I’ve seen the poster for Outland many times – Sean Connery front and center, giving me the eyes, shotgun in hand, and ready for action.
Old Sean would pique my interest. It was as if I could hear him saying in his Scottish accent, “Go on, son – give me a watch.” But it was never quite enough to pull me in.
And Outland was not a particular smash on its release in 1981, basically making back its $18 million budget at the box office.
But you’ll find it on a few underrated film lists online, and after years of overlooking it, I decided to cave in and check it out.
Turns out it’s like smashing the “lived-in” sci-fi look of Alien with a remake of classic western High Noon. And it’s a sci-fi thriller playing out to a score from legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith.
I’m getting those forgotten gem signals here, but this could be a mediocre film with Bond alumni star power.
So let’s sort it out. Is Outland a good movie?
The Plot of Outland:
Federal Marshall William T. O’Niel (Sean Connery) begins a stint in charge of security at a titanium ore mining outpost on IO, one of Jupiter’s moons where gravity is 1/6th that of Earth’s.
Like an outer-space version of Deadliest Catch, the pay is good, but the work is demanding. So the mining company keeps the workers medicated and motivated with a steady supply of liquor and the help of prostitutes.
And productivity is at an all-time high, thanks to the oversight of company man Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle).
But when a few workers have psychotic episodes and commit suicide, O’Niel, with the help of Dr. Marian Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen), investigates.
As O’Niel uncovers a drug operation underlying the mine’s success, he finds himself alone in a potential fight for his life against the conspirators.
Will O’Niel look the other way or risk everything and stand against them?
The Rest of the Main Cast Includes:
- James B. Sikking as Sergeant Montone
- Kika Markham as Carol O’Niel
- Clarke Peters as Sergeant Ballard
- Steven Berkoff as Sagan
- Nicholas Barnes as Paul O’Niel
- John Ratzenberger as Tarlow
- Bill Bailey as Hill
- Norman Chancer as Officer Slater
- Stuart Milligan as Officer Walters
- James Berwick as Rudd
- Hal Galili as Officer Nelson
- Anni Domingo as Officer Morton
- Manning Redwood as Officer Lowell
- Pat Starr as Flo Spector
- Angus MacInnes as Hughes
- Eugene Lipinski as Cane
- Marc Boyle as Nicholas Spota
- Sharon Duce as Prostitute Attacked By Sagan
- Richard Hammatt as Russel Yario
- P. H. Moriarty as Hitman #1
- Angelique Rockas as Maintenance Woman
- Doug Robinson as Hitman #2
(Trailer Below at Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers on YouTube)
The Good Things About Outland:
Rugged Future Sci-Fi, +3 Points
I love a science fiction set with elevator shafts you can put right with a present-day pipe wrench or space haulers you could drop a La-Z-Boy recliner into without looking out of place.
And much like Alien, the production of Outland transports us to a future that didn’t call 1-800-JUNK before leaving Earth.
This oily, greasy mining operation is like a steel mill of the future with spacesuits. Workers are packed efficiently into little living units, and the corridors are long and foreboding.
And the higher-tech, such as space shuttles or communications equipment that can cover thousands of space miles, serve the plot rather than twinkles to add gloss.
The rust and gunk, grounded approach to the production fits the story. But it also helps the audience, as we’re not distracted by so much flashing tech that we struggle to take it all in.
The fact that Connery’s primary weapon is still a shotgun is a bit perplexing, but you could argue it calls back to westerns that way (and, hey, it worked for Hicks in Aliens).
Connery Gets…Vulnerable? +3 Points
Director Peter Hyams coaxes a performance out of Connery that turns up the tough guy at times yet dials it down to the brink of tears (yes, tears from Bond himself!) at a key moment in the plot.
Connery’s O’Niel outmuscles or outfoxes his enemies, but there’s no superspy here. This is a triumph of grit and determination, not gadgets and manicured chest hair.
And Connery is up for it – the smirk of Bond nowhere to be seen, a calculated gaze in its place.
He’s a weary man trying to feign optimism to his wife and child over another dreary outer-space assignment.
And without Connery’s vulnerability, the plot would fall apart.
If he took it all in stride, ready to face his assassins alone like an unstoppable force who no doubt would wriggle his way out of yet another scrape, muttering a “come and get me” in his iconic voice – it wouldn’t work.
O’Niel’s badassery here is that he will stay and fight despite his tangible fear of losing. And Connery’s performance – macho but with that tangible fear of failing – makes it compelling.
The Friendship of O’Niel and Dr. Lazarus, +3 Points
The sure-handed but tough-talking doctor is a sci-fi cliche (none more prominent than Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy). Still, Frances Sternhagen’s Dr. Lazarus gets original lines and delivers them with enough cutting edge to keep them fresh.
The good doctor is so bitter you wonder if her favorite snack is sauerkraut. And like all the other workers and staff at IO, she’s a burned-out professional with a murky past – one she openly laments to O’Niel.
Yet while they start out trading jabs and barbs, a mutual respect forms between O’Niel and Lazarus, as the doctor becomes an unlikely ally in an outpost where seemingly everyone else is complicit.
The movie benefits from the levity. And Lazarus’s role as a platonic friend, rather than a shoehorned love interest, is refreshing.
The Not-As-Good Things:
A Bigger Sandbox? -2 Points
It’s a plot point that the small mining operation on IO means boredom for O’Niel’s family and pushes a few workers to insanity. And the confined spaces help create tension within this thriller.
But the smallish setting makes the conflict between O’Niel and his attackers a bit lackluster.
The final chase/showdown sequence is more exciting than kids playing hide-and-seek in a studio apartment (behind the couch again?). Still, it could have used a few more spaces for narrow escapes or clever misdirections.
I’m not criticizing a movie that takes place on an isolated space station for not going outside the isolated space station inexplicably for the sake of mixing it up. But within the setting, a few more environments could have been imagined.
What’s the Kicker Here? -2 Points
The closest thing to a trademark in this movie is the multiple people who die from explosive decompression. It shows this with an almost surrealist effect where faces stretch and squish like grapes getting stepped on (don’t worry – the film doesn’t indulge in this gory moment much).
It’s a thriller without a Hannibal Lecter, a galactic sci-fi piece without an eye-popping spacewalk.
So while Outland is solid in its constructions, it’s a bit light in cinematic wonders.
Should I Watch Outland?
Total Arbitrary Points Score: 5 Points
If you’ve yet to see Outland, I’d recommend it for fans of sci-fi thrillers, especially those who enjoy Alien’s aesthetics.
It’s a capable slow burner, building up enough tension and sympathy for O’Niel’s plight before the countdown to a showdown that makes up the third act.
But it only met my moderate expectations, with Connery and Sternhagen’s performances keeping this movie afloat rather than enhancing a true classic.
So put it on your watch list but not right at the top. More like the middle.
Outland was directed by Peter Hyams.
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Disclaimer:
This review’s factual information was gathered through online sources, like Wikipedia, IMDB, or interviews. Misrepresentations and errors are possible but unintentional.
Making art is hard. This is a fan’s blog. Any criticisms are meant to be constructive.
