Outland (DVD)

Classic space Sci-fi! Great Cast, well acted, intriguing story. Costumning and special effects are top notch. Still holds up today!

Disc and case were in pristine condition. This is a classic movie that I’ve seen many times. The image quality was never better. Glad I bought it.

Hyams brought us Capricorn One in 1978, a NASA conspiracy thriller about a faked manned mission to Mars gone awry. In 1981, he brought us Outland, a thriller about corporate greed and corruption in an age of deep-space mining on Jupiter's violent moon of Io. Workers have been taking a company-provided narcotic that makes them work like horses, cramming a 14-hour work-day into 6 hours, giving them more time to play. Management is happy because productivity is high. Workers are happy because they have more play-time to eat, drink, indulge in company-provided prostitutes free of Syphillus, and be merry. Only problem is the narcotic causes them to go buggo and do wacky things like pull the plug on their space suits allowing zero-atmosphere pressure in, or taking the elevator down to the vacuum of space without an environment suit, causing their bodies to explode. Sean Connery as Marshall O'Neil has just been appointed the new Head of Security, and, with a little help from company Dr. Lazrus, played by Frances Sternhagen, gets wind of the plot, so investigates, much to the disdain of General Manager Shepherd, played by Peter Boyle. Hijinx ensues. Connery becomes hunted by a group of highly-trained assassins, and, with no help from his men, the lone prey has to become the hunter, with a little help from Dr. Lazarus. What sets this movie apart, aside from wise casting, is the gritty "dirt under the fingernails" production design of the realistic sets (a move inspired by Ridley Scott's "truckers in space" Alien two years prior), sterile, fluorescent-light cinematography and Jerry Goldsmith's "outlandish", score, a bizarre mix of synthesizer and orchestra. With these elements, the film becomes a sensual pleasure. The blu-ray looks very crisp, with superb detail and rich colors, as rich as the sterile fluorescent lighting provides anyway. I can't compare the blu-ray to the according to other reviewers apparently mediocre at best DVD, as I never got around to collecting the DVD, and thus didn't have to endure it. I'm downgrading my review to 4 stars, because the blu-ray has no extras save for a theatrical trailer and very interesting commentary track by director Peter Hyams. Hyams has been called a sci-fi director. He prefers to call himself a science-FEASIBILITY director, because his movies are plausibly real. Considering Outland's modest box office success, one can only expect a bare-bones home entertainment release. Still, Outland is a very good film, spare on dialogue, rich in atmosphere. It's a very realistic look at a bleak future of space mining operations and the dangers of greed. "Even In Space, the Ultimate Enemy is Still Man".

Outland is one of many other Sean Connery films that I love and adore. Here Sean Connery goes back to the Sci fi genre after two previous Sci fi films he made " Zardoz , Meteor ". the plot revolves around Marshall William O'niel " Connery " who has just arrived to a human colony station at the Jupiter moon, and finds himself tangled in a drug smuggling operation trying to bust the bad guys behind it and finding that the majority of the people in the station, including the rest of the police personnel are keeping a closed eye about the whole thing. being isolated and alone against the drug smuggling mob, he finds himself cornered and targeted by them. the production design was brilliant, a sort of space colony station that is dark and atmospheric that gives a claustrophobic effect. special effects were pretty good for an 80s film, and still stands solid to some extent today. Connery shines here, it is one of his most memorable performances, he steals the show and his presence adds a lot to this picture. he brings on a solid character who likes to fight for what is right, and at the same time, at a certain points of the movie, you can feel his characters distress and weakness of being all alone and against the odds, being abandoned from all people around him. such a terrific performance. Now i've seen this film at least twice before back when it was on VHS, and now years later, i was going through a Connery marathon and checking out all his movies that have been re-released on Blu ray, and so i bought me a Bluray copy of Outland, i must say, it is quite a fantastic Bluray transfer, the picture is so clean and smooth with much detail and color, and the sound was equally brilliant, it really deserves the upgrade. and just like most of Connery films DVDs, the extras are lacking, though i'm not one of those big fans of extras, as all i care about most are the films themselves, however, i've always wanted to see some Connery interviews, but unfortunately he seemed to not make enough of them when marketing his films for some reasons ! and Outland is no different, we only have a trailer and a commentary " that i haven't listened to " here. Overall, a fantastic Blu ray transfer of a brilliant Connery film with a memorable performance from the man, and an engaging story with some cool action.

Excellent Movie. A SciFi version of High Noon, it pulls off the old western vibes in the future setting perfectly.

Like High Noon in Space. 007 as Gary Cooper and Peter Boyle as the corporate bad guy. A great action adventure movie.

Basic DVD. Good movie.

Schnelle Lieferung Toller Film. Wie immer Hervorragend Danke!

A Great Remaster to a Forgotten Sci Fi Classic! Great Picture and Sound! Sean Connery kills it in this one! A Space western style, conspiracy cop story set in space. Feels like the atmosphere of Alien. Well acted, exciting and lots of action. A must see for any sci fi fan! Arrived in Great condition!

'Outland' is one of my favourite science fiction films. Throughout my teenage years I watched my VHS copy of it so many times I am surprised it didn't wear out! I have owned it on DVD for several years now and although I have continued to watch it quite regularly I have never been particularly satisfied with the quality of the image though and longed for a remastered DVD release that would allow for the film to be seen as intended, unfortunately this never happened. I was therefore over the moon (that's Earths moon, not Io!) when I heard that a Blu-ray release was scheduled for summer 2012; I was initially disappointed though when I discovered that the release was just American, but I then found out it was REGION FREE and so pre-ordered it straight away! Before I get to a description of the disc and the quality I will give a synopsis of the plot, be warned if you have not seen the film you may not wish to read this next section! **** START OF SPOILERS***** The film is set in the future, about a hundred years from now, and it is set in the titanium ore mining outpost Con-Am 27 on Io, the innermost moon orbiting Jupiter. Sean Connery portrays the character Federal Marshal William O'Niel, and at the start of the film he has just been assigned to a tour of duty at the aforementioned Con-Am 27. The conditions on Io are extremely difficult, due to the lack of a breathable atmosphere and low gravity the miners have to carry out all their work in restrictive and uncomfortable spacesuits and the shifts required to complete all the necessary work are long and hard, to make up for this they are paid well as long as the targets are met. The station manager is a man called Mark Sheppard (played by the wonderful Peter Boyle, looking VERY different from his appearances on 'Everybody Loves Raymond' Everybody Loves Raymond - Complete HBO Season 1-9 [DVD ]), and from their first meeting he makes it very clear to Marshal O'Niel that productivity ruls at the station and any interference from him that may affect this will not be tolerated. Shortly after O'Niel takes up post there are two 'suicides' in short succession, both men dying due to decompression. The job of investigating these 'accidents' falls to O'Niel (with the assistance of the stations chief medical officer Dr. Lazarus (the great actress Frances Sternhagen, best known to most as the mother of postal worker Cliff Clavin in my all time favourite comedy 'Cheers' Cheers - The Complete Seasons Box Set [DVD] [1982 ] ). Before O'Niel has time to take a breath there is yet another death; this time a worker (a young but instantly recognisable Steven Berkoff) is shot dead by the Deputy Marshall, Sergeant Montone (James B. Sikking), during an attempt to negotiate with him because he appears to have had some form of psychotic episode and has taken a prostitute hostage, threatening to kill her with a knife. The decision to kill the man was against O'Niel's orders, at the same time he was attempting to resolve the situation with less finality by calmly talking to him through the door of the room that the hostage situation was taking place. Soon after Marshall O'Niel and Dr. Lazarus discover that the three deaths all have one thing in common, there are traces of an amphetamine-type drug in each of their bloodstreams, the advantage of the substance in question is that it gives the user massively increased reserves of strength and stamina, this being ideal for helping the miners who take it to work continuously for days at a time and thus easily complete their quotas to earn considerable financial incentives, however the downside is that a common side effect is that the user eventually 'burns out' and ultimately turns psychotic, as demonstrated graphically with the three recent deaths. Marshall O'Niel suspects that the drug use is widespread across the station, and that this must account for the record breaking efficiency figures the station is achieving, his investigation eventually leads him to see that there is a huge drug distribution network being run by the station manager Sheppard; Marshall O'Niel also finds out that his deputy, Sergeant Montone, is fully aware of the conspiracy but has chosen to ignore matters for financial gain, and more importantly, for fear of reprisals. Marshall O'Niel confronts Sheppard and makes it clear to him that he will not back down, regardless of the costs he may have to him; Sheppard inturn makes it clear to O'Niel that if he does not stop his investigation immediately he is a dead man. The film has often been described as a modern interpretation of the classic western 'High Noon' High Noon: 60th Anniversay Edition [Blu-ray] [1952] [US Import ], and it is from this point forward in the film that the two stories do bear an undeniable resemblance; this is certainly no bad thing as the aforementioned 'High Noon' is generally regarded as not only one of the finest examples of its genre, but also one of the best films in the history of cinema. Station manager Sheppard requests a team of mercenaries be sent to kill Marshall O'Niel, they have to travel by shuttle from the nearby space station orbiting on the other side of Jupiter and this journey takes several hours to complete, the Marshall is fully aware of their impending arrival because he has hacked into the station managers communication channel (its good to know that even in the 22nd century reporters from 'The News of the World' can still find employment!). The tension rises as the clock counts down to the arrival of the aforementioned shuttle, and knowing that the assassins are on their way the Marshall desperately asks for support from other station workers, alas nobody is willing to step up and stand with him, nobody accept Dr. Lazarus that is. The group of hitmen finally arrive and then the Marshall takes them out one by one using various inventive ways to dispose of each of them. When all are gone Marshall O'Niel finally confronts station manager Sheppard in front of a packed recreation bar, Sheppard is clearly stunned and realises the game is up, O'Niell then knocks him to the floor with a single punch before retiring from his post and returnig to Earth to be with his family. ******* END OF SPOILERS********* The film is simply fantastic in so many ways, from the superbly atmospheric score by the one and only Jerry Goldsmith Outland to the brilliantly gritty and realistic set design. The film feels futuristic, but it is a future far dirtier and harder than most films have managed to convey, and it is this sense of gritty realism that creates the wonderfully believable and immersive atmosphere that sets the film apart from most other science fiction efforts in my opinion. The film has action, and plenty of it, but at the same time it is very much a slowburner and it requires a level of concentration to fully notice all the details and truly appreciate it, as I have previously mentioned I have seen this film many, many times, yet I never bore of it and still continue to see new things previously unnoticed, particularly so since I upgraded to this Blu-ray version! So on to the Blu-ray itself, and I must say it really is a very impressive transfer indeed! The difference between the DVD version and this Blu-ray release is to put it simply stunning; most definitely one of the biggest difference I have seen to date between a title across the two formats. Whereas the previous releases of the film have all been poor, regardless of the format, this new high definition transfer properly shows off all the hard work and the attention to detail that clearly went into the films production. The poor picture quality of previous versions gave the film an almost 'low budget' feel and I can quite understand how this then may have a negative effect on a viewers opinion and thus lead them to disregard this title as nothing more than a cheap run of the mill offering, this is such a shame because the film is so much more than that. The film is dark, not just in tone as previously mentioned, but also with respect to the lighting levels, the insides of a futuristic mining colony clearly not being the best place for bright colours and soft warm tones! The improved clarity that the high definition transfer brings now allows new levels of detail to be visible in the low light, it allows for the goings on to be much easier to follow without sacrificing the atmosphere that the makers were so clearly trying to create. The audio has not been forgotten, with a new DTS-HD 5.1 Master track now available, this too is a vast improvement over the previous versions. The sounds within the station, the sounds of steps on the metal grating, the hiss of the steam, the sound of guns going off within such a confined space are now bought to life in a way like never before, making it completely evident as to why the films sound was actually nominated for an Oscar!; and let us not forget the aforementioned Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack, it is an extremely powerful and quite haunting score that perfectly captures the dark atmosphere and the impending doom, it sounds magnificent in this format and finally gets the treatment it deserves. Whilst on the subject of audio the disc also offers English Dolby Digital, French Stereo and Spanish Stereo (with a choice of Castilian in Stereo or Latin in Mono); there are also subtitles provided in English, French and Spanish. The features on the disc may initially appear somewhat lacking, the 'Making of....' featurette from the Region 1 DVD release would have been a nice addition, however what we get instead is the films trailer and more importantly a brand new commentary track for the film recorded by the director, Peter Hyams; this is a simply wonderful addition, infinitely better than the now very dated 'Making of.....' featurette, I have listened to parts of so far and Peter Hyams delivers a vast amount of fascinating information and I for one find this genuinely exciting. On a side note I just want to say that Peter Hyams is a really fantastic director and he has been responsible for some great films, my personal favourites (along with this film!) are: Capricorn One (1978) Capricorn One [Blu-ray ] 2010 - The Year We Make Contact (1984) 2010 - The Year We Make Contact [Blu-ray] [1984][Region Free ] Running Scared (1986) Running Scared [DVD ] The Presidio (1988) The Presidio [DVD ] Narrow Margin (1990) Narrow Margin [DVD ] Timecop (1994) Timecop [Blu-ray] [1994][Region Free ] --------------------------------------------------- Overall I would say this is a simply fantastic Blu-ray, and as someone who has loved this film for most of their life (having bought it on VHS in my early teens), I simply cannot believe just how much better the film looks in high definition. For me it is a genuine pleasure to see a film that means so much to me finally receive the treatment it deserves, nearly thirty years after its initial release. If you have any interest whatsoever in science fiction films then this is an essential purchase, however just an appreciation for good film should also be enough to warrant your attention in my opinion; and even if you, like me, already own the film on DVD this new transfer to Blu-ray absolutely warrants the upgrade!

Uno dei miei film preferiti finalmente in italiano. il Blu-ray è tedesco ma c'è la lingua italiana per fortuna. Fa parte di quei bei film che per misteriosi motivi non c'è direttamente la versione italiana e necessita verificare se su quelle straniere c'è la nostra lingua

Réalisée par Peter Hyams et sorti en 1982, « Outland » est de toute évidence une transposition des codes du western dans l'espace. On pense d'ailleurs immédiatement à une variation de l'intrigue du « Train sifflera trois fois » Mais pas seulement car limiter le film à cette comparaison serait quelque peu réducteur. Sean Connery incarne le marshall O'Neil respectueux de la loi, affecté sur la station minière IO, en bordure de Jupiter, gérée par la compagnie spatiale Com-Amalgamate, et devenue le théâtre d'actes de folie commis par certains ouvriers entraînant leurs morts. Son enquête - dont je vous passe les détails pour ne pas vous gâcher la surprise de la découverte- le confrontera à l'hostilité du directeur de l'exploitation - odieux Alan Shepard- et à la corruption ambiante. Tel Serpico il va vite se retrouver seul face à un ennemi omnipotent bien décidé à conserver ses intérêts, et à éliminer les « gêneurs ». Il ne pourra compter que sur l'aide d'une femme-médecin sarcastique et bien décidée à faire tomber des têtes elle aussi : le docteur Lazarus. Filmé aussi comme un thriller dans une atmosphère confinée, sous-éclairée et concentrationnaire, « Outland » est aussi excitant qu'étouffant et bien que tourné au début des années 80, se révèle visionnaire dans la représentation du système économique qu'il prétend dénoncer : loin de la terre, coupés de leurs racines, ces hommes et femmes travaillant sur une station minière pour le compte d'un lobby spatial ne sont rien d'autre que des pions au service d'une gigantesque chaîne de production destinée à tourner à plein-régime, même par des moyens illégaux. Cette immersion dans un univers spatio-industriel suffocant est possible par le travail conjoint du chef-décorateur, du directeur de la photographie et des maquettistes qui ont poussé le sens du détail très loin et cette remasterisation de l'image en blu-ray rend enfin grâce à leur oeuvre, après un dvd sorti en 1999 au rendu catastrophique. Les couleurs sont remarquablement restituées passant du sombre délavé pour les dortoirs des ouvriers,aux néons éclatants des lieux de plaisir et au blanc immaculé dans les coursives de la station minière qu'arpentent le marshall et ses poursuivants. Sans oublier une précision rigoureuse de la remasterisation qui permet enfin à l'oeil de distinguer les détails des nombreuses maquettes utilisées pour représenter l'environnement extérieur de la station minière. D'un point de vue sonore, ce blu-ray visionné en VO anglais DTS-HD 5.1 est irréprochable : les dialogues sont parfaitement découpés, les voix sont claires et les bruits d'ambiance (machines, ordinateurs en action, décompression des sas et des scaphandres, musique dans le bar top-less) ressortent parfaitement dans les enceintes. Sans oublier la remarquable bande originale composée par Jerry Goldsmith qui prend enfin toute sa dimension sonore. Par contre, je suis resté sur ma faim en terme de bonus : une simple bande-annonce et un commentaire audio ne sauraient suffire. Je crois qu'il y avait assez de matière pour nourrir le support. Sur ce point-là Warner se montre minimaliste. « Outland » reste à ce jour une excellente référence à conserver dans sa blu-raythèque, aux côtés de « Blade Runner » et « The Thing » pour en citer d'autres..... Décidément, 1982 fut une année prolifique en matière de science-fiction.