Cygnus Mutiny and Suppression!

In learning Final Cut Studio, I wanted to do a little backstory piece for Disney's "The Black Hole" where Reinhardt pulls up to the black hole, puts down the mutiny, turns the crew into lobotomized cyborgs, shuts the lights off, and basically turns really nefarious.
"The officer the men trusted most was Frank McCrae. They turned to him when Dr. Reinhardt ignored the orders to return home. They tried to take control of the Cygnus. Reinhardt called it mutiny and killed Mr. McCrae."
"We can't just take off, and leave these poor devils behind..."
"The damage is irreversible; death is their only release."

[@hub5343]

The Cygnus is a sci fi ship not replicated in any movie since. It truly is one of a kind. As an architect - I would say it has actually affected me in my design work. The light weight truss structures form large colossal spaces within - with rooms and side corridors filling in gaps. I must say, if we did truly go to the stars in generation ships, this one really is what you would want to go in, with plenty of space to move and to inhabit - not the small corridor, labyrinthine and claustraphobic ships that are often depicted today.

[@blaidencortel]

If you’ve never seen this movie, at least listen to the opening music. Weird, creepy and majestic.

[@Tommykey07]

You also realize at the time of the movie, most of the lobotomized crew were in their fifties or sixties and physically very frail.

[@SinewRending]

*This was the most horrifying aspect of the movie for me.*

[@Kinglore2000]

The damage is irreversible. Death is their only release.

[@mikegallant811]

Yes my friend unfortunately that was the case. Nothing could be done for the modified crew of the Cygnus.

[@Skybaby79]

it was like Frankenstein's Castle in space, both ominous and foreboding. The only ship that's more threatening with the lights on lol. can you imagine being the last person being haunted down in that thing? ....makes for a scary game

[@tuanvandersluis4433]

yes it is. but it's tech lay out is what?

[@tuanvandersluis4433]

so the size of the Cygnus is leanth & wieth is about the same as Nostromo about.

[@blaidencortel]

tuan vandersluis Very weird.

[@commandingjudgedredd1841]

Imagine it pairing up with the Event Horizon

[@TheApprentice225]

@@commandingjudgedredd1841 lol I've thought about that, given how similar the two films are. As they travel through a tear in space and time, they pass through literal hell as it consumes Dr. Reinhardt, so it's at least a workable story! lol it'd be incredibly freaky, for sure!

[@TheSaneHatter]

Dr. Reinhardt is Disney's most under-rated villain: whether you're entertained by Maximilian Schell's performance or not, the things he did were *despicable*. He's a motherfucker on a cosmic scale.

[@SinewRending]

Agreed.

[@mikegallant811]

Yes and Dr. Kate McCrae was prophetic in saying to Hans Reinhardt... "If there's any justice at all.... The Black Hole will be your grave!!!"

[@matthewevans97]

"In... Through... And beyond."

[@chilliconn071]

I always thought of the USS CYGNUS as like a vast cathedral in space. Gothic-like, beautiful and hauntingly empty.

[@SupesMe]

Gorgeous, very well done. I recently got curious "Which was bigger? The Cygnus or the Enterprise?" After about a days searching I learned the Cygnus was 5249 Ft long :o You could literally line up five Constitution class Starships nose to tail next to her and still come up a little short.

[@Nowhereman10]

But only 2.3 Galaxy or Sovereign class ships. And Cygnus is less than half the Universe-class Enterprise.

[@ibroketheserver]

Nice. I had the readalong book/cassette as a kid. I saw Jackie Brown twice before I placed Robert Forster. It's those robots, permanently etched into your subconscious, and for me, the chimes.. :)

[@williamcrowe2576]

Reinhardt had WAYS to make the Cygnus crew obey him.

[@mikegallant811]

Yeah, the bastard turned the crew into the humanoid robots As Dr. Kate aptly put it in her last words to Dr. Reinhardt: If there's any justice at all, the black hole will be your grave!! Little did Kate realize that she was actually being prophetic!

[@Lavaman3682]

This movie still creeps me out 40+ years after i saw it in a drive in

[@kiirabrightstar7452]

kinda wish for a prequel now just to see what really happened

[@joet7136]

That would be interesting.

[@NH1973]

Me too.

[@loheswaranamirthananthar7168]

I think this is brilliant - I started a Facebook page to get people to back a Disney remake - come and join the numbers - please. I get the acting was a bit wooden - but name me another Disney film where Perkins gets disembowelled by a psycho robot; where a human crew are turned into zombies - and the ending... That said when people say things are not possible - who really knows what is possible? It's science fiction. love it

[@Tommykey07]

If it wasn't a Disney movie, there would have been blood spattering all over the place

[@SnowyNightFlyer]

The USS Cygnus was fragile-looking and downright menacing at the same time.

[@terranempire725]

The sad thing is that this movie was great until the movie execs stepped in and destroyed it. There are some glaring mistakes (how does the only woman in the movie know instantly recognize the ship her father was assigned to) and terrible scenes. I LOVE the backstory for this movie and it would have made for a GREAT adult sci fi horror if they had kept at it. Casting was pretty good - I wouldn't have picked Ernest B but that's about it. Robert Forrester actually took the part very seriously which made it better - loved the spooky scene of him in the crew quarters. This ships was definitely groundbreaking but there were massive areas of basically unused space - NOT how you design space ships. As for the comment about being the last guy getting hunted down....that would make for a great add on scene (like they found a log entry from them explaining what happened).

[@Afmedic85]

I suspect Reinhardt had OTHER reasons for lobotomizing the woman with the Palomino crew. Space is lonely and people have needs.

[@SinewRending]

*Ugh, no. I think Reinhardt's sole purpose was scientific discovery at the expense of his crew. He was a madman, not a sadist.*

[@okamijubei]

​@@SinewRending but isn't Dr Kate a daughter of one of his crew men?

[@SinewRending]

@@okamijubei *Yes. Dr. Frank McCrae led the mutiny, and was killed early into it.*

[@mikegallant811]

​@@okamijubei yes, the only known issue of Frank McCrae, First Officer, United States Space Probe One, USS Cygnus.

[@gorgogorgo9379]

Thank you. A great thank you for this video from another Black Hole fanatic.

[@hornet718]

EXCELLENT CUT!!!!

[@islandexile1571]

Excellent job. So happy to see love for this film!

[@Okiedog1]

Wow. Nice work Eric.

[@martok2112]

I just now saw this....so, a much belated Kudos! Nicely edited! :)

[@myndstorm]

when i was little Maximillian scared the hell out of me

[@daanvos194]

The first disney horror movie

[@drill_fiend1097]

I don't know anyone mentioned this before, but I wonder if Ad Astra's H. C. McBride (the father played by TLJ) is also inspired by Reinhardt. Both are characters who went insane for their goal to kill subordinates to continue their research, playing with fires (unstable orbit around black hole vs antimatter) I always thought the movie was the "updated" version of Black Hole with more side plots.

[@hornet718]

WELL DONE!!!

[@chevydryden4508]

Sequel prequel reboot just bring it already Disney

[@blaidencortel]

Alan Cogan Yes, that’s what the Romans thought.

[@mkaplan1383]

Please don't give them ideas. They'll turn classics like these into woke dumpster fires.

[@PUBHEAD1]

Part of this theme remind me of the 1976 king kong theme

[@aerochicc]

That's because it's by the same composer! John Barry. He also did most of the classic James Bond movies.

[@christopherthrawn1333]

Classic movie

[@badkittynomilktonight3334]

Slim Picken was B.O.B., uncredited, V.I.N.cent was voiced by Roddy McDowell, also uncredited. Don't know why.

[@terranempire725]

BTW - Thanks for the great video

[@tuanvandersluis4433]

in the film the black hole the uss Cygnus lay out is.

[@kurtboyer299]

"I dunno about dat guy Rineheart. He sorta reminds me of dat other guy we whacked dat time. Back home years ago."

[@oldbob1445]

What scenes were cut from the film?

[@etamble]

Amazingly, the 'net still contains this page, that describes two: www.oocities.org/area51/shire/6822/tbh_faq.html

[@oldbob1445]

@@etamble thx Is there a way to get the film in the uncut version?

[@etamble]

It looks like not. The last thing I ever heard was that Disney was working on a restoration of the film for a DVD Anniversary version--maybe 2004, maybe 2009. It might have been relying on a nostalgia push from Tron Legacy. There were reports at that time that described "deleted scenes"--which might have been the Dan/Kate scene, the bridge-crossing scene, and possibly the Kate-in-the-Sistine-Chapel scene. But because there was no support, this work-in-progress was never released and was scrapped--maybe telecine'd, maybe not. Maybe with audio, maybe not. Maybe sitting in a vault somewhere, maybe gone forever. What a shame. On the other hand, the novelization contains all the stuff, which is interesting--including the quasi-Hitler quote by Reinhardt. Also, the kid's record contains some dialogue that was not used in the film--like where V.I.N.Cent. says about the big asteroid "It's the granddaddy of them all!"

[@oldbob1445]

@@etamble first thanks for the information I've watched the movie back then in cinema a childhood memory for life I'm still looking for the cinematic version no matter what language, on ebay lately a 70mm movie was offered but no one can copy in Germany!

[@blaidencortel]

Eric Amble Great information! Thank you.