A federal marshal stationed at a mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. He gets no help from the workers or authorities when he finds himself marked fo... Read allA federal marshal stationed at a mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. He gets no help from the workers or authorities when he finds himself marked for murder.A federal marshal stationed at a mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy. He gets no help from the workers or authorities when he finds himself marked for murder.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 7 nominations total
- Sergeant Montone
- (as James B. Sikking)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWriter-director Peter Hyams handled the cinematography for most of this movie, while Stephen Goldblatt usually worked when there was something Hyams did not know how to do. Goldblatt was misleadingly hired by Hyams, who really wanted him to stand aside and do nothing, and to use him as a scapegoat for the Ladd Company in case anything went wrong while using the new IntroVision process. He was furious at being lied to and wouldn't have taken the job if he'd known Hyams' intentions at the outset, but stayed on in order to learn how to use IntroVision, and because as a young cinematographer with a sole prior feature credit, quitting the movie could have ruined his career. It is the only one of his movies whose wrap party he skipped.
- GoofsSeveral times during the first half hour of the movie, O'Niel's uniform name tag changes spelling from "O'Niel" to "O'Neil" and back again.
- Quotes
Dr. Marian Lazarus: You know, if you're the kind of guy you're supposed to be, you wouldn't stick around. That's why they sent you here.
Marshal William T. O'Niel: Maybe they made a mistake.
Dr. Marian Lazarus: I was afraid you'd say something like that. You really think you're making a difference?
[O'Neil is silent]
Dr. Marian Lazarus: Then why, for god's sake?
Marshal William T. O'Niel: Because... maybe they *are* right. They send me here to this pile of shit because they think I belong here. I want to find out if... well, if they're right. There's a whole machine that works because everybody does what they're supposed to. And I found out... I was supposed to be something I didn't like. That's what's in the program. That's my rotten little part, in the rotten machine... I don't like it. So I'm... going to find out if they're right.
For one thing Gary Cooper is a newlywed in High Noon, Sean Connery is a married man with a 12 year old son. His wife however wants him to give up the futuristic law enforcement business, but it's what he knows and because he's such an independent minded fellow who speaks his mind he gets one garbage assignment after another.
Here he's on a mining colony on the Jupiter satellite Io. It's a frontier town, not unlike some in the west. But Hadleyburg in High Noon is passed the wild and woolly frontier days and the impending gunfight is not wanted because it will bring those days back. Gary Cooper dealt with ingratitude, what Connery is dealing with on Io is systemic corruption.
The boss of the place is Peter Boyle the head of mining operations. One of the things he provides are illegal synthetic narcotics which make the men work like mules and increase his productivity. They also eventually fry your brain and you turn paranoid.
Connery notices several suspicious deaths have occurred in the past two years after he's had to deal with some miners who've gone haywire. The presence of narcotics is confirmed by station doctor Frances Sternhagen during an autopsy.
When Boyle's confronted with this, bribery doesn't work so he puts out a contract on Connery. His deputies are all on the pad and the miners won't help either. His one friend in the place is Sternhagen.
In fact acting honors in Outland go to Frances Sternhagen as the tough old bird of a doctor who's also in a kind of exile on Io.
Outland has good special effects and the mining colony on Io is marvelously created with the use of miniatures, much like the Himalayas were in Black Narcissus. But it is better known for a good story and some fine acting by all, especially Sternhagen. It's one of Sean Connery's better films and shouldn't be missed by science fiction fans or Sean Connery's many fans.
So what if it took a few bites out of High Noon.
- bkoganbing
- Feb 17, 2007
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $16,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $17,374,595
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,059,638
- May 25, 1981
- Gross worldwide
- $17,374,595
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1