Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, Tom McLoughlin, Roddy McDowall, Slim Pickens, Gary Nelson
The explorer craft USS Palomino is returning to Earth after a fruitless 18-month search for extra-terrestrial life when the crew comes upon a supposedly lost ship, the USS Cygnus, hovering near a black hole. The ship is controlled by Dr. Hans Reinhardt and his monstrous robot companion, but the initial wonderment and awe the Palomino crew feel for the ship and its resistance to the power of the black hole turn to horror as they uncover Reinhardt's plans.
A little like the "Godi" in "Island at the Top of the World" I vividly recall the first time that I set eyes on "Maximilian" the menacing robot in this far darker Disney film from 1979. The "Palomino" discovers the long lost "Cygnus" on the precipice of a black hole and they board her. Once there, they discover that the captain - an excellently eerie Maximilian Schell ("Reinhardt") and our aforeme...