Posted on 11/15/2025 11:29:27 AM PST by MAGA2017
One of my favorite things to do here at JoBlo is to highlight obscure movies that deserve a lot more love. One of the best movies I’ve ever covered is Peter Hyams’ 1981 movie Outland. A kind of quasi sci-fi remake of High Noon set on Jupiter’s Moon, IO, it stars Sean Connery as a Marshal set to enforce law on a mining colony who finds himself marked for death by the company administering the moon when he discovers a conspiracy. They hire gunmen to take him out, and with no one on the moon willing to help him, he has to take on the killers alone.
What’s particularly interesting about Outland is the period in which it was made. In ’81, sci-fi as a genre was in an interesting place. Star Wars had changed the game back in 1977 by introducing cutting-edge special effects, which allowed filmmakers to tackle science fiction and fantasy in a way no one ever really could before. But another very influential film was 1979’s Alien, a distinctly adult take on the genre, which introduced elements of horror. Outland is very much an offshoot of Alien, with it almost feeling like a spin-off of sorts, with the ominous company administered by the main villain (an against-type Peter Boyle) feeling like Weyland-Yutani.
Thankfully, the good folks at Arrow Video have given it a deluxe 4K re-release, and this new edition is gorgeous. The movie looks superb in 4K, and it’s packed with interesting extras that explore its unique place in cinema history.
If you’ve never seen Outland, I highly recommend picking up this new set as its a movie ripe for rediscovery. It has tons of action, Connery in top form, a classic Jerry Goldsmith score, and that iconic Alien vibe.
(Excerpt) Read more at joblo.com ...
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Great movie.
I do. I saw it in the theater when it came out.
I enjoyed it.
Think “High Noon” in space.
L
Dr. Marian Lazarus: do you wanna get drunk?
Marshal William T. O’Niel: Yes.
Is it possible to fire a shotgun in the vacuum of space?
—
Yes, that is a problem. I speculated that the shells were oxygenated. Also, bodies don’t explode in the vacuum of space. There would be massive swelling in the extremities as the blood boiled. But exploding bodies is more fun.
Absolutely!
As I recall Ben Bova wrote a story where war broke out on the moon. The armies had to duck when the bullets went around for another orbit.
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