer), John Barry (Music)
Original Release: December 21, 1979
What Were Its Excesses?
This film delivered one of the first examples of spectacle over story in the Blockbuster Era, keying in on the popularity of films like Star Wars but lacking the inspiration. The Black Hole delivered fantastic special effects for its time, but it lacked substance and ultimately felt like a corporate-driven product calculated to draw people into theaters.
A Closer Look:
Disney’s The Black Hole hit theaters in 1979, two years after Star Wars had shown that big profits could follow from special effects-laden sci fi blockbusters. Unfortunately, this film seemed driven more toward cashing in on those profits than following in the tradition Lucas started, bringing a fantastic tale to life on the big screen with the help of modern technology. The Black Hole actually had some promise and a story at its core that could have delivered a good movie if properly guided. But ultimately, it derailed into a mess of a film.
The Black Hole has very much the feel of a corporate product specifically aimed at appealing to a newfound audience that would line up to see blockbuster-style, big-budget sci fi films. It delivers on the visuals and throws in many of the expected elements of an epic film, but in the end, it delivers a vapid, by-the-numbers production. Whereas films like Star Wars were born of inspiration and a desire to recapture the magic of an earlier era of filmmaking—albeit with state-of-the-art special effects—The Black Hole just looked to cash in on the latest trend by emulating the style and ignoring the substance. It has the feel of a movie cobbled together through endless corporate meetings rather than springing from the muse of a visionary filmmaker. To make matters worse, the film takes itself way too seriously, despite the substandard product that it delivers.
One might think that the creative team aimed for a hard science fiction story, with black holes as core to its premise, but the titular phenomenon is treated more like a space hurricane than anything you would find in a science book. And then the ending aspires to recreate the awe of the stargate sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but instead delivers a muddled, mystical derailment and fails to salvage the film.
To its credit, The Black Hole has an all-star cast who do a bang-up job with what they are given, but actors can only do so much with a listless, ponderous script. Ultimately, Disney’s first foray into the PG-rated landscape comes with fits and starts and proves tentative, unsatisfying, and soulless. Still trying to appeal to a family-friendly audience to a degree (and shamelessly stealing from Star Wars), the film throws in cute—though utterly ridiculous and cheap-looking—robots for comic relief. Then it casually lifts from any number of science fiction sources in a corporate-fueled, spaghetti-against-the-wall strategy, hoping something will stick with the audience. And while the film did make money on its initial release, it quickly faded from the minds of its audience shortly after they left the theater, just as it has from the broader consciousness of the sci fi genre.
With a new era in filmmaking having begun with the massive successes of films like Jaws and Star Wars, it should be expected that movies like The Black Hole would follow, seeking to grab a piece of the box office pie carved out for special effects blockbusters. This one represents the first of the vapid films that would emerge in the Blockbuster Era (though some—myself not included—might argue Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released two weeks prior, holds that honor), carrying a dubious torch that would continue to be passed along in the decades that followed.
Why Was There No Sequel?
The Black Hole pulled in $36 million in box office receipts on a budget of $20 million, which likely had it breaking even at best, or possibly losing money. In addition, the film received mixed-to-negative feedback from critics, failing to become either a commercial or critical success. It did develop a small fanbase, but that was not enough to justify spending the money on a sequel, even if they decided to spend less than on the original film. Thus, a potential franchise that could have spawned from the movie never followed.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Yes. As mentioned above, this movie had some potential, and if the corporate-driven approach had not squashed any inspiration that may have existed at the beginning of the project, perhaps The Black Hole could have turned into a hit. In the years since the film premiered, opinion on it has shifted somewhat, with people noting its more positive aspects. So revisiting the property is certainly worth consideration, especially if they can get some good talent attached to it.
In 2009—before Disney bought Star Wars from Lucasfilm—there were talks of a reboot with Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) attached as director and Jon Spaihts (Prometheus) writing the script. That progressed into the early production phases, but Disney eventually put the project on hold in 2016 because they considered Spaihts’s script “too dark.” By that time, they were moving full steam ahead with Star Wars films and MCU projects, leaving less appetite to reboot a dark horse film from the ’70s. Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim: Uprising) later came onboard as the screenwriter, and Kosinski has said he would still like to do the reboot, but nothing is actively in production at this point. More recently, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) was reportedly in talks to take over the project in 2025, and a listing for The Black Hole appeared in Production Weekly in October of that year. So perhaps something is moving forward.
Interesting Facts:
One of the actresses considered for the female lead role was the then-unknown Sigourney Weaver. Allegedly, the head of the casting department said no, though, because of the perceived unattractiveness of her name. Had she starred in this film, she likely would not have been available for Alien (which was filming at the same time), and that could have drastically changed the course of sci fi film history.
The Black Hole was the first film produced by Disney Studios to receive a PG rating, due to its more adult approach and rather dark themes. That eventually led to the creation of Touchstone Pictures, which handled films that did not fit under Disney’s traditional G-rated, family-friendly approach.
Where Can You Watch?
The film has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, though the latter is out of print and fetching high prices from third-party sellers. You can also purchase it VOD, and it is available for streaming on Disney+.
