Outland (1981)

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writer:

Peter Hyams (written by)

Release Date:

22 May 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Action | Thriller | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

On Jupiter's moon something deadly is happening

Plot:

In the distant future, a police marshal stationed at a remote mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy, and gets no help from the populace when he later finds himself marked for murder.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Marshal | Mining | Miner | Moon

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	O'Niel
Peter Boyle	...	Sheppard
Frances Sternhagen	...	Lazarus
James Sikking	...	Montone (as James B. Sikking)
Kika Markham	...	Carol
Clarke Peters	...	Ballard
Steven Berkoff	...	Sagan
John Ratzenberger	...	Tarlow
Nicholas Barnes	...	Paul O'Niel
Manning Redwood	...	Lowell
Pat Starr	...	Flo Spector
Hal Galili	...	Nelson
Angus MacInnes	...	Hughes
Stuart Milligan	...	Walters
Eugene Lipinski	...	Cane, Suicide in Elevator

Also Known As:

Io (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (MegaSound encoding) (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (MegaSound encoding) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Argentina:18 (original rating) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Germany:12 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Ladd Company, The

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Peter Hyams]a character named Spota.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the opening sequence where "computer readouts" across the bottom of the screen set the scene, one of the last of these identifies the Io mine's "Principle Ore: Titanium" instead of "principal". Also "marshal" is misspelled as "marshall" (but "dependants" is the usual UK English spelling of "dependents" and is not an error).

Quotes:

Security Sergeant Montone: Nelson, we're talking about nuclear detonators here. You don't just "lose" them and then "find" them again. You lose your *comb* and then find it, but not nuclear detonators. I want to know *when* and *where* they were found. You get my drift?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Moon (2009)

Very well crafted and entertaining film with a good Sean Connery

In the near-future, in a space mine set on the Jupiter satellite Io, the new Marshall O'Niel (Sean Connery) discovered a mortal drug trafic. This amphetamine-like drug drives the addicted miners mad and makes them committed suicide. O'Niel encovers the conspiracy, involving the director of the mine, but becomes the target of hitmen, with almost no body helping him. The film is a Science Fiction remake of "High Noon"("le train sifflera trois fois" in French). The train is here replaced by a shuttle from a space station and the Far West by the set on a deep space mining outpost (Not Deep Space Nine).

This a well paced film with a solid acting from Sean Connery. The pursuits, especialy the first in the corridors of the space habitat, are gripping. The film was made in 1981, when the CGI effects were not as prevalent as today. For exemple scenes where humans are dwarfed by huge metalic structures, were executed thanks to a then traditional play of mirrors. I have seen this film at the cinema when it played for the first time in 1981. I have recently watched it again on cable TV and I think it has not aged much. Because it is set on a makeshift sleazy outpost and not a shiny white place as too often in science fiction film, it remains realistic enough, twenty two years later. The themes,a bit overlooked, dangerous mind drugs, greedy multinational (or multi-planet, here) companies, the will and courage of one man against the cowardice of all the others, resonate still in our mind, nowadays. But make no mistake, it not a heavy political film but a good suspense and action film with a science fiction flavour.

Despite some scientific oddities like heads exploding and weightlessness in a zero pressure atmosphere, where as inside the habitat the gravity is normal (by Earth standards), the script remains coherent enough. The strong performance of Sean Connery is helped by those of a serious Peter Boyle and a pre-ER Frances Sternhagen. Rent this film on your local video store or watch it on TV, it is worth seeing it.