The Black Hole Remake

[Solariabsg25]

I've heard about this on and off for years, thought it was just another project that would be mentioned then disappear.

Now it seems that Jon Spaihts, who wrote the first original draft of Prometheus, will be doing rewrites on the script.

Well, I must admit, I'm actually looking forwards to this. The original was an ambitious project, and wowed me when I was a kid, remaining one of my guilty pleasures today.

The Cygnus is an iconic design, unlike almost anything else out there - completely impractical for a spaceship, but damn, it looked cool!

 

[FreezeC77]

I watched the original a lot when I was kid. My Uncle worked for RCA and we got discounted stuff from him so we had a videodisc player. This was one of the movies that my brother and I watched so frequently that the disc ended up being unplayable.

I hope they keep the robot design something similar to the movie. I loved Vincent and Bob and their simplistic bodies.

 

[DarthTom]

I watched the original a lot when I was kid. My Uncle worked for RCA and we got discounted stuff from him so we had a videodisc player. This was one of the movies that my brother and I watched so frequently that the disc ended up being unplayable.

I hope they keep the robot design something similar to the movie. I loved Vincent and Bob and their simplistic bodies.

Me as well. A remake of this film - done well - really has some potential and it could be scary as well because the revelation that the crew were the robots with a modern twist of some goolishness could make this not only a great sci-fi pic but a horror picture as well.

IIRC [haven't watched it in a while] the special effects were outstanding and groundbreaking and even by today's standards still watchable.

 

[Santaman]

Maximilian is probably one of the most sinister robot designs ever, hope they don't change it too much.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The original was an ambitious project, and wowed me when I was a kid, remaining one of my guilty pleasures today.

I don't think The Black Hole is a guilty pleasure at all. Yeah, it's still somewhat of a Disney movie despite its PG-rating, but there's more cool stuff about it than cringe-worthy stuff.

The Cygnus is an iconic design, unlike almost anything else out there - completely impractical for a spaceship, but damn, it looked cool!

Hmm. I thought the Cygnus was completely practical for the kind of spaceship it was (a large deep-space exploration vessel).

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I'm on board. At the very least, it should be interesting to watch.

 

[Icemizer]

Loved the soundtrack from the movie. You get the whole haunted madness just by listening.

 

[Solariabsg25]

Got the special edition soundtrack myself recently.

Apparently, The Black Hole was one of the last films to have an "overture", music that played before the opening credits started (similar to star trek TMP).

I do hope they still keep Vincent and Maximilian, as well as Old Bob. And the gothic style, which today would still make it stand out from the usual sci-fi movies.

 

[Christopher]

Apparently, The Black Hole was one of the last films to have an "overture", music that played before the opening credits started (similar to star trek TMP).

Not entirely. Wikipedia lists a few since then:

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1994) (roadshow presentations only)
Dancer In The Dark (2000)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) (roadshow and Director's Cut versions)
Melancholia (2011)

 

[Owain Taggart]

Nice. I'd be in for it. I have the original on DVD. I do hope they stick with the theme and rework it. It was quite haunting. Would love to see John Williams rework it.

 

[JarodRussell]

A remake of this film - done well - really has some potential

Remakes always have potential. But I know not a single one that was ever done well.

 

[Relayer1]

I am rather surprised at the love shown for this - I saw the film when it came out and disliked it - especially my 'pet hate', cute and/or funny robots (also children and animals). I wrote it off as another of the plentiful dodgy cash in sci-fi films that came out in the wake of Star Wars.

My memories of it are that it was pretty much cringeworthy...

 

[JarodRussell]

I am rather surprised at the love shown for this - I saw the film when it came out and disliked it - especially my 'pet hate', cute and/or funny robots (also children and animals). I wrote it off as another of the plentiful dodgy cash in sci-fi films that came out in the wake of Star Wars.

My memories of it are that it was pretty much cringeworthy...

It's from 1970s DISNEY.

 

[The Lensman]

I am rather surprised at the love shown for this - I saw the film when it came out and disliked it - especially my 'pet hate', cute and/or funny robots (also children and animals). I wrote it off as another of the plentiful dodgy cash in sci-fi films that came out in the wake of Star Wars.

My memories of it are that it was pretty much cringeworthy...

It's from 1970s DISNEY.

And this film was pretty bold for Disney at the time. Not the usual kiddie fare we were used to.

However I think this is probably one of those movies that you have an attachment to if you saw it as a kid.....which I didn't.

It was up against TMP and as such I had zero interest in seeing Black Hole. I did see it years later when I had grown up and there are elements that I do like about it. I have a fondness for "finding ships that mysteriously disappeared long ago" type stuff, and I liked some of the interiors as well as the reveal about the crew.

Didn't care for BOB (which probably had more to do with Slim Pickens taking me out of the moment), nor did I care for the whole "black hole leads to heaven and hell" business. I want to say I read the novelization had a sort of different ending, but it's been about thirty years since I read it.

 

[Mysterion]

The best thing about the night I saw The Black Hole in the theater was the trailer for The Empire Strikes Back that preceeded it. I expected (and still expect) better from Disney. I've always had the impression that this was just Disney rushing to get in on the SF movie boom of the time and not a lot else.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Fuck it. I like The Black Hole. It's wonky, but I don't care. Just like Tron.

 

[Mysterion]

Tron, while maybe not a classic either, was infinitely a better movie than The Black Hole.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Is anyone involved in this really interested and excited or are they just doing it because it's a dormant property?

I've come to like The Black Hole more and more and the years go on. I like the 70's atmosphere which seems best at conveying a sense of foreboding wonder.

 

[Christopher]

It's from 1970s DISNEY.

And this film was pretty bold for Disney at the time. Not the usual kiddie fare we were used to.

People have largely forgotten it now, but TBH made quite a stir at the time of its release because it was Disney's first PG-rated film, their first attempt to move into more adult-oriented filmmaking. A lot of people were startled at the level of violence and adult themes it contained. Eventually, Disney realized that the reputation of the Disney name was keeping people from seeing their adult-oriented films for what they were, so they created the Touchstone imprint for them. So it might be better to call TBH a prototype Touchstone film than a "Disney film" per se.

Didn't care for BOB (which probably had more to do with Slim Pickens taking me out of the moment), nor did I care for the whole "black hole leads to heaven and hell" business. I want to say I read the novelization had a sort of different ending, but it's been about thirty years since I read it.

The novelization's ending was different, yes. IIRC, they all died physically but their minds survived because they were linked to Yvette Mimieux's psychic character.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ And it could be argued that the heaven and hell scenes actually were only being imagined by Kate McCrae in the first place, since right before we see them, there's a closeup on her eye (and as we see Dr. Reinhardt in hell, we hear Kate say "Murderer!").

As for the remake: Obviously they're going to have to change the name, because we now know that it's not possible to fall into a black hole and live. Wormhole, maybe?

That being said, I find it hilarious - and almost certainly planned - that an actor named Maximilan Schell plays a character who, at the end, ends up...in Maximilian's shell.