SnoopyStyle Marshal W.T. O'Niel (Sean Connery) is newly assigned to a mining colony on Jupiter's moon Io. His wife isn't happy and leaves with their son to Earth. Sgt. Montone (James Sikking) is his second in command. Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle) is the head of the operation who wants him to let the men operate smoothly without interference. However miners are acting weird and getting killed. Dr. Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen) discovers that the last dead miner has taken an amphetamine drug which lets people work day and night until they have a psychotic breakdown. Sheppard provides the drugs with Montone looking the other way.I like the design of the camp which reminds me of 'Alien'. I like the gritty underbelly feel of this realistic future world. It moves a bit slow at times which is its biggest problem. This is a sci-fi western compared most notably to 'High Noon'. This keeps getting compared to other movies but always comes up a little shorter. It's still a good movie.

AaronCapenBanner Despite a fine cast(Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, and Frances Sternhagen) and a talented director(Peter Hyams) this science fiction story is far too routine to succeed.Set on the Jupiter moon Io, it tells the tale of Marshal Sean Connery going to Io to investigate some mysterious deaths on a mining colony(said to be accidents) but instead uncovers a sinister drug ring led by the conglomerate that runs it. The marshal will not be bought or scared off, so of course their must be a "High Noon" style showdown at the climax, to settle matters for good. Plot sounds familiar because it is, and there is little else going on here to keep you interested(despite some good F/X.)

rooprect Let me say up front that any film with exploding people advances to the head of the class. "Scanners" ...awesome. "Robocop" ...grossalicious. "Spinal Tap" ...ahh, a moment of silence for Mick Shrimpton."Outland" shines (or should I say 'pops') with the best of them. And it's a great film to boot. More of a western than a scifi--its story has been compared to "High Noon"--it might be light on spaceships and laser battles, but it's definitely heavy on mood and atmosphere. If you like tense, dark, claustrophobic mood films like "Alien", "Das Boot" or even the recent "Pandorum", this is worth checking out.Sean Connery plays a great character, not quite the perfect hero as James Bond whom he had played a few years prior, but instead he plays a very human, fallible and slightly vulnerable (if not scared) character reminiscent of the great Jimmy Stewart or Gregory Peck in their roles as reluctant heroes. So don't expect Sean to clean house the way Schwarzenegger might. Here he's clearly outnumbered and outgunned which adds to the chills of this suspenseful story.Director Peter Hyams was at the peak of his game. Films like this, "Capricorn One" and "2010", all filmed within a 7-year stretch, exhibit the same dark, heavy vibe perfect for science fiction. Again let me repeat, you won't get a ton of flashy action scenes, but what you will get is a thick, suspenseful mood.If you like old school scifi like the films I've mentioned, or if you like westerns, or if you like moody thrillers, I think you'll like this. You might like it so much your head will explode. And then you too will be awesome.

amesmonde Within a mining colony on one of Jupiter's moons a Marshal uncovers an illegal drug operation and plans to stop it no matter the cost but with no help from his corrupt colleagues he counts down the hours to the arrival of a group assassins to silence him.With a basic plot reminiscent of High Noon only in space and some impressive visuals especially for 1981 Peter Hyams delivers a solid piece of entertainment. Sean Connery out of his comfort zone gives a good physical performance as Marshal W.T. O'Niel with Frances Sternhagen giving a sterling effort as Dr. Lazarus. James Sikking as Sgt. Montone is notable and Peter Boyle gives his usual subtle delivery. The script is light on dialogue and the action is slowed down by Connery having to don a clumsy space suit in the closing act - the showdown may have fared better on the station.It's an average affair but its simplicity makes it compelling and gives it the ability to still stand up today.