The Black Hole (1979) - Quotes

Taglines: [from trailer] There is an inexorable force in the cosmos where time and space converge. A place beyond man's vision, but not his reach. It is the most mysterious and awesome point in the universe, where the here and now may be forever. It is unavoidable, moving through space, swallowing everything in its path, radio waves, light, even planets and stars. Now, man is about to enter...The Black Hole. A journey that begins where everything ends.

Taglines: A journey that begins where everything ends

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: [the Palomino is destroyed along with Booth who was fleeing in it; rants] I should've known he was all-talk-no-guts and locked him up!

Dan Holland: [reassuringly defending Booth] He may have done us a favor, Charlie; at least we're alive.

V.I.N.CENT.: [Ecclesiastes 9:4] And where there's life...

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: [dismissive] That's just not what he had in mind; he was trying to save his own skin.

V.I.N.CENT.: [J.P. Morgan] There is a saying that you can't unscramble eggs!

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: A penny's worth of philosophy right now isn't gonna buy us out of this now, V.I.N.CENT.!

V.I.N.CENT.: A good offense is the best defense!

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: And what, go after Reinhardt and turn the ship around? It's too late for all that!

V.I.N.CENT.: There is an alternative!

Dan Holland: The probe ship. V.I.N.CENT., you're a genius!

Dr. Alex Durant: You will be remembered as one of the biggest space scientists of all time.

Dr. Hans Reinhardt: I've never doubted that. It's about time that people learn about their failures and my successes.

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: We'd be better off without you and Maximilian trying to knock heads.

V.I.N.CENT: I can handle that thing.

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: Well, far be it from you to admit there isn't anything you can't handle.

V.I.N.CENT: There are three basic types, Mr. Pizer: the Wills, the Won'ts, and the Can'ts. The Wills accomplish everything, the Won'ts oppose everything, and the Can'ts won't try anything.

Dan Holland: Well, do us all a favor, V.I.N.CENT, and try to be a Can't, especially where that monster is concerned. We need you, not another corkscrew.

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: Every time I see one of those things I expect to spot some guy dressed in red with horns and a pitchfork.

Dan Holland: It's a monster, all right.

V.I.N.CENT: A rip in the very fabric of space and time.

Harry Booth: If Reinhart has anti-gravity strong enough to hold us here, I figure he's got enough to pull away.

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: So?

Harry Booth: So? So why not take this ship and Reinhart back home?

Dan Holland: That's a long shot you're talking, Harry.

Harry Booth: Oh, come on! You've got two scientific wizards here who could figure out the computers and possibly even reprogram the robots. And the three of us can handle Reinhart and that pet monster of his. I tell ya... we could all be heroes.

Dan Holland: We could also be dead.

Dan Holland: It's only dinner.

V.I.N.CENT: [Mary Howitt] Said the spider to the fly.

V.I.N.CENT: [beep] 2130; day 547. Unscheduled course correction due at 2200. Pre-correction check: rotation axis plus three degrees. Nitrous oxide pressure: 4100 rising to 5,000. Quad jet C and D on preselect. Rotor ignition sequence beginning in 3-0. Thruster line reactors on standby.

Dan Holland: V.I.N.CENT, notify me with 15 to go. Alex?

Durant: Yes, Dan?

Dan Holland: Have you determined a difference in ETAs with and without our correction?

Durant: Working on it. You know, we shouldn't be needing a correction at this time. V.I.N.CENT, run a confirmation on the last inertial fix and check it with another celestial, please.

V.I.N.CENT: [beep] I have. It is correct. But I think I've found the reason for our present variation. Mr. Pizer?

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: Yes, V.I.N.CENT?

V.I.N.CENT: [beep] Mr. Pizer, I think you should come up here.

B.O.B.: The officer the men trusted most was Frank McCrae.

Charlie Pizer: Kate's father.

B.O.B.: 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.

Dan Holland: What became of the crew?

B.O.B.: They were captured by the sentry robots and they're still on board.

Harry Booth: What?!

Pizer: Where?

B.O.B.: In the command tower, the power center.

V.I.N.CENT.: Robots, Mr. Pizer! Humanoid robots!

B.O.B.: The most valuable thing in the universe, intelligent life, means nothing to Dr. Reinhardt. Without their wills, the crew became things he can command.

Holland: That explains the funeral.

Pizer: Right.

Holland: [to Harry Booth] And the limping robot you spotted.

Booth: [to B.O.B.] Do you mean to tell me that there's actually a human body under that clothing?

B.O.B.: Exactly, Mr. Booth.

Holland: We can't just take off and leave these poor devils behind. Harry, it looks like we're gonna have to try your plan.

Booth: What?! And end up just like the rest of the crew?! Well, if they couldn't pull it off, what chance do we have?

B.O.B.: [to Dan Holland] Captain, the damage is irreversible. Death is their only release.

Booth: That's right! For God's sakes, Dan, we can't take on that mechanical army!

V.I.N.CENT.: Captain, I was forced to destroy two sentry robots. The others are searching now. If they're found...!

Holland: [to Charlie Pizer] Gotcha, V.I.N.CENT.. Charlie, start the countdown.

Pizer: Right!

Holland: V.I.N.CENT., tell Kate I want her and Alex back here on the double!

Dan Holland: Kate, try to get through to V.I.N.C.E.N.T with your E.S.P.

Kate McCrae: [R.J. Childerhose] I got through to V.I.N.C.E.N.T! He said there are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are very few old, bold pilots!

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: She's tuned into V.I.N.C.E.N.T all right!

Dan Holland: Good.

Hans Reinhardt: Tonight, my friends, we stand on the brink of a feat unparalleled in space exploration. If the data on my returning probe ship matches my computerized calculations, I will travel where no man has dared to go.

Alex Durant: Into the black hole?

Reinhardt: In... through... and beyond.

Harry Booth: [surprised; laughs] Why, that's crazy! Impossible!

Reinhardt: The word "impossible", Mr. Booth, is only found in a dictionary of fools.

V.I.N.CENT: [to B.O.B.] They still haven't improved on our model. You can't modify perfection. We are the best.

V.I.N.CENT: [to Captain S.T.A.R. being damaged having lost a match; Captain S.T.A.R. starts smoking while throwing a fit until overloading; Captain S.T.A.R. blows a fuse and collapses] If One Dances...One Must Pay The Piper If There's Anything I CANNOT STAND...It's A Sore Loser

V.I.N.CENT: All sunshine makes a desert, so the Arabs say.

V.I.N.CENT: To quote Cicero: rashness is the characteristic of youth, prudence that of mellowed age, and discretion the better part of valor.

V.I.N.CENT: I don't mean to sound superior, but I hate the company of robots.

V.I.N.CENT: [Margaret Deland] A pint cannot hold a quart, Mr. Pizer. If it holds, the pint is doing the best it can.

V.I.N.CENT: [Manchurian proverb] A wolf remains a wolf, even if it has not eaten your sheep

B.O.B.: [badly damaged in a shootout with Maximilian; dying, his systems failing; His systems die and so does he. V.I.N.CENT's eyes slowly look down at his comrade in arms, then turns towards the probe ship, turning his head backwards to look at B.O.B. once more as he leaves.] It's no use, V.I.N.CENT! My useful days are finished! But part of me goes with ya. You'll never be obsolete. Carry on the tradition. We're the best...

B.O.B.: These poor creatures are what's left of the crew...kept alive by means I don't pretend to understand.

Kate McCrae: If there's any justice at all, the black hole will be your grave!

Dr. Hans Reinhardt: In, through... and beyond.

Dr. Hans Reinhardt: Some cause must have created all this, but what caused that cause?

Dr. Hans Reinhardt: [Napoleon Bonaparte] The word "impossible," Mr. Booth, is only found in the dictionary of fools.