OUTLAND (1981) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

outland (1981) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   109 minutes

Released         |   22 May 1981

cast

Sean Connery ... Marshal William T. O'Niel
Peter Boyle ... Mark B. Sheppard
Frances Sternhagen ... Dr. Lazarus
James Sikking ... Sergeant Montone (as James B. Sikking)
Kika Markham ... Carol G. O'Niel
Clarke Peters ... Officer Ballard
Steven Berkoff ... Sagan
​John Ratzenberger ... Tarlow

director

​Peter Hyams

writer

​Peter Hyams ... (written by)

cinematographer

​Stephen Goldblatt ... director of photography

music

Jerry Goldsmith

film editor

​Stuart Baird

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​​​​​​17,374,595

Australia                 $​​​​​ not available

North America       $17,374,595​​​​​​​ 

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movie minutiae

This movie draws on the Gary Cooper classic HIGH NOON (1952). Killers are on their way to kill the marshal, who finds himself abandoned by his deputies, and with none of the residents willing to stand with him. Numerous villains await the arrival of the killers. As the arrival time approaches, Sean Connery enters a public facility (in HIGH NOON, a saloon, and then a church) and speaks to the "townspeople" repeating the classic Cooper line, "I could use a little help" and receiving none. As in HIGH NOON, the response is that it is his job to protect them, and not the reverse. His only ally is a woman with a sullied reputation - in this case, a doctor who describes herself as being "one step short of a malpractice suit." Despite this, she has become a solid citizen. This parallels the character of the old flame in HIGH NOON (1952), who had become a hotel owner. The marshal must decide between joining his wife, or doing the right thing - staying behind and facing almost certain death. Also, as with HIGH NOON, the name of the site is never specifically mentioned, although it is displayed here and there on signs throughout the movie. There are parallels in the set design as well, as with the swinging saloon doors outside the marshal's office, although they are made from metal and not wood.

​The script was originally intended to be set in a western period, but writer-director Peter Hyams decided to move it to outer space due to the influence of ALIEN (1979). The original title was Io, but Hyams was persuaded to change the title by an executive from the Ladd Company following a demonstration on random people, which showed that many would read the title as "number 10" instead.

The mining company is referred by the name "Con-Amalgamate". This is the same name given to the company that manufactured the defective life support system mentioned in CAPRICORN ONE (1977) (also written and directed by Peter Hyams).

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related movies

HIGH NOON (1952)

OUTLAND (1981) MOVIE IMAGES

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OUTLAND (1981) STORY SYNOPSIS

Thriller about an honest marshal in a corrupt mining colony on Io, Jupiter's sunless third moon, who is determined to confront a violent drug ring even though it may cost him his life. After his wife angrily deserts him, he waits alone for the arrival of killers hired by the company to eliminate him. Futuristic remake of HIGH NOON (1952).

OUTLAND (1981) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 22 May 2016

​​Pop Movee Rating

OUTLAND is a remake of Fred Zinneman’s 1952 Western High Noon set in the future aboard a mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io. Sean Connery stars for Writer-Director Peter Hyams, whose other genre credits include films such as CAPRICORN ONE (1977), 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT (1984) and TIMECOP (1994).

There’s a lot to like about the film, as Hyams does his best to capture the blue collar environment of what a mining colony of the future might operate like. OUTLAND has been compared to Ridley Scott’s ALIEN (which had been released just two years before in 1979) and there are notable similarities in terms of politics, production design and musical score.

That said, Sean Connery’s Marshall William T. O’Neil isn’t trying to escape an alien threat like the crew of the Nostromo; quite the contrary. Connery’s character is determined to meet the impending danger to him head-on as he takes a stand against the company running Io’s titanium mining operation.

Marshall O’Neil is the new guy aboard Con-Am 27, but he quickly becomes suspicious at the increase in the number of unexplained deaths aboard the colony. Immersed in his work, at yet another dead-end mining colony, he fails to realise that he’s losing the battle on the homefront. His wife Carol (Kika Markham) quietly slips off the colony with their young son, leaving the Marshall a video message explaining that she loves him but it’s time they considered how their son is going to grow up never having seen Earth.

O’Neil’s frustration at his growing isolation is exacerbated further by his duplicitous deputies Montone (James B. Sikking) and Ballard (Clarke Peters). Neither man is truly committed to his work and are happy to do the bidding of Mining Colony Manager Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle). Despite the obvious harm facing the colony’s workers from the distribution of illicit narcotics, everybody seems happy that productivity is up and everyone on board will get their bonus cheque!

Unlike many thrillers, there’s no contrived escalation of events in OUTLAND, precipitating an all-out eruption of violence right at the film’s very end. Peter Hyams slowly and deliberately builds toward his climax, not allowing his actors to get carried away with their performance.

Connery is solid as O’Neil, but audiences must have been disappointed at the the time of the film’s release, perhaps expecting James Bond in outer space. (Perhaps they’d missed MOONRAKER a couple of years before…) Connery’s performance, for the most part, is under-stated and, only right at the film’s climax, does he take a more physical approach to the role.

Peter Boyle, as Sheppard, is the real stand-out in Outland; combining the off-beat approach he’d become known for with characters such as Wizard in TAXI DRIVER (1976) with a menacing undertone that made him a formidable adversary for O’Neil. He plays Sheppard like a malicious version of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone, controlling the all aspects of the colony’s operation, completely isolating Sheppard.

OUTLAND's supporting cast are extremely strong with notable performances from both James B. Sikking and Frances Sternhagen as the curmudgeonly Dr. Lazarus. Sikking, who at the same time had just been cast as Sgt. Howard Hunter on HILL STREET BLUES, plays Montone as completely ambivalent to what is going on around him, but it becomes clear that he knows a hell of a lot more than he’s letting on to O’Neil. This becomes obvious in the hostage scene that features a small part for stage actor Steven Berkoff (as Sagan), another miner who has fallen victim to the hallucinogenic drug being distributed aboard the colony. Montone is quick on the trigger when he crashes through the roof of the room where Sagan is holding his prostitute hostage, blasting him with his shotgun before O’Neil has a chance to get through the door to disarm the out-of-control miner. Montone is apologetic, but dismissive of his actions; prompting O’Neil to dig a little deeper and enlist the help of Dr. Lazarus.

Besides Connery’s O’Neil, Sternhagen’s Lazarus is the only decent human being stationed on Con-Am 27. It becomes clear that she has great admiration for O’Neil and while he’s a married man, there’s an undercurrent of affection between the two characters that is hinted at but never acted upon. Lazarus puts herself in mortal danger during the film’s climax to help the Marshall in his fight against the two assassins who have been sent by the Company to kill him.

Peter Hyams leaves the viewer in little doubt as to where the story stands on the role of the Company in the events that take place at Con-Am 27. The company’s management is actively promoting the use of drugs, are engaged in a conspiracy to ensure the truth isn’t revealed and are prepared to murder to protect the profitability of their mining operation.

Coming out of the Watergate-era and the emergence of multi-national conglomerates, Hyams (like Ridley Scott in ALIEN) characterizes these organisations as perversive in their determination to subjugate individuals to the will of the company. O’Neil’s determination to stop what is happening at Con-Am 27, understanding the corporate manipulation going on elsewhere, appear more admirable to the audience; if not a little ambitious. Hyams makes the interesting choice to sideline Sheppard (and the entire station population) when the two assassins arrive. This makes O’Neil’s chances of success much more realistic, as O’Neil’s relative familiarity with the facility gives him the advantage.

​Hyams assembled an extremely talented crew to bring OUTLAND to the screen...

On many of his films, Hyams also undertook Cinematography duties, however, on OUTLAND he brought on board young Cinematographer South African Stephen Goldblatt to assisit with lighting and photographing the film. Goldblatt would go on from OUTLAND to work on the first two LETHAL WEAPON films with Richard Donner, as well as Joel Schumacher’s two BATMAN entries. Hyams opts for very low light levels for the majority of the film, using a lot of centrally positioned light sources; staging the action just off centre-of-frame.

The low light level adds to the gritty feel of the sets conceived by long-time Hyams collaborator, Production Designer Philip Harrison along with Art Director Malcolm Middleton and chief Set Decorator Stuart Rose.

Jerry Goldsmith provided the film’s musical score and while a number of Alien-esque similarities exist, the prolific composer chooses to use more electronic instrumentation and provides a number of riffs on Ennio Morricone’s Western scores to echo Outland’s own narrative similarities to HIGH NOON (1952).

OUTLAND (1981) USEFUL LINKS

Outland (film) - Wikipedia
​Outland (1981) - IMDb​
​Outland (1981) - Rotten Tomatoes

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