The Black Hole (1979)

Release date: 1979-12-21
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Gary Nelson
Production Co: Walt Disney Productions
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
Rating: 6.0/10
Length: 1h 38min

Storyline

An Earth exploratory ship, the USS Palomino, discovers a black hole with a lost ship, the USS Cygnus, just outside its event horizon. Deciding to solve the mystery of the Cygnus are: the Palomino's Captain, Dan Holland; his First Officer, Lieutenant Charlie Pizer; journalist Harry Booth; scientist and ESP-sensitive Dr. Kate McCrae, whose father was the Cygnus's First Officer; Dr. Alex Durant, the expedition's civilian leader; and the robot known as V.I.N.CENT. The Palomino attempts a dangerous fly-by of the darkened ship. As they come within close range of it, the buffeting they experience (due to the black hole's gravity) suddenly ceases. They bring more instruments to bear on the derelict, but do not even realize the gravity-free zone is artificial; slipping outside it, they are almost drawn into the black hole, an abyss from which no one can escape. Matters worsen when Reinhardt holds the crew captive, after realizing that they can help him reach his goal. The squad must now figure...

Plot Keywords

black hole, spaceship, reference to god, killer robot, trapped in space, hologram, laser gun, supernatural power, artificial intelligence, meteor shower, extrasensory perception, zombie, evil robot, insanity, mad scientist, space station, outer space, space shuttle, space travel, lobotomy

Short Review

It is good to see the Disney craftsmen doing what they do best on such a grand and risky scale. If one has time for only one space opera this season, this is the one to choose.