Outland... Loin de la Terre

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.

Many other reviewers have characterized this film as "high noon in space". They're right. Connery, at 51 when the film was made still exudes the qualities that made him in my opinion the best Bond! He portrays a principled federal space marshal crossing swords with a corrupt mining director. Frances Sternhagen rounds out the cast as a grumpy yet effective medical officer. The film is darkly shot and gives you the impression that you are in space. After the first 15 minutes things quickly deteriorate boy with the central character's personal life and his professional one. The film keeps you engaged right up to the pivotal climax. I highly recommend it!

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.

Sean Connery. A man's man, a woman's sex symbol. Good start! Now let's put him on a remote moon of Jupiter. So how many other films have Io as their center of action? Absolutely excellent in combining the effects that were available at the time with a darn good plot. Well overshadowed by the likes of Alien, this is late 70's/ early 80's sci-fi at it's best. No more is the future in space a Utopia, it is a grimy, nasty everyday world where people carry on their sordid business as they ever did. Except there is always a hero; a flawed hero, as is Connery. A personal crusade, a battle almost against the odds (but not unbelievably so, at all) and the true hallmark of a good sci-fi story: That is, the story would work just as well anywhere, any place, any time, as it does in space in the future. What more do you want (Just check out the shuttle landing)? Essential viewing!

After leaving the James Bond franchise in 1971, Sean Connery gave a number of notable performances in films such as The Offense and The Man Who Would Be King but Outland is really the film that started him on the comeback trail that culminated with his Oscar acceptance speech 6 yrs later for The Untouchables. No one seems to recall this but at the time of Outland's release, no one had seen or heard from Connery for a few years and most of the reviews, while not kind to the film for a variety of reasons--chief among them being the fact that most movie critics (at least back then) harbored serious prejudice against sci fi--the main comment was "It is good to see Sean Connery back in action again".

This film has one of the best production designs ever.Phillip Harrison did a superb job. Obviously the look was copped from Alien--blue collar workers in space--but it works remarkably well. I was often reminded of OUTLAND during my seven year prison term; the housing was remarkably similar--as was the company. But I digress...

Nothing special about the plot-- it's routine cop show or western movie stuff--but who cares? Sean Connery gives a splendid performance and the whole film moves at a nice clip. Very enjoyable.