Outland [Blu-ray]

I had the DVD version of this film for years and it was hard to watch. This Blu-ray version is way, way better.

Outland  Blu-ray ReviewYear: 1981 | Rating: R | Runtime: 1 HR 52 MINAspect Ratio: 2:40.1 | Video Resolution: 1080PAudio: Eng 5.1 DTS-HD MA, assorted foreign audio tracks| Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German SDH, Italian SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, SwedishDirector: Peter HyamsWriter: Peter HyamsStarring: Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, and James SikkingFilm: 4/5 StarsVideo: 4/5 StarsAudio: 4/5 StarsExtras: 2/5 StarsOverall: 4/5 StarsOn Jupitor's moon Io a titanium mining operation is in full swing when the new Federal Marshall, William O'Niel arrives to start his tour of duty. After several miners die under mysterious circumstances the investigation points to a new drug that allows the miners to work for days without rest. The mine's manager warns O'Niel to mind his own business or there will be consequences. O'Niel presses on and finds himself outnumbered and alone with no escape.The original Star Trek is considered by many to be a space western but Outland takes the idea to a whole new level. Written by direct Peter Hyams, Outland is little more than High Noon in space where a sheriff must face off against deadly foes when his `town' turns their back on him. Even though its not much more than a genre transplant Outland is a surprisingly effective sci-fi action-thriller. Sean Connery is no stranger to science fiction but his film's rarely fit neatly into that one specific genre whether it be Zardoz, Highlander, or even Indiana Jones and Outland isn't any different. Outland is a mostly forgotten film thirty plus years after itsrelease but that makes it no less enjoyable.The original DVD was released in November 1997; that DVD is an ugly, non-anamorphic mess that was almost un-watchable on late 90s video equipment so just imagine what that same disc would look like today. It was an early Warner Bros. effort featuring their notorious flipper discs (letterbox on one side, pan & scan on the other) housed in one of the ugly snapper cases. Outland did receive a DVD re-issue in 2007 that axed the pan & scan version and came in a regular DVD case but still sported the same ugly transfer from the 1997 release.The new Blu-ray edition of  Outland  is nothing short of spectacular especially when you consider what fans of this film have been forced to watch since it left theaters in 1981. While it doesn't look like a brand new film (thankfully) it does look amazing for its age. Gone are the large artifacts, the shaking transfer, the muddy and indistinguishable blacks and in its place is a transfer that has been given real care. The print used for the transfer was clean of debris like dust but was not scrubbed free of detail or grain. Colors are vibrant, black levels are respectable for the most part with only a few shots not holding up well, and the level of detail is outstanding.The original DVD release states "Soundrack Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1' but in all honesty it's a pretty miserable mix that I always thought sounded like I was listening to the movie through a roomful of police megaphones. Theatrically Outland was presented in Warner Bros. short lived Megasound format which was used to enhance the theatrical auditory experience mostly by adding a lot more bass than a normal theater could output at that time. The 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack is very enveloping leading me to believe that the original 70MM Six Track soundtrack was used in the remastering of the Blu-ray. Surround activity is on the lighter side but the three front channels and the LFE channel are as distinct as you'd hear in many newer films. Dialogue is well anchored in the center channel and Jerry Goldsmith's score sounds properly un-Earthy occupying the rest of the front soundstage.After being mostly ignored on home video for the past three decades I wasn't expecting much in form of special features on Outland but Warner Bros. again blew me away. There's not any new documentary or deleted scenes but there is an all new commentary track by director Peter Hyams. It's a highly informative and entertaining track that must have been recently recorded because of some references to recently produced HBO programming. He shares his personal recollections about working with Sean Connery along with many tidbits about all aspects of the production from casting to the then cutting edge special effects. It's definitely worth a listen. Also included is the film's theatrical trailer presented in very cruddy looking standard definition. Give the trailer a watch just to get an idea of what the DVD looked like. Outland  receives a very high recommendation from me on Blu-ray. It's not a forgotten masterpiece but it has been mostly forgotten by audiences and its studio until now. Warner Bros. has taken real care in restoring its visual and audio components plus kudos needs to be given for recording an all new commentary. If you're a sci-fi fan, a Connery fan, or both you should definitely check out Outland.

Great addition to collection

Good story line, great cast, excellent sci fi

Update!! Obviously Warner screwed the pooch on this and the movie has not been remastered at all. Meaning this is the same crappy transfer they used in the early years of DVD's nearly 10 years ago. How could this happen? Apparently in Europe they received a much better transfer of this movie which has none of the problems the US version does. I'll be finding a copy of it there. Way to go Warner!! AVOID THE US VERSIONS AT ALL COST!!!Let me start out by saying first that for me Outland will always hold a special place in my heart. Growing up I was a bit of a black and white snob, stemming from the fact that I grew up with color television. So due to this fact I was not exposed to the source material for this film until later in life. For those not aware, Outland is a Sci-Fi retelling of the classic movie "High Noon". So this was my first exposure to the classic story of a lone law man against the odds where the "towns" people around him refuse to help.While it may not be the best movie ever made it's a well done and well acted movie starring Sean Connery in one of his few true Sci-Fi roles. Here he plays Federal Marshall William T. O'Neil who we see arriving with his family at a Mining facility located on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. The basic plot sees Connery through tracking down an illegal drug that is causing some of the inhabitants of the facility to become violent and even graphically (if not realistically) suicidal.The Marshal runs into a few stereotypical characters along the way. We have the cranky doctor, played wonderfully by Frances Sternhagen. Then we have the bad guy of the movie played with a bit of unusual casting, by Peter Boyle, most well known as the creature from "Mel Brooks, Young Frankenstein" and the dad on "Everybody Loves Raymond". Boyle's character is the one true week point of this film, but in a unique way. His character is the Administrator of the mining facility and his job is to ensure that everything runs smoothly, including the distribution of recreational drugs to his hard working miners. He is not scary as much as he is simply doing his job which makes his actions even more despicable.When the Marshall finally captures the dealer of the drug operation who fingers Boyle's character the Marshall confronts him. This sets in motion the final and best part of this movie which is basically the same as the climax of "High Noon". Hired guns are flown in and are gunning for the Marshall, he has to avoid and outsmart them in order to survive and it's here that this movie really pays off. Using the environment and Sci-Fi setting to maximum effect, Director Peter Hyams creates a great cat and mouse sequence with some really fun results.The movie is soon to be re-released on DVD and hopefully this time they will repair the truly horrible transfer that this movie has had up until now. This was surprising given that it was one of the first movies ever to be released on the format but shows the relative poor performance that a lot of studios had back in the early days of transferring movies to digital formats.If you're looking for a fun movie you can do far worse than Outland. A classic it may not be, but it's far better than most of the Sci-Fi channel movies of the week and hopefully this new release set for November 27th 2007 will finally do the movie justice on DVD.

It was ahead of its time. For those who can appreciate the state of the art at the time it is good science fiction. Not a great film but a good watch.

I was so happy to find this as a DVD. Very SciFi within a realistic story line. Great acting, lots of action and a real story line, not just special effects.

OUTLAND [1981] [Blu-ray] [US Import] This Science-Fiction Delivers The Goods! On Jupiter’s Moon He’s The Only Law!Set on Jupiter's moon Io, Jupiter’s innermost moon, hosts a mining colony CON-AM 27, a high-tech hellhole. There a veteran marshal [Sean Connery] probes some mysterious deaths of miners. In pursuit of the truth, he is alone. ‘OUTLAND’ is a 1981 British science fiction thriller film written and directed by Peter Hyams ‘Timecop’ and ‘2010’ depicts a chilling extension of today’s corporation-driven world. Dehumanization is vividly evoked in Philips Harrison’s striking production design and two-time Academy Award® winner John Stears special effects.FILM FACT: ‘OUTLAND’ was the first motion picture to use Introvision, a variation on front projection that allows foreground, mid-ground and background elements to be combined in-camera, as opposed to using optical processes such as blue screen matting. This enabled characters to convincingly walk around miniature sets of the mining colony. Director Peter Hyams hired cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt. The film was nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Sound for John Wilkinson, Robert W. Glass, Jr., Robert Thirlwell and Robin Gregory. ‘OUTLAND’ was filmed at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK, with an estimated budget of $16,000,000.Cast: Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, James Sikking, Kika Markham, Clarke Peters, Steven Berkoff, John Ratzenberger, Nicholas Barnes, Manning Redwood, Pat Starr, Hal Galili, Angus MacInnes, Stuart Milligan, Eugene Lipinski, Norman Chancer, Ron Travis, Anni Domingo, Bill Bailey, Chris Williams, Marc Boyle, Richard Hammatt, James Berwick, Gary Olsen, Isabelle Lucas, Sharon Duce, P.H. Moriarty, Angelique Rockas, Jude Alderson, Rayner Bourton, Doug Robinson, Julia Depyer, Nina Francoise, Brendan Hughes, Philip Johnston, Norri Morgan, John Cannon (uncredited) and Maurice Roëves (uncredited)Director: Peter HyamsProducers: Charles Orme, Richard A. Roth and Stanley O'TooleScreenplay: Peter HyamsComposer: Jerry GoldsmithCinematography: Stephen GoldblattVideo Resolution: 1080pAspect Ratio: 2.40:1Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French: 2.0 Dolby Digital, German: 2.0 Dolby Digital, Italian: 2.0 Dolby Digital, Spanish: 2.0 Dolby Digital and Spanish: 1.0 Dolby Digital MonoSubtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Italian SDH, Norwegian and SwedishRunning Time: 112 minutesRegion: All RegionsNumber of discs: 1Studio: Warner Home VideoAndrew’s Blu-ray Review: 'OUTLAND' wasn't the first film to shift elements of the western to a sci-fi environment, and it certainly won't be the last, but it's still a relatively unique combination, one that makes for a wonderfully entertaining motion picture that might otherwise be thought of as a generic crime thriller. In fact, it could be argued that the marriage of the two genres essentially masks a rather simple plot that could just as easily take place on modern-day Earth. But the subtlety and restraint shown by British writer/director Peter Hyams when merging the two vastly different styles manages to elevate the story into something fresh and terrifically engaging. Aspects of either genre serve only as backdrop or narrative device for telling this crime drama that serves as a clever indictment of corporate conspiracy and greed which devalues the lives of the working class.Set on Jupiter's moon Io, Jupiter’s innermost moon, set in the far distant future, the merger of the two genres is immediately apparent but never brought to the forefront. Instead, it's an understated framework inside a remote mining outpost functioning on Io, one of Jupiter's many moons, and order is kept by a small band of peacekeepers, led by Federal Marshal O'Niel [Sean Connery]. It's one of the reasons I find the film so brilliant and still highly enjoyable. Peter Hyams isn't constantly reminding his audience of what he's doing beyond the initial opening with the explanatory title cards. Yet, there's a rustic Wild West appeal to the overall film, thanks in part to the stage design and the cinematography of Stephen Goldblatt.Story-wise, Peter Hyams doesn't shy away from stock characterization, such as Connery epitomizing the rugged town sheriff. As the bringer of justice and social order to the seemingly chaotic frontier of space, Sean Connery's Federal Marshal O'Niel stumbles upon a conspiracy to hide several unsolved deaths of miners. There isn't a whole lot for the Scottish actor to do other than act the determined and deeply committed lawman, but what he does he does exceptionally well, being a hard-nosed peacekeeper that won't back down in a fight. Peter Hyams does give the character a bit of depth as a married family man on the brink of losing what he cherishes the most because he believes so strongly that what he's doing is the right thing to do. And as with everything else, Sean Connery shines in these moments, carrying the thought of his wife and son heading back to Earth without him in his eyes and powering his will to fight.Helping the Federal Marshal discover a secret drug-ring operating within the colony is the feisty, contentious town doctor, played delightfully by Frances Sternhagen. She's perfect as the spirited foil, almost comic-relief, to Sean Connery's stern temperament, coming to his cause at just the right moment when the man needs the assistance the most. Her involvement in the cover-up is somewhat of a mystery because she doesn't perform autopsies of the dead, though it does become fairly clear when the sergeant [James Sikking], replacing the customary trusty deputy, turns out to be paid a hefty sum to look the other way. While two dealers appear to do most of the footwork, the man at the centre of it all is none other than [Peter Boyle] the head-honcho and ruthless greedy landholder of the mining.Peter Hyams makes that little piece of information pretty obvious early on. Discovering who's behind this large-scale crime is not really the point. In fact, it's used within the narrative as a means of generating tension and suspense because we know who the cause of the rampant drug use is, hiding the deaths of innocent workers in order to keep profits rising. As Federal Marshal O'Niel follows the clues and gathers the evidence to prove his suspicion, those involved will do anything to defend the flow of money, driving the plot toward a spectacular 'High Noon' showdown. Filled with a cold mechanical atmosphere and the ethereal music of by award winning Jerry Goldsmith, Peter Hyams's 'OUTLAND' is wildly entertaining sci-fi western warning of a corporate future where our greatest enemy remains the monetary greed plaguing our society?One very interesting fact I have found out, is a comment by Peter Hyams and reads like so:I wanted to do a Western. Everybody said, 'You can’t do a Western; Westerns are dead; nobody will do a Western'. I remember thinking it was weird that this genre that had endured for so long was just gone. But then I woke up and came to the conclusion and obviously after other people and that it was actually alive and well, but in outer space. I wanted to make a film about the frontier. Not the wonder of it or the glamour of it: I wanted to do something about Dodge City and how hard life was. I wrote it, and by great fortune Sean Connery wanted to do it. And how many chances do you get to work with Sean Connery?Blu-ray Video Quality – The print used for this 1080p encoded image appears to be in pretty good shape, because 'OUTLAND' looks great on Blu-ray. It doesn't quite match the best we've seen from other films of the same period, but this high-definition gives a gritty realism transfer is a vast improvement nonetheless over the terrible and inferior NTSC DVD release. Presented in an aspect ratio 2.40:1 frame, which is closer to its original aspect ratio and much preferred to previous letterboxed releases, it comes with the expected blurry sequences due to age, but the image is surprisingly sharp and distinct for the most part. Viewers can make out every wrinkle on Mr. Connery's face, and the smallest details of the mining outpost are plainly visible. Contrast is comfortably bright with clean, crisp whites, giving the picture a renewed, cinematic appeal. Colours are not particularly upbeat, which is deliberate to the cinematography, but they accurately rendered and consistent from beginning to end. The more problematic issues come from the wavering black levels, looking deep and intense one minute and murky the next. Exterior shots are excellent with rich contrast between light and dark, but several interior scenes can appear washed out, ruining some of the finer details in the shadows and making the natural film grain seem a bit noisy. It's not to the film's detriment, however, as the overall presentation looks great on high-definition video, a significant upgrade from the previous inferior and ghastly inferior NTSC DVD release.Blu-ray Audio Quality – The sound design for 'OUTLAND' was a bit of a pioneer, with a soundtrack that is essentially an early form of today's 5.1 surround system. Without any way of actually confirming this DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack derives from the original 70mm 6-track magnetic print on which it was recorded, this Blu-ray presentation appears to be faithful to the intentions of filmmakers. The design doesn't do much with the available back speakers, but Peter Hyams' sci-fi Western makes excellent use of the stereo sound field, which I'm assuming was always the intention of the new technology. Channel separation is well-balanced with flawless movement that perfectly matches the action. Off-screen effects broaden the soundstage with imaging that's convincing, and the excellent directionality nicely generates a persuasive sense of space. The excellent and brilliant Jerry Goldsmith's ethereally jarring musical score takes greater advantage of the soundscape by bleeding into the rears and immersing the listener. Vocals are plainly audible and well-prioritized while dynamic range remains wide and cleanly rendered. One of the best features of this early surround mix is the boosted low-frequency effects, which come off surprisingly hearty and accurate with excellent response for a 30-year-old movie, making this generally-stereo track a great listen.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:Audio Commentary: Commentary with Peter Hyams: British Writer/Director Peter Hyams revisits his cult sci-fi western and shares many informative anecdotes about the production. He spends a good chunk of his time talking about Sean Connery, the legendary actor's presence on set and getting to work with him as filming progressed. There are also several great comments on the story's themes, the photography, set design and the overall look he was aiming to achieve. All in all, Peter Hyams is able to offer a generally pleasing audio track, speaking with a great deal of pride over his work and the finished product.Theatrical Trailer [2:54] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for ‘OUTLAND,’ where they inform you that “The ultimate enemy is still man."Finally, written and directed by Peter Hyams, 'OUTLAND' is a sci-fi western starring Sean Connery as a deeply committed lawman, the cult film remains a wildly entertaining flick with a spectacular 'High Noon' showdown. The Blu-ray arrives with a great audio and video presentation that greatly improves upon previous home video releases, but sadly, comes with only one exclusive supplement. Fans will surely want to pick this up just for the joy of seeing Sean Connery shoot bad guys with a shotgun...in space. For me, ‘OUTLAND’ remains sadly a very underrated, underappreciated film and it is worth appreciating it now as it was then when it was originally released in 1981. Technically the disc is one of the better catalogue titles Warner has put out recently, and the commentary track does great justice for fans of this brilliant shoot-em up film regardless of their age. If you are new to this film and fans of science fiction, you owe it to yourself to take a look for yourself; as I firmly believe you will wind up enjoying it now and for many years down the road and that is why it has gone pride of place in my Blu-ray Collection, especially with the ever star presence of Sean Connery. Highly Recommended!Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film FanLe Cinema ParadisoWARE, United Kingdom

'Outland' is one of my favourite science fiction films.Throughout my teenage years I watched my VHS copy of it so many times I am surprised it didn't wear out!I have owned it on DVD for several years now and although I have continued to watch it quite regularly I have never been particularly satisfied with the quality of the image though and longed for a remastered DVD release that would allow for the film to be seen as intended, unfortunately this never happened.I was therefore over the moon (that's Earths moon, not Io!) when I heard that a Blu-ray release was scheduled for summer 2012; I was initially disappointed though when I discovered that the release was just American, but I then found out it was REGION FREE and so pre-ordered it straight away!Before I get to a description of the disc and the quality I will give a synopsis of the plot, be warned if you have not seen the film you may not wish to read this next section!**** START OF SPOILERS*****The film is set in the future, about a hundred years from now, and it is set in the titanium ore mining outpost Con-Am 27 on Io, the innermost moon orbiting Jupiter.Sean Connery portrays the character Federal Marshal William O'Niel, and at the start of the film he has just been assigned to a tour of duty at the aforementioned Con-Am 27.The conditions on Io are extremely difficult, due to the lack of a breathable atmosphere and low gravity the miners have to carry out all their work in restrictive and uncomfortable spacesuits and the shifts required to complete all the necessary work are long and hard, to make up for this they are paid well as long as the targets are met.The station manager is a man called Mark Sheppard (played by the wonderful Peter Boyle, looking VERY different from his appearances on 'Everybody Loves Raymond'  Everybody Loves Raymond - Complete HBO Season 1-9 [DVD ]), and from their first meeting he makes it very clear to Marshal O'Niel that productivity ruls at the station and any interference from him that may affect this will not be tolerated.Shortly after O'Niel takes up post there are two 'suicides' in short succession, both men dying due to decompression.The job of investigating these 'accidents' falls to O'Niel (with the assistance of the stations chief medical officer Dr. Lazarus (the great actress Frances Sternhagen, best known to most as the mother of postal worker Cliff Clavin in my all time favourite comedy 'Cheers'  Cheers - The Complete Seasons Box Set [DVD] [1982 ] ).Before O'Niel has time to take a breath there is yet another death; this time a worker (a young but instantly recognisable Steven Berkoff) is shot dead by the Deputy Marshall, Sergeant Montone (James B. Sikking), during an attempt to negotiate with him because he appears to have had some form of psychotic episode and has taken a prostitute hostage, threatening to kill her with a knife. The decision to kill the man was against O'Niel's orders, at the same time he was attempting to resolve the situation with less finality by calmly talking to him through the door of the room that the hostage situation was taking place.Soon after Marshall O'Niel and Dr. Lazarus discover that the three deaths all have one thing in common, there are traces of an amphetamine-type drug in each of their bloodstreams, the advantage of the substance in question is that it gives the user massively increased reserves of strength and stamina, this being ideal for helping the miners who take it to work continuously for days at a time and thus easily complete their quotas to earn considerable financial incentives, however the downside is that a common side effect is that the user eventually 'burns out' and ultimately turns psychotic, as demonstrated graphically with the three recent deaths.Marshall O'Niel suspects that the drug use is widespread across the station, and that this must account for the record breaking efficiency figures the station is achieving, his investigation eventually leads him to see that there is a huge drug distribution network being run by the station manager Sheppard; Marshall O'Niel also finds out that his deputy, Sergeant Montone, is fully aware of the conspiracy but has chosen to ignore matters for financial gain, and more importantly, for fear of reprisals.Marshall O'Niel confronts Sheppard and makes it clear to him that he will not back down, regardless of the costs he may have to him; Sheppard inturn makes it clear to O'Niel that if he does not stop his investigation immediately he is a dead man.The film has often been described as a modern interpretation of the classic western 'High Noon'  High Noon: 60th Anniversay Edition [Blu-ray] [1952] [US Import ], and it is from this point forward in the film that the two stories do bear an undeniable resemblance; this is certainly no bad thing as the aforementioned 'High Noon' is generally regarded as not only one of the finest examples of its genre, but also one of the best films in the history of cinema.Station manager Sheppard requests a team of mercenaries be sent to kill Marshall O'Niel, they have to travel by shuttle from the nearby space station orbiting on the other side of Jupiter and this journey takes several hours to complete, the Marshall is fully aware of their impending arrival because he has hacked into the station managers communication channel (its good to know that even in the 22nd century reporters from 'The News of the World' can still find employment!).The tension rises as the clock counts down to the arrival of the aforementioned shuttle, and knowing that the assassins are on their way the Marshall desperately asks for support from other station workers, alas nobody is willing to step up and stand with him, nobody accept Dr. Lazarus that is.The group of hitmen finally arrive and then the Marshall takes them out one by one using various inventive ways to dispose of each of them.When all are gone Marshall O'Niel finally confronts station manager Sheppard in front of a packed recreation bar, Sheppard is clearly stunned and realises the game is up, O'Niell then knocks him to the floor with a single punch before retiring from his post and returnig to Earth to be with his family.******* END OF SPOILERS*********The film is simply fantastic in so many ways, from the superbly atmospheric score by the one and only Jerry Goldsmith  Outland  to the brilliantly gritty and realistic set design.The film feels futuristic, but it is a future far dirtier and harder than most films have managed to convey, and it is this sense of gritty realism that creates the wonderfully believable and immersive atmosphere that sets the film apart from most other science fiction efforts in my opinion.The film has action, and plenty of it, but at the same time it is very much a slowburner and it requires a level of concentration to fully notice all the details and truly appreciate it, as I have previously mentioned I have seen this film many, many times, yet I never bore of it and still continue to see new things previously unnoticed, particularly so since I upgraded to this Blu-ray version!So on to the Blu-ray itself, and I must say it really is a very impressive transfer indeed!The difference between the DVD version and this Blu-ray release is to put it simply stunning; most definitely one of the biggest difference I have seen to date between a title across the two formats. Whereas the previous releases of the film have all been poor, regardless of the format, this new high definition transfer properly shows off all the hard work and the attention to detail that clearly went into the films production.The poor picture quality of previous versions gave the film an almost 'low budget' feel and I can quite understand how this then may have a negative effect on a viewers opinion and thus lead them to disregard this title as nothing more than a cheap run of the mill offering, this is such a shame because the film is so much more than that.The film is dark, not just in tone as previously mentioned, but also with respect to the lighting levels, the insides of a futuristic mining colony clearly not being the best place for bright colours and soft warm tones! The improved clarity that the high definition transfer brings now allows new levels of detail to be visible in the low light, it allows for the goings on to be much easier to follow without sacrificing the atmosphere that the makers were so clearly trying to create.The audio has not been forgotten, with a new DTS-HD 5.1 Master track now available, this too is a vast improvement over the previous versions. The sounds within the station, the sounds of steps on the metal grating, the hiss of the steam, the sound of guns going off within such a confined space are now bought to life in a way like never before, making it completely evident as to why the films sound was actually nominated for an Oscar!; and let us not forget the aforementioned Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack, it is an extremely powerful and quite haunting score that perfectly captures the dark atmosphere and the impending doom, it sounds magnificent in this format and finally gets the treatment it deserves.Whilst on the subject of audio the disc also offers English Dolby Digital, French Stereo and Spanish Stereo (with a choice of Castilian in Stereo or Latin in Mono); there are also subtitles provided in English, French and Spanish.The features on the disc may initially appear somewhat lacking, the 'Making of....' featurette from the Region 1 DVD release would have been a nice addition, however what we get instead is the films trailer and more importantly a brand new commentary track for the film recorded by the director, Peter Hyams; this is a simply wonderful addition, infinitely better than the now very dated 'Making of.....' featurette, I have listened to parts of so far and Peter Hyams delivers a vast amount of fascinating information and I for one find this genuinely exciting.On a side note I just want to say that Peter Hyams is a really fantastic director and he has been responsible for some great films, my personal favourites (along with this film!) are:Capricorn One (1978)  Capricorn One [Blu-ray ]2010 - The Year We Make Contact (1984)  2010 - The Year We Make Contact [Blu-ray] [1984][Region Free ]Running Scared (1986)  Running Scared [DVD ]The Presidio (1988)  The Presidio [DVD ]Narrow Margin (1990)  Narrow Margin [DVD ]Timecop (1994)  Timecop [Blu-ray] [1994][Region Free ] ---------------------------------------------------Overall I would say this is a simply fantastic Blu-ray, and as someone who has loved this film for most of their life (having bought it on VHS in my early teens), I simply cannot believe just how much better the film looks in high definition.For me it is a genuine pleasure to see a film that means so much to me finally receive the treatment it deserves, nearly thirty years after its initial release.If you have any interest whatsoever in science fiction films then this is an essential purchase, however just an appreciation for good film should also be enough to warrant your attention in my opinion; and even if you, like me, already own the film on DVD this new transfer to Blu-ray absolutely warrants the upgrade! Everybody Loves Raymond - Complete HBO Season 1-9 [DVDCheers - The Complete Seasons Box Set [DVD] [1982High Noon: 60th Anniversay Edition [Blu-ray] [1952] [US ImportOutlandCapricorn One [Blu-ray2010 - The Year We Make Contact [Blu-ray] [1984][Region FreeRunning Scared [DVDThe Presidio [DVDNarrow Margin [DVDTimecop [Blu-ray] [1994][Region Free

...plain and simple. If you are a fan of sci-fi/retro, Sean Connery and movies from the good old 80's, this is a MUST HAVE in your collection. Dark, gritty thriller in western style set on the Jupiter moon IO. Great atmosphere, great actors, cool story - 'nuff said.Agent Shrader out

GUTER SPANNENDER FILM

Alles Tip Top!