Peter Hyams wanted to make a western and so he set it in space with Outland (1981). From the title credits to the interiors, the aesthetic is clearly following the path of Ridley Scott’s Alien to the point where it feels like it takes place in the same galaxy and settles into a grimy, lived-in location, a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. With the practical, tactile sets for the facility to matte paintings for the space exteriors, there’s a brilliant old-school special effects vibe to this movie. After rewatching Timecop, Sudden Death and seeing his Narrow Margin remake for the first time, I have come to really appreciate Hyams and his visual sensibility, casting scenes in darkly lit, film noir style with contrasts in lighting sources and enveloping darkness; this adds particularly to the sense of atmosphere and paranoia for this story. As miners are dying due to bizarre incidents, which are shrugged off as suicides by the mining authorities, the new Marshal, William O’Niel (Sean Connery) begins to investigate, which points to an illegal operation sanctioned by the General Manager of the franchise mining operation, Sheppard (Peter Boyle). Underwriting this procedural that develops into a classic showdown is a similar subtextual theme to Alien, that of capitalist interests pushing workers to breaking point and considerable danger for maximum profits. As Connery’s character finds support to be quite scarce amongst the wider colony (my favourite line: “My men are shit”), his only friend is the cantakerous Dr. Lazarus played by Frances Sternhagen in a winning supporting performance. Revisiting Outland, I am drawn in mostly by the characterisations, particularly Connery who is great as the despondent loner (his wife and child have left due to his constant assignments off-Earth), conveying his own hesitancy and fear within his righteous stance to stand up to the situation that he’s boxed into. There’s great tension and suspense across certain sequences and grisly violence throughout; though I wish that the climax had a bit more impact and didn’t get lost in all the bulky spacesuits and exterior special effects. Eerie score by Jerry Goldsmith. Great supporting roles for James Sikking, Stephen Berkoff and a young Clarke Peters. Available to rent on iTunes. Recommended.
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