Outland (1981)

In the distant future, a police marshal stationed at a remote mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy, and gets no help from the populace when he later finds himself marked for murder.

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writer:

Peter Hyams

Stars:

Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	Marshall William T. O'Niel
Peter Boyle	...	Mark Sheppard
Frances Sternhagen	...	Dr. Lazarus
James Sikking	...	Sgt. Montone (as James B. Sikking)
Kika Markham	...	Carol O'Niel
Clarke Peters	...	Ballard
Steven Berkoff	...	Sagan
John Ratzenberger	...	Tarlow
Nicholas Barnes	...	Paul O'Niel
Manning Redwood	...	Lowell
Pat Starr	...	Flo Spector
Hal Galili	...	Nelson
Angus MacInnes	...	Hughes
Stuart Milligan	...	Walters
Eugene Lipinski	...	Cane

Storyline

Marshal W.T. O'Niel is assigned to a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. During his tenure miners are dying - usually violently. When the marshal investigates he discovers the one thing all the deaths have in common is a lethal amphetamine-type drug, which allows the miners to work continuously for days at a time until they become "burned out" and expire. O'Niel follows the trail of the dealers, which leads to the man overseeing the colony. Now O'Niel must watch his back at every turn, as those who seek to protect their income begin targeting him...

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Plot Keywords:

marshal | drugs | miner | mining | outpost | 

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Taglines:

On Jupiter's moon he's the only law.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atmósfera cero

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ladd Company, The, Outland Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (MegaSound encoding) (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (MegaSound encoding) (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sean Connery lost a major extended cameo role in Chariots of Fire because this film went over schedule.

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Goofs

During the chase scene in the tunnels, for a few frames the boom mic pops into the view in the bottom right corner.

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Quotes

Lazarus: [aghast] Polydichloric euthimal! Those stupid bastards are taking polydichloric euthimal! It's an amphetamine. Strongest thing you ever saw. Makes you feel wonderful. Makes you do ten hours work in six hours, that kind of nonsense. Especially manual labor. It makes you work like a horse. The army tested it a few years ago. It made the men work alright... then it made them psychotic. It takes a while, ten maybe eleven months... and then it fries your brain.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, the word "Principal" is misspelled.

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Connections

Referenced in Special Collector's Edition: Las chicas de la Tierra son fáciles (2012)

User Reviews

Almost a great movie...it settles for being an entertaining near-miss

Writer-director Peter Hyams has always shown a love not just for science-fiction stories but an understanding of what makes science-fiction fun. He's not interested in exasperating details or mechanical jargon, he just wants to have a good time. This is both pro and con for his "Outland", a fairly gripping movie set in the 21st Century which has enjoyable ingredients but is too routine overall. Sean Connery plays a cop investigating a mysterious rash of suicides among mining workers on one of Jupiter's moons; Frances Sternhagen is terrific as a cynical doctor who aides in his research. Film begins very well, but Hyams gets bogged down in plot-externals and good guys-vs.-bad guys shtick. Not a bad thriller. It just isn't very special, and that's a shame because Connery is solid (as usual) and the production is highly adept. **1/2 from ****