Kevin's Watch

I've hunted for John Barry's amazing score for The Black Hole for years, with little luck (not surprising, considering it has never been released on CD). Anyway, I chanced upon it on Youtube, and thought I'd link it here for anyone else interested. For those unfamiliar with the score, I'd recommend giving it a listen. Definitely one of Barry's best.

The Black Hole

The film itself is a nostalgiac favourite of mine. As a kid, the only two films I watched more than this were The Empire Strikes Back and The Vikings. Certainly, the film is not without some problems, and some of it has dated (particularly the rather annoying good robots). Nevertheless, it has some excellent stuff in it, is genuinely eerie in parts, and - most importantly - has the amazing Maximilian Schell in one of his best roles.

Wow! I also loved the music. Hope the soundtrack appears on CD some day. I have the film on DVD.

I've defended the movie as well in other threads. The film can indeed get quite eerie when it wants to. Despite its flaws, The Black Hole remains one of the most dazzling sci fi films I've ever seen. Sure, Star Wars was visually amazing, too, but what set The Black Hole apart was its stunning use of colour - you just wallow in all that saturated loveliness. Also, the old school optical effects of The Black Hole hold up well against modern-day CGI. Maybe today's CG "artists" (at least the more clueless among them) could even learn a thing or two from watching The Black Hole.

I like your taste in film, Matrixman.

The colour in this film is indeed excellent. It also has some really amazing set design and, frankly, the greatest space ship design in film (the Cygnus). The sequence where the Palomino is flying around the seemingly dormant Cygnus still drops my jaw.

Though some of the actors in it tread water, Schell as Dr Reinhardt is truly fantastic. He was a large influence on my imagination as a kid, so much so, that he is the archetype I think of when I imagine genius madmen scientists.

Though some people were mystified and dissappointed by the 2001-esque ending, I have always loved it. The irony of Dr Reinhardt achieving his 'immortality' at the end, set-up by a few lines of dialogue earlier in the script, is great.

You can download that soundtrack too, as the poster linked his files in the description.

The Black Hole is a really cool movie. Very un-Disney-like.

I need to watch it again.

Montresor wrote:I like your taste in film, Matrixman.

The colour in this film is indeed excellent. It also has some really amazing set design and, frankly, the greatest space ship design in film (the Cygnus). The sequence where the Palomino is flying around the seemingly dormant Cygnus still drops my jaw.

Though some of the actors in it tread water, Schell as Dr Reinhardt is truly fantastic. He was a large influence on my imagination as a kid, so much so, that he is the archetype I think of when I imagine genius madmen scientists.

Though some people were mystified and dissappointed by the 2001-esque ending, I have always loved it. The irony of Dr Reinhardt achieving his 'immortality' at the end, set-up by a few lines of dialogue earlier in the script, is great.

You can download that soundtrack too, as the poster linked his files in the description.

I whole-heartedly agree with you all. That film has stuck with me after all these years and I haven't seen it once since I saw it in the theatre ...
(although now that my interest has been piqued again ...)

You'll get no argument from me about the soundtrack. I've always loved it. I love the look and feel of the film as well and I agree with the comments about some of the actors performances. My eternal problem with the story has to do with the Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens voiced robots. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!
On the other hand Maximilian was awesome and pretty creepy especially when he drives his blade rotor through Anthony Perkins' character. Ouch!

Cail wrote:The Black Hole is a really cool movie. Very un-Disney-like.

I need to watch it again.

So do I. I remember seeing it in the theater when it was released. Schell and Maximillian were great screen villians!

Hm, looks like this could be another late childhood experience for me. I love finding stuff like this. I suppose a live-action Disney movie in space would have went under my radar.

>sigh.<

Now I have to go find this movie again. All I remember are the damned robots, and they were enough to keep me from revisiting the movie for all these years.

Montresor wrote:most importantly - has the amazing Maximilian Schell in one of his best roles.

Ouch. I wonder how Max feels about that.

Still, yes, I was a kid starving for more Star Wars. I dug this movie, and actually really liked the robots. Then again, I also like Slim Pickens, but yeah, after buying it on VHS, it has some silliness. But I still enjoy it when I watch it, and it does get especially dark. I might even still have the comic book of this that covers the entire movie and continues on after they go through the black hole. Didn't make much sense to me though.

Cagliostro wrote:

Montresor wrote:most importantly - has the amazing Maximilian Schell in one of his best roles.

Ouch. I wonder how Max feels about that.

Hehe...do you think he'd prefer I'd say Deep Impact?

Seriously, though, I'll stand by it - Schell's performance really elevates this movie for me. Sure, he's been in many better films (The Young Lions, Judgement at Nurmeberg, Topkapi, Cross of Iron), but he's just as earnest and powerful an actor in anything he does.

As for the robots, all of the 'bad-guy' robots were great (STAR, the soldier robots, and Maximilian), but the 'good-guy' ones were, well, they annoy me. The biggest detractor, though, is the performance of the captain of the Palomino. He's seriously irrelevant. And I absolutely love the 'android' crew of the Cygnus.

Montresor wrote:
The colour in this film is indeed excellent. It also has some really amazing set design and, frankly, the greatest space ship design in film (the Cygnus).

I love the Cygnus, too. It's a cathedral in space!

Though some people were mystified and dissappointed by the 2001-esque ending, I have always loved it. The irony of Dr Reinhardt achieving his 'immortality' at the end, set-up by a few lines of dialogue earlier in the script, is great.

Yes, they were taking some chances with the heaven-and-hell imagery. It was bound to offend, mystify or delight moviegoers, depending on their personal beliefs. Heh, the scene of the ominous Hades-like realm that Maximillian and Reinhardt were taken to probably gave me a few nightmares as a kid. But the film also made me think about stuff I ordinarily would not have: questions about eternity, the soul, our place in the cosmos, etc.

It's a shame that The Black Hole never got a deluxe DVD treatment with content like behind the scenes docs, audio commentaries or new interviews with cast and crew. The version out now is just a single DVD with a few paltry extra features. At least the picture is decent, and the 5.1 Dolby mix is pretty good. Still, this film deserves more.

Not to be morbid, but it occurs to me that a number of the principal people involved with the film are no longer with us, so any reunion now for a DVD re-release could feel a little empty.

Well, didn't Anthony Perkins die right before or right after this movie was released? I think it must have been right after, as his brutal death scene was shown, but then again, those were different times where they may not have cut the scene from the movie even if one month before release, the actor had actually been killed by a spinning-knife wielding robot. I think in those days we would have just chucked it up to "irony" and left it at that.

I speak, of course, about the new Batman movie. I do wonder about some of the early pics of Heath in the Gilliam movie with a noose around his neck. Then again, it is Gilliam, and I have a feeling he won't feel the need to cut the scene to spare a feeling or two unless it is unnecessary.

Cagliostro wrote:didn't Anthony Perkins die right before or right after this movie was released?

According to IMDB, he died in 1992 (from pneumonia, brought on by AIDS).

Actually, I erred as well, but over a different cast member: I thought Maximilian Schell was dead! But no, he's alive - and still working.

Wow....I really have a lot of false memories, don't I?

Awright...who put them there? And what is the metal piece under the skin in my neck?

I knew Schell was still alive, though I thought Borgnine had passed away. Turns out he's still alive and - at 90 - still working.

As others have said, The Black Hole was a very dark movie for a Disney production, I keep meaning to grab it on DVD.

As for the soundtrack, there is a bootleg CD, might be worth a look on ebay...

www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/sou ... ieid=26003

It was a good period for Disney, they also released the very dark Dragonslayer. Another excellent film.

DragonSlayer was good -- it did make watching Ally Mc Beal difficult, though. (As if there weren't enough things that made it difficult!)

Hmmmm, my lack of a vagina made watching Ally McBeal difficult.