Retro Reviews: The Black Hole

John Perrucci- Finishing the mission of exploring space, the spacecraft USS Palomino is finally returning back to Earth. On the way, they discover a black hole and there's a spaceship nearby. Somehow it's defying the hole's massive gravitational pull. Soon the ship is identified as the missing ship USS Cygnus. The crew of the USS Palimo board the Cygnus' craft and discover Dr. Hans Reinhardt on board, with a crew of faceless, black robed drones.

I have to say I really enjoyed this film thought. The Black Hole was good and interesting, with very cool special effects, and a good story line. The most entertaining part is probably about an hour into the movie. Something happens once the truth is revealed, and what happens at the end. Not giving away spoilers. The android drones look cool. The story line was good because Dr. Hans Reinhardt believes that the world can mine its energy from the black hole. He also reveals to the USS Palomino crew that he has spent the past 20 years studying the black hole and intends to fly the Cygnus through it. Only Durant believes it is possible and asks to accompany Reinhardt on the trip.

The impressive feats about The Black Hole is especially it's visual effects. This was Disney's first film to feature CGI. To film the special effects, Disney originally wanted to rent the Dykstraflex camera system that was created for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (the first computer-controlled camera) from Industrial Light & Magic. However, the price and rental terms were unacceptable so Disney created its own version instead. What resulted was Disney's A.C.E.S. [Automated Camera Effects System], which was radically superior to the Dykstraflex system; the Mattescan system, which enabled the camera to move on a matte painting [that was previously impossible]; and a computer-controlled modeling stand. This was also the first Disney film to be rated PG.

Overall, this film was fun and interesting with a great sci-fi edge to it. I give it four stars out of five.