The Black Hole (remake)

....one of my favourtie Disney movies ever..

Maximillian is a terrificly menacing villain..

I STILL have the first issue of the "Beyond the Black Hole" comicbook...

It's been awhile since i've opened it, but if i recall...

The crew of the Palomino basically come out the otherside of the Black Hole into an alternate universe..

Right off the bat, they see ANOTHER ship that's labelled "Palomino" that isn't the same Palomino we're familiar with.. This ship, though, DOES appear to be carrying the CREW..It disappears, and our heroes run into THIS dimension's Cygnus..

They go on board, and, well, basically escape Reinhardt again, stealing a new ship and, this time, managing to save this universe's version of Old B.O.B. ...

I found a write-up on the next (and reportedly LAST issue) of the comic at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/6822/tbh_faq.html#diffs

"Entitled "Beyond the Black Hole" - Another Earth - Another Universe
The crew of the Palomino escape from the parallel-universe Cygnus in an escape craft, taking Old B.O.B. (who survives in this universe) with them. Old Bob explains some of the phenomenon to his new friends (comets zig-zag, the ship they saw when they passed through the Black Hole was really them reflected in a curve in time, etc). Bob also, in an effort to make the crew feel more at home, jets out into space and paints the name "Palomino" on the escape craft. Bob tells the crew about his past, how he was built on the planet Tyr, was originally programmed to care for children, the conquest of Tyr by Reinhardt, and his capture by Reinhardt. Bob also informs the crew that Dr. Reinhardt has conquered every planet he has found except the planet of the Virlights whose force fields he can't penetrate. Needing supplies and in hopes of a potential ally, they point the Palomino toward the Virlight planet. ...

Landing on the planet, they head towards the main city ALPH, finding a young child on the way. They next run into a group of Virlights who mistake them for Reindhart's humanoid robots, assuming they have kidnapped the child. The Virlights freeze them with a paralyzing ray and leave them to rust. Vincent, who was scouting ahead, returns and steals a Virlight gun, reversing the ray and unfreezing the Palomino crew from their stasis. Charlie trips and starts bleeding and the Virlights realize they are human not robots. The Virlights take them into the city where they are taken to the Temple of Truth. The priest and priestess hear their story, believe it and offer help. Just then a Virlight enters the temple to inform them that the new Palomino has been stolen. The comic concludes: "Trapped in another universe with no way to get home, Dan, Charlie, Kate an Vincent await their fate Beyond the Black Hole. Join us next time in Isssue #5!!! Near as I can tell, Issue 5 was never released though. "

 

I loved The Black Hole when I was a kid, I even had a Vincent poster. Maximillian definitely kicked some arse! Time for a remake!

 

Hey that transfer looks great! Thanks for the pics Gobi-1! I'm going to have to pick up that DVD. I hope it's got some decent extras.

I too was lucky (?) enough to see TBH when it was out in theaters. Then I saw it a thousand times on cable TV, back when cable TV was relatively new and we didn't have VCR's. Ah the good ol' days!

I'm not sure if I think it's a good film or if it's just a guilty pleasure. It does have a very, very spooky feel to it, that's one thing I really like about it.

The ghostie that flies through the light tunnel at the end... I always thought it was the "good" side of Dr. Reinhardt, showing that we all have good and evil inside of us (maybe I was just too hooked on the themes in SW). Is that a possible theory, or is it just wrong?

 

I just picked up the DVD todays and it's great. The transfer is pretty good although some scenes/shot look grainy and washed out. The sound especially the effects and music are great but the voices sometime are over powered by them.

The only extras are a short 16 minute feature about the effects of the film and an interview with Harrison Ellenshaw son of visual effect legend Peter Ellenshaw who was the production designer for the film. Despite it's short running time it's extremly well done and covers nearly all the aspects of the visual effects. The other extra is a ok trailer.

Overall I'd give the film and the DVD a B+. What's there is great but you want a little more.

Now for the ending of the film I see it more as symbolism. Reinhardt does die and go to hell. However he doesn't go there as a result of entering the Black Hole. He goes to hell because the Cygnus was destroyed.

Now I think the Palimino crew goes thru the Black Hole and safely comes out the other side. The angle and the heavenly hallway is just more symbolisms showing that they will be safely guided thru the Black Hole.

The planet we see at the end is either a new planet in a new universe or could possible be Earth.

However according to Harrison Ellenshaw in the mini documentary he himself doesn't know what it means.

 

I read an interview with the director which suggested that the "ghost" was actually Kate McCrae!

Remember, she was a psychic. She was helping guide the ship through the Black Hole using her mind.

 

That's possible.

One a side note I had a terrible time trying to et to sleep because John Barry's creepy score was stuck in my head.

 

The ghostie that flies through the light tunnel at the end... I always thought it was the "good" side of Dr. Reinhardt, showing that we all have good and evil inside of us (maybe I was just too hooked on the themes in SW). Is that a possible theory, or is it just wrong?

That shot is symbolic of the crew of the Cygnus released, through death...from their existence as living robots. Remember what 'ol B.O.B. said....

"...death is their only release.".

 

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. That's theory makes the most sense.

 

Probably, it's just that the long hair looks a lot like the suddenly-long hair we see on Reinhardt in his last shot.

Anyway, I did pick up the DVD, and yes it does look great!

Only thing is, WTH is with the musical intro before the film starts???? Isn't there a way to skip it? Even if you skip to the next chapter, it takes you 10 minutes in the film.

 

I kind of liked the music at the beginning. Really creepy and beautiful at the same time.

 

...yeah, i've always liked the opening theme to "The Black Hole"...

 

No no no.... not the opening credits. No problem with that part. BEFORE the opening credits, there is a musical reprise where they play the "victory" music for 4 or 5 minutes against a still frame. And there's no way to skip it.

From what I hear, Disney does this with all their DVDs, except it's usually commercials rather than just music.

 

Man, that movie scared the CRAP out of me when I was a kid. Max kept me up at nights, the living dead robots were really creepy, and the way Max offed Anthony Perkins was just scary as all hell. And for some reason the end part where you see the Dr looking out from Max's body really scared me too. Now that I'm older, I love this movie. I'd love to see a remake but it can't top the first one. And I still cry when BoB dies.

 

We're the best...

*CLUNK*

 

The Black Hole is one of my all time favories!

Therefore, NEVER use it to go into the mainstream and do a remake/prequel/sequel. It would ruin it.

I could see a re-release, a-la Star Wars Special Edition, but to change the original would upset me.

Part of the magic was that back when it was made, 1979, black holes were a theoretical probability. Scientists were just starting to discover that they actually existed, and the sci-fi world was abuzz with theories. Disney took this enouragement and made a movie about it.

Nowadays, we all learn about black holes and similar things in basic science classes. They aren't so mysterious. That was the magic of "The Black Hole," the hole was a mystery...