The Black Hole (1979) Tasked with writing a tie-in novelization of this mega-budgeted Disney space opera, Alan Dean Foster was confounded..........how could any sci-fi writer verbalize a movie as scientifically accurate as Snow White and Bambi?
But what did Foster expect? This wasn't outer space.......it was
Disney outer space..... with twinkling lights sprinkled across a pretty, deep blue void.......and a vast space ship lit up like a horizontal Christmas tree, where you take endless shuttle-car rides through glass tubes.....like the newest attraction at Tomorrowland........
It took the success of 'Star Wars' to prod Old School Disney management to finally launch their own long-in-development space epic, which had been collecting dust in their 'to do' pile for decades....(under the title 'Space Station One'....),
The film became the last glorious showcase for Disney's in-house technical and special effects staff......including the legendary father-son duo of master matte painters and visual artists, Peter and Harrison Ellenshaw.
If nothing else, "The Black Hole" stands as a stunning permanent art museum exhibit for the first generation of Disney artists and craftsmen.........with all of the effects accomplished by the meticulous use of the long-standing techniques in their paintbox........the eye-popping mattes by the Ellenshaws, detailed miniatures and paint-and-ink animation.
Of course none of it looks even remotely real......but what a ten course meal of legendary Disney eye candy it is, meant to bedazzle and overwhelm your imagination.
The movie itself? Eh.....almost an afterthought.......cobbled together from chunks of '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea' and 'Star Wars'. Space explorers (Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, Ernest Borgnine) stumble upon that huge Christmas tree craft hovering around a black hole......and occupied only by a Nemo-like madman (Maximillian Schell)and his robot minions.
The whole human cast gives dull, indifferent performances......even Borgnine's usual bug-eyed apoplexy stays in low gear. And Schell wanders around, delivering his semi-sinister lines as if heavily sedated. The only people acting here.......Roddy McDowell and Slim Pickens, who voice the two cutesy, lovable robots.....(and don't even get credited with their work.....)
Well, nobody watches this movie for the actors. It's purely a grand showcase for Disney's artisans and they're out to wow you with their best stuff.......including that showstopper shot of the actors scrambling out of the way of a giant, fiery meteor as it crashes and rolls its way through the ship.
So far, so good.......but when it's time to go trippin' through the black hole, the movie goes kind of bonkers with its throw-spaghetti-against-the-wall ideas of a what such an in 'n out trip might look like. (One year later, Disney would have the same problem with all the goofy, improvised endings to their first official horror movie, 'Watcher In The Woods'),
We've no idea what the filmmakers had in mind (and we suspect, neither did they).....but the 'Fantasia'-like hell sequence where Schell melds with his big-ass evil Red Robot is kinda cool.....which may be the only reason it's in the movie. Still okay with us.....
BQ doesn't care how much ridicule has been heaped on "The Black Hole"......we can't think of any other sci-fi adventure which so demanded that you step back and admire that special brand of studio eye-catching artistry that went into it. And while you're at it, you can take time to savor John Barry's huge score, which varies from an ominous main theme to a triumphant flourish to accompany blasting the many evil robots with frickin' laser beams. 4 stars (****).....twinkling, naturally, against a bright blue Disney outer space.......
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