The setting is a corporate mining colony on Io one of Jupiter's moons sometime in the relatively near future. Our protagonist Marshall O'Niel (Sean Connery) has just recently arrived and he has found out that the miner's are dying at an usual rate in unusual ways. When he eventually discovers the cause he is told to look the other way, which he of course does not.
Though the story is set in outer-space it is very much a Western in structure, with the small isolated settlement and the Marshall facing off against hired guns. The story was in fact loosely inspired by the classic western High Noon. The tension builds as the inevitable showdown nears, and the backdrop of the mining colony works very well to trap both our protagonist and his foes until it is resolved.
The movie was somewhat bold and refreshing for having the major female character Doctor Lazarus(France Sternhagen) being both middle aged and also not a love interest for Connery. The often affable Peter Boyle projects considerable malevolence as the mine boss.
The film was written and directed by Peter Hyams who has made mostly action films often in the science fiction genre.
Outland was not the first film to depict this kind of gritty vision of the future but it certainly portrays it well and this seems like a believable vision of such an existence.
Though the story is set in outer-space it is very much a Western in structure, with the small isolated settlement and the Marshall facing off against hired guns. The story was in fact loosely inspired by the classic western High Noon. The tension builds as the inevitable showdown nears, and the backdrop of the mining colony works very well to trap both our protagonist and his foes until it is resolved.
The movie was somewhat bold and refreshing for having the major female character Doctor Lazarus(France Sternhagen) being both middle aged and also not a love interest for Connery. The often affable Peter Boyle projects considerable malevolence as the mine boss.
The film was written and directed by Peter Hyams who has made mostly action films often in the science fiction genre.
Outland was not the first film to depict this kind of gritty vision of the future but it certainly portrays it well and this seems like a believable vision of such an existence.