Outland

"Nothing here is wonderful. It works...that's enough." - Sheppard

release year: 1981
genre: action/sci-fi
viewing setting: home DVD 8/23/22 and 8/4/17 and 2/16/09 and 5/6/03

synopsis: People are dying at a mining station on Io, a moon of Jupiter; the new marshal gets to figure out why this is happening.

impressions: For its first half, this movie is a cop/detective/drug-dealer story; then it turns into High Noon in space. It has slow moments, but as I said, it's more of a drama than an action movie, most of the time. The direction is very atmospheric, and the sets and effects are top-notch. It never occurred to me that the events on the screen weren't actually happening in space.

things to watch for: Any of the (multiple) explosive decompressions.

acting: Sean Connery makes a good take-no-crap marshal, and pretty much dominates this movie. Peter Boyle is the corporate manager who values profits above human life. Frances Sternhagen is good as a crotchety old doctor. Steven Berkoff (who was the main evil Russian in Rambo) is a drug-crazed miner here.

final word: Drama- and action- packed sci-fi movie.

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