Outland... Loin de la Terre

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.

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.

Outland is brilliant. So many good moments in the movie -the first time you see someones head explode from change of pressure, the bloodied elevator as it returns from the bottom of the mining shaft and the overall excellent visionary style of the mining colony. Connery is perfectly cast as the marshall who cannot be bought and Frances Sternhagen brings much needed warm relief from the terror with her smart, down-to-earth manner. Hyams directs the film with excellent vigour and his choice of filters and lighting, (especially the scene in the prostitues room which is blood red from the emergency lighting), gives an instant impression of heat, fear and so cool relief from the space shots. It could quite easily be overlooked as just another sci-fi flick but I think it established much more the benefits of bringing earth-realism to outer-space than any other film in it's day.(Probably best to watch it, as I did, when you are 10 years old!!)

With the late 70's giving us Star Wars and Alien, these films inspired a barrage of filmmakers to have a more realistic edge with sci-fi. Outland is no exception and while the film is heavily flawed, it's a decent sci-fi movie with lots of twists and turns to keep you engaged.

The miniatures and models look fantastic and still hold up today in my opinion. It inhabits that Alien mining operation look throughout and Peter Hyams did a great job on an aesthetic point of view. It's not as detailed as Alien, but what is?

The story is also pretty well written and many have labelled it as High Noon in space. It definitely has that western feeling especially with the showdown climax and your typical western pistols have been replaced with shotguns.

Sean Connery delivers a great performance and I would say this is one of his best post Bond films along with The Name of the Rose.

Despite these positives there are quite a few negatives. The explosive decompression scenes are quite dated and are unintentionally hilarious with peoples heads inflating like balloons. The child actor who plays Marshall O Neill's son is quite possibly the worst child actor ever! It takes you out of the movie for a while but thankfully it's only a brief scene.

If you haven't seen this I would recommend Outland, especially if you're a fan of Alien or any other industrial sci-fi movie from that era. It's quite overlooked so definitely give it a look.

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!