Outland (film)

For the science fiction film reworking of the Beowulf myth, see Outlander (film).

Outland
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPeter Hyams
Written byPeter Hyams
Produced byRichard A. Roth
Stanley O'Toole
StarringSean Connery
Peter Boyle
Frances Sternhagen
James B. Sikking
Kika Markham
CinematographyStephen Goldblatt
Edited byStuart Baird
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Production
company
Distributed byWarner 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.

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.

  1. ^ "Outland (1981)". BBFC. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NIS-Outland was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  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. ^ Arnold, Gary. "Unlikely 'Outland'". The Washington Post, 23 May 1981. Retrieved: 2008-07-09
  7. ^ Blowen, Michael. REVIEWS: "Outland is Western out of This World". The Boston Globe, 22 May 1981. Retrieved: 2008-07-09