Outland (film)
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| Outland | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Hyams |
| Produced by | Richard A. Roth |
| Written by | Peter Hyams |
| Starring | Sean Connery Peter Boyle Frances Sternhagen James Sikking Kika Markham Clarke Peters Steven Berkoff |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Release date(s) | May 22 1981 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 109 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Outland is a 1981 science fiction movie starring Sean Connery. It has been described as space western, that is, a Western set in the future, with a specific nod towards High Noon. Connery's character is the federal marshal of a mining colony on Io, a moon of Jupiter, rather than in the Wild West.
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[edit] Plot summary
The manager of the colony (Peter Boyle) is part of a drug smuggling ring that brings amphetamines, specifically a fictional drug known as "Polydichloric euthimal," into the colony in order to maintain high production levels. Unfortunately, with sustained use over a period of time, the amphetamines cause hallucinations and psychotic behavior. After several miners experience hallucinations and die in mishaps, the marshal (Connery) investigates and uncovers the smuggling ring. The marshal confronts the manager to stop the drug shipments, but the manager says that nobody else wants the drugs shipments to be stopped. The manager contacts his smuggling ring and several assassins are sent to the station to murder the marshal. With the sole help of the station doctor (Frances Sternhagen), the marshal evades the assassins through a desperate kill-or-be-killed chase throughout the colony.
[edit] Later influences
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Peter Hyam's next science fiction film 2010: The Year We Make Contact was to feature many special effects and set-design features and ideas first explored in Outland. These include slatted lighting effects, clothing design, and inclusion of electronics. Outland, despite its clear and well defined references to High Noon remains a very European vision of the future of man in space, as does 2010. This is ironic given that Hyams is an American producer, but understandable also given that both films were produced in the United Kingdom with a British crew and special effects department.
[edit] Trivia
- The film contains several references to The Company. This company is similar in character to the Weyland-Yutani of Alien fame, with which film Outland shares a space faring yet working class atmosphere.
- This film is notable because it was one of the first science fiction genre films to use "retro" ballistic weapons such as revolvers, automatic pistols, machine guns, and shotguns, rather than "energy" weapons such as lasers or other ray guns.
- The song "High Moon" by the heavy metal group Star One is based on the events in this movie.
- The Italian and Spanish title translate to Atmosphere Zero because several people die exploding by sudden exposition to void. However the real effects of exposure to the vacuum of space are not so dramatic.
- Selected premiere engagements of Outland were presented in Megasound, a high-impact surround sound system similar to Sensurround.
