Is it worth watching? In that respect, I think so. But in the end, you see a movie like 'The Black Hole' for the story itself. In the acting sense, at least, this movie matches '2001'. A shame, since actors like Forster, Mimieux, Schell, Perkins and even Roddy McDowell (in voice only) have all done good deeds on film prior and since. Each actor supplies their own black hole empty, dark voids where there once was talent but now serve only to suck away all the life and energy surrounding it. But if the FX are exemplary, the flesh and blood on display are not.

The ships all fly as they should, you can BARELY see the robots flying about on their strings and the wonder and mystery of what a black hole really is (physically as well as metaphorically) are explored satisfactorily. From a technical standpoint, the movie is impressive (moreso when you consider that Harrison and Peter Ellenshaw, virtuosos in matte paintings, did the background FX work). Now, let me tell you the truth about 'The Black Hole'. At the time, it was being hailed by everyone whom had not seen it as a return to cerebral, thought-provoking space opera, with the same kind of reverberations as '2001'. Even I could see that (being 14 at the time). Back in 1979, when this first came out, this could be seen coming down Main Street as a 'Star Wars' cash-in.

The black hole comic