Outland (1981)

Directed by Peter Hyams. Starring Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle, James Sikking, Kika Markham, Clarke Peters, Steven Berkoff, John Ratzenberger, Marc Boyle. [R]

Federal marshall Connery arrives at a mining colony on Jupiter’s moon, Io, and investigates a series of mysterious deaths that reveal corruption and company malfeasance. Sufficient science fiction/Western mash-up looks good, has solid performances, and manages a few tense moments, but is overly imitative of other sources; the second half is a pretty transparent riff on High Noon, right down to the scene where the hero addresses a crowd and shames them when no one will stand with him against the killers arriving momentarily on the next train (er, shuttle). But Gary Cooper had Grace Kelly; Connery has to settle for tart-tongued Sternhagen. Also owes a debt to Ridley Scott’s Alien, particularly in the gritty, futurist-industrial production design and cold lighting. If anyone has ever really wanted to see Cliff Clavin’s head explode…

67/100