The Black Hole ( 1979 )

“The Black Hole” is a 1979 science fiction film directed by Gary Nelson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. The film stars Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins, and Ernest Borgnine. Notable for being Disney’s first PG-rated film, “The Black Hole” blends elements of classic space opera with darker, more mature themes and visuals.

The story is set in the year 2130 and follows the crew of the spaceship USS Palomino, which includes Captain Dan Holland (Robert Forster), First Officer Lieutenant Charlie Pizer (Joseph Bottoms), journalist Harry Booth (Ernest Borgnine), scientist Dr. Alex Durant (Anthony Perkins), ESP-sensitive Dr. Kate McCrae (Yvette Mimieux), and their robot companion V.I.N.CENT (voiced by Roddy McDowall). The crew discovers a seemingly abandoned spaceship, the USS Cygnus, hovering near the edge of a massive black hole.

Upon investigation, the Palomino crew finds that the Cygnus is not abandoned but is commanded by the enigmatic Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximilian Schell). Reinhardt reveals that he has been living on the Cygnus alone, except for a crew of robots, since the rest of the human crew mutinied and left years ago. He explains that he has developed a plan to navigate the black hole and explore what lies beyond it.