Outland (1981)
Crime | Action | Thriller | Sci-Fi

Io, Jupiter's innermost moon, hosts mining colony Con-am 27, a high-tech hellhole. There Marshal William T. O'Niel (Sean Connery) probes some mysterious deaths among the miners. In pursuit of the truth, he's alone. In Outland, writer/director Peter Hyams (Timecop/2010) depicts a chilling extension of today's corporation-driven world. Dehumanization is vividly evoked in the environments of production designer Phillip Harrison and special-effects wizard John Stears. The spellbinding result is a "movie of unexpected pleasures."

User Comment: Raegan Butcher from Rain City, Pacific Northwest, 31 July 2006 • After leaving the James Bond franchise in 1971, Sean Connery gave a number of notable performances in films such as The Offense 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. Very enjoyable.

Summary: Under-estimated sci fi western.

User Comment: ProfessorPeach from Stourbridge, England, 28 August 2001 • Sean Connery. A man's man, a woman's sex symbol. Good start! Now let's put him on a remote moon of Jupiter. So how many other films have Io as their center of action? Absolutely excellent in combining the effects that were available at the time with a darn good plot. Well overshadowed by the likes of Alien, this is late 70's/ early 80's sci-fi at it's best. No more is the future in space a Utopia, it is a grimy, nasty everyday world where people carry on their sordid business as they ever did. Except there is always a hero; a flawed hero, as is Connery. A personal crusade, a battle almost against the odds (but not unbelievably so, at all) and the true hallmark of a good sci-fi story: That is, the story would work just as well anywhere, any place, any time, as it does in space in the future. What more do you want (Just check out the shuttle landing)? Essential viewing!

Summary: Yes, it's high noon in space. And what's wrong with that?

--- JOYA ---

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