# Outland (1981)



## Toby Frost (Aug 15, 2017)

Marshall O’Niel (Sean Connery) is the newly-appointed chief of police on Con-Am 27, a bleak mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. He soon finds himself in a plot involving corrupt cops, drug-crazed workers and sinister company bosses, and has to fight for his life when he refuses to compromise his principles.

Peter Hyam’s _Outland_ (1981) is generally remembered as _High Noon_ in space, which isn’t quite fair. The actual _High Noon_ elements – the countdown to the villains arriving in town, the quest for allies, and the making of preparations for the fight – only take up the last third of the film; before then, it’s really a police thriller.

A more interesting comparison, I think, is with _Alien_. The look of Com-Am 27 is very similar to that of the Nostromo, and there’s a notable overlap of personnel: Jerry Goldsmith did the music for both films, and John Mollo designed the costumes. The title sequence is much like that of _Alien_, and one version of _Outland_ uses the _Alien_-esque slogan “Even in space, the ultimate enemy is man”. And both films have the same sense of paranoia, that of the little working guys against the faceless power of the Corporation.

The interior design of Com-Am 27 looks superb. It’s essentially an oil rig the size of a town, complete with grim living quarters, bleak canteens and a joyless brothel. The whole place probably smells like an unwashed vest. The exterior shots are slightly less good, because they’re more ambitious, but are still very decent. There are some comically dated shots of computers doing “computer stuff”, none of which looks more powerful than a ZX Spectrum. 

I’m not normally a great fan of Connery, whom I find pretty wooden, but I think he manages all right here, mainly because he’s not required to do much except look troubled and tough. Peter Boyle makes a credibly smarmy villain. I can’t decide whether Frances Sternhagen, as O’Neil’s ally (_Galaxy Quest_ fans will be interested to note that she’s called Doctor Lazarus) is over the top or actually doing a rather subtle bit of acting as someone who puts on a front. Also, look out for a cameo from Steven Berkoff, frothing and ranting as a drug-crazed miner.

_Outland_ fits with _Moon_ and _Alien_ in depicting a very blue-collar science-fiction world, where work is hard, beer is vital and the boss is always out to rip you off. If it has a main flaw, it is perhaps that it isn’t science fictionish enough, in that it transfers a cop story to space too literally. Ultimately, I think it is a decent film that deserves to be better-known.


----------



## Bick (Sep 4, 2017)

Great review; I always liked Outland.


----------



## Rodders (Sep 20, 2017)

NIce review. I really love the dirty, scummy world that they created with this movie. Pretty underrated in my opinion.


----------



## Toby Frost (Nov 18, 2020)

I stumbled upon this video, which makes a good case for _Alien_ and _Outland_ being in the same setting.


----------



## BAYLOR (Nov 18, 2020)

One critic  referred to it as *High Noon* in  a Space Helmet.


----------



## Robert Zwilling (Nov 19, 2020)

For me, the shot guns gave it a distinctly western flavor. That was a twist and will probably remain true as long as a regular atmosphere and gravity are lurking somewhere nearby. Connery's interactions with the other characters was a lot of one on one, which made me think of the way High Noon played out. The way the plot unfolded was similar to High Noon, except that High Noon had a couple of bad guys hanging around and unsupportive towns folk feeding the rising tension until the killing started while Outland detailed the events that lead up to the confrontation in a different way. Both men used the layout of their immediate surroundings to engage their adversaries.


----------



## BT Jones (Nov 19, 2020)

Great review @Toby Frost.  I too have a soft spot for Outland and see much of the same similarities with Alien as you do.  That era of space horror is iconic for me and includes also, to a lesser extent, The Black Hole and the V'ger elements of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  I always found Francis Sternhagen's performance to be a high point.  I think you could easily formulate a backstory for her character (divorcee, kids grown up, needs the money, keen to get away from it all and also see a bit of the universe before she dies).  Her cynicism and world weariness were entirely plausible for me.  I also liked that it was a non-sexual relationship between two fifty-somethings.  They could so easily have cast a 30-year old and tried to inject a romantic element.

Looking forward to my son being old enough to watch it with me.


----------



## BAYLOR (Nov 19, 2020)

Robert Zwilling said:


> For me, the shot guns gave it a distinctly western flavor. That was a twist and will probably remain true as long as a regular atmosphere and gravity are lurking somewhere nearby. Connery's interactions with the other characters was a lot of one on one, which made me think of the way High Noon played out. The way the plot unfolded was similar to High Noon, except that High Noon had a couple of bad guys hanging around and unsupportive towns folk feeding the rising tension until the killing started while Outland detailed the events that lead up to the confrontation in a different way. Both men used the layout of their immediate surroundings to engage their adversaries.



The silly  gunman  in the greenhouse should not have not shot that glass window . It ended up ruining his whole day.


----------



## Rodders (Nov 19, 2020)

I really enjoyed Outland and it would be pretty cool if it were set in the same universe. The aesthetics are pretty similar.


----------



## BAYLOR (Nov 19, 2020)

Rodders said:


> I really enjoyed Outland and it would be pretty cool if it were set in the same universe. The aesthetics are pretty similar.



It could very easily be set in earlier an timeframe than Alien.


----------



## Toby Frost (Nov 19, 2020)

BT Jones said:


> I also liked that it was a non-sexual relationship between two fifty-somethings. They could so easily have cast a 30-year old and tried to inject a romantic element.



Yes, that's a very good point. It's quite a rare sort of relationship to see in any film, especially one like this. I suppose that's another similarity with Alien: the older cast and the lack of romance. One thing I like about some 70s films is how normal the characters look, even the ones who are meant to be attractive people. Even the hitmen are balding thugs instead of killer robots or something like that.

Incidentally, while it's probably legally impossible for the two films to be explicitly linked, the description of life on a mining colony in the Alien roleplaying game is exactly the same as that portrayed in Outland.


----------



## Vince W (Nov 19, 2020)

I love _Outland_. It's a favourite of mine and can't say enough good things about it. I get your point, Toby, about it perhaps not being science fictionish enough. It has a very real and very common touch to it. It's the future we don't want to think about. A dull workaday existence most people will live. No wicked empires or utopian democracies here.

In my mind I see the _Outland, Alien_ *and* _Event Horizon_ as all part of the same universe.


----------



## Toby Frost (Nov 19, 2020)

I could see _Moon_ being in the same setting, too.


----------



## Vince W (Nov 19, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> I could see _Moon_ being in the same setting, too.


If you squint a bit, sure.


----------



## BT Jones (Nov 19, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> Yes, that's a very good point. It's quite a rare sort of relationship to see in any film, especially one like this. I suppose that's another similarity with Alien: the older cast and the lack of romance. One thing I like about some 70s films is how normal the characters look, even the ones who are meant to be attractive people. Even the hitmen are balding thugs instead of killer robots or something like that.
> 
> Incidentally, while it's probably legally impossible for the two films to be explicitly linked, the description of life on a mining colony in the Alien roleplaying game is exactly the same as that portrayed in Outland.


I skimmed the video you linked, Toby, and I have to say the visual similarities when parts of the two film are played side-by-side are astonishing.  I can definitely visualise Brett and Parker having worked on IO and opting to ship out into space for the extra money.

Parker - "C'mon man, let's blow this joint and get some _real _pay for all the hard work we do."
Brett - "Right."


----------



## Danny McG (Nov 20, 2020)

Nah,
This is how space cops look, note the holsters attached to the tops of the boots


----------

