In the late 1970's and early 80's, Disney went through a dark period. The kids stuff was there, but for a second, Disney tried to get a little gritty. Trying to capitalize on the success of
Star Wars, Disney produced a couple of movies that were very different from what their audiences expected. One was
Tron and the other was
The Black Hole. Now I was probably too young when I saw
The Black Hole. My tender sensibilities weren't ready for huge red robots slicing people up and laser lobotomies. The movie plays almost like a Sci-fi/Horror hybrid. It's more a union between
Star Wars and
Alien. Basically a haunted house movie, a small group of people investigate a ship that sits on the edge of the titular black hole. On board is the crazy captain, Dr. Hans Reinhardt, his robot bodyguard Maximilian, an army of robotic sentries and the ship's faceless crew. The good guys are fronted by Robert Forster, Ernest Borgnine and Anthony Perkins. In the mix are a couple of friendly robots and lots of action. There's also a lot of death, as most of the good guys buy it before the movie is half way over. The finale, where we actually go into the black hole is totally crazy. The Black Hole is a creepy movie even by today's standards. Some of the special effects are a little dated, but it's still pretty good. Disney tried to make a copy of box office hits, but they ended up making something else in the process. Don't make the mistake my mom did and take your kid to see this with a double feature of
Sleeping Beauty. The kid may never be the same. Check it out for yourself and wonder what the fuck Disney was really thinking when they put this out.
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| This damned robot freaked me out. |
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