I've had the Anchor Bay DVD of Disney's 1979 space opera The Black Hole ever since it came out back in 1999. While the disc does include a widescreen version of the movie, it was not enhanced for 16x9 displays. That was fine for me back in '99 - I didn't have a 16x9 TV. But I do now, and last time I tried to watch the disc, I was really annoyed by the lack of anamorphic enhancement.
So, anyway, I have a birthday coming up, so I ordered myself a copy of the Disney DVD re-issue of The Black Hole that came out in '04. I know that it has one bonus feature (a behind-the-scenes featurette) - which is one more than the AB disc had - and an anamorphic widescreen transfer, so it is something of an upgrade.
And yes, I am well aware that the '04 disc wasn't restored or remastered, so it still contains all the visual flaws and is basically the same transfer as the earlier Anchor Bay edition, but... at least it will display properly.
Once I told my wife that I'd purchased a second "upgraded" copy of the movie she looked at me and said, cynically, "You know, now that you've spent money on it again, they're probably going to announce a Blu-ray version."
I smiled and replied, "Man, I hope so."
LOL! I just did the same thing last week. Maybe with our "upgrade" purchases we can get a restored Blu-ray to happen.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is a dream, but the idea of seeing the Cygnus in HD is a nice one.
Maybe a remake?
ReplyDeleteWhile I have no particular interest in seeing a remake of The Black Hole, it would probably get us a remastered Blu-ray of the original...
ReplyDeleteI admire how you keep on the cutting edge of tech. I don't know what you do with your old DVD copies, but I've traded in some of mine through, swapadvd.com I'm not trying to spam, but just letting you and others know that it is an option. I've used them and came away with some good stuff. You might have to wait a long time for something specific, and it might never show up too. But I scored a copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth (James Mason, Pat Boone), which I've wanted for a long time, among others, so I've been happy with it.
ReplyDeleteI trade old discs that I no longer want at a local store. I always have lots of store credit. :)
ReplyDeleteI have had to do the same, but for a different reason. The zone 2/4 (UK/Australia) DVD of The Black Hole, doesn't have the overture before the movie as one of the VHS releases does. So imported the Zone 1 (Non Anchor Bay) version, which has the overture, but has the words "OVERTURE" in large red letters through the overture...sigh... So hopefully any future blu-ray release has that fixed, and also has the behind the scenes stuff that was released on an extremely rare VHS Boxset from the early to mid eighties.
ReplyDeleteI have the upgraded DVD, but I still have the VHS tin that Anchor Bay put out which has the movie letterboxed, reproductions of nine lobby cards and a 48 page book about the film.
ReplyDeleteBrian Lindstrand
Disney has already talked a remake from the director of "Tron: Legacy," but that talk died down after "Tron: Legacy" wasn't the monster hit Disney seemed to expect.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, upgraded that. ;)
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side, this one runs less than $10 these days, and I've seen it as low as 5... great movie!
I was proud of myself for holding off on the bare-bones first releases of "Top Gun" and "Forbidden Planet" until after their special editions came out (I was able to get "Planet" in Blu-Ray the night I bought my new TV and player). Unfortunately, I've owned the re-issue of "Black Hole" for a while now, so I can't contribute to the "buy it and they will upgrade" tide. Maybe on the next great unattainable cult film...
ReplyDeleteI replaced my Anchor Day disc when Disney reissued The Black Hole a few years ago, but I did so with some reluctance because I'm a stickler for packaging and much prefer the vintage-style graphics Anchor Bay used over the generic-looking 2004 Disney release.
ReplyDelete"The Black Hole" is one of my guilty pleasures, because I enjoyed the heck out of the movie as a kid (and the MEGO toy line as well). And while the movie unravels a bit from the physics (or lack of) that it used, I still think that the movie is a fun ride and has some great characters. Maximilian Schell is a joy to watch as he channels his space version of Captain Nemo. The movie has a lot of critics and fanboy angst, but to me, it was a daring risk for Disney to take.
ReplyDeleteChristopher, hopefully the Blu-Ray would be chock full of behind-the-scenes stuff. Disney's first sci-fi film deserves the all-out treatment.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Disney doesn't seem to care too much about this film. I also have both the Anchor Bay and Disney DVDs. The anamorphic definitely made it worth it to upgrade. I keep hoping to hear an announcement for a blu-ray but that's wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe director of Tron Legacy has said he plans to do a remake of The Black Hole in 3D. I read some comments by him last year and he certainly has a love for the original. He said 2 things that would remain for sure are the Cygnus and Maximillion. Of course that all depends if Disney is willing to back him up on it.
If a remake does get made and released, it can almost guarantee a tie-in blu-ray release of the original, so maybe a blu-ray release will ultimately depend on if a remake happens.
I love this film, unapologetically and without reservation. It's one of my childhood favorites, and still "speaks to me" on a very basic level. I've bought each edition as they've been released, and I'll buy the Blu-ray when the day comes.
ReplyDeleteRIP Ernest Borgnine
ReplyDeleteI love the soundtrack to this movie and was thrilled when they released an expanded complete CD score last year.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the movie is a bit lacking, particularly in the complete disregard for basic science in certain scenes ( Timothy Bottoms floating away in space and yelling "HEEEEELLLLPPP!!!" comes mind, as does the entire group of heroes coming to the end of a broken tram track, exposed to space and saying something like "Guess we can't go this way!"...they shouldn't have been able to say anything or make a decision IN A VACUUM! ). But admittedly some of the visuals are gorgeous to behold and the score was fantastic.
If I can enjoy Space: 1999 even though it has the moon traveling faster than light, but able to slow down every time it gets near an habitable planet, Battlestar Galactica, with its fighters maneuvering in zero G vacuum like airplanes, The Empire Strikes Back with Han & Co walking around inside a space slug wearing nothing but tiny air masks, and all the other shows/films of the era despite their "complete disregard for basic science," then The Black Hole (which is hardly the worst offender), is pretty easy for me to forgive...
ReplyDeleteIf anyone reading this has Comcast Xfinity, there's a really nice looking HD version of the film available, free to watch.
ReplyDeleteI have owned both the AB and Disney releases on DVD. As much as I was frustrated by the non-anamorphic transfer of the former, I have to say I was profoundly disappointed with the picture quality of the latter. I used to own a 36" (4:3) Trinitron WEGA with a 16:9 mode, so the non-anamorphic AB version would display correctly on that monitor. I felt the transfer of the AB version was very good considering its limitations. The Disney version, displaying on the same monitor in 16:9 mode was too awful to watch all the way through. I find it hard to accept that the same transfer was used for both editions.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison to the AB version I found the picture quality of Disney's version to be darker, softer and lacking in detail and colour. My big regret is that I traded my AB version. Here's hoping for an improved BD version some day!
I believe the French laserdisc version of this was in full widescreen, where as LDs from Japan and the States were Pan and Scanned! Would like to see the French version.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Black Hole on Amazon a couple of weeks ago. I remember seeing it when it came out in 1979. My Dad took my sister and I to see it in an old movie house in Olean N.Y. called "The Palace". I think it was on New Year's Day and the theater was cold and empty. To top it off, the film broke and there was a long delay to fix it including some dolt opening a window blind in the projection booth and flooding the theater below in cold natural light (we were at a matinee). Anyway, the surreal experience forever marked the movie as less than perfect for me. I was not surprised to find out later in life that the movie was a bomb for Disney.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I absolutely love John Barry's haunting score and I remember the hype and Disney marketing push leading up to the movie with fondness. I believe I had some of the action figures as well at one time. Watching it again, I saw a pretty decent action movie with some great visuals. I too hope it comes out on Blu-ray with the original featurette and trailers.
Man, still no BluRay for this yet? I'd even settle for a rip of an HDTV broadcast or something (*seriously, is this movie so 'cult-ish' that nobody has even bothered to do that yet? Or has it just never been shown anywhere in HD?).
ReplyDeleteAs for the oft spoken of remake/reboot that is supposed to be happening...I honestly hope it never sees the light of day. I'd rather see the original get re-mastered and have some newer effects shots mixed in to it (*yeah, I know, that's an idea a lot like those horrible Star Wars 'Special Editions') than see a modern day version/remake. The Tron sequel director was quoted in an interview saying it would have still have Maximillian, but the rest of the robots and cast would be changed or jettisoned altogether.
I couldn't give two shits about a remake (unless it turned out halfway decent, like Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes). The only reason I support one is to get the original film remastered and released on Blu-ray, like they did with TRON.
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