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Outland Review
Posted by:Here is a real under-rated and under appreciated sci-fi movie that very few people know about. In fact I never really heard of it until I found it in the $5 bin at the local Future Shop. It looked all right, started Sean Connery and hell…it was only $5! So I picked it up and boy was I surprised!
Outland is set in a large mining colony that has been constructed on Io, one of the moons of Jupiter. The colony is owned by a large corporation that is only concerned with how much money they can make at the expense of the workers. The large workforce on Io, we’re told, has produced the most output of any mining colony in the solar system and continues to increase the output on a daily basis. However, all is not as it seems and in comes Marshal William T. O'Niel (Sean Connery) to investigate the problem. Actually, O’Niel is brought in to replace the previous Marshall who left under unknown circumstances. The station manager, Mark B. Sheppard (Peter Boyle), tells O’Niel that the colony runs fine, the workers are happy and to leave things be. However, O’Niel is not so easily dissuaded from his duties, he can’t turn his back on the fact that the number of suicides and accidental deaths has skyrocketed on the colony in the last while, in exact coloration to the rise in production.
O’Niel is left alone on the station when his wife (Kika Markham) up and leaves, taking their young son with her to go to Earth. At this point O'Niel as no allies and no one to trust but a hack doctor (Frances Sternhagen) and his main deputy (James Sikking) who doesn’t seem to be completely on the level. What follows is O’Niel’s investigation into the source of all the strife in the colony. Once Sheppard hears of what O’Niel is doing, and how he has no intention of backing off, he sends word to head office who promptly dispatch a group of assassins to ‘take care of him’. O’Niel catches wind of this turn of events and now has to race against the clock to find the source of the problem, or end up as just another name on the casualty list.
Overall this is a terrific movie. It’s got great performances by all those involved, especially Connery. His portrayal of an upstanding Federal Marshall is terrific, you really sense that he is the ‘good’ cop and will never turn his back on his duties. Boyle does a great job as the station manager and you know right from the second you meet his character that he is not to be trusted. Sternhagen also delivers a great performance as Dr. Marian Lazarus. Although burnt out from overwork, her character works hard with O’Niel (and they don’t start out on the same page, let me tell you) and helps to gather some key information into the mysterious cause of the deaths.
The one thing I absolutely loved about this movie was the set design. As it came out shortly after Alien, it looks as though the directors/producers borrowed a lot of elements from that universe. The whole facility has a really grimy, claustrophobic, industrial sense to it. It makes for believable science fiction as there are no warp drives, laser guns or light sabers. Just regular folk like you and me working a very hard mining job in an extremely hostile environment. The costumes look great as they aren’t of the flashy, out of this world variety. Again, another element that looks to be borrowed from Alien. Actually, if you threw in a few Xenomorphs you could easily call this movie Aliens Outland; it’s that similar in design.
Overall a great flick that is very entertaining. It’s not bursting with action but has enough tense scenes to keep you watching right to the end to see who is behind the workers deaths. Solid performances, great set design, cool space setting…what more could you ask for? Sean Connery, you need to do more sci-fi movies!
Outland is set in a large mining colony that has been constructed on Io, one of the moons of Jupiter. The colony is owned by a large corporation that is only concerned with how much money they can make at the expense of the workers. The large workforce on Io, we’re told, has produced the most output of any mining colony in the solar system and continues to increase the output on a daily basis. However, all is not as it seems and in comes Marshal William T. O'Niel (Sean Connery) to investigate the problem. Actually, O’Niel is brought in to replace the previous Marshall who left under unknown circumstances. The station manager, Mark B. Sheppard (Peter Boyle), tells O’Niel that the colony runs fine, the workers are happy and to leave things be. However, O’Niel is not so easily dissuaded from his duties, he can’t turn his back on the fact that the number of suicides and accidental deaths has skyrocketed on the colony in the last while, in exact coloration to the rise in production.
O’Niel is left alone on the station when his wife (Kika Markham) up and leaves, taking their young son with her to go to Earth. At this point O'Niel as no allies and no one to trust but a hack doctor (Frances Sternhagen) and his main deputy (James Sikking) who doesn’t seem to be completely on the level. What follows is O’Niel’s investigation into the source of all the strife in the colony. Once Sheppard hears of what O’Niel is doing, and how he has no intention of backing off, he sends word to head office who promptly dispatch a group of assassins to ‘take care of him’. O’Niel catches wind of this turn of events and now has to race against the clock to find the source of the problem, or end up as just another name on the casualty list.
Overall this is a terrific movie. It’s got great performances by all those involved, especially Connery. His portrayal of an upstanding Federal Marshall is terrific, you really sense that he is the ‘good’ cop and will never turn his back on his duties. Boyle does a great job as the station manager and you know right from the second you meet his character that he is not to be trusted. Sternhagen also delivers a great performance as Dr. Marian Lazarus. Although burnt out from overwork, her character works hard with O’Niel (and they don’t start out on the same page, let me tell you) and helps to gather some key information into the mysterious cause of the deaths.
The one thing I absolutely loved about this movie was the set design. As it came out shortly after Alien, it looks as though the directors/producers borrowed a lot of elements from that universe. The whole facility has a really grimy, claustrophobic, industrial sense to it. It makes for believable science fiction as there are no warp drives, laser guns or light sabers. Just regular folk like you and me working a very hard mining job in an extremely hostile environment. The costumes look great as they aren’t of the flashy, out of this world variety. Again, another element that looks to be borrowed from Alien. Actually, if you threw in a few Xenomorphs you could easily call this movie Aliens Outland; it’s that similar in design.
Overall a great flick that is very entertaining. It’s not bursting with action but has enough tense scenes to keep you watching right to the end to see who is behind the workers deaths. Solid performances, great set design, cool space setting…what more could you ask for? Sean Connery, you need to do more sci-fi movies!
Source: Blurr
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