Rating: 
Summary: 1981 Sci-Fi "Oldie" Has Worn Well
Review: "Outland" is a movie I am always happy to recommend to people. Set on Io, a moon of Jupiter, it concerns a harmful and illicit drug. The colony's manager (smirkingly played by Peter Boyle), makes money dealing the drug and also benefits from the increased productivity this "upper" has among his workers--until they die. The new marshall of the colony is played by Sean Connery. You may not remember now but his tight, monklike beard and close-cut hair were a sensation in this movie. Set design caused a stir, too. The people who made this movie wanted a beat-up, realistic station but were accused of excessive "grunge." A year later "Blade Runner" came along and legitimized that look. As a result, "Outland" still looks terrific today. The plot is essentially "High Noon" with Connery substituting for Gary Cooper, right down to his wife and child taking the last shuttle (train?) off Io before the thugs come down to "explain" things to Connery. Does Connery get help from the quaking townfolk? What do you think? The performances are all good, particularly Peter Boyle as the plant manager who's so smug you could kill him for no reason at all; Frances Sternhagen as the wisecracking company doctor; and above all Connery, who once again turned the page on a new chapter in his career. I really think this flick is underrated.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable sci-fi thriller with suspense and great story
Review: "Outland" is truly an enjoyable film. Sean Connery does an excellent job portraying William O'Neil, a Federal Marshall sent to one of Jupiter's moons to provide security for the mining colony on this moon. Several apparent suicides begin to occur while O'Neil is performing his tour, so he begins to launch his own investigation to uncover the truth behind these suicides. O'Neil finds out that a new drug is being administered to the miners so they can produce more output, but the drug's side effects cause the miners to go crazy and kill themselves. When the general manager of the mining operation realizes that O'Neil has found out about this drug, he dispatches two paid assassins to kill O'Neil. The suspense in the film mounts as O'Neil prepares to fight while the assassins are being transported to the mining colony. The movie features good special effects and performances by the main actors, Sean Connery and Peter Boyle. I definitely recommend this film to any sci-fi or action film fan, as well as anyone looking for a good suspenseful movie.
Rating:
Summary: 1981 Sci-Fi "Oldie" Has Worn Well
Review: "Outland" is a movie I am always happy to recommend to people. Set on Io, a moon of Jupiter, it concerns a harmful and illicit drug. The colony's manager (smirkingly played by Peter Boyle), makes money dealing the drug and also benefits from the increased productivity this "upper" has among his workers--until they die. The new marshall of the colony is played by Sean Connery. You may not remember now but his tight, monklike beard and close-cut hair were a sensation in this movie. Set design caused a stir, too. The people who made this movie wanted a beat-up, realistic station but were accused of excessive "grunge." A year later "Blade Runner" came along and legitimized that look. As a result, "Outland" still looks terrific today. The plot is essentially "High Noon" with Connery substituting for Gary Cooper, right down to his wife and child taking the last shuttle (train?) off Io before the thugs come down to "explain" things to Connery. Does Connery get help from the quaking townfolk? What do you think? The performances are all good, particularly Peter Boyle as the plant manager who's so smug you could kill him for no reason at all; Frances Sternhagen as the wisecracking company doctor; and above all Connery, who once again turned the page on a new chapter in his career. I really think this flick is underrated.
Rating: 
Summary: Outland
Review: A gutsy Connery confronts corporate greed on a Jovian moon mining colony. Not one of Sean Connery's most successful films, it is a must-have for sci-fi buffs. Unfortunately, the widescreen transfer is sub-par. Thin horizontal lines, horizontal edges of objects, and stars wink in and out of existence when they pass across horizontal scan lines and due to film jitter. Although noticeable at first, this defect becomes less noticeable as one watches the video. Until a better transfer is available, it is still a "keeper". This 3-star film gets two stars due to the transfer problem.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Add this movie to your collection if you can take movies that are characterized as moving "slow" for the general population, if you like dark sci-fi's, and Sean Connery. I didn't think the movie was slow at all. I remember seeing glimpses of this movie as a kid, and when I finally got it for the low price, I was happy I did. I only wriggled in my seat because the movie wasn't widescreen, but I don't feel like spending money on the DVD, although I am curious :). This movie is about one man's fight against what seems like everything else in his world, being in the position that he is in.
Rating:
Summary: High Noon on Jupiter's MOON IO.
Review: Directed by Peter Hyams. Sean Connery stars as a law marshall stationed on a mining colony on IO,a moon of Jupiter, and discovers that the minders are dying from the effects of a strong drug. Frances Sternhagen stars as the colony's doctor and the only decent person there who helps the marshall. Good action and great acting by the cast. The story is a bit slow in some places however. Jerry Goldsmith does the music score.
Rating:
Summary: High Noon in deep space...
Review: Director Peter Hyams and film legend Sean Connery make a powerful duo in the making of the film "Outland," which can be described as "High Noon" in space. Very nice sets, a complex script and excellent fight scenes power this film about a police officer on a mining colony on a moon of Jupiter. Peter Hyams is at his best when he's directing sci-fi. His other credits in the genre include "2010" and "Timecop," with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Connery proves once again that he's the best there was the best there is the best that ever will be... with apologies to Bret Hart.
Rating:
Summary: It's Like A Space Western
Review: Director Peter Hyams appeared to have been inspired by the Western drama "High Noon" when he made this movie. Indubitably "Outland" presents the ingredients of a cowboy movie. The town is represented by a mineral colony on Io -a moon of Jupiter -in spite of the fact that they are in outer space and, if you go out, you might take the chance to explode your guts inside out because of the gravity. The town's people don't help anybody who goes against the powerful conglomerate. And then there is the sheriff in the body of Sean Connery.
Connery plays Marshal William O'Neill, a law man who believes in truth and justice in a "town" where those things are unaccounted for. Unfortunately he goes against the powerful general manager of the mining corporation (Peter Boyle) under the suspicion that his company is giving some poweful drug to the workers who, later, end up dead. The manager decides to hire assassins to have O'Neill killed, and the clock -just like in "High Noon" -is ticking.
This movie is quite a treat. The claustrophobic settings are very adequate for the plot development. However, this movie sometimes goes slow in the middle, but the suspense catches up with the viewer for the climax.
It's too bad this DVD does not have documentaries, so I'm waiting for the release of a special edition. Anyone?
Rating:
Summary: It's Like A Space Western
Review: Director Peter Hyams appeared to have been inspired by the Western drama "High Noon" when he made this movie. Indubitably "Outland" presents the ingredients of a cowboy movie. The town is represented by a mineral colony on Io -a moon of Jupiter -in spite of the fact that they are in outer space and, if you go out, you might take the chance to explode your guts inside out because of the gravity. The town's people don't help anybody who goes against the powerful conglomerate. And then there is the sheriff in the body of Sean Connery.
Connery plays Marshal William O'Neill, a law man who believes in truth and justice in a "town" where those things are unaccounted for. Unfortunately he goes against the powerful general manager of the mining corporation (Peter Boyle) under the suspicion that his company is giving some poweful drug to the workers who, later, end up dead. The manager decides to hire assassins to have O'Neill killed, and the clock -just like in "High Noon" -is ticking.
This movie is quite a treat. The claustrophobic settings are very adequate for the plot development. However, this movie sometimes goes slow in the middle, but the suspense catches up with the viewer for the climax.
It's too bad this DVD does not have documentaries, so I'm waiting for the release of a special edition. Anyone?
Rating: 
Summary: Jumpin' Jupiter, it's the Wild, Wild West on Io
Review: Firstly, the opening of this movie reminded me of 1979's "Alien", opening with the visually-emerging movie title followed by text explaining where the movie was taking place and why the characters were there.
Our hero, O'Neil (Sean Connery) has been sent to yet another lousy assignment because of his non-conformist ways. And it is exactly those non-conformist ways that will identify him as our protagonist.
And, of course, one cannot have a protagonist without at least one or more antagonist(s). The chief bad-guy is Peter Boyle leading a gang of ne'er-do-wells who drug up the local mining work crew (miner 49-ers?) so that they produce like crazed machines (ah, pervasive corporate greed without regard to human life a la "Alien"). Well, some things never change.
The Western feel is reinforced in many ways, replete with "saloon doors" which the marshall runs through after grabbin' a shotgun from the gunrack, some frontier justice and even the Ike Clanton-beard of James B. Sikking. I reckon there's gonna be a shootout!
Of course the *really* bad guys are comin' in on the noon stagecoach (in this case it's the space shuttle from the space station). I'm a big Sean Connery fan but Frances Sternhagen and James B. Sikking really carry the film.
With that said, let's talk about a few of the problems. For one, the marshall's kid is a casting mistake because he's just awful. He looks 12 years old but talks like the 7-year old on "The Rifleman". Whenever he's on screen, some of the most awkward dialogue takes place so that's a clue it's probably a good time to get up and get another Coca-Cola and some more Cheez-Its. Also, Connery reaches into boiling soup to grab some drugs with his bare hand. Yep, he gets burned, so one wonders why he didn't knock the boiling pot over with the shotgun? Also, their space helmets have lights on the inside, which is roughly like turning on your dome lights, turning off your headlights and going for a midnight drive in your car. And at the end, Connery is giving his farewell speech to Frances Sternhagen but is delivering his lines like a rank amateur. It's so awkward you'll have to see and hear it to believe it (ex. "Well, I have to go, now."). C'mon Sean, you were a better actor than this.
So what have we learned?
1) There are no spiders on Io so don't freak out, they're not real. (Dang varmints!)
2) Don't go outside without your space helmet.
3) This film gets 3.5 stars but there's no 1/2 rating.
4) No western is complete without at least one character named Flo. Yer darn tootin', pardner!
Now, get along little doggies!
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