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Outland | Year: 1981 Classification: Science Fiction Directed: - Peter Hyams Actors/Actresses: - Sean Connery - Frances Sternhagen 1981 Sci-Fi "Oldie" Has Worn Well "Outland" is a movie I am always happy to recommend to people. Set on Io, a moon of Jupiter, it concerns a harmful and illicit drug. The colony's manager (smirkingly played by Peter Boyle), makes money dealing the drug and also benefits from the increased productivity this "upper" has among his workers--until they die. The new marshall of the colony is played by Sean Connery. You may not remember now but his tight, monklike beard and close-cut hair were a sensation in this movie. Set design caused a stir, too. The people who made this movie wanted a beat-up, realistic station but were accused of excessive "grunge." A year later "Blade Runner" came along and legitimized that look. As a result, "Outland" still looks terrific today. The plot is essentially "High Noon" with Connery substituting for Gary Cooper, right down to his wife and child taking the last shuttle (train?) off Io before the thugs come down to "explain" things to Connery. Does Connery get help from the quaking townfolk? What do you think? The performances are all good, particularly Peter Boyle as the plant manager who's so smug you could kill him for no reason at all; Frances Sternhagen as the wisecracking company doctor; and above all Connery, who once again turned the page on a new chapter in his career. I really think this flick is underrated. 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...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. 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? Buy Outland at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Outland Search with the Priority Search Engine on Outland This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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