The Black Hole

The kids were there, with their families or crew. The Black Hole was released forty-six years ago to the day and was an event film, a blockbuster. The film goes that the crew of the spacecraft USS Palomino, featuring actors Robert Forster (Captain Dan Holland), Joseph Bottoms (Lieutenant Charles Pizer), Anthony Perkins (Dr. Alex Durant), Yvette Mimieux (Dr. Kate McCrae), and Ernest Borgnine (journalist Harry Booth), parks by the Cygnus to repair their ship. They find Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell) onboard, about to unleash his quest to discover the mysteries of the black hole, which has baffled scientists. Reinhardt wants to uncover the mystery and gain glory, but is he prepared for the knowledge he seeks? What will he do to obtain it, and how will it end? My after-movie chat focused on the movie’s robot Vincent, who was cool. I loved him. The other robots were unusually nifty. Nice stuff, I got the scrapbook. But when I first watched The Black Hole, I was eager to see what happened with the mysterious black hole. However, there was no visible evidence of the black hole at the start or middle of the film. It was mostly unseen or viewed from a distance, with nothing extraordinary happening. There was no disappearing into the black hole, which was disappointing. The film’s drizzle was quite nice but did not compensate. The film should have been in 3-D. Instead of a downpour of excitement, I sat in my cinema seat disillusioned by the lack of black hole entertainment. I waited for two-thirds of the film before seeing some extraordinary action of getting close, but it was a long wait. The child wanted the extraordinary sooner than later. And the film seemed vague scientifically, leaving the audience uneducated. It panders to what we already know: hardly anything about black holes at that point in time. On second viewing, decades later, one’s adult instincts come to play a bit more. I enjoyed the film. Enjoyment does not necessarily make a movie, though. It was also interesting thematically and quietly intriguing. On third viewing, I really enjoyed this film from beginning to end. In that vein, the viewer is offered more than robots, humanoids, and Vincent – a knowledgeable assistant for the Palomino. The action may have heated up when Reinhardt begins to summon his ship into the dreaded, unknown, mysterious black hole, but the narrative felt better the third time around watching the film. The score is unusual and gripping, it is really strong on the curiosity factor, and suitable for families with its cleanly dish–or at least those with such a disposition for a generally suitable film. As we knew nothing about these black holes in space, we all get to cuddle up in the theatre and let the film pander to our collective ignorance, creating a unifying effect. The journey we, as viewers, are taken on is truly a wonder.

Below average yet fun sci-fi adventure movie struggles to find its own identity instead leaning on the success of Star wars and Star Trek to borrow what it wants to use instead of finding the new stuff. Overall passed the time and fulfilled the nostalgia hole I needed to fill!