The clock Sean Connery keeps glancing at in “Outland” may be digital, and on another planet, no less, but make no mistake. This science-fiction classic is a loving homage to the ominous analog clock that dominates the brilliant Western “High Noon.” The message: Time and hired assassins wait for no man.
In Gary Cooper’s showcase “High Noon,” a train is to arrive in his dusty town at that fated hour. Onboard is a killer that Cooper as marshal doomed for hanging. Released on a fancy-pants legal technicality, the killer is back with a band of unhappy brothers to wreak revenge on the marshal. And nobody in town wants to help Cooper, even if he’s married to the impossibly beautiful Grace Kelly. The clock ticks relentlessly, the tension mounts, movie history is made.
In “Outland,” Connery is another stubborn marshal, this time at a space-age mining camp on the Jupiter moon Io. Some of the miners are going crazy, violently so; the mining company and its toady supervisor, Peter Boyle, would rather the marshal look the other way. But pecking away at the truth with his Scotch accent, Connery learns the company is keeping the miners awake and profitable with a dangerous drug.
Will the marshal turn away? Does the Soviet sub captain in “Red October” speak fluent Gaelic? When hired killers hop a space shuttle to bring the marshal down, the clock becomes all-important.
The special effects in this 1981 space venture somehow date well, in the same run-down industrial future imagined by “Blade Runner.” Frances Sternhagen has a crotchety and effective turn as the mining company doctor.
“Outland” was rated R at the time but would probably get only a PG-13 these days. For teens about age 14 and older, it’s a terrific introduction to science fiction that holds up over time.
“Outland”
Rated: R, with one f-bomb, brief nonsexual nudity and some chase-movie violence. Mild by today’s vampire standards.
Best suited for: Science fiction lovers and Sean Connery fans
