Outland
May. 22,1981 RAn honest marshal in a corrupt mining colony on Io, Jupiter's sunless third moon, is determined to confront a violent drug ring even though it may cost him his life. After his wife angrily deserts him, he waits alone for the arrival of killers hired by the company to eliminate him.
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Best movie of this year hands down!
Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
best movie i've ever seen.
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Outland began so well. Great production design, intriguing storyline and Connery's presence as a mining moon marshall. But, soon enough a morality play ensues, that it fails to explore, so we are left with simply one man against invading forces. Underwhelming conclusion and some large plot holes.
This thrilling picture tells the story of Marshall William T. O'Niel (Sean Connery as the ultimate and overwhelming hero figure) at a far planet standing against impossible odds , he is married to Carol (Kika Markham) and has a little boy promising to leave his risked job and settle down for a peaceful existence . In this distant future , the police marshal is stationed at the remote mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io , there happens weird events when miners begin suffering from confuse visions and rare breakdowns , as well surprising outbreaks and spells of insanity . The marshal starts an investigation that threatens the colony's survival . Marshal William T. O'Niel uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy run by Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle) , as the latter has sworn revenge against William . The security marshal gets no support from the populace when he later finds himself marked for killing and nobody is willing to help him . A team of bounty killers and will arrive in moon base at high noon . A doctor , Dr. Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen) , ultimately risks death to give him a hand .A particular rendition of ¨High noon¨ set in outer space on a volcanic moon of Jupiter , stars Sean Connery alone versus a planet-wide drug ring . In fact , this one is no more or less than a Western in space , replacing Gary Cooper by Sean Connery . This enjoyable Sci-Fi is plenty of suspense as the dreaded noon hour approaches and the protagonist realizes he must stand alone , but asking his base fellows for help , nobody is willing to help him . An agreeable Science Fiction movie full of emotional thrills , action and suspense , though the science is rather poor . It is a highly mysterious thriller , filled with non-stop action , including a spectacular denouement in its final part . The narration is adjusted in real time , from the beginning to arrival of the enemy aircraft , at a final showdown and it is approximately developed in ninety minutes as the many on-screen ticks clocks will check . It might make a catching double feature along with ¨High noon¨ . Connery is perfect as the flawed hero who faces off professional killers . He gives first-rate acting as a tough agent who takes on vicious hired killers , facing alone after being abandoned to his fate by the gutless population . Suppport cast is pretty well , giving brief but decent acting , such as : James B. Sikking , Steven Berkoff , Clarke Peters , John Ratzenberger , Angus MacInnes , Eugene Lipinski and Peter Boyle is just right as a heinous villain . And special mention for Frances Sternhagen as the veteran doctor who helps Connery , she steals the show , thanks to her sympathetic and valiant performance . The motion picture contains an excellent cinematography by cameraman Stephen Goldblatt . Rousing and suspenseful musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith , performed by London symphony orchestra . The yarn was compellingly directed by Peter Hyams . Peter is an uneven filmmaker who has directed all kinds of genres with successes and flops , such as Adventure : ¨Musketeer¨ ; Terror : ¨The relic¨, ¨End of days¨ ; Action : ¨The Presidio¨, ¨Sudden death¨, ¨Timecop¨ , ¨Narrow margin¨ ; Sci-fi : ¨2010 , the year we make contact¨ , ¨Capricorn one¨, ¨Sound and thunder ¨; Drama : ¨The star chamber¨, ¨Our time¨ ; and Comedy : Running scared¨, ¨Stay tuned¨
In the recognisable future mankind is colonising the Solar System . One of the moons of Jupiter is being mined for titanium . A series of accidental deaths leads law marshal William O'Neill to investigate these deaths . He finds that the deaths were caused by a psychotic reaction to a drug being used by the men , that this drug is being smuggled on to the colony and that the smugglers want him out of the way and no one is going to help him OUTLAND is the film that is forever known as being a HIGH NOON remake set in space which is somewhat disingenuous . It does mirror some of the plot turns of that Western where a man trying to enforce the law finds himself alone . Carl Foreman's Western screenplay has a rather explicit subtext that talks about Hollywood in the 1950s where by people found themselves abandoned by erstwhile friends because they might have had left leaning sympathies and didn't want to be accused by association .It was undoubtedly Hollywood's most shameful period but OUTLAND doesn't feel it's trying to ape that film and if there's a subtext to this film it's that drugs are bad On its own terms there's a lot to admire about OUTLAND . Connery gives one of his better and more commercial performances as tough and noble marshal O'Neill , a tough guy but at heart a family man whose wife and son feel the stress of the job . The film also benefits from some great set design which is both very convincing and functional without appearing too futuristic . You can honestly believe this is a colony on a satellite of Jupiter where titanium ore is being mined What the story differs suffer from slightly is that there are a couple of scenes where O'Neill knows who the bad guy is and the bad guy talks about his plan over video screens . Are we to take it that in this future world video monitors don't have recording facilities ? Likewise tough hit men referred to as " the best in the business " just happen to pull out and assemble guns in front of a video monitor which is very convenient for the plot . One also has to ask don't shuttle passengers get their baggage searched ?Regardless of a few flaws OUTLAND is a gritty and entertaining science fiction space Western that stands on its own hind-legs which unfortunately gets compared to HIGH NOON a little bit too much for its own good
Let me say up front that any film with exploding people advances to the head of the class. "Scanners" ...awesome. "Robocop" ...grossalicious. "Spinal Tap" ...ahh, a moment of silence for Mick Shrimpton."Outland" shines (or should I say 'pops') with the best of them. And it's a great film to boot. More of a western than a scifi--its story has been compared to "High Noon"--it might be light on spaceships and laser battles, but it's definitely heavy on mood and atmosphere. If you like tense, dark, claustrophobic mood films like "Alien", "Das Boot" or even the recent "Pandorum", this is worth checking out.Sean Connery plays a great character, not quite the perfect hero as James Bond whom he had played a few years prior, but instead he plays a very human, fallible and slightly vulnerable (if not scared) character reminiscent of the great Jimmy Stewart or Gregory Peck in their roles as reluctant heroes. So don't expect Sean to clean house the way Schwarzenegger might. Here he's clearly outnumbered and outgunned which adds to the chills of this suspenseful story.Director Peter Hyams was at the peak of his game. Films like this, "Capricorn One" and "2010", all filmed within a 7-year stretch, exhibit the same dark, heavy vibe perfect for science fiction. Again let me repeat, you won't get a ton of flashy action scenes, but what you will get is a thick, suspenseful mood.If you like old school scifi like the films I've mentioned, or if you like westerns, or if you like moody thrillers, I think you'll like this. You might like it so much your head will explode. And then you too will be awesome.