Plot

T>his is the plot of The Black Hole. It also covers the creation of the movie, trivia and goofs.

Plot

The spacecraft USS Palomino has long searched for extraterrestrial life in deep space. The crew consists of Captain Dan Holland, First Officer Lieutenant Charlie Pizer, journalist Harry Booth, ESP-sensitive junior scientist Dr. Kate McCrae, the senior scientist Dr. Alex Durant and the utility robot V.I.N.CENT, short for 'Vital Information Necessary CENTralized'.

As it is returning to Earth, the Palomino discovers the largest black hole ever and the long-lost USS Cygnus extremely near it. It is the same ship that Kates father Frank McCrae was aboard when it failed to return to earth twenty years ago. The Palomino decide to investigate, receive no radio reply and finds that there is a mysterious null gravity field surrounding the Cygnus that allows it to defy the massive gravitational pull of the black hole. The Palomino briefly strays outside the field and is quite damaged by the intense gravity, forcing it to make an emergency dock with the Cygnus, which suddenly no longer appears abandoned.

The suspicious Palomino crew minus soon encounter a menacing voiceless robot named Maximilian and Dr. Hans Reinhardt. Reinhardt, the Captain of the explains he has been alone on the Cygnus since it encountered a meteor field and was disabled. He ordered the human crew to return to Earth without him, but Kate's father chose to remain aboard and has since died. To replace the crew, Reinhardt built faceless, black-robed drones, sentry robots and his sinister second-in-command, Maximilian. Reinhardt says he intends to fly the 'Cygnus through the black hole because 20 years of study has shown that it's possible. Only an enamoured Durant believes him. Pizer is escorted up by four Sentry Robots and Reinhardt agrees to allow the Palomino crew to access spare parts. However, Maximilian blocks their path and there is a face-off between that robot and V.I.N.CENT. Captain Holland is forced to ask nice before Maximilian is called off.

At the storage room, V.I.N.CENT. meets a battered robot similar to his model, introduces himself although that robot, B.O.B. moves away upon seeing Maximilian. holland, suspicious of Reinhardt's story, ventures off and finds clean uniforms and picture frames in living quarters. He also witnesses human-like funeral of the masked Humanoids before being caught by Maximilian. Booth also wary, drops away from Reinhardt, Durrant and McCrae and finds a long Humanoid tending a garden. The Humanoid is speechless, then walks off with a human-like limp.

Reinhardt invites the the Palomino crew to dinner. Holland convinces V.I.N.CENT not to join them or he will get in conflict with Maximilian though the floating robot disagrees. They - Holland, Pizer and V.I.N.CENT - find a shoot range and the utility robot reluctantly enters, finding B.O.B. and a black and shiny robot. That is S.T.A.R. whom B.O.B. once defeated at the range with S.T.A.R. angry and striking B.O.B.. S.T.A.R. wants a re-match and cheats. V.I.N.CENT dares S.T.A.R. on a match, striking S.T.A.R. which causes a laser-bolt to strike him. S.T.A.R. blows a fuse any the other Sentry Robots are shocked with B.O.B. telling V.I.N.CENT to meet him back at spare parts. There he formally introduces himself, helps rearm V.I.N.CENT's lasers then takes him to the Cygnus' medical center. V.I.N.CENT gets a glimpse of some Humanoids with laser beams fired into their masks. B.O.B. remarks they are what's left of the crew, kept alive by means he does not pretend to understand. Suddenly, two Sentry Robots appear, however, V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B. destroy them. V.I.N.CENT uses his ESP to contact Holland via Kate and Pizer and Booth follow. Durant is deeply influenced by Reinhardt and believes the mad scientist can travel through the black hole while Kate is sceptical.

B.O.B. reveals the truth to the three humans. The Cygnus trusted Frank McCrae the most and tried to take over the Cygnus when n Reinhardt refused to return to Earth after the Cygnus was damaged. Reinhardt viewed that as mutiny, killed McCrae's father and the crew was lobotomized and "reprogrammed" to serve Reinhardt. After discussing what they should do, Dan orders V.I.N.CENT to tell Kate and Alex to return to their ship and Pizer to start the countdown. After Kate informs Durant what really happened, he is sceptical though removes a drone's faceplate, revealing the zombie-like face of a crew member. Durant tries to flee with Kate, but Maximilian advanced menacingly, attacking Durant with his high-speed rotating blades, killing him and Durant falls on the power panels below. Reinhardt orders his robots to lobotomize Kate, but she manages to contact V.I.N.CENT, therefore Holland, V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B. head to rescue her. Charlie has orders to wait until they return, with him protesting.

Just as the lobotomizing process begins, Holland, V.I.N.CENT. and B.O.B. appear and after short fight, Kate is rescued. Holland and her disguise themselves in the Humanoids but Reinhardt orders Maximilian to eliminate them after catching them on the CCTV. Holland, Kate, V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B. engage in a firefight with many Sentry Robots and defeat them, with B.O.B. hit. Despite their victory, the four of them are pinned down by more Sentry Robots. Charlie is told to take off, nevertheless, he and Booth head down to assist. Booth falls but his sprained ankle is fake and heads back to escape in the Palomino himself. Reinhardt is already preparing to head into the black hole, and after spotting the veering Palomino - Booth is not a trained pilot - he orders it to be destroyed. The others reach the docking bay just as they see the Palomino explode. Pizer starts to whine about Harry and how they can't escape until V.I.N.CENT gives a hint and they all head towards the Cygnus Probe ship.

A meteor storm occurs near the event horizon of the black hole and nearly killing the survivors, They also have to aid the hit B.O.B.. With the direct path to the Probe ship blocked, they head to the greenhouse but are Sentry Robots engage them. The storm damages the roof of the greenhouse and B.O.B. is sucked up until Holland catches him. Others help pull the two down and V.I.N.CENT cuts a hole allowing them to move. All the explosions from the storm cause more damage to the Cygnus particularly the control tower. Humanoids with no control of their own, start to be destroyed. Reinhardt orders Maximilian to prepare the ship for launch, but then a large viewscreen falls on Reinhardt, pinning him to the deck, surrounded by his lobotomized crew. Maximillian ignores his creator instead heads towards the Probe ship with an score to settle.

The Palomino survivors almost reach the Probe ship, however Maximilian ambushes them fatally damages B.O.B. before taken on V.I.N.CENT. The two fight each other and V.I.N.CENT cleverly using his drill to drill through the red robot's torso, causing Maximillian to float towards the black hole. V.I.N.CENT approaches his friend, however, B.O.B. is fatally damaged and tells V.I.N.CENT to keep up the tradition and their model is the best.

V.I.N.CENT joins his friends but Pizer is suddenly pulled by the immense forces of the black hole. V.I.N.CENT, despite much argument with the First Officer, flies and rescues him. The survivors try to steer the Probe ship, however, they are shocked to find it is pre-programmed to fly into the black hole.

In the epilogue, Reinhardt and Maximilian merge together above a burning, hellish landscape populated by dark-robed spectres resembling Cygnus drones the crew he lobotomized. Meanwhile, the probe ship is led through a cathedral-like arched crystal tunnel by a floating, angelic, heavenly figure. After the ship emerges from a white hole, Holland, Pizer, McCrae and V.I.N.CENT. fly towards a planet near a bright star. Pizer exclaims it's like Christmas morning and Holland says their mission is complete.

Production

Development

In the wake of several successful disaster films such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, writers Bob Barbash and Richard Landau approached Disney Studios executive story editor Frank Paris with the idea for a space-themed disaster film tentatively titled Space Station One. The writers showed Paris a preliminary sketch of their idea, and the idea was later pitched to Ron Miller who assigned longtime studio producer Winston Hibler to help develop the project. An idea of Hibler was for a black hole to be featured in the story. After nearly a year of work on the project, Hibler was not satisfied with the later story drafts, so William Wood was added to rework the script. Ultimately, Hibler retired from the Disney studios. The project was later shelved until late 1975 when development resumed on the project now re-titled Space Probe One. n 1976, Hibler returned from retirement, and suggested to Miller to hire conceptual artist[Robert McCall to create some pre-production visuals to help focus the story and explore some possible ideas. Hibler also brought matte designer Peter Ellenshaw out of retirement to create conceptual designs on the proposed film.Filming took place between October 11, 1978 and April 20, 1979.

The story has been compared to 20,000 Leagues under the Sea albeit in space.

Writing

Four months later, director John Hough, who had just directed Escape to Witch Mountain, was approached to direct the film.Although he liked the premise, he felt the script needed more revisions, so he brought in Sumner Arthur Long for an additional rewrite. However, by summer 1976, the production team was still unsatisfied with the script, and audiences' interest in the disaster genre was steadily declining.

Hibler died in August 1976, but with the amount of work already invested in the project, Miller took over the project. In October, writer Ed Coffey was added to rewrite the script. By February 1977, Jeb Rosebrook was included to restructure the story, in which the script was then changed to focus on a small core group of astronauts who would encounter a black hole, which was a phenomenon that had been a growing discussion within the scientific community.

While the script was again being rewritten, Hough left the project and decided to direct Brass Target. n December 1977, Miller then approached Gary Nelson, who had just been nominated for a Primetime Emmy on the political miniseries Washington: Behind Closed Doors, to direct the project. Nelson read a draft of the script and declined the offer. However, he was called back to the studio, and after observing the miniatures and matte paintings created by Ellenshaw, he agreed to direct.

Rosebrook finished his final draft in March 1978, but because Disney was still displeased with the script, Gerry Day was hired for some script doctoring. After scientific research headed by marketing director Martin Rabinovitch, the title The Black Hole was selected to convey the power and mystique of the film.

Casting

Nelson initially considered casting Sigourney Weaver in the role of Kate McCrae, but the head of the casting department balked at the actress' unusual name and rejected her. By October 1978, most of the actors had been cast, with the exception for Jennifer O'Neill cast as Kate McCrae. O'Neill had been told she needed to cut her hair because it would be easier to film zero-gravity scenes. Initially hesitant, she eventually agreed and brought her personal hairstylist Vidal Sassoon to the studio. O'Neill consumed multiple glasses of wine during the haircut, then left the studio noticeably inebriated and was subsequently hospitalized following a car crash, which cost her the role. Yvette Mimieux was cast the following day and agreed to have her own long hair cropped.

Visual Effects

Although Star Wars a New Hope had revolutionized the use of computerized Motion control photography miniature effects, The Black Hole was shot using a blend of traditional camera techniques and newly developed computer-controlled camera technology. isney wanted to rent equipment from Industrial Light and Magic, but it was unavailable during the film's production period and was prohibitively expensive. In the end, Disney turned to its own engineering department, which created the ACES (Automated Camera Effects System). The computerized system allowed for the camera to take double exposure photographs of the miniature models as it moves convincingly across the matte painting. It also permitted the actors to move unrestrictedly within a matte painting, and the camera tracks them within a non-existent set that would be painted in later. The Mattescan system was then used to composite live-action shots onto a single matte painting while the camera is in motion on several axes. In total, 150 matte paintings were created for the film under the supervision of Harrison Ellenshaw, but only 13 were used in the film.

Soundtrack

Disney hired John Barry the famous composer of the James Bond films, to compose the film's score. It was the first film score ever to be recorded digitally. An album of highlights from the score was released on LP by Disneyland Records in 1979. The 1979 album master was made available digitally on iTunes in 2007.The release overcame many technical hurdles, because the format the score was recorded on, the 32-track 3M Digital Recorder, was so obscure and obsolete.

Release

The Black Hole premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on December 18, 1979. It was then released in the United States on December 21, 1979. Along with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, released the same month, The Black Hole was one of the last mainstream Hollywood films to have an overture at the start of the film. Although this was cut on subsequent television airings, the overture is included on Disney's 2004 DVD release, 2019 Blu-ray release and Disney's streaming service, Disney+.

The Black Hole is notable for being the first Disney film to earn a PG rating because of the frequent use of "hell" and "damn" and the violent death of Dr. Alex Durant, which is also notable for being the first non-family-oriented Disney film. Buena Vista Distribution had released the PG-rated sports drama film Take Down earlier the same year, but it was produced by an independent production studio. The version of the film broadcast on the Disney Channel was edited for language, with all uses of the words "damn" and "hell" removed. The film also features some subtext and metaphysics and religious themes that reflected the company's interest in developing more adult-oriented and mainstream films. This trend eventually led the studio to create the distribution company Touchstone Pictures, under which films considered too mature for the Buena Vista Distribution label could be released.

The film had a record opening weekend for Disney with a gross of $4,738,000 from 889 theatres. During its theatrical release, the movie grossed $35.8 million in the United States and Canada, from which it returned $25 million in box office rentals.

Marketing

Coinciding with the film's release, Alan Dean Foster wrote a novelization based on the film. In a retrospective interview, Foster remarked that his novelization had to rationalize the scientific inaccuracies depicted in the film. The novelization also changes the final outcome: the probe ship is destroyed, but the three humans and robot merge together and become, aided by Kate McRae's psychic abilities, non-substantial beings that retain their separate identities while becoming one. Around the same time, Disney used their comic strip Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales to promote their latest film releases. Comic book artist Mike Royer suggested fellow artist Jack Kirby draw a comic strip adaptation of the film, and Kirby accepted. The comic strip adaptation, which ran for twenty-six weeks, was scripted by Carl Fallberg with the inking done by Royer.

A separate comic book adaptation of the film published by Whitman Comics in 1980 bypasses the whole issue of what happens inside the black hole by having the crew enter the black hole on one page and emerge apparently unharmed on the next page into a parallel universe where they encounter alternate versions of Reinhardt, B.O.B., Maximilian nd even Frank McCrae. Four issues were published. The first two issues adapted the film and the second two issues continued the story introducing a race of people called Virlights, whom they end up aiding against a rising tyrant. The rare fourth issue concludes with the promise of a fifth issue but the series was canceled before it was released.

In the official Disney Read-Along recording and illustrated story book, the crew in the probe ship emerge safely on the other side of the black hole, while the Cygnus is "crushed like an eggshell." The story ends with Captain Holland saying, "We've been trained to find new worlds. Let's go find one for ourselves!" The children's book line, Little Golden Books, released a book entitled The Black Hole: A Spaceship Adventure for Robots. The story involves V.I.N.CENT. and B.O.B., exploring the Cygnus, visiting its gardens, encountering the "humanoid robots", and escaping detection by Maximilian.

The Mego Corporation produced 6 million action figures and models of the USS Palomino from the film, released in the fall of 1979. Nabisco issued a series of plastic pencil holders in the shape of the film's robot characters via specially marked boxes of breakfast cereal.

In 1983, Disney put out a computer learning-game spinoff, Space Probe: Math. This was a cassette containing two educational games designed for use with the Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer. The concept of the first game was that the Palomino had landed on an infected planet, Delta 5 Omega. All the crew were falling under "mind diffusion", basically a viral form of fatigue. Players, aged 7–14, had to solve multiplication or division problems to save the crew. In the second game, the player had to save a primitive world's crops, using rectangular area and perimeter problems.

Home media

In March 1980, Disney began a partnership with Fotomat Corporation in a four-city market test to make 13 selected titles available for rental on videocassette, which was to be expanded nationwide by the end of the year. In September 1980, The Black Hole was made available for purchase or rental on videocassette. In 1982, Disney announced it had partnered with RCA to release nine of their films on the Capacitance Electronic Disc videodisc format, of which The Black Hole was re-released in the following year. The film was re-issued on VHS and Laser Disc as an installment of the "Making Your Dreams Come True" promotional campaign on November 6, 1985.

On March 30, 1999, Anchor Bay Entertainment re-released the film on three separate VHS editions: Anniversary Edition, Collector's Edition, and Limited Edition as well as on DVD. The Limited Edition VHS was contained in a collectible tin box and accompanied with nine lobby cards, a 48-page booklet about the making of the film, featuring an interview with director Gary Nelson and a script of an abandoned alternate ending. On August 3, 2004, and May 2, 2010, Disney re-released the film on DVD that was presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio. Its bonus features included the extended theatrical trailer and a making-of featurette about the film's visual effects.

The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray for the first time on August 13, 2019, as a Disney Movie Club exclusive. None of the special features on previous home video releases were included. The original August 13, 2019 mistakenly omitted the opening overture. Later, on October 14, a corrected version containing the overture was released. The film became available to stream on Disney+ when the service launched on November 12, 2019.

Reception and legacy

Since the film's release, The Black Hole has become a minor cult classic among science fiction film fans.

Award nominations

Award	Category	Recipients	Result
Academy Awards	Academy Award for Best Cinematography	Frank Phillips	nominated
	Academy Award for Best Visual Effects	Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, Harrison Ellenshaw and Joe Hale	nominated
Saturn Awards	Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film		nominated
	Saturn Award for Best Writing	Gerry Day	nominated
	Saturn Award for Best Music	John Barry	nominated
	Saturn Award for Best Special Effects	Harrison Ellenshaw	nominated

Possible remake

In November 2009, it was reported that Disney had plans to remake The Black Hole. Director Joseph Kosinski, who also directed Disney's Tron: Legacy and producer Sean Bailey were attached to the production. By April 2013, Jon Spaihts, who wrote the script for the Alien prequel Prometheus, had signed on as screenwriter.

In 2016, it was announced that the remake was put on hold because Spaihts' script was considered "too dark for a Disney movie". Spaihts commented:

The Black Hole was an amazing experience. That was one of those movies I was stuck on until I cracked the beginning, and suddenly it just started to flow. I loved that script. It sits uneasily in Disney's world as a dark epic, and Disney is in a very colorful place. They already have multiple big space epics going, so I don’t know how or whether it'll find its way to light of day, but I sure wrote a heck of a movie and was thrilled to do it. It was very faithful to the original but clever in all the ways in that first film was silly, I hope.

In March 2018, it was reported that Emily Carmichael would be writing the screenplay.

In June 2022, Kosinski revealed that the project was initially cancelled due to having numerous similarities to Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. However, he expressed hope at reviving it in the future. .

Trivia

See Trivia.

Goofs

See Goofs.

External Links

• The Black Hole Movie on IMDB