What follows is a sequence of some of the most bizarre and uncharacteristic visuals thus far. Man, that toy was cool.Ĭulminating in our heroes’ only chance of escape being Reinhardt’s crazy plan of going into the black hole. But his tormenting isn’t restricted to the human visitors he even bullies the friendly helpful robots V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B. Not to mention his two spinning arm blades of death, which he does use to kill a human later on in the third act. How one robot with no facial expressions or even jointed limbs can emote such coldness and elicit such terror in return still amazes me. But that one big red murderous Maximilian is Reinhardt’s crown jewel of the entire battalion. Dual laser wielding security bots roam obediently through the desolate hallways and dark robed clad ones pace quietly around taking care of the day-to-day maintenance. The rest of the crew has long since fled you see, and he’s only had the company of the robots of his own creation that both march and trudge, depending on their function, through the abandoned corridors of the ship. Immediately he’s presented to us in half shadow, black hole churning over his shoulder through a window, seated in the throne of his lone kingdom. Reinhardt is a unique character, albeit an often used, stereotypical one. Machines and transportation magically come to life as our heroes approach them until they are brought up to the bridge of the vessel and finally introduced to our villain. To the viewer, it’s all quite disconcerting. The hallways are ghost towns and there are large empty spaces devoid of any activity whatsoever.
Upon finally boarding the Cygnus, our heroes are welcomed by an uncomfortably empty ship. respectively, although uncredited at the time. Finally, Roddy McDowall ( Fright Night, Planet of the Apes) and Slim Pickens ( Blazing Saddles, The Howling) lend their voice talents to robot companions V.I.N.CENT and B.O.B. Hans Reinhardt played by the twice nominated and Oscar winning Maximilian Schell, and in case you were wondering he had those two nominations and win all before appearing here.
The Black Hole, for that era, was practically a star-studded cast and I haven’t even mentioned our chief antagonist, the aforementioned Dr. Now some of those names may still loom large today, but remember that this is just a few years removed from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope and aside from Sir Alec Guinness, everyone else that starred in that film were virtual unknowns.
Our heroes are led by brave captain, Robert Forster ( Heroes, The Wolf of Snow Hollow), science officer, Anthony Perkins ( Psycho, Murder on the Orient Express), journalist Ernest Borgnine ( Escape from New York, Airwolf), scientist and ESP user Yvette Mimieux ( Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell, The Time Machine) and finally, trusty second officer Joseph Bottoms. This is a good time to call attention to the all-star cast that signed on for The Black Hole.
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