Outland (film)

Last updated

Outland
Outland.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Hyams
Written byPeter Hyams
Produced byRichard A. Roth
Stanley O'Toole
Starring Sean Connery
Peter Boyle
Frances Sternhagen
James B. Sikking
Kika Markham
Cinematography Stephen Goldblatt
Edited by Stuart Baird
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. (through Columbia-EMI-Warner Distributors) [1]
Release date
  • 22 May 1981 (1981-05-22)(US) [2]
Running time
109 minutes
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States [3]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million (estimated) [4]
Box office$17–20 million [2]

Outland is a 1981 science fiction thriller film written and directed by Peter Hyams and starring Sean Connery, Peter Boyle and Frances Sternhagen.

Contents

Set on Jupiter's moon Io, it has been described as a space Western [5] and bears narrative and thematic resemblances to the 1952 film High Noon . [6] [7]

The film depicts a new marshal who begins work at a mining facility on the moon Io. There he discovers a dirty secret but runs into dead ends as he tries to uncover those behind it, who also attempt to silence him.

Plot

Federal Marshal William O'Niel is assigned to a tour of duty at the titanium ore mining outpost Con-Am 27, operated by the company Con-Amalgamated on the Jovian moon of Io. Conditions on Io are difficult; gravity is 1/6 that of Earth's with no breathable atmosphere, and spacesuits are cumbersome with limited air. Shifts are long but significant bonuses are paid. The general manager, Mark Sheppard, boasts that productivity has broken all records since he took over. Carol, O'Niel's wife, feels she cannot raise their son Paul on Io and leaves with their child to the Jupiter space station to await a shuttle back to Earth. Tarlow, a miner, suffers an attack of stimulant psychosis  –he sees spiders and rips open his spacesuit –resulting in death by explosive decompression. Cane, another miner, enters an elevator without his spacesuit during another psychotic episode and dies from decompression. With the reluctant assistance of Dr. Lazarus, O'Niel investigates the deaths.

Another incident involves a worker, Sagan, who takes a prostitute hostage and threatens to kill her with a knife. O'Niel attempts to calm the man while Montone, his sergeant, sneaks in via the air duct and kills Sagan with a shotgun. O'Niel and Lazarus discover that Sagan had traces of polydichloric euthimal, a powerful amphetamine-type drug in his bloodstream, which would allow a miner to work continuously for days at a time until they burn out and turn psychotic after approximately ten months of use. O'Niel uncovers a drug distribution ring run by Sheppard and sanctioned by now repentant Montone.

Using surveillance cameras, O'Niel finds and captures Nicholas Spota, one of Sheppard's dealers, who is murdered before he can be questioned. Montone is found garrotted. In a meat locker, O'Niel finds the latest shipment of drugs, which was shipped from the space station. He is attacked there by another dealer, Russell Yario. O'Niel, wearing an anti-garrotting collar, knocks him out, then destroys the shipment of drugs. When Sheppard finds out, he threatens O'Niel and contacts his drug distributor, asking him to send in professional hitmen. O'Niel is prepared, having hacked into Sheppard's communications.

O'Niel waits for the arrival of the hitmen on a supply shuttle from the other side of Jupiter. Realizing what is coming and with only Dr. Lazarus willing to help him, O'Niel sends a message to his family promising to return to Earth when his "job is done". O'Niel ambushes the assassins one by one. Lazarus helps him kill the first by trapping him in a pressurized corridor; O'Niel activates a bomb, causing an explosive decompression that kills the man. The second is killed in a glass greenhouse structure of the outpost when O'Niel tricks him into shooting a window, causing it to break open and blow him out to his death.

O'Niel is then confronted and attacked by Sheppard's inside man - one of his own deputies, Sgt. Ballard. The two fight outside the outpost near the satellite structure until O'Niel pulls Ballard's oxygen hose, suffocating him as he pushes him into an electrical generation station, vaporizing him on impact. O'Niel then confronts the surprised Sheppard inside the outpost's recreation bar, knocking him out with one punch. It is implied Sheppard will now be brought to justice or murdered by his own associates. O'Niel, however, has already contacted his superiors about Sheppard's associates, some of whom are Con-Am executives, and shortly before his departure receives a communication that warrants have been issued for their arrests. (This plot point is not shown in all versions of the film, including the one available from the Amazon Prime streaming service.) O'Niel bids farewell to Lazarus and leaves on the shuttle to join his wife and son on the journey back to Earth.

Cast

Production

O'Niel's costume at a convention in Stockholm, Sweden Outland costume.JPG
O'Niel's costume at a convention in Stockholm, Sweden

Development

Hyams recalled,

I wanted to do a Western. Everybody said, 'You can't do a Western; Westerns are dead; nobody will do a Western'. I remember thinking it was weird that this genre that had endured for so long was just gone. But then I woke up and came to the conclusion – obviously after other people – that it was actually alive and well, but in outer space. I wanted to make a film about the frontier. Not the wonder of it or the glamour of it: I wanted to do something about Dodge City and how hard life was. I wrote it, and by great fortune Sean Connery wanted to do it. And how many chances do you get to work with Sean Connery? [8]

The film was developed at Universal by Hyams and producer Richard Roth. Universal turned it down then Roth, who had a development deal at 20th Century Fox under Alan Ladd Jr, took the project to Ladd's new company, The Ladd Company. [9]

Outland was filmed at Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK, with an initial budget of $12 million. [9]

The film's working title was "Io" after the setting of the film. This was later changed because many people read it as the number 10, or "Lo" ("low"). Principal photography took place starting with the miniature models in May 1980 and with the actors beginning in June 1980. Post-production for the film was completed in February 1981. [10]

Outland was pioneering as the first motion picture to use Introvision, [11] a variation on front projection that allows foreground, mid-ground and background elements to be combined in the camera, as opposed to using optical processes such as bluescreen matting. This enabled characters to convincingly walk around miniature sets of the mining colony.

Soundtrack

The music to Outland was composed and conducted by veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith, who had previously worked with writer/director Peter Hyams on the science fiction thriller Capricorn One (1978) and had recently provided the soundtrack to Alien (which had a similar style to Outland, reflecting isolation, remoteness and fear). The soundtrack to Outland has been released three times on disc; 19 November 1993 through GNP Crescendo (with his score to Capricorn One ), June 2000 through Warner Music Group, and a two-disc extended edition released 15 June 2010 through Film Score Monthly . [12] The expanded release also includes the John Williams music for the Ladd Company logo, the material composed by Morton Stevens for the fight between O'Niel and Ballard and the source cues for the rec room by Michael Boddicker. [13]

The distributed 35mm film prints have Dolby Stereo audio and the 70mm Anamorphic Blow-Up film prints featured Six-Track Dolby Stereo audio. All 70mm prints were encoded for a Megasound option, in which theaters needed to be outfitted with more speakers and sound equipment. Outland was one of four films released by Warner Bros. to officially make use of their Megasound movie theater sound system, in the early 1980s. [14]

Reception

Box office

The film received mixed reviews and box office reception when it was released. It opened strongly with $3,059,638 in weekend box office receipts in the U.S. According to The New York Times on its opening weekend the film was "sensational in Los Angeles and on New York's East Side" but "played poorly in many small cities. By platforming Outland – opening it in less than 350 theaters to allow it to build an audience rather slowly – the company gambled that the movie would appeal to ticketbuyers; the picture will be in trouble if it drops off at the box office this weekend." [15]

Total estimated box offices receipts in the country wound up being between $17,374,595 and $20,000,000, just above its $16 million budget. [2]

Awards

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound (John Wilkinson, Robert W. Glass Jr., Robert Thirlwell and Robin Gregory). [16]

Critical

Gary Arnold at The Washington Post had this to say: "In Outland, writer-director Peter Hyams has adapted the plot of High Noon to an intriguing sci-fi environment—a huge titanium mine located on Io, a volcanic moon of Jupiter. But the conventions that worked for High Noon break down in the high-tech atmosphere of Outland and the story seems trite and dinky". [6]

In The Boston Globe , Michael Blowen was more favorable: "The parallels between Outland and Fred Zinneman's 1952 Western High Noon are apparent. Writer-director Peter Hyams has transported the characters and motifs from the dusty frontier town of Gary Cooper to the frontiers of space. While Hyams keeps the story barreling along, he also develops a corollary anti-capitalist theme. Io is an outpost for exploitation, and [...] whether the miners are digging gold in the Colorado hills or titanium on Jupiter's moon, the greed of the corporate class will prevail. Outland marks the return of the classic Western hero in a space helmet. His outfit has changed and his environment has expanded but he's still the same. When Connery stares down the barrel of that shotgun, you'd better smile". [7]

Desmond Ryan at The Philadelphia Inquirer called it: "A brilliant sci-fi Western. In many ways, Hyams has made a film that is more frightening than Alien , because he surmises that space will change us very little and the real monsters we are liable to encounter will be in the next space suit." [17]

Christopher John reviewed Outland in Ares Magazine #10 and commented that "Outland is a good movie, and not just for science fiction fans. Its success will undoubtedly inspire a few tired, low-grade imitations. Hopefully, it will inspire a few more solid, interesting and entertaining films as well." [18]

On Rotten Tomatoes, Outland holds a rating of 54% from 28 reviews. [19]

Home media

Outland was first released for home video on VHS, Beta, and V2000 videotape formats in November 1982. [20] The film had many re-issues on VHS and between 1982 and 1998, including a widescreen NTSC VHS on 7 January 1997. [21] Videodisc releases included the CED disc in August 1983, [22] a Laserdisc release in 1984, and a remastered laserdisc with digital sound on 28 August 1991.

Outland was released on DVD on 18 November 1997. It was presented in both letterbox widescreen and full screen on a double sided disc with the soundtrack remastered in Dolby 5.1 surround sound. The Region 1 DVD received harsh criticism for its poor quality transfer, and absence of enhancement for widescreen televisions. A "making of" featurette, cast and credit notes, plus a theatrical trailer are included as special features on the disc. The film was released on DVD in the UK (Region 2) in 1998. This version is anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions, as is the Region 4 release. Outland was released on Blu-ray Disc on 10 July 2012. The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound mix. The disc also features a brand new commentary audio-track with the director Peter Hyams.

North American airings

Pay television

Outland debuted on pay TV in the U.S. in September 1982 on the HBO and Showtime channels. [23] [24] In Canada, the film was first shown in October 1983 on Superchannel. [25] The film was broadcast uncut, commercial-free, and periodically over several months, in both countries. [26] These pay TV broadcasts of Outland used the same source as the initial NTSC home video release.

Network television

The network TV premiere for Outland was on 19 May 1984 via CBS in the U.S. and was simulcasted on CTV in Canada. [27] [28] This re-edited version of the film, broadcast exclusively on these networks, utilized cut footage not seen in the theatrical/home video version. One notable example is an extended scene showing a more lengthy exit from the station for O'Niel and also Ballard near the end of the film suited-up while exiting; these cutting-room-floor scenes were made available for the network to extend parts of the film which allowed them to sell more commercial slots to advertisers. The inclusion of left-over footage (if made available) was common practice during the 1970s to 1980s, for network film premieres and subsequently licensed broadcasts. This version was labeled "edited for television" to comply with U.S. network television censorship standards of the time and never released to home video.

Adaptations

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Galileo</i> project American space program to study Jupiter (1989–2003)

Galileo was an American robotic space program that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as several other Solar System bodies. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Galileo spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and an atmospheric entry probe. It was delivered into Earth orbit on October 18, 1989, by Space ShuttleAtlantis on the STS-34 mission, and arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, after gravity assist flybys of Venus and Earth, and became the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter. The spacecraft then launched the first probe to directly measure its atmosphere. Despite suffering major antenna problems, Galileo achieved the first asteroid flyby, of 951 Gaspra, and discovered the first asteroid moon, Dactyl, around 243 Ida. In 1994, Galileo observed Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9's collision with Jupiter.

<i>2010: Odyssey Two</i> 1982 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke

2010: Odyssey Two is a 1982 science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke. It is the sequel to his 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, though Clarke changed some elements of the story to align with the film version of 2001.

<i>Shane</i> (film) 1953 film by George Stevens

Shane is a 1953 American Technicolor Western film starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, and Van Heflin. Released by Paramount Pictures, the film is noted for its landscape cinematography, editing, performances, and contributions to the genre. The picture was produced and directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by A. B. Guthrie Jr., based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Jack Schaefer. Its Oscar-winning cinematography was by Loyal Griggs.

<i>Time Bandits</i> 1981 British fantasy film by Terry Gilliam

Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars David Rappaport, Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan and David Warner. The film tells the story of a young boy taken on an adventure through time with a band of thieves who plunder treasure from various points in history.

<i>Capricorn One</i> 1977 thriller film by Peter Hyams

Capricorn One is a 1977 thriller film in which a reporter discovers that a supposed Mars landing by a crewed mission to the planet has been faked via a conspiracy involving the government and—under duress—the crew themselves. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It stars Elliott Gould as the reporter, and James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O. J. Simpson as the astronauts. Hal Holbrook plays a senior NASA official who goes along with governmental and corporate interests and helps to fake the mission.

Outland may refer to in:

The Space Odyssey series is a series of science fiction novels by the writer Arthur C. Clarke, and two subsequent films. The first novel was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. The second novel was made into a feature film directed by Peter Hyams and released in 1984. Two of Clarke's early short stories have ties to the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anamorphic widescreen</span> Technique that compresses a widescreen image onto a 4:3 frame

Anamorphic widescreen is a process by which a widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium with a narrower aspect ratio, reducing the horizontal resolution of the image while keeping its full original vertical resolution. Compatible play-back equipment can then expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen image. This is typically used to allow one to store widescreen images on a medium that was originally intended for a narrower ratio, while using as much of the frame – and therefore recording as much detail – as possible.

<i>From the Earth to the Moon</i> (miniseries) 1998 American TV miniseries about NASAs Apollo program

From the Earth to the Moon is a twelve-part 1998 HBO television miniseries co-produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks and Michael Bostick. In docudrama format, it tells the story of the Apollo program during the 1960s and early 1970s. Largely based on Andrew Chaikin's 1994 book, A Man on the Moon, the series is known for its accurate telling of the story of Apollo and the special effects under visual director Ernest D. Farino. The series takes its title from, but is not based upon, Jules Verne's 1865 science fiction novel From the Earth to the Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moons of Jupiter</span> Natural satellites of the planet Jupiter

There are 95 moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits as of 5 February 2024. This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons that were only briefly captured by telescopes. All together, Jupiter's moons form a satellite system called the Jovian system. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun. Much more recently, beginning in 1892, dozens of far smaller Jovian moons have been detected and have received the names of lovers or daughters of the Roman god Jupiter or his Greek equivalent Zeus. The Galilean moons are by far the largest and most massive objects to orbit Jupiter, with the remaining 91 known moons and the rings together comprising just 0.003% of the total orbiting mass.

Peter Hyams is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer known for directing the 1977 conspiracy thriller film Capricorn One, the 1981 science fiction-thriller Outland, the 1984 science fiction film 2010: The Year We Make Contact, the 1986 action/comedy Running Scared, the comic book adaptation Timecop, the action film Sudden Death, and the horror films The Relic and End of Days.

<i>2010: The Year We Make Contact</i> 1984 film by Peter Hyams

2010: The Year We Make Contact is a 1984 American science fiction film written, produced, shot and directed by Peter Hyams. The film was made as a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey and adapts Arthur C. Clarke's 1982 novel, 2010: Odyssey Two. 2010 follows a joint American and Soviet crew who are sent to Jupiter to discover the reason behind the failure of the Discovery One mission. The film stars Roy Scheider, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban and John Lithgow, along with Keir Dullea and Douglas Rain, stars of the previous film.

<i>Space Emperor God Sigma</i> Japanese anime television series

Space Emperor God Sigma is a mecha anime television series aired from 1980 to 1981. It ran for 50 episodes. It is also referred to as "God Sigma, Empire of Space" and "Space Combination God Sigma".

<i>Futureworld</i> 1976 film by Richard T. Heffron

Futureworld is a 1976 American science fiction thriller film directed by Richard T. Heffron and written by Mayo Simon and George Schenck. It is a sequel to the 1973 Michael Crichton film Westworld, and is the second installment in the Westworld franchise. The film stars Peter Fonda, Blythe Danner, Arthur Hill, Stuart Margolin, John Ryan, and Yul Brynner, who makes an appearance in a dream sequence; no other cast member from the original film appears. Westworld's writer-director, Michael Crichton, and the original studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were not involved in this production. Composer Fred Karlin was retained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Western</span> Subgenre

Space Western is a subgenre of science fiction that uses the themes and tropes of Westerns within science-fiction stories in an outer space setting. Subtle influences may include exploration of new, lawless frontiers, while more overt influences may feature actual cowboys in outer space who use rayguns and ride robotic horses. Although initially popular, a strong backlash against perceived hack writing caused the genre to become a subtler influence until the 1980s, when it regained popularity. A further critical reappraisal occurred during the 2000s due to critical acclaim for Firefly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jupiter in fiction</span> Depictions of the planet

Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has appeared in works of fiction across several centuries. The way the planet has been depicted has evolved as more has become known about its composition; it was initially portrayed as being entirely solid, later as having a high-pressure atmosphere with a solid surface underneath, and finally as being entirely gaseous. It was a popular setting during the pulp era of science fiction. Life on the planet has variously been depicted as identical to humans, larger versions of humans, and non-human. Non-human life on Jupiter has been portrayed as primitive in some works and more advanced than humans in others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ladd Company</span> Defunct american film production company

The Ladd Company was an American film production company founded by Alan Ladd Jr., Jay Kanter, and Gareth Wigan on August 18, 1979.

<i>Discovery One</i> Fictional spacecraft

The United States Spacecraft Discovery One is a fictional spaceship featured in the first two novels of the Space Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke and in the films 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) directed by Stanley Kubrick and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) directed by Peter Hyams. The ship is a nuclear-powered interplanetary spaceship, crewed by two men and controlled by the AI on-board computer HAL 9000. The ship is destroyed in the second novel and makes no further appearances.

Fred Laderman, known professionally as Fred Ladd, was an American television and film writer and producer. He is notable as the first to introduce Japanese animated cartoons to the Americas.

<i>Wanderers</i> (2014 film) 2014 Swedish film

Wanderers is a 2014 Swedish science fiction short film created by the digital artist and animator Erik Wernquist. The film depicts actual locations in the Solar System being investigated by human explorers, aided by hypothetical space technology. Of the film's fifteen scenes, Wernquist created some using solely computer graphics, but most are based on actual photographs taken by robotic spacecraft or rovers combined with additional computer-generated elements.

References

  1. ↑ "Outland (1981)". BBFC . Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Outland (1981). – The Numbers. – Nash Information Services.
  3. ↑ "Outland (1981) - Peter Hyams - Allmovie". Allmovie. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (9 September 1981). "Hollywood Is Joyous Over Its Record-Grossing Summer". The New York Times . Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Buscombe, Edward, and Christopher Brookeman, (1988). The BFI Companion to the Western, British Film Institute, p.105. ISBN   0-233-98332-5. OCLC 20631702.
  6. 1 2 Arnold, Gary. "Unlikely 'Outland'". The Washington Post , 23 May 1981. Retrieved: 2008-07-09
  7. 1 2 Blowen, Michael. REVIEWS: "Outland is Western out of This World". The Boston Globe , 22 May 1981. Retrieved: 2008-07-09
  8. ↑ "Peter Hyams Film by Film" Empire accessed 30 July 2014
  9. 1 2 Champlin, Charles (8 June 1980). "By Jupiter, The Ladd Co. Takes Flight". Los Angeles Times. p. Q3.
  10. ↑ "Outland (1981) Production archive". Mondo Prop. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  11. ↑ IntroVision at the Internet Movie Database
  12. ↑ Outland soundtrack review at Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  13. ↑ "Outland album page, FSM" . Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Dienstfrey, Eric (16 January 2024). Making Stereo Fit: The History of a Disquieting Film Technology. Univ of California Press. p. 197. ISBN   978-0-520-37955-8.
  15. ↑ Harmetz, Aljean (30 May 1981). "Pryor and Alda Proving Stars Still Sell Movies". The New York Times. p. 1.10. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "The 54th Academy Awards (1982) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  17. ↑ Desmond, Ryan (22 May 1981). "REVIEW: Outland: A Brilliant Sci-Fi Western". Philadelphia Inquirer .
  18. ↑ John, Christopher (September 1981). "Film & Television". Ares Magazine (10). Simulations Publications, Inc.: 12.
  19. ↑ "Outland". Rotten Tomatoes .
  20. ↑ Pre-Cert Video – Home video debut
  21. ↑ Worldcat.org – Formats and Editions of Outland
  22. ↑ CED Magic – Timeline 1983
  23. ↑ New York Magazine Sept 27th, 1982 – NYC TV/Pay-TV schedule
  24. ↑ HBO guides – US Pay-TV debut
  25. ↑ "Superchannel signs Warners". Cinema Canada . October 1983. p. 36. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  26. ↑ New York Magazine 5 August 1983 – NYC TV/Pay-TV schedule
  27. ↑ Kevinmccorrytv.webs.com Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine TV Listings For Canada's Eastern Maritime Provinces 1983–84 – Network debut
  28. ↑ Radio-info.com Saturday, 19 May 1984 Source: Bangor Daily News via Google News Archive – Network debut
  29. ↑ Outland – Heavy Metal Magazine Fan Page.
  30. ↑ Kit, Borys (18 August 2009). "'Outland' remake in works". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  31. ↑ SHOOT 'EM UP Director Takes On OUTLAND FilmBuffOnLine, 19 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.