Review of Outland (1981) by Jonathan C — 25 Jun 2008

I have fond memories of this film, but it's hard to face the truth: there's just not enough story here to sustain a feature length motion picture. There aren't enough characters for the mystery to work, and what little mystery exists is solved very quickly.

The film then shifts into Western territory, only the incredible build-up has no payoff when the assasins just turn out to be regular dudes with fancy scopes on their rifles and no apparent skills at tracking and killing a man.

A film this simple needs to be really tight to work, and "Outland" is not. At the very least, you'd think they'd design a giant space greenhouse with glass that could survive a single shotgun blast.

All that said, Connery and Sternhagen are surprisingly likeable, though Boyle doesn't make much of a villain. Overall: not an atrocity, just mediocre.