Outland [DVD] [1981]

Sci-Fi movies have moved on since this was made, but it's enjoyable enough if you don't mind turning your brain off a bit towards the end. The special effects are good (for the time), the characters are OK (but their motives often seem a bit unclear), and the story seems a bit weak by modern standards. Mainly the ending felt rushed (especially after the stretched-out middle section), and a bit too easy for the Sean Connery to kill the bad guys.

A remake of High Noon but set in outer space. A wonderful eighties film starring the wonderful Sean Connery aided and abetted by Frances Sternhagen as the doctor who discovers that a drug used by the workers on Io is not as good as it should be. Connery as the marshall has the unenviable task of putting things to rights. I've previously awarded the movie 8 out of 10 on imdb on amazon I've awarded the movie a 5 stars out of 5 review rating.

Outland is an excellent film with Sean Connery playing the starring role as a Marshall on a remote mining outpost, where the miners use a drug to enhance their ability to work.Arriving with a one year contract to complete, he is unaware that the hierachy are involved in smuggling the drug to the moon in order to boost profits. When workers start to die in mysterious circumstances including suicide, Connery starts to stick his nose where it's not wanted.Frustrated with his meddling the contract manager of the mine, hires a three man hit squad to take care of the Marshall. What follows is a very well crafted, atmospheric space themed thriller that to this day remains one of my favourite films.Outland is one of those underestimated gems that few people know about despite Sean Connery playing the leading role. If you like sci-fi, thrillers or Sean Connery, this ones for you!

Outland is film that seems to have got quietly lost amongst the more modern sci-fi films with their cgi technology and high-action plots.But as a film it is robust and hangs together well. Its steady pace does not suffer from any of those silly moments where everyone but the cast can see what to do next or where the 'baddie' is hiding. Nor does the audience sit there shouting 'he's behind you!' because actors are stupidly looking the wrong way.Indeed the plot is simple and well thought through but doesn't unravel too fast. The gritty scenes of a remote mining operation are well visualised with realistic action by the credible characters portrayed. None of these superhuman feats of incredible action here!The lack of modern cgi does not really detract from the film and the computer equipment might have lacked a little aforethought towards future technological progress (remember this was filmed in 1981 and pocket calculators had only really become affordable a decade before)- but none of this really detracts from the plot.. However, the film does not lose sight of the technological basics such as time delay of long distance communication in space.Indeed Outland has nice touches that serve to remind us of reality - such as the mismatch in the advertised time arrival of transport and the actuality of its early arrival. I'll let the viewer spot the others.Although Sean Connery is arguably the best known star here, Frances Sternhagen's doctor introduces a superb cynical reality and Peter Boyle excels as the obnoxious corporate manager that we all seem to come across at least once in our lives.So would Outland appeal to non-science fiction viewers?Certainly I'd like to think `yes' as the film's core isn't sci-fi, but the corruption at a remote mining location. The sci-fi simply provides a robust backdrop to a film that holds together well and certainly after the curtain falls leaves the viewer feeling entertained.

Connery at his best in this space High Noon movie. No expensive CGI just a simple gritty SciFi of a cop fighting a corrupt system. Just wanting to do something small to fight back and prove he still has some worth as a man.

This movie has always seemed to me to be a remake of the old Gary Cooper Western, but set on a mining station on one of Jupiter's moons. It is tightly plotted and Connery is very believable as the taciturn Marshal investigating what looks to have been one in a series of tragic accidents - except that the miner's death was a consequence of regular drug taking which (it turns out) was condoned by Head Office. Worth watching if there is nothing on the TV.

This film may not have been a box office hit like Star Wars & Alien, but is still worthy of a place in any Sci-Fi movie collection. No aliens in this as it deals with down to earth issues like greed, corruption, and crime. Sean Connery puts in a great performance while the film itself keeps the tension simmering all the way through to the end. My only criticism of the movie is that they chose Jupiters moon IO as the location of the mining colony which as any space expert will tell you would be impossible as IO is covered in active volcanoes. Still a good movie though.

I remember this movie did not stay long in the city but I did see it on TV a few years later. It is a good movie as I see how coroporations today are slowly becoming like the corporation in this movie. They will stop at nothing to control the people that work for them. Sean Connery is a good actor and I do enjoy his movies.