This is the type of movie that made me fall in love with watching movies. It's fun, has an engaging plot and a number of different plots that are just fun to witness. I really really like how, even though we as an audience have grown accustomed to finding man with evil plans at the centre of a new anomaly, this movie doesn't reveal it's cards too hastily. Rather it builds the ambience of the massive ship Cygnus, accompanied by an amazing soundtrack by John Barry and stellar production values, and reveals the mystery bit by bit creating the mystery and it's revelations at the same time.
I enjoyed almost everything about it, from the robot sidekick subplot to the miniatures and robot designs to it's action sequences that it lets loose in the last act. If only the sense of intrigue and wonder had been kept at the same pace as the rest of the movie, even then it ends spectacularly, going almost mystical upon us.
I wish Disney made more movies like this and this is for me, easier to recommend then Star Trek: The Motion Picture (only saying this because they both came out in the same year and were even nominated for Best Visual Effects together) especially because it's just that much more fun.
The production of the movie was legendary. It was pretty much an all hands effort on the part of Disney. The company spared no expense and designed and built amazing props and sets for the movie.
It is one of my favorites and was made because there was sea change of the leadership at Disney. Unfortunately the early marketing for the movie enraged the Disney faithful and mail in campaigns were organized to shut down the movie. As a result the movie was released under the Bueno Vista distribution label.
Also they started and amazingly finished principal photography before the script was finished and had to the ending as a reshoot. And it shows. The movie is really great until the last ten minutes and then it goes into WTF lalaland..
Easier to recommend than Star Trek the motionless picture, absolutely.
Unfortunately as much as l love The Black Hole I don’t recommend it to anyone either.