The Black Hole (1978)

I caught the last half of Disney's "The Black Hole" while hiding under a blanket on the couch yesterday. According to Casey, were I not one of those "damn kids these days", I would have seen this when I was younger.

I didn't though, and what I saw of it yesterday had me really fascinated. It's an FX heavy, quirky little scifi film that is apparently very well known. The best part of the whole thing are the two wacky little robots, who for some reason have googly eyes. Picture evidence of this below:

Here is some interesting trivia from IMDB:

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- The film contains over 550 visual effects shots, including over 150 matte paintings. (pretty amazing, considering the year this was made)

- At the time of its release, the movie featured the longest computer graphics sequence that had ever appeared in a film.

- The movie was renamed in the Soviet Union, because 'black hole' is an obscene term in Russian. (lol)

- The film was originally supposed to take place in a completely weightless environment. The technical difficulties prompted a re-write of the script so that when the Palomino ties up the Cygnus gravity returned.

- Neither Roddy McDowall nor Slim Pickens are credited for their voice work in the film in either the opening or closing sequences.

- This was regarded as the last big special effect production to be made under the "old studio system." All of the elaborate special effects were created within the Disney studio and not farmed out to outside special effects companies.

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My friends I've asked about this have told me that it was a pretty blatant rip on Star Wars. It certainly doesn't succeed on any type of serious level, but there is a substantial kitsch factor with this film that should not be overlooked. Probably not what Disney was going for, but you've got to take what you get right? Here's the trailer:

And since that doesn't really do the zaniness justice, here's another clip for good measure. It's target practice!

Okay, this is the last clip I swear. I would kill a man for that V.I.N.C.E.N.T. action figure.