Black Hole, le Trou Noir

1. Poor acting - at the very least poor depiction of what should have been strong emotions such as living without children, scared, etc. Lead character acts as if he just woke up

Disconnected or no flow at all - such as characters making statements about research they did that they never had time to do (because they spent all time driving or running around)

The "black hole" would not behave at all the way it did in the movie. Suffice to say that there is no "Science" in this fiction.

The whole army behaves like it is in a war with another ... human army. Hiding behind walls, carrying guns, etc.

The only reason I gave it a 2 and not 1 is that it could, nevertheless, be amusing to watch how people have no clue what they are talking about.

Stupendous.

In St. Louis, the scientists Dr. William Hauser (Kevin Beyer), Shannon Muir (Kristy Swanson) and Kent (Dan Buran) accidentally create a black hole during an experiment. While investigating the phenomenon, Dr. Hauser and Kent die and the army comes to their laboratory under the command of General Ryker (David Selby). Shannon tries to call the prominent Dr. Eric Bryce (Judd Nelson), but the scientist does not answer the phone since he misses his daughter Kayley (Julia Sinks) after the divorce to his ex-wife Elizabeth (Jennifer Quackenbush). When he is contacted, he comes to the laboratory and soon he finds that the experiment has also unleashed a creature that feeds of energy. The Powers That Be wants a nuclear attack against the creature, but Eric warns that the action will increase the black hole. He also believes that the creature may be destroyed and the black hole closed if they are attracted to each other. However, only General Ryker supports his theory while General Tate (Peter Mayer) wants to bomb the location.

"The Black Hole" is a stupid and corny thriller. The one-dimension characters are not developed and Eric in the beginning is an alcoholic scientist that misses his family and in the corny end is a hero in love with Shannon, who seems to be the pivot of his divorce. The military personnel cannot be that imbecile, using the usual weapons against the energy creature to be vaporized on the next scene. The idea of bombing the black hole and the creature is taken by people without any knowledge is totally unintelligent. And the character that performs the President is disrespectful so ridiculous he is. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Buraco Negro" ("Black Hole")

"Following a scientific mishap, mankind is faced with total annihilation as a threatening black hole appears over St. Louis. Now, time is running out to obliterate the black hole and the electricity-feeding alien it has unleashed," according to the DVD sleeve description. This film has nothing to do with either the original "Black Hole" movie or a real astronomical black hole, which could not make an appearance like the one depicted in this film. It plays more like an episode of "The Outer Limits".

"The Black Hole" stars hairy Judd Nelson (as Eric Bryce) and pretty Kristy Swanson (as Shannon Muir). It was a "Science Fiction Channel" original, featuring David Selby (as General Ryker) in a substantial supporting role. Ironically, the network stopped airing repeats of Mr. Selby's "Dark Shadows" in order to present more first-run entertainment (like multiple airings of this movie). Although Selby is always a dependable player, this program made you want to see "Dark Shadows" return.

*** The Black Hole (6/10/06) Tibor Takacs ~ Judd Nelson, Kristy Swanson, David Selby, Christa Campbell

As a resident of the city in which the movie took place, I enjoyed it mostly for the amazingly silly geographic liberties the filmmakers took with St. Louis. I knew it was going to be entertaining from the moment the Planetarium/Science Center - one of the most well-known buildings in the city - was labeled as the stand-in for the nuclear physics institute where the whole mess started.

From there, it was a silly and stupid ride through bad science and locations that left most of my family going, "But isn't that building in the area they just said was destroyed?" My favorite moment was after the Arch and Downtown St. Louis were destroyed and then we saw Judd Nelson racing down a road...in downtown St. Louis...toward a darkened but obviously still visible and untouched Arch.

The actors performed their roles with earnestness and deserve credit for doing what they could with the silliness of the plot.

I knew from the trailers Sci-Fi channel was showing that this one would be totally insane. I watched anyway, figuring it would be at least good for some kitschy comedy, and a chance to see my home town of St. Louis get ripped. It did not disappoint (at being insane, that is).

A black hole is created artificially in a lab, but the black hole itself is not the only menace, as a strange electrical energy entity (that zaps people into oblivion) hitchhikes with it. This creature was actually kind of a creative plot device, since the movie really didn't seem to know what to do with the black hole other than devour stuff. Since there is a famous landmark in St. Louis, it's pretty obvious where the black hole goes for lunch (always moving along the ground in a 2-dimensional manner, by the way). As for the creature, it was utilized in some intriguing ways; but the explanation of its nature and intent was insufficiently developed, and could have been explored more.

Most everyone is at least somewhat familiar with basic scientific theory regarding black holes, and therefore will see a myriad of scientific absurdities, but if you view this silly nonsense without taking it seriously, it can be fun to watch. Toss disbelief into the black hole; or just play a game of "find the goofy science" as you watch.

The actors, given the weird script, really do approach the thing with urgency. When the scientist hero describes his quantum physics theories, you almost want to believe the offbeat premise of this movie. But then another bizarre thing happens and you're laughing hysterically again. There are the usual ploys and clichés: divorced dads, military that wants to use nukes, rogue scientists, TV news reporters doing play-by-play of destruction, etc.

Watch for loony amusement only. Science has been imploded in this "Black Hole."