Revisiting Rewatchables, week 26: “The Black Hole”
In February 1980 I was back in London, and of course I went to the cinema. Within a few days I saw two science fiction films: “The Black Hole” and “Star Trek – The Motion Picture”. What I remember of “Star Trek – The Motion Picture” is a terribly convoluted plot that didn’t do anything for me. I’ve never watched it again and have no intention of rewatching it. “The Black Hole” I liked better. I went back and watched it a second time in London, though never again since then.
So, I was genuinely interested to find out whether the film is worth rewatching. In all honesty I have to say: not really. There are good bits, especially the visuals and the special effects, and of course the wonderful score. As for the rest, it is disappointing.
So, what is it about? It starts with the “Palomino”, a spaceship on a mission to explore deep space. On board this ship, which looks like a water tower, are captain Dan Holland (Robert Forster), first officer Charlie Pizer (Jseph Bottoms), scientist Dr Kate McCrae (Yvette Mimieux), another scientist Alex Durant (Anthony Perkins), journalist Harry Booth (Ernest Borgnine) and a robot called V.I.N.CENT (“Vital Information Necessary CENTralized”, an utterly bonkers acronym). V.I.N.CENT looks like the love child of R2D2 and a trash can. He has the tools and versatility of R2D2 and the loquaciousness of C-3PO although V.I.N.CENT prefers to speak in proverbs and aphorisms (“To quote Cicero: rashness is the characteristic of youth, prudence that of mellowed age, and discretion the better part of valour”; “A pint cannot hold a quart, Mr. Pizer. If it holds the pint. it's doing the best it can”). Dr McCrea can communicate with V.I.N.CENT by telepathy (don’t ask why; probably to fill plot holes).
The crew of the “Palomino” first detect a giant black hole and then another spaceship that seems to be parked near the black hole. They identify the other ship as being the “Cygnus”, a ship that had been lost for 20 years and on which Dr McCrae’s father served. The “Cygnus” is completely dark and seems lifeless, but it is surrounded by a zero-gravity field that allows it to stay in place. The “Palomino” strays too close to the black hole and is damaged. As they try to escape the pull of the black hole, the “Cygnus” suddenly lights up. The “Palomino” lands on the “Cygnus”. When the crew disembark, they are met by robot sentinels. The sentinels escort the crew to the command centre of the “Cygnus” where they meet Dr Hans Reinhardt (Maximilian Schell), the sole survivor of the crew. He is a brilliant scientist and his aim is to fly the “Cygnus” through the black hole, which he thinks is possible. The crew of the “Palomino” will monitor this attempt. At least that is the plan.
But pretty soon the crew of the “Palomino” become suspicious of Dr Reinhardt. He claims to have created a small army of robots to man the ship, but those robots appear more like humans. They conduct what looks like a funeral, and one of them limps. The crew of the “Palomino” start to investigate and find more and more discrepancies between Dr Reinhardt’s tale and what they observe. V.I.N.CENT meets another robot of his type, BO.B (“BiO-Sanitation Battalion”; another bonkers acronym). BO.B discloses what really had happened. The original crew of the “Cygnus” mutinied when Dr Reinhardt refused to follow an order from Earth, and were then killed or lobotomised by Dr Reinhardt. When Durant removes the face plate of one of the robots, he sees the face of a lobotomised man. Durant and McCrea try to flee, but Durant is killed by Maximilian, a giant robot, and McCrea is taken to be lobotomised. Holland together with V.I.N.CENT and BO.B manage to recue McCrea. They want to escape with the “Palomino”, but Booth has hijacked the “Palomino” and crashes on the “Cygnus”. The only way to escape now is a probe ship that Reinhardt had used to explore the black hole. The surviving crew of the “Palomino” manage to get away with the probe ship, unfortunately without BO.B who is damaged beyond repair, while all around them the “Cygnus” disintegrates on its way into the black hole. Too late the surviving crew realise that the probe ship had been programmed by Dr Reinhardt and cannot be stopped from its journey through the black hole. Then follows what can only be described as a bizarre near-death experience until the probe ship emerges from the other side of the black hole. The crew have survived, but where are they? Who knows. That is where the film ends.
Interestingly, the novelisation has a different ending. The members of the crew did not leave the black hole but were turned into thoughts. The book ends like this: “Their thoughts spanned infinity, as did their finely spread substance, and they now had an eternity in which to contemplate the universe they had become …”.
Now, all this could have been compelling if the characters weren’t wafer-thin, which makes it hard for the actors to do anything with what they’re given. Maximilian Schell has the best part and can be mysterious and domineering. Anthony Perkins has a manic glint in his eye and hints at the length his character is willing to go for science. Not that is does him any good. Ernest Borgnine doesn’t get much to do, and the others are rather bland.
It is hard to imagine that Sigourney Weaver might have been cast as Dr Kate McCrea if her name hadn’t been deemed too strange. Iconic Ripley being lobotomised? No way Jose!
But let’s look at the film a bit closer. “The Black Hole” came after “Star Wars” but was in development long before “Star Wars” was released. It was supposed to follow in the footsteps of “The Poseidon Adventure” and be a disaster film in space. Over the years there were so many changes of the script that the film turned into something else, although there is still a link to “The Poseidon Adventure”: Ernest Borgnine and Roddy McDowall, the voice of V.I.N.CENT. It is a Disney film, but it is much darker than Disney’s usual fare.
While I rewatched the film I was struck by the way it seems to be cobbled together of bits and pieces of other sources. One source seems to be Jules Verne’s “Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers”. Hardly surprising since “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was produced by Walt Disney Productions. Dr Reinhardt is a modern Captain Nemo, brilliant and ruthless, and his dining room, filled with antique furniture, mirrors the dining room on the “Nautilus”. The design of the “Cygnus” seems also somewhat Victorian, a strange combination of oil tanker and gigantic glasshouse. The “Cygnus” has its own gardens, and that reminded me of “Silent Running”, the film where a lone astronaut rebels against orders and tries to protect what is left of plants and animals that are kept in glasshouses shaped like huge domes. “Silent Running” also introduced small robots.
A striking presence is the giant robot Maximilian, who looks very much like a Cylon from the original series of “Battlestar Galactica”, albeit in red. Maximilian is dangerous and seems to have a will of his own, so he really might be a Cylon.
I already mentioned the design of V.I.N.CENT which leans heavily on R2D2 of “Star Wars”. Even the robot sentinels seem to owe their existence to “Star Wars”. They are basically stormtroopers, equally inept at aiming with their blasters as the original ones in “Star Wars”.
The end, finally, owes a debt to “2001 – A Space Odyssey” in that it is rather incomprehensible. As the probe ship enters the black hole, we first see lights and distortions, then the figure of Dr Reinhardt floating against the background of a red nebula, then we see the giant robot Maximilian. Reinhardt floats in front of Maximilian and suddenly is inside the robot, peering out (some clever people have dubbed this “Maximilian Schell is inside Maximilian’s shell”). Maximilian stands on a cliff, overlooking a hellish landscape full of flames and full of what looks like the lobotomised people he has created. Eventually there appears a crystal tunnel and we see what could be an angel or a soul, maybe Reinhardt’s, travelling through this tunnel to light. That is the moment the probe ship comes out of the black hole. Did the crew see the same things as the audience? I don’t know. Is Reinhardt stuck in hell or did he get out? I don’t know. It is weird, is all I can say.
Interestingly, one scene seems to point ahead to another film. Near the end, the crew of the “Palomino” have to escape from a giant, burning meteor that careens through the “Cygnus”. It reminded me very much of the famous scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, where Indiana Jones is almost killed by a huge boulder, but that film came two years later.
Fun fact: “The Black Hole” was one of the last films with an overture. Not the lavish ones we got to see in “Footlight Parade” but an orchestral overture. Which brings me back to the majestic score by John Barry, who wrote the soundtrack to many James Bond movies. It is the one thing that makes the film worth rewatching.
Here is a link to the trailer.