The Black Hole: USS Cygnus 

Prophetic: Professor Reinhardt was the first one to warn us of the consequences of improperly secured flat screen TV's.

"Maximilian, bring us about." The most iconic phrase in the whole movie, I think. Max was a great robot villain. There are not many robot characters out there that can just sit there and radiate evil. Plus the fact that he never talked, that pulsing red eye that gave you the impression of pure, constant malice, and when Reinhart said," Protect me from Maximillian," made the robot's overall character quite frightening.

This movie got me into black holes when I was young, which got me into physics. It'll always be one of my favourite classic sci-fi movies.

This was one of those movies that stayed with me since childhood. The robots, the concept of a black hole, the strange ending with heaven and hell. All very inspiring. Today's movies would spend more time explaining things instead of being simply mysterious.

Truly an underrated sci-fi movie.

While I recognize it's not exactly prime cinema.. this film has a special place in my heart. It's so creepy and captures that eerie space vibe and how fragile life is in such a deadly environment that many other, more popular films do not. The black hole, a long lost dead ship, a silent robotic crew and murderous super robot, the mad schemes of a long insane genius... it might as well be called sci-fi horror rather than adventure.

"Blow it apart before it hits us!" Hits us.

R.I.P. Maximmillian Schell, thank you for some memorable performances.

I've always loved the Cygnus. It looks as if it would be as much at home in a Jules Verne tale as it does a sci fi futuristic setting.

This is the only movie me and my dad went to the cinema to watch together, strange how you always remember these things

3:30 Reinhardt: "Maximilian! Help me!" Maximilian: [silently] "No. I'll see you in Hell, boss!"

What amazed me about this film was the level of detail that went into it. If you look closely at the control panels for instance you can see that they're not just static, many of them have moving instrumentation and independent lights that flash and blink on their own, unlike in many movies what they all flash together. It shows that the set designers spent a lot of time ensuring things were authentic looking as possible. Given that this was just a kids movie it's really impressive that they went to such lengths!!

THIS movie needs to be rebooted, not friggin Spiderman for the 9th time!

I'm still amazed that as brilliant as Reinhardt was, he never thought to wait until the meteor shower ended before going into the black hole.

i just watched this on my home theatre ,in 5.1 dolby ,,,, christ the sound and bass is incredible ,when the engines fire up its amazing ,having a powerful system ,i couldnt even activate the subs ,,, the film is great ,amazing effects and script ,for its day ,loved this film like it was yesterday in the cinema ,,, ,,,,,,,

One of the most visually stunning movies to ever grace the big screen. if you younger folks never had a chance to see this on the big screen, then you really, truly missed something spectacular.

The thruster effect is excellent

This will always be one of my favorite movies of all time. This movie shaped my entire career path into robotics and engineering.

The practical effects in this are awesome. Wish they still did movies like this. Reminds me a bit of Event Horizon.

MAXIMILIAN. That red robot gave me the shivers when I saw that movie as a kid, and he still does today...

We need more imaginative films like this again.

The cinematography, the special effects, the production design, the sound track, the story ... sci-fi at its best!

I LOVE this film. Certainly one of the top sci-fi films of the 1970's. The SFX, especially the model spaceships, were amazing and still look very good now.

This movie scared the absolute shit out of me when I was a kid.

The Cygnus is beautiful. It's right up there with the mothership from Close encounters.

Great compilation!! I thoroughly enjoyed the structural beauty of the U.S.S. Cygnus, and like you, the first half of the movie. Awesome production design!! Loved it! Thanks for this!!

The beating that ship took man, and still kept going! If he has just calmed down and waited till it was 100% repaired again. Awesome movie

I used to think this was the original Event Horizon.

I agree- the USS Cygnus is a very cool ship! Never saw anything like it before.

The scenery in this movie was gorgeous.

Saw this on its' release and i don't think I appreciated how well made it is. The script might be better but the effort put into the special effects is tremendous.

The best production design EVER!

Years later, after retirement, Professor Reinhard stood on a beach with Tea Leoni and waited for the the asteroid to hit earth.

Here's a thought: the Cygnus X-1 black hole, the first such object to be detected, was only widely thought to be an actual black hole by about 1973, or about six years before this movie was released. My guess is that the USS Cygnus was named after the black hole. I always thought that ship was cool, like a Victorian greenhouse in space.

You missed the best shot of the Cygnus, towards the start when the Cygnus is reactivated, and bursts into life, just beautiful, Plus, John Barry's score is wonderful. Very brave of Disney to put its name to something so dark in 1979.

Killed by a 90 inch flatscreen.

The theatrics of this film! The "Corman-Poe" vibe of the main theme! That is paramount to any reboot of this film! It MUST retain its gothic theme!

If nothing else proves this is a space horror flick, this should. The sites and sounds, that red color used. The ship being torn apart, all of it. Mad scientist, evil sidekick who is more evil than the mad scientist, zombie helpers. Heaven and Hell at the end, this was no Star Wars.

Wow Dominic Santini not only co-piloted Airwolf, but he co-piloted a spaceship through a blackhole too. Impressive.

When the ship is coming apart, Maximillian turns and looks at him like, "Dood I told you this was a really bad idea!". Always listen to Maximillian

"either way, this film had some awesome visuals and audio!" - AGREED!!! I absolutely loved this movie when I first saw it as a kid in 1979, it really captured my imagination! Thanks for the post!

Got my DVD in today and watched this movie for the first time in over 20 years. Even better than I remembered it! The ship was simply awesome.

the end scene of this move going into the black hole was very trippy like a trip to heaven/hell. This movie is cool but gave me nightmares as a kid. Thanks for the post

"I said: blow it apart before it hits us, not MAKE it hit us!?"

I’ve watched this movie as a kid. Scary and fascinating at the same time. In my opinion one of the darkest movies of Disney pictures. I’ve watched it few days ago again on disney+ and it is still good 👍

The model makers who made the Cygnus really did a great job, the ship really looks awesome, you can't even see that well the explosions are miniatures as well. So highly underrated.

After Star Wars hit hard in the box office EVERYONE tried to capture that lightning in their own bottles! Even Disney tried, but failed miserably, with this movie The Black Hole. Even Star Trek was revived as a successful movie series after over a decade of obscurity and reruns of the original show (Trekkies try to deny this but if it wasn't for SW they would never have gotten to Wrath Of Khan or The Next Generation. I'm not sure why. Even George Lucas admitted in an old interview that he was partly inspired by Flash Gordon and the original Star Trek series so it's at least partly reciprocal. Besides no art is wholly original - Everyone has influences) As for this movie, I think I only saw it once in the theatre but back then they had these record albums that were sold along with a read along book with pictures from the film in them. I had this one and I listened to it often. However, the soundtrack and my warped little 5yo mind turned it into a decidedly darker movie than what it was.

Saw it in theaters when I was ten. Hell was a real place to me back then, and I found the ending terrifying. Thanks for the upload, of all the flaws of this film, spectacular (if fantastic) production design is one of its stronger suits.

The Nautilus of space.

Love this so much, watched it countless times on TV when I was little kid.

Fun Fact: Rush wrote a song called Cygnus-X1 in 1977, two years before this film was released, about a ship that travels into a black hole. Cygnus-X1 is a strong X-ray source believed to be a black hole in the constellation Cygnus.

That’s one beautiful looking ship. I like how glassy the design is, unlike a lot of scifi ships where it’s just thick hulls.

I liked this movie.

I have decent favorable memories of this. The ship was huge. The plot was some of the darkest Disney I've ever seen in my 60+ years. Without giving any details, I do remember the ending was disappointing.

The most awesome space ship of all times, the magnificent U.S.S Cygnus.

I remember having watched it as a kid, a long time ago. I was fascinated back then just as much as I am today. No digital for special effects, old-school analogic! Great movie.

I like this Film. Great Performances by Schell and Borgnine, a haunting Score by John Barry, some very impressive Special Effects, a very cool Spaceship with the USS Cygnus and Maximilian is one of the creepiest Robo-Villains ever. Plus, there is that feeling of dread though much of the movie, which is very involving. Its not a *fantastic* film, but I'd still consider it a classic.

This film's visual effects were ahead of it's time.

Damn. Some of these effects are pretty impressive, even by today's standards!

That explosion at 1:45 has always been one of my favorites and the best looking to this day. It gets everything right, the ventilation of atmosphere, scale, color, it's beautiful. And again at 2:51.

Years later, I remember thinking that a few WarHammer ships took styling cues from Cygnus. Such a great movie. Saw it in the theater when I was a kid and one of the first movies that kinda creeped me out because of the part with professor and max joining at the end there. Later as an adult I thought it very Dante, in fact the whole movie has a bit of that "we're going on a trip to hell" Dante vibe come to think of it :P

This video has always fascinated me..

So plasma screens did exist in 1979.

I love this movie too...absolutely one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Heh...one of my favorite shots in this movie is just after Maximilian destroys the Palomino, inadvertently sending it careening into the Cygnus. Reinhardt shoots a reproving look at Max, and the body language of Max pretty much says: "Ummm....oops?" LOL! I also love the score to this movie by John Barry. Although the first 15 minutes of the score is rather redundant, the music really takes off after the Palomino crew board the Cygnus. Thanks for sharing this video.

God this movie is dark.

Saw this when it came out on the big screen in 79. In 70mm and 6-track Dolby sound. I was 8. I remember it was quite dark and disturbing for a kid. We sat near the front. Imagine this movie being your whole field of vision. I think it had far more effect on me, as a moviegoing experience, than Star Wars did.

Cool effects for back in the day...

A drifting city of light and darkness with no sense for orientation, scale or distance in the endless void. Beautiful.

This film certainly looked great. It's a shame the script wasn't as good as the models, sets and effects.

We often collected movie related Topps cards as kids. This was one of the early films I aggressively collected cards for. As a kid you could easily remember if you come up with a duplicate. I enjoyed this film then and still do today. May have a couple left. Some of the movie cards had pictures on the back that were to be assembled in its complete larger firm with the right card.

3:51 I note that Reinhardt's body is still trapped under the screen as it slides while the tower collapses. Nice continuity point by the script supervisor, if a bit gruesome.

The Cygnus will always be a brilliantly designed space ship, just like the black hole towards the climax will always be a brilliant effect.

I remember having the cassette and book combo. I would turn the pages over and over and over then restart again.

This movie is great. I remember being a kid and the Black Hole, Alien and then the relatively dark Empire Strikes Back came out and suddenly space was much scarier than it had been in the original Star Wars /Star Trek TV series adventure days before.

Such an underrated film. Really creepy and dark but otherwise very entertaining

Man. I had totally forgotten how much I loved this movie as a kid. Thanks RU-vid algorithm!

In the constellation of Cygnus, there lurks a mysterious, invisible force: the black hole of Cygnus X-1...Six stars of the Northern Cross, in mourning for their sister's loss, in a final flash of glory, never more to grace the night...Where all my Rush fans at, y'all?!?

Time flies. I was in 6th grade when this movie released. We still have the novel too. I read there was a remake/reboot in the works, but it seems that it has never finished & that the Interstellar movie kinda helped keep that script "adrift" into that black hole called script development hell. But I hope there will be a remake in the future, as long as it's all done properly, of course.

I remember my dad took us to see this when it came out in the theaters back in '79. Maximillian was cool but gave me bad dreams for a few nights

A great Jules Verne-like pulp sci-fi opera with gorgeous old school SPFX.

*** And the epic Robot Jerk Award goes to....... Maximilian. 

Hands down, the U.S.S. Cygnus is the coolest looking spaceship in the history of sci-fi cinema.

It's highly memorable. The ending is as eerie as hell. I did like the art direction. I guess they didn't like stressed skin construction, The Cygnus looks like the Eifel Tower.

The Cygnus probably took its name from one of the first black holes ever thought to be found - Cygnus X-1.

If they really do make a remake of "The Black Hole," I really hope they keep the ship design and the music intact! Oh yeah, and those neat double-barreled laser blasters too. And the robots. And....

God this film terrifies me, i don't usually get scared but this one just.... does something

One of the most iconic sci fi vessels of all time... and such a tragedy what happened to the original model

I remember watching this when I was young. I thought it was the coolest shit I've ever seen. I'm 47 now and I still think it was a great movie for the time.

Also if you look at The Black Hole from an artistic standpoint they did a simply outstanding job but I do agree with you that they could taken a little more time to develop the characters and plot. But Max and Reinhardt were fantastic villains.

This was my first DVD I got .... somehow this movie has some irreplaceable feel that makes me want to watch it again now and then!

Great movie for the day it was made!!! I enjoyed it myself

Beautiful desolation. I know it has no basis in scientific fact but, I love the violent end of the Cygnus and Reinhardt. This film looks really good even 40 years later.

Increase power to maximum...we are going THROUGH!

I love the model work in this movie, feels substantial.

I loved the design for this ship ^_^ It was really the first time I ever say a concept that has become almost cliche in Science Fiction/Fantasy: The "Cathedral Ship', i.e. a starship that looks more like a religious edifice.

A classic!! Good ol days when movies were movies! Brings back memories 😇😃😃😃😎🎸

Great movie, reminds me of my childhood

I watched this movie and 'Dune' almost religiously when i was a kid.

Always wondered if the Cygnus would have made it if not for the Palomino crashing into it, and the asteroids. or if it was always doomed. After all it was an impressive looking ship but not a very robust design, there's no hull plating just a bare metal frame with a fabric skin, almost like a space zeppelin.

There are two really good things about this movie. The USS Cygnus, and most importantly, the classic score by the legendary John Barry. The score is better than the movie is. Although I do love both.