Outland (DVD)

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

Great addition to collection

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tiene idioma español e inglés, tanto en audio como subtitulos.

Uno dei miei film preferiti finalmente in italiano. il Blu-ray è tedesco ma c'è la lingua italiana per fortuna. Fa parte di quei bei film che per misteriosi motivi non c'è direttamente la versione italiana e necessita verificare se su quelle straniere c'è la nostra lingua

La compre por q es una película q siempre me ha gustado y me apetecía tenerla en Blueray. Es castellano está con la pista de audio q recordaba es decir no la han remasterizado y la imagen se ve bien para ser un blueray pero quizás se podría haber remasterizado un poco más.

Edición alemana en Blu-ray a buen precio y con audio y subtítulos en castellano. Genial

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