#the black hole (1979)

[thegreatdisneymovieride]

It's been a long and terrible decade, but it's finally over, and it ends on a high note!

[braindead94]

Probably because these guys are still stuck down there….

NASA Data Sonification: Black Hole Remix

In this sonification of Perseus. the sound waves astronomers previously identified were extracted and made audible for the first time. The sound waves were extracted outward from the center. (source)

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Black Hole - art by David Mattingly (1979)

[spockvarietyhour]

USS Discovery:

Valley Forge:

Dark Star:

Nostromo:

USS Cygnus:

Liberty 1:

60s-70s designed ships, otherwise Event Horizon might have ended up in here.

[science70]

Anthony Perkins as Dr. Alex Durant, The Black Hole (USA, 1979 dir: Gary Nelson).

[siryl]

It's a good theme. I tried to download it for a sci-fi mix C.D. in college, but ended up discovering "Black Hole Sun" instead.

Concept art by Peter Ellenshaw for the 1979 film ‘The Black Hole’

[thevaultofretroscifi]

U.S.S. Palomino concept art by Peter Ellenshaw

[olivrsm]

[doppleganger-rental]

Such an amazing looking film

[dfilms]

The Black Hole, 1979

[scifipinups]

Yvette Mimieux The Black Hole (1979)

[angelholme]

The 25th anniversary.

The special effects are, in places, a little ropey but in others are still outstanding.

Still worth watching a quarter of a century later

[haverwood]

The Black Hole Gary Nelson USA, 1979 ★★ Things start off great with a terrific theme, an extremely goofy vibe and some enjoyable mishaps.

Then the movie stops dead in the middle and I was worried that the fun was gone, but then it picks up again and ends up in a very entertaining and silly non-ending.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Black Hole - art by David Mattingly (1979)

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | The Black Hole (Nelson, 1979)

Mindboggling that Disney funded and released a Star Wars cash-in this weird and slow and actually a gothic horror rather than a space opera that also goes full on psychedelic in its last twenty minutes. It's like a bunch of Disney execs decided to drop acid in a boardroom and say, "What if we made 2001 for the kiddies?" Unimaginable that they'd release something this idiosyncratic today. You think Bob Iger has ever dropped acid? You think Bob Iger ever let a weird thought pass through his head without actively suppressing it out of fear of the shareholders? Nah man, he's just got his finger on the button, a big red button that says "$$$". We have to go back.

Truth be told, this is pretty slow for around two thirds of its runtime, but in that final stretch it really goes off the rails. This was presumably made for children, but the bulk of the production design and special effects suggests it was made for those who watched 2001 zonked out of their minds, and the last few minutes feel like all your favourite prog rock and metal album covers all mashed together. And there are a couple of things that would be way too disturbing to put in the children's movie these days, but I guess back then filmmakers didn't care about sanding off the edges from these things or whether they'd accidentally traumatize an entire generation. I'm a grown ass man watching this in 2024, and let's just say I'm glad I came to it at this age.

This also has a pretty impressive cast, although the bulk of them don't have much to do. The only ones that do make an impression are Maximillian Schell playing the Most Interesting Man in the Universe, and Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens as the voices of V.I.N.CENT. and B.O.B., a pair of adorable wide-eyed levitating robots who it must be said compare favourably to their counterparts in Star Wars in some respects. V.I.N.CENT. especially distinguishes himself with his combat prowess, and without giving too much away, I must report that I was eventually quite moved by the two robots' relationship. You think anyone cried over C-3PO? You think anyone sympathized when R2-D2 started beeping and booping in his absence? Nah man, they've just got their finger on the button, a big red button that says "Kill C-3PO."