[.ca] Outland (Widescreen/Full Screen) (ISBN 6304698674)

From Amazon.com:
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

One of the best SF movies you haven't seen:
It's not quite one of the all-time greats, but it's not a 'B movie' either. It's a well-constructed, well-acted drama that doesn't aim _too_ high but does hit what it aims at. See, out on Io (a moon of Jupiter), there's a titanium mining operation owned by some interplanetary mega-corporation. Federal Marshal William O'Niel (that's how it's spelled) gets assigned there and starts to investigate a series of odd deaths that don't seem to be murders but don't pass the smell test all the same. Getting almost no support from the mining station's personnel, O'Niel is on his own in uncovering the unpleasant truth behind the deaths. I won't tell you any more than that; what follows contains no spoilers. The mind behind _Outland_ is Peter Hyams, who later brought us the excellent _Timecop_. But the movie benefits also from a wonderful ensemble cast. Sean Connery is, well, Sean Connery; he's worth watching as Bill O'Niel or as anybody else. Frances Sternhagen is delightful as the crusty and somewhat scatterbrained Dr. Lazarus (not the one from _GalaxyQuest_; she's an M.D. at the mining station). There are also the ever-reliable Peter Boyle and James B. Sikking, and a handful of other well-cast and competent supporting players. Since so much of the 'action' is dialogue and character interplay, it would have failed miserably with a lesser cast; here, it succeeds very well. The special effects are pretty good too, particularly for 1981. The whole thing looks pretty dark and gritty, which wasn't the standard in 1981 but works much better today. At any rate, the mining colony looks right and not at all dated. (However, longtime SF geeks, of whom I am one, will have no trouble finding things to complain about, beginning with the inconsistent gravitational forces.) The one real problem is that the plot stops developing before the movie is over. Once the reason behind the mysterious deaths is revealed, nothing further is uncovered; the plot settles into a simple _High Noon_ resolution that doesn't really take us anywhere new. The DVD has other problems, too; as other reviewers have noted, the transfer to digital format isn't very good. It's watchable, but it's not crisp and clean and the sound occasionally gets muffled. (That's especially too bad with respect to Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully dark and brooding score, which is brilliant in its own right as well as a perfect match with the movie.) Still, it's well worth seeing and even owning. It's not as ambitious even as some of the other films of the early 1980s. But it's held up better than most of them.

under-estimated sci fi western:
After leaving the James Bond franchise in 1971, Sean Connery gave a number of notable performances in films such as THE OFFENSE, ROBIN & MARIAN and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING but OUTLAND is really the film that started him on the comeback trail that culminated with his Oscar acceptance speech 6 yrs later for The Untouchables. No one seems to recall this but at the time of OUTLAND's release, no one had seen or heard from Connery for a few years and most of the reviews, while not kind to the film for a variety of reasons--chief among them being the fact that most movie critics (at least back then) harbored serious prejudice against sci fi--the main comment was "Its good to see Sean Connery back in action again". This film has one of the best production designs ever. Obviously the look was copped from ALIEN--blue collar workers in space--but it works remarkably well. I was often reminded of OUTLAND during my seven year prison term; the housing was remarkably similar--as was the company. But I digress... Nothing special about the plot-- it's routine cop show or western movie stuff--but who cares? Sean Connery gives a splendid performance and the whole film moves at a nice clip.

Still looks Excellent on a big screen TV.:
Hard to believe that this movie made 22 years ago still holds up but it does. It is a dark movie, lightingwise, but on my HD big screen TV it still looks great. Sean Connery is superb as the loner Marshall aboard a space mine on a moon of Jupiter. When the bad guys find that they can't control him, which means ignore his duty, they send assassins to kill the marshall. Connerys only friend is the spacey doctor. If the two movie High Noon and Blade Runner (though Bladerunner has made after Outland) could have a baby, that offspring would be this movie. Some had called it slow moving, but the tension that builds helps to emphasize the hopelessness of the situation. This is also a story of doing the right thing instead of drinking the koolaid for the party or the company. The values taught in this movie are slowly being obliterated, so admire this marshall that takes a stand and that others must obey the law.

It's Like A Space Western:
Director Peter Hyams appeared to have been inspired by the Western drama "High Noon" when he made this movie. Indubitably "Outland" presents the ingredients of a cowboy movie. The town is represented by a mineral colony on Io -a moon of Jupiter -in spite of the fact that they are in outer space and, if you go out, you might take the chance to explode your guts inside out because of the gravity. The town's people don't help anybody who goes against the powerful conglomerate. And then there is the sheriff in the body of Sean Connery. Connery plays Marshal William O'Neill, a law man who believes in truth and justice in a "town" where those things are unaccounted for. Unfortunately he goes against the powerful general manager of the mining corporation (Peter Boyle) under the suspicion that his company is giving some poweful drug to the workers who, later, end up dead. The manager decides to hire assassins to have O'Neill killed, and the clock -just like in "High Noon" -is ticking. This movie is quite a treat. The claustrophobic settings are very adequate for the plot development. However, this movie sometimes goes slow in the middle, but the suspense catches up with the viewer for the climax. It's too bad this DVD does not have documentaries, so I'm waiting for the release of a special edition. Anyone?

I liked Outland quite a bit.:
I liked the fact that Outland had the same sort of "space is grubby" production design ethic that Alien had. I think the fact that nothing was shiny and gleaming and new helped ground the movie. We all know that if we go to space as a race, it is going to be dirt and grime and filth and all the way. ***SPOILER ALERT*** ***SPOILER ALERT*** The only thing I did not like about the film was the plot holes you could drive a Space Shuttle through. The worst (or best, depending on how you look at it) example of the filmmakers checking their brains at the door came during the sequence in which the "Professional" is hunting down Connery's character. The "Professional" pursues Connery into the greenhouse, or so he thinks. Connery is outside in a spacesuit, and he drops a solar panel just outside the greenhouse glass. The "Professional" spots the falling panel and, in an unthinking reaction, shoots out the glass, evacuating the air from the greenhouse! Do I even need to point out everything that is wrong with that scene?