Outland

On the sunless moon Io, Marshall William T. O’Niel goes toe-to-toe with the corrupt manager of a mining colony and his gang of roughnecks while investigating a rash of worker suicides.

Critics broadly recognized the film's strong science-fiction western premise, brisk suspense, and production craft, while finding its High Noon-derived story familiar and sometimes trite.

• Marshal O'Niel enforces order in a mining colony on Io, while the plot echoes the lone marshal structure of a frontier western.
• The mining colony's illegal amphetamine scheme exploits workers and treats their deaths as an operational cost.
• The action takes place within a remote titanium mining colony on Io, whose tunnels, facilities, and transport systems create physical confinement.
• O'Niel becomes the target of the conspiracy while attempting to protect miners despite opposition and compromised authority figures.

• High Noonshared space western setting, lone lawman protagonist, corporate exploitation, and high-stakes confrontation
• Alienshared industrial science fiction atmosphere, claustrophobic frontier environment, and corporate systems threatening human lives
• Blade Runnershared gritty blue-collar science fiction, institutional corruption, and a protagonist pursuing justice inside a hostile system

Director

Peter Hyams

Release Date

1981-05-22

Runtime

110 min

Rating

6.4 / 10 (740)

What is Outland about?

On Jupiter’s volcanic moon, a principled marshal confronts a lethal corporate drug conspiracy in a hard-edged space western.

What is Outland like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Outland as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Outland violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Outland as moderate.

What did critics think of Outland?

Critics broadly recognized the film's strong science-fiction western premise, brisk suspense, and production craft, while finding its High Noon-derived story familiar and sometimes trite.

Which films are like Outland?

Films with a similar feel include High Noon, Alien, and Blade Runner.

How long is Outland?

Outland runs 110 minutes.

Where can I watch Outland?

In United States, Outland streams on YouTube Free.