no, it wasn’t ‘the black hole’ but there was some space movie of the week and i think there was a black hole. i remember it being around the time nasa’s space camp was being hyped and there was something about the family/crew going on some extended long-term trip to colonize a planet…am i off my rocker?
i just remember how sad it was about the young male kid’s crush being old or dead by the time due to the light year distance etc.
this has just been bugging me for the last 10+ years or so…
You know, I don’t think I can help you but I have to mention that your post reminded me of two of my favorite Disney movies back when I was a kid, and I haven’t thought of them in forever. The first was called, I think, The Cat from Outer Space. This alien that looked like a cat lands on earth in a flying saucer, hijinks ensue. I believe it had this jeweled collar that gave it powers, without this it was more or less an ordinary housecat? It’s been a while, I’m probably hazy there.
I don’t remember the name of the other, but it’s focused on an astronaut who somehow goes back to the age of Camelot in a space shuttle with his robot that looks exactly like him. They meet Arthur and Merlin, joust and stuff like that. I can’t remember why I liked this movie so much beyond the cool knights and space ships and stuff, but I loved it. I mean, it was no Star Wars, but then what was?
edit: and I just now noticed the somewhat key ‘80s’ part of the title. The movies I listed are from the 70s, so even less help. Oh well.
The only movie that I can think of which vaguely matches your description is Flight of the Navigator. But it has nothing to do with a family colonizing a planet.
I’ve got no recollection about the plot of the film, but I remember seeing a Disney film titled ‘The Black Hole’ in the late 70’s. I can’t imagine Disney had many space adventure movies revolving around black holes back then.
Earth Star Voyager? That’s with a little google-fu. Didn’t have Disney channel growing up, so looks like I missed a lot of good stuff.
btw, anyone know a 70s/80s sci-fi where they terraform Venus, I think? Last shot is of them on the hot planet surface and it turns out giant worms had been living there. I think I saw it frequently on TBS. Turner sure showed some odd movies.
Unidentified Flying Oddball. Cute, lightweight fun for kids.
As in the other thread, I’m going to guess Jaws IV: The Revenge. Or The Swarm.
-Tom
P.S. Okay, for serious, it sounds like some kind of Swiss Family Robinson variation. Wasn’t there a sci-fi one of those? If not, there should be.
There was! It was called Space Family Robinson, or somesuch.
earthstar voyager it was!
I loved Earth Star Voyager. Who needs more than one FX shot?
I’m sad it was never a series.
The only two things I remember about Earth Star Voyager are the food quotas and some kinda garbage cannon, I think.
Assuming this isn’t a joke I just missed, Lost in Space.
There was actually a Space Family Robinson comic book, at least.
the spaceman and king arthur. I remeber that. he was mistaken for a witch because he had a filofax that allowed him to predict a handy solar eclipse…
Yeah, basically a cheesy ripoff of “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”
I already mentioned this one–it was also released as “Unidentified Flying Oddball”, complete with a title track I can sing to this day. They even gave Mark Twain a writing credit, so I don’t think you can really call it a ripoff.
The Cat from Outer Space.
There was Space Camp, which was the Goonies set in space, only instead of Chunk doing the truffle shuffle he loses his bearings during a spacewalk and floats untethered towards the sun.
I saw this movie at a drive in double feature paired with Lady and The Tramp. I’m pretty sure it was the first drive-in I ever went to.
Now tell me, how can I remember this, almost 30 years ago, but I can’t remember what I did yesterday?