how bad is this?
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shareThe music is good and the set design is pretty stylish, but it's an oddball movie that's too serious for children and too childish for adults. The ending is pretty pretentious also.
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MovieChat Forums > The Black Hole (1979) Discussion > how bad is this?
It's a classic case of too many chefs. They couldn't decide between sci fi horror, childish space opera like Star Wars, or serious, philosophical sci fi - so they ended up trying to do all three at once.
It's a mess, but kind of a fun one. I think it's best when it goes the horror route.
This is a timeless masterpiece, the absolute pinnacle of the cinematic arts.
shareNot the greatest but not bad at all
shareI have a strange affection for this movie, despite its uncertain tone, which bounces from kid-friendly & cute to surprisingly dark, and then back & forth several times. The Cygnus itself is a dazzling visionāthe Crystal Palace in spaceābut the actors (and/or the script) are too uneven. There's a strong movie in there somewhere, waiting to be remade to reach its real potential.
shareIt is a bit of a curate's egg. It was Disneys big space movie, their answer to Star Wars.
And yet it was very different in style and tone to SW. The cute and comical robots and the laser battles were the closest nods to the SW movies. But the story was quite ponderous and talky. They seemed to assume that people would be wowed by the spectacle and that would be enough.
And yet you had tge incongruity of the cute robots one one side, and the terrifying Maximilian on the other.
Near the end its like they completely forgot about physics and rationality altogether with people running through the ship which had huge holes in it and was being ripped apart.
And the final sequence was just bizarre and very unsettling, (and very reminiscent of a similar climax for the movie Brainstorm), especially for children. For a Disney movie you have to wonder what they were thinking.
But despite the lapses in logic and reality, I did like the set design and the effects. I think in the end the darker and more serious aspects of the movie worked best for me, and part of me wishes that the movie had been made by another studio as a straight up sci fi horror movie.
That's pretty much how I felt about it. I did see in in a theater when it came out, and it looked great on that big screen! But the narrative & tone were all over the place, weren't they?
shareIndeed. Had we got s typical Star Wars clone it would have been understandable. You wonder what went on during the planning stages, script meetings etc.
I do wonder if it was part of a concerted effort to appeal to a broader audience, what with the launch of the Touchstone label around the same time, and movies like The Black Cauldron.
Maybe Disney realised that their bread and butter was their back catalogue of the classic cartoons from the 30s to the 60s that kept them afloat (prior to the advent of video ans similar formats, the older Disney movies were re released on a 7 year cycle).
But despite that, the newer Disney movies made around that time were not financially successful. I think they realised they needed to try something different. Hence the decision to try something a little more adult.
which bounces from kid-friendly & cute to surprisingly dark, and then back & forth several times
not it doesent!
Apart from the 2 'bob' type robots looking cute (if u like flying trashcans) and having humanvoices
I remember nothing else in the film that was cute or kiddy targetted or whatever
Its Disneys horror movie!
People say that like its a bad thing. Disney are allowed to do 'dark' too , even though its not their day to day fare.
Watched it as a kid--totally fascinated. Watched it as an adult--fell asleep three times. Same thing happened with Flash Gordon. The funniest bit is Bob the Robot (voiced by Slim Pickens) sounds like he wandered in off the set of Hee Haw.
shareIt's a fascinating movie. I love the visuals and the main ship, the Cygnus. I saw a painting of it at a fair a few years back and snatched it up. The score is also great, the opening credits provide expectations for a fascinating journey honestly never fully realized. It's a good cast but most of them are kinda sleepwalking through the movie, no character, little personality. The cute robots are annoying. Giving one of them a southern accent? Didn't work for me. The bad robot, however, the big red one was very cool and menacing. The effects are mostly very good, the dusty look of space and the impressive black hole looming, there is a scene of a meteor storming inside the middle of the ship which really looked fantastic. As with most films, the depiction of weightlessness is spotty. The wires are very noticeable. The pacing is uneven and the ending is something totally unexpected. I find it the most unforgettable part of the film, though I am not sure what they were trying to achieve. I can only guess in some way they were trying to mimic, on a smaller scale, the sequence at the end of 2001 when Bowman travels through the stargate. Or maybe they ran out of money and just put together whatever they could to finally end it. It's not a bad film, it's not a great film, it's one of those unique films that teeters back and forth between boring and compelling and it's not a film I have ever forgotten.
shareI just watched and it my conclusion is...it's a super weird film made for kids but not really suitable for kids.
It tries to be everything in one film science fiction,horror, kid film some scenes are also weirdly out of place I don't know it they were trying to be funny.
One thing I'm sure the crew probably partied and did drugs like there is no tomorrow the film just proves it. I can't believe Disney allowed releasing this film and censored Black Cauldron that scene near the end was like one big WTF.
The overall production on SFX and sets are admirable and very well done for something in 1979.