Can we take a moment to applaud the musical score? On a good music system it sounds almost ethereal.

Maximilian Schell is in Maximilian's Shell !!!!

This depiction of heaven and hell is a work of art. Absolutely mesmerizing sequence.

*Quite possibly the ballsiest ending for a Disney movie ever.*

Almost 40 yrs later scene still gives me the chills. Don’t want to end up there.

This scene will stay with me forever. Thank you Disney for a genuine attempt at an adults/kids film...oh, and the music?! Thank you John Barry!!!

This film is from the bygone era when filmmakers and production companies were willing to take creative risks and in the process we got some pretty amazing movies. I remember seeing this film as a kid and the ending scared me. I interpreted it as Reinhardt getting trapped inside the black hole in his own personal hell. While the rest of the crew escaped out the other end of the black hole and into another universe. The black hole seemed to be a gateway to other dimensions and realities. And who we were in life dictates the experience we have while in it and the final outcome. But that’s just my interpretation.

An old philosophy college professor once asked us to choose a quick video scene to describe humanity. He was very intrigued when I chose this.

Salvation? More like his Damnation. Maximilian (the robot) is the literal Prison, the iron maiden, of Reinhardt. He is trapped within him, in Hell, for eternity.

Dr Rieinhardt's Maximilian was his crowning glory in A.I., but also his worst nightmare...how fitting then that he should be entombed forever INSIDE him...ego and alter-ego together evermore -- pure poetry.

this was the darkest and most disturbing moment of my childhood. I remember it vividly even before scouring the internet to find it again.

As I've heard it explained, "..Max and Reinhart crash the Cygnus into the Black Hole and are torn to atoms, but their consciousness merge (Max's mind was an imprint of Reinharts) and they are trapped forever in a pocket dimension haunted and tormented by the memories of the crew they killed."

RIP Maximillian Schell. The ironic part about this ending is that Maximillian Schell would spend all eternity trapped inside Maximillian's shell.

Welcome to the one scene from an almost forgotten Disney movie that inspired the movie Event Horizon.

The music.... Oh the music ... Still gives me chills today.... The scene where he's flying through the arches is gorgeous

I have always considered that the film "Event Horizon" is an unofficial sequel to the film "The Black Hole".

In 1979, two things freaked me out as an 8-year-old kid: the transporter accident scene in Star Trek TMP and this scene here where Reinhardt is “fused” together with Maximilian. Also, unlike a lot of other commenters, I (as a kid) didn’t see Reinhardt and his drones(?) as somehow having descended into hell, but rather winding up on some alien planet, and the fires in front of them were actually the burning wreckage of their ship, the Cygnus.

Still haunting, after all these years!

I saw this twice at the theater when it came out and have always liked it. It's like a space-age Jules Verne story, with Reinhardt as Captain Nemo. And the old school SPFX are gorgeous.

The Black Hole got some good ass music. One of the best soundtracks ever.

This is a great movie! It's 36 years old and I still love watching it! This is a very powerful scene. The music is intense and beautiful.

Such a fantastic score composed and conducted by John Barry.

Saw this movie as kid when it came out and this whole part of the movie gave me nightmares...I still have dreams of falling endlessly outward into space...and the whole thing with him being stuck inside the robot in hell just messed me up...

So insane. Such a bold thing for Disney to do. I'm supposed to hate this film but I find it terribly entertaining.

that music is top notch

This scared the crap out of me when I was a kid

Outstanding Score by John Barry

I first saw this as a kid in the theater and this end still sticks with me today.

Fun fact : Reinhardt's character was played by Maximilian Schell (died in 2014). Same name as his Killer Robot, which was already in the script before casting Maximilian Schell...

I was six going on seven when my parents took my sister and I to see this. I wasn’t able to process this sequence at all, and when Dr. Reinhardt popped up into the frame, it scared the bejeezus out of me. Him merging into the shell of Maximilian and the hellscape and afterwards was beyond my thinking at the time, and my parents didn’t understand it either.

Saw this when I was 6, this scene destroyed my mind for years, complete nightmare fuel as someone else has surely said.

My uncle took me to see this movie when I was 7. I stayed up so incredibly late (for me at the time) to see the movie. The ending still kinda creeps me out to this day. I just watched the show (in 2022) and some of the special effects are still great (the black hole, the bridge). Also, RIP Yvette Mimieux (Dr. Kate McCrae) who passed this year (2022) in January.

Say what you will about the movie as a whole, this scene was just incredible.

I believe this scene first shows us "evil" Reinhardt's / Maximilian's hell, and then contrasts this by showing us the "good" spirits of the Palomino's crew as they exit the black hole. Remember the whole scene starts with us zooming into Dr. Kate's eye suggesting that this is what she is experiencing in her mind's eye, and it may not be literally happening at all. After all, she is the one who said to Reinhardt, "If there is any justice at all, the black hole will be your grave." I suppose its all open to interpretation. I'm going to get the novelization to see what it says.

RIP Max Schell and John Barry. Both of you (respectively) made this scene what it is, and as memorable as it is. And, instead of a place like this, I know you are both enjoying a beautiful place of love and light. :)

Saw this film in theaters when I was 4. It remains to this day one of the most amazing and dark classic Disney films I've seen. A masterpiece.

Interesting to see this again after so many years. I always took this sequence as a symbolic expression of Reinhardt's madness, the Hell he created for himself and the crew of the Cygnus. As the universe is infinite to us, his imprisonment within the shell of his robotic creation would be as infinite and hellacious. I'll always remember those crazy eyes, though... no salvation there.

for a disney movie, this is awfully dark.

I loved this movie as a kid. Now as a 50 year old man i adore it.

One of the best scenes in Sci Fi cinematic history.

0:12 - 2:30 That music is genuinely, downright haunting.

You know, a though just hit me... If the Hell scene here didn't exist, we might never had the concept of Hell in space like in the Doom videogame series. If my memory serves right, The Black Hole was also part of the influence for Paul Anderson to create Event Horizon. This scene may have been rushed out the door at the last minute, but left behind the start of a great concept.

I love the ending of the black hole It's a total freak out . I Respect an ending that you can interpret various ways

Without doubt, THE BEST movie ever made by Disney, and so unlike their usual fare....dark, brooding and magnificent!!

You can definitely hear some James Bond stylings in the music.

I was in first grade watching this in the indoor theater. Was my favorite Sci Fi next to Star Wars. The eyes in Maximilian freaked me out..

Finally someone who interpreted it the way I see it! Hans didn't go to hell. He got a glimpse of it before he passed into heaven.

This is a great visual representation for where Disney are at the moment.

I have never understood what the Hell happened in this sequence. But the music is phenomenal. That's some top tier soundtrack writing.

I saw this movie in the cinema when I was but three years old. I inferred the eyes within Maximilian's shell as another human that was a victim of Reinhardt's experiments. I understand it a lot better, now.

Bad ass movie man my age is showing tonight!!!

40 years and still relevant. still so many questions...bravo disney, bravo!

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. For it’s time, the effects are pretty good, and the score is just eerie. Amazing that this was a Disney film. We forget that Disney was able to do some real, darker storytelling (another example would be “2000 Leagues Under the Sea”, which parallels this movie). They took “Star Wars”, “2000 Leagues”, and an ending that’s almost as ambiguous as the ending of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and combined them into a story that’s entertaining 40 years later.

I don't why people hate on this ending I am in minority and think what they did with practical effects along with John Barry's score is awesome. The concept that the escape pod passes through the black hole to a white fountain but in process journey ana and kata into fourth spatial dimensions of hell and heaven. The world the probe flies to after exiting the white fountain/epr bridge is supposed to be Kolob, or a non Mormon version of it: the world closest to Gods throne. I am told the script doctor was Mormon from someone who worked on film. A white fountain universe and that is not Reinhardts spirit it's an angel guiding them from Ana hell thru kata heaven to one of the many mansions ie dimensions in Gods realm.

Ah, this enigmatic sequence. Quite unusual for a Disney movie. I prefer to look at it like this: We still don't know what is inside a black hole and Disney didn't try to give a hint to this either. We see a trip into Dr Kate's mind instead. She (and the crew) went through hell on the Cygnus, with Dr Reinhard in the center of it. His chief robot was always a manifestation of his fears and paranoia, the final visualization shows an anxious man trapped inside a shell with spikes an blades. So finally is coming together, what seemed to be separate, but it's not punishment, it's revelation. It's seems to be Dr Kate's insight of Reinhards true nature and kind of making peace with the murderer. A man not really evil but full of fears and ambition and in the end no way, that he could be saved. The Cygnus was a prison for the crew, but Reinhard also had imprisoned himself. He had to be left behind as a monument of mankinds dark side. A lord only of a dead world of rocks and flames, not the famous explorer and scientist, he wanted to be. After all they managed to escape, guided by all their virtues and capabilities, curiosity, prudence, loyalty, courage, that's the spirit in the hallway and all comes to an good end. I don't think the meaning of this sequence is, that there is heaven and hell inside a black hole, but heaven and hell lies within us humans and we carry it, wherever we go.

If there ever is a reboot of this, it damn well better be as dark and gritty as the first.

major nightmare fuel as a kid and yet - loved the movie. Watched it over and over again. Raised Methodist, they didn't even mention the WORD hell, so my whole formation of the concept of Hell is solely based on The Black Hole, which I didn't see as Hell but as nasty burning bit that they accidentally got caught up into, rather than something they deserved.

2001: "We will have an ending so confusing nobody will be able to top it!" Black Hole: "Hold my beer!"

That music is beyond perfection...

Seems exposure to black hole gives you space-dreadlocks.

I saw this movie at age 12...I am 51 now. Over the years...I've been involved heavily with amateur astronomy. I love science...and I'm an Atheist...YET...this scene still enthralls me...Einstein himself stated something along the lines that it bothered him to think that such places(Black Holes) existed...and he admitted that he knew they did.

I just realised, that after the cygnus was destroyed and swallowed by the black hole, Reinhardt seemed to age for decades floating through space. As he dies on the ship, his beard and hair are still black and way shorter, but when drifting through the black hole, noone can tell how many years he's been in nothingness, before being confined into a shell... cosmic horror ladies and gentlemen.

There is something hypnotic about the music and visuals.

I went to see masterpieces like this as a kid. The Dark Crystal was another trippie one.

when I saw the Hell scene for the First Time, I thought the back story was that Dr. Reinhardt lives on using Maximilian as a kinda Life Support Suit (since he built Him), the Fire was the Wreck of Cygnus which had Crash Landed on a unknown Planet after exiting the Black Hole, and Almost all the Humanoid Robots Survived Due to there Cyborg Status, and Reinhardt is still calling the Shots in a Brain in a Jar Form using Maximilian as he's new Body !

Pan was right. This is fucked up.

I've watched the black hole quite a few times now, still a great film,I now own all of the three robots, pictures cards from the film & the poster,it took a long time to collect these items

I saw this movie and this ending always freaked me out. I always thought the bad guy merged with maximilian, for some weird unknown reason, and he ended up in another dimension that looks hell, but is not hell. The good guys came out of the other side of the blackhole alive. At least that's how interpreted it.

I've been imagining for a long time what it would be like if The Black Hole in a Kingdom Hearts game? With original actors from the film who are still with us and Christoph Waltz as Hans Reinhardt where I think he fits this role. Then Maximilian as the final boss.

1:12 - there's a similar shot on 'Fantasia', during the 'Night on Bald Mountain' sequence.

I have to say it, as I apparently never have. But I am a believer in Jesus and thus in Heaven, so when I see that beautiful hallway that appears to be made entirely of gold, it always makes me think about the streets and hallways in the heavenly city and how beautiful they will be! I hope other believers can relate to this comment and can see it and agree!

A masterpiece! It will take its place among the timeless classic works of all time. Mythical and magical.

Why isnt this classic on youtube

The Interstellar of 1979.

I watched this when it first came out and this is some solid nightmare fuel.

John barry verry good musique

This movie is great and dark at the same time. The ending in hell trapped inside maximilian for eternity is very scary.

As a Kid I listened to the german audio - version long before ever seeing the film. Max Schell really nails it, much more emotion in his voice than in english version. He will always have a very special place in my heart. RIP Mr. Schell!

at 3.01 you can see a red recording light from the camera reflected in that cathedral archway

OK, check this out. Even the evil can be redeemed. Hans is imprisoned in his evil hench robot (his creation, used to do evil). When this evil is burned away (I guess this is a hellish purgatory?), he is freed and finds his way. The theme of "hell is of your own making" seems to be very heavy in this one. I saw this as a kid in the theater, and 100% all of this went miles over my head. This is INCREDIBLY Catholic-Christian in general concept.The music is perfect for what is happening on the screen. Barry is a master, and whoever synced the score w/ the movie should have gotten an oscar.

RIP Maximilian Schell.

Thanks Pan.

I swear I can Still remember seeing this as a kid and interpreting the eyes of Maximillian as being those of Kate's assumed dead father.

Should this not be "damnation" rather than "salvation"?

“Protect me from Maximilian.”

Accurate representation of Star Wars fans emotional journey after seeing what Disney did to the Star Wars franchise after they bought it.

This, along with KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park, are two of my earliest childhood memories.

I was sitting with my mouth wide open during the last 7 minutes, one of if not the darkest and most haunting endings to a Disney film ever. The score by John Barry added SO much dread and hope to the whole sequence, absolutely fantastic.

Have always loved this movie, the soundtrack (recorded by a Czech orchestra, if I remember correctly), etc.

I'm surprised they haven't remade this film already! Luv it & the music is astounding! At least bring out the blu-ray,please Disney

I first saw the film aged 7 or 8. This scene scared me witless

I remember watching this when I was little and being terrified!

I feel sad for the poor humanoids

This gave me nightmares as a kid.

I can still remember how uneasy I fejt aged 9 in the movie theatre with the ending

The way Dr. Reinhardt stands there in Maximilian makes me think of some futuristic Wicker Man.

2:43 Beautiful imagery.

I suppose it is all up to one's own interpretation. I was always under the impression that Reinhardt would spend eternity in Hell for his deeds. How can this scene be seen has salvation. The Angel floating down the crystal hall is the surviving crew members of the USS Palomino coming through the Black Hole intact. The idea of spending eternity trapped in a metal body, surrounded by flames is epic and scary. Disney took a gamble with this movie and I have always given this one top honors. Great score to boot.

Saw this on the TV on Christmas Day in the early 80's and this scene just messed me up for years afterwards😳‼ I actually like the film now😁

This movie scared the crap out of me when me and my buddy watched it on VHS at a neighbors house when his parents where out of town