Outland (1981)

Outland is another in a long line of Westerns retooled for science fiction. Writer-director Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, 2010, Timecop) restages High Noon in outer space, with Sean Connery as O'Neil, the marshal for a settlement on one of Jupiter's moons. While investigating the deaths of some miners, O'Neil discovers that mine boss Peter Boyle has been giving his workers an amphetamine-like work-enhancing drug that keeps them productive for months--until they finally snap and go berserk. When Boyle sends killer henchmen to neutralize the lawman, O'Neil is unable to get the miners to back him up. Outland is no classic, but it offers solid suspense in an otherworldly atmosphere. Also starring Frances Sternhagen, James B. Sikking (Howard on television's Hill Street Blues), and John Ratzenberger (later to become famous as Cliff on the sitcom Cheers). --Jim Emerson Amazon.com

Terrible, terrible video transfer

I can work around the fact that it's not "enhanced for widescreen TVs", but the transfer is atrocious; the picture "jitters" rhythmically throughout the movie. That's a level of quality control/assurance I might expect from one of the junk companies that releases public domain movies, but not from Warner Bros. This DVD release managed to ruin a fairly good movie.

I thought I was giving it -0- "stars", but I guess that's not possible.

Avoid at all costs. July 12, 2008

Pretty good Space Western

Sean Connery (post-Bond, pre-Henry Jones Sr.) plays a Marshal on Io (one of Jupiter's moons) who uncovers a drug ring being run by the executive of a mining company. The executive eventually brings in assassins to take care of Connery when he refuses to go along with the scheme.

OUTLAND is what you get when you cross HIGH NOON with ALIEN (minus the actual alien, of course.) From HIGH NOON it gets the element of the Marshal standing up for what's right despite the long odds and the fact that everyone else (even his felow cops) refuses to stand with him. It even gets a ticking clock as we await the showdown (in the form of the shuttle carrying the assassins), along with many typical western elements: a bleak, isolated setting, a lone man standing up for what's right, and tensions on a semi-lawless frontier where civilization is coming but hasn't quite established control yet. There is even a saloon and prostitutes.

From ALIEN it gets a dirty, gritty, blue-collar take on the 'final frontier' -- it's drab, and everyone is sweaty and hairy and smoking. Very unlike Star Trek or Star Wars.

It's amusing to see the vision of the future from 30 years ago -- these people have the ability to travel to & mine Jupiter's moons, but their computer technology looks absolutley ancient as of 2008; also, the best weapon anyone can muster is a sawed-off shotgun -- no phasers or light sabers.

To be brutally honest, this is definitely not the last word on quality scriptwriting or special effects. But Connery's acting skill helps carry the film by making his character believable. If you keep in mind that this movie is 30 years old and is kind of a B movie to boot, it's a very decent space western. June 9, 2008

"I need those files by tomorrow or I'll kick your nasty ... all over this hospital, that's a Marshall joke" Sean Connery

Sure it's "High Noon" in space, but it works well with a very powerful star turn by Sean Connery as a Marshall of a mining town on Jupiter's moon Io. Backing him up are Frances Sternhagen as the "town" doctor and his only help, and Peter Boyle as the bad guy who runs the mine and the drugs that are killing the miners.
Miners are going mad on Io and they are killing themselves in very strange ways(exposing themselves to the outside and being blown to bits) and new Marshall O'Neil(Connery) wants to know why. With the help of the town doctor(Sternhagen, who almost steals this movie from Connery) he learns that a drug that makes you work harder and is very illegal is being given to the works and the town manager(Boyle reeking with venom) is the one getting it to him. Connery then begins to shut the system down.
I won't say anymore, but it is really quite good. The production design has an "Alien" look about it and the tension is very well done. All in all a hidden "gem" worth a look. April 12, 2007

"Think it over..."

Released in the space between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Blade Runner," "Outland" is a decent if slightly lacking film.

The plot concerns Marshall O'Niel (Sean Connery) being appointed the head officer on a mining colony on Io, a moon of Jupiter. As if his grudging family wasn't enough, he's got reports of miners dying after suffering psychotic episodes. With help from his only real ally, Dr. Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen), O'Niel discovers the miners are being supplied with a performance-enhancing drug that has some nasty after-effects. Mine manager Sheppard (the late Peter Boyle), after suffering a loss of product at O'Niel's hands, calls in some corporate thugs to fix things.

Director Peter Hyams (2010, Timecop) has on his side excellent production design and decent special effects for the 80s. But the plot, while inventive, isn't much else. Connery, Boyle and the rest do good with their roles, but the script has some pointless filler and awkward talk. Aside from one excellent chase scene through the station, the action is limited and slow. The film also plods at 109 minutes, with several interesting scenes balanced out by several patches of empty downtime.

Connery, post-Bond but pre-Untouchables, is probably the real saving grace of this film. Whether smart-talking Lazarus (Sternhagen is also excellent), taunting Sheppard (Boyle does what he can with limited screen time), or staring dumbly at his wife's video message, Connery is one of the few actors who makes a credible action hero. He gets hurt, he gets abandoned, he is left on his own to fight the mercenaries, whatever. In the hands of a lesser actor, O'Niel would be generic, but Connery makes him human.

One more thing: bodies explode in this film (probably the only reason it was rated R). You might think I'm telling you this as a warning, but it's also because it's physically impossible.

Overall, you should see the film at least once for its ambiance, but don't expect to be blown away. Good performances and effects can't compensate for slow pacing and limited action.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this film gets a 6.
On a scale of 0.0 to 10, this film gets a 6.4.
On a scale of A to F, this film gets a C-.
On a scale of 1 to 5, this film gets a 3. April 7, 2007

Outland

Crime drama in outer space--inside a mining installation squatting on Jupiter's third moon, Io, to be exact. The new Marshal in town, played by Sean Connery, actually arrives with a conscience (and a family that deserts him when the going gets tough, which is apparently right after the opening credits--but the conscience never deserts him) and when he tries to curtail the rampant use of a killer amphetamine that's being smuggled into the colony, it's pretty much him versus, well, everybody. The mine's General Manager, Sheppard, played by Peter Boyle, rules with quiet arrogance and it seems that when he wants a minor inconvenience like O'Niel tagged and bagged, it's best to just step out of the way.

This film is assisted--over twenty-five years later--by four key elements: Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, James B. Sikking, and Frances Sternhagen, not necessarily out of that order. Two of those people don't have all that many scenes (Boyle is effective both in direct confrontation with Connery, and as an unseen controller of his many pawns; and I won't tell you who ends up strangled and bound in a locker), but all these actors slowly reveal their true characters to us as the tension mounts. Sikking and Sternhagen, in supporting roles, each go through very different metamorphoses before the viewer's eyes, and both do wonderfully well at playing people who are not necessarily saying at all what they're thinking.

Special mention should go to Sean Connery, who probably doesn't get enough credit for the tight-lipped, stubborn but honourable old goat he plays in this eerie, claustrophobic film. One of my favourite Connery moments is when he gets home after a hard day's work only to be greeted by a video message from his wife explaining why she has taken the kid and abandoned him. Connery's facial reactions to all the woman's comments say as much as any of his Untouchables rantings--feeling like a dope for not seeing it coming that morning (all the clues were there for him and the viewer); feeling anger and hurt; feeling truly alone; feeling like quiting the job and running after her. But if a silent Connery doesn't work for you, he's got some great lines here, especially when trading dry wit with his one reluctant ally, Sternhagen as the crusty old doctor.

Meanwhile, the sets, the music, and the action sequences still maintain a vigorous pulse even today. I wish O'Niel had had to do a bit more deducting rather than simply watching bad guys reveal themselves on monitor screens if you sit there monitoring them long enough, and I wish the writer/director had not made some things a bit too obvious well before they were officially revealed (the wife's planning to bail out being hinted at four different ways; lingering camera shots on faces turning from friendly to sinister at the end of scenes, as Connery walks away). And I wouldn't have minded if there were SOME kind of a subplot to make the whole affair a bit less straightforward. But the hectic chase through what seems to be the entire installation, ending in Connery sticking his hand in a boiling pot of liquid rather than let crucial evidence melt away (while the bad guy goes for the nearest knife), was cool--as was the revelation of one final villain (unless the director tips you off on that surprise, too).

If you haven't seen this film, then it's a no-brainer: check it out. February 17, 2007

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