Outland – Review

On Jupiter’s third moon IO, there is a weekly shuttle to and from the nearby space station as well as a titanium mining operation on the surface, owned by megacorp Con-Amalgamated. A couple thousand laborers and support staff make up the workforce and they all enjoy 1/6^th the gravity of Earth.

Space-suited miners work deep underground and debate if automated factory machines will replace them. As they drill, one of the men, Tarlow, starts yelling about spiders and going a bit crazy. The others don’t know what to make of his space madness. There is nothing alive there, much less spiders. This leads to disaster as Tarlow’s suit is ruptured and his head explodes with a gnarly pop.

The newly implemented mining station Marshal, William T. O’Neil (Connery), is given security briefings on the recent happenings, including the poor soul that went kablooey. There is no autopsy possible. O’Neil’s wife Carol and son Paul hear the grim broadcast as well while enjoying breakfast. Bill knows how difficult this assignment is on his family, but he wants them to give it a chance. Carol however is less sure.

As the Marshal introduces himself to the crews, most are receptive, however hot shot General Manager Mark Sheppard (Boyle) reminds him how productive his crew is and the records he has set. He expects the Marshal to let them operate with plenty of room, as they are all professionals.

Shortly after, strange things continue to happen, as more men lose their lives. What could be driving these crazy actions? The local doc, Marian Lazarus (Sternhagen) lends support and theories to O’Neil. Maybe there is something connecting these awful deaths…

Outland is a decent slower paced space mystery with pretty cool sets and costumes despite the early 80s limitations on special effects. The story is interesting and characters feel authentic. Sound acting, directing and world-building round out the flick which is a pretty solid time and works well for me. Connery is great like usual. If you can handle slower crawl mysteries, this one is decent!

While not an official adaptation or remake, this film has some similar elements and themes as the classic western High Noon. It is truly NOT a remake despite how many people online tell you that it is, or think that is some kind of a ‘fun fact.’ Outland is way different despite the shared elements, and absolutely no script or story credits involve anyone from the High Noon production.

End Transmission.