I agree! I saw it as a kid. Very dispiriting film to see as a kid.

I disagree, at least in terms of dialogue.

The dialogue was sparse, as it should've been. This was a "show don't tell" movie (the best kind of film); the viewer was supposed to brood on the subject matter and images presented. We can guess what Captain Holland was thinking when he was walking alone through the deserted Cygnus, observing the funeral, and the sadly abandoned crew quarters (just one example among many).

We don't need conversations between characters to tell us this stuff.

The conversations involving metaphysics (the nature of the Black Hole in relation to a possible afterlife and our purpose in the universe) between Reinhardt and members of the Palomino crew were also well-handled; we don't get this very often, nowadays, in SF films.

Where I would agree would be in the direction of the film in general. As has been pointed out many times over the years, The Black Hole suffered from a split personality; it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a children's film, or a film geared toward a more mature audience. In that respect, yes, the writing could've been much improved. I think they should've kept the film consistently "grown-up" in nature. It really had a lot of potential, in that regard.

Still one of my favorite films, though. A solid 4 out of 5 for me, on the TMDB scale.

A contender for the worst movie ever made imo. I don't include low budget or amateur efforts in that assessment.

But this is from a major studio. It has two best actor Oscar winners, Borgnine and Schell in the cast, and Mimieux and Perkins have Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. Yet almost nothing works in this film.

But the script, now that is a real stinker. It doesn't know whether it wants to be Star Wars or 2001 or Herbie The Love Bug. It is no surprise this was Gerry Day's only theatrical release movie script and no one else involved in the writing did much afterwards either.

It was almost perfect when I was a youngster in the theater. The first half consisted of mystery and a growing dread. As the clues piled up, it was clear something was very not right.

The second half was action packed. That's what I wanted in my movies and it delivered.

The finale -- well that was a bit of a head scratcher, but I admired the film for trying something a little different.

I was charmed by VINCENT and BOB and frightened by Maximilian.

As an adult, this film does lack something, but I still enjoy the sets and atmosphere.