Hey, never mind the bad reviews. It's a Disney sci-fi movie about spaceships, robots, laser fights and a black hole. It's meant to be entertaining and fun - it's not about physics. Plot: The crew on board the spacecraft USS Palomino - that is our friends Captain Dan Holland, First Officer Lieutenant Charlie Pizer, journalist Harry Booth, the ESP-sensitive scientist Dr. Kate McCrae, the expedition's civilian leader Dr. Alex Durant and the funny talking robot V.I.N.CENT (Vital Information Necessary Centralized - is nearing the end of a mission exploring the outer space. Then they stumble upon a ship that has been missing for 20 years, The Cygnus. The explorers go on board and discover that the entire crew of the Cygnus has disappeared, except for the brilliant but creepy scientist, Dr. Reinhardt (Maximilian Schell), whom we find out is on a mission to plunge into the black hole. The Cygnus, with long hallways and high ceilings, is designed like a mansion from the 18th century, the LV426 from Alien and Hugo Drax' secret base in the jungle from the movie Moonraker. Of course, Disney wanted this movie to be their Star Wars, which of course came out two years earlier. Well, it's not exactly that. More like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea» - in outer space.Yup. It's cheesy and campy and silly. But I've loved it since I was a kid. And to be honest, for a Disney movie (their first pg-rated movie),it's pretty dark and claustrophobic. And the soundtrack by John Barry is a killer! And yeah, Maximillian - Dr. Reinhardt's robot - he's scary. Watch it on a rainy night with a mountain of popcorn.

Plot; The crew of a deep space craft come across a ship long thought to be missing that is somehow sitting at the edge of a black hole.For all of its lack of scientific credibility, there's perhaps nothing in The Black Hole more implausible than the idea of Ernest Borgnine being able to meet the fitness requirements for space travel. That said, there's actually a lot to like about this surprisingly quirky sci-fi tale from Disney.More of a junior 2001 than Star Wars, The Black Hole features some rather impressive special effects work that are in service of a story much darker than you'd expect from Disney at the time. In fact, it was the first PG rated film to carry the Disney name, and it certainly earns that rating. Familiar faces (and voices) dot the cast, but the standout is Maximilian Schell as the proverbial mad scientist Hans Reinhardt. Schell completely inhabits the character and gives whole affair some gravitas. Dark Disney

This is a great science fiction adventure, which came out in 1979. I saw this film for the first time at the age of 12, and I loved it then, I still enjoy it. I can see that there are very different opinions of it here. But if you love adventure and sci fi, you won't be disappointed.10 reasons to watch this film: 1) A great story, dark and entertaining all along 2) Great special effects, they still work today 3) One of the biggest and most scary star ships ever shown on film! 4) Good performances from well known actors like Anthony Perkins. 5) The film score from Barry is outstanding - chilling and powerful 6) A very very alternative ending... 7) It's a film ahead of the times, the story, the creepy truth, truly an inspiration of todays filmmakers. 8) It's spectacular 9) Prove those who turn it down wrong! 10) A perfect popcorn movie!

It's a shame The Black Hole was panned and largely forgotten after its release. There's a lot here to enjoy. The story is interesting, with a spaceship that was lost 20 years previous being discovered next to a giant black hole, its crew lost save for its eccentric and possibly insane captain and his crew of androids. As you can imagine, perilous shenanigans ensue.The cast is a mixed bag. The big hitters like Anthony "Psycho" Perkins, Maximilian Schell and Ernest Borgnine are excellent, the lesser names like Robert Foster and Yvette Mimieux less impressive. The real stars of the feature are the three main robot characters, Vincent, Bob and the menacing Maximillian. Comparisons to the recent Star Wars were made, and with hindsight you can understand why this movie was seen as inferior. Where Star Wars relied largely on a young and aesthetically pleasing cast with the likes of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, Black Hole's main core consists of actors the wrong side of 40.The effects are impressive for 1979, and the ship interior is just huge. It's a good thing they got the ship designs right because not much happens outside of the ship. The music score is phenomenal. The script is a bit ropey, throwing out silly Disney-esque fluff one minute and following it up with statements like "Could this be an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" the next. Huh? Exactly.The Black Hole is much maligned, and unfairly so in my opinion. It's well worth a revisit. It's dark, brooding and menacing and more cerebral than what I expect from a 70s Disney production. It's no masterpiece but if we must make Stars Wars comparisons it pales next to The Empire Strikes Back but it's certainly as good as Return Of The Jedi.