History Film / Outland1981

''Outland'' is a 1981 SpaceWestern film written and directed by Creator/PeterHyams, starring Creator/SeanConnery, Frances Sternhagen, Creator/PeterBoyle and James Sikking, and set in a mining colony on Io, one of UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter. Essentially the plot is ''Film/HighNoon'', but this time, [[RecycledInSpace in space]]!

* MundaneDogmatic: ''Outland'' falls at the hard end of MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness, subject to the ArtisticLicenseSpace exceptions above. The hero and the leading lady are middle-aged, unattractive (by movie standards) and cynical. The bad guys are not aliens or galactic emperors, but drug-dealers, corrupt cops and venal businessmen. The weapons are shotguns with wooden furniture, and the most hi-tech it gets are infrared scopes on said shotguns. It takes a year for spaceships to travel from Earth to Io, with the passengers in cryo-freezing units.

* BlackGuyDiesFirst: [[spoiler: Inverted. Clarke Peters' character is the last to die.]]
* BulletProofVest: Or [[spoiler:strangle-proof collar]].

* DamnWithFaintPraise: The company prostitutes are clean, and some of them are even pretty.

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: As per the ''Film/HighNoon'' homage, the shuttle passengers (including the HiredGuns) usually offload at exactly 12:00. [[NoDelaysForTheWicked The shuttle with the aforementioned hitmen, however, arrives at 11:20]].

** SpaceIsNoisy: In the scenes outside the station in "zero pressure", the environment seems to be just as noisy as if there was an atmosphere.* BadCopIncompetentCop: Pretty much all of them except O'Niel.

* MundaneDogmatic: ''Outland'' falls at the hard end of MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness, subject to the SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay exceptions below. The hero and the leading lady are middle-aged, unattractive (by movie standards) and cynical. The bad guys are not aliens or galactic emperors, but drug-dealers, corrupt cops and venal businessmen. The weapons are shotguns with wooden furniture, and the most hi-tech it gets are infrared scopes on said shotguns. It takes a year for spaceships to travel from Earth to Io, with the passengers in cryo-freezing units.

* ArtisticLicenseSpace: Aside from the SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay examples listed below, we now know there's very little titanium on Io to mine.
* BadCopIncompetentCop: Pretty much all of them except O'Niel.

* SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay: The film aims for an air of gritty realism, but there are plenty of examples of HollywoodScience:
** ExplosiveDecompression: ''Outland'' loves this one! Frequent and messy!
** InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: A classic example. Every space suit has a ring of extremely bright lights on the inside solely to illuminate the wearer's face. At least it's {{justified|Trope}} this way.
** SpaceIsNoisy: In the scenes outside the station in "zero pressure", the environment seems to be just as noisy as if there was an atmosphere.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Aside from the SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay examples listed below, we now know there's very little titanium on Io to mine.

* NoDelaysForTheWicked: The supplies shuttle arrives once a week, at noon (local station time) at the earliest. This is mentioned early on in the film, and it is heavily implied that it has never, '''ever''' arrived earlier in the history of the station (to the point that the obligatory ''Magazine/{{MAD}} Magazine'' spoof short comic even outright states it) and O'Niel plans accordingly. But the shuttle with the ''people hired to kill him'' in the passenger list? Arrives forty minutes early, forcing everybody to scramble like mad to get ready to accomodate it for landing, and O'Niel to go into IndyPloy mode.

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: As per the ''Film/HighNoon'' homage, the shuttle passengers (including the HiredGuns) usually offload at exactly 12:00. [[NoDelaysForTheWicked The shuttle with the aforementioned hitmen, however, arrives at 11:45]].

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: As per the ''Film/HighNoon'' homage, the shuttle passengers (including the HiredGuns) offload at exactly 12:00.

''Outland'' is a 1981 SpaceWestern film written and directed by Creator/PeterHyams, starring Creator/SeanConnery, Frances Sternhagen, Creator/PeterBoyle and James Sikking, and set in a mining colony on Io, one of UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter. Essentially the plot is ''Film/HighNoon'', but this time, [[RecycledINSPACE in space]]!

* RecycledINSPACE: ''Film/HighNoon'' ON A MOON!

* SpaceWestern: A frequently-heard criticism of the film is that it is "[[RecycledINSPACE High Noon in space]]", which [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools misses the point completely]], as should be obvious to any reader of ''this'' wiki. However the basic concept of a gun-toting lawman in a corrupt frontier mining town, fighting a lone battle for justice, is definitely drawn from the Western genre.

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Unrelated to]] Berke Breathed's successor to ''NewspaperComics/BloomCounty''. Or to the 2011 {{Metroidvania}}-lite ''VideoGame/{{Outland}}''. None of these are also related to the 2012 Australian [[Series/{{Outland}} TV series]].

* SpaceWestern: A frequently-heard criticism of the film is that it is "[[RecycledINSPACE High Noon in space]]", which [[TropesAreNotBad misses the point completely]], as should be obvious to any reader of ''this'' wiki. However the basic concept of a gun-toting lawman in a corrupt frontier mining town, fighting a lone battle for justice, is definitely drawn from the Western genre.

''Outland'' is a 1981 SpaceWestern film written and directed by Creator/PeterHyams, starring Creator/SeanConnery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle and James Sikking, and set in a mining colony on Io, one of UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter. Essentially the plot is ''Film/HighNoon'', but this time, [[RecycledINSPACE in space]]!

* HighNoon: Subverted. The men sent to kill O'Niel are arriving on the noon shuttle, which ends up arriving nearly an hour early.

* NoDelaysForTheWicked: The supplies shuttle arrives once a week, at noon (local station time) at the earliest. This is mentioned early on in the film, and it is heavily implied that it has never, '''ever''' arrived earlier in the history of the station (to the point that the obligatory ''MAD Magazine'' spoof short comic even outright states it) and O'Niel plans accordingly. But the shuttle with the ''people hired to kill him'' in the passenger list? Arrives forty minutes early, forcing everybody to scramble like mad to get ready to accomodate it for landing, and O'Niel to go into IndyPloy mode.

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Unrelated to]] Berke Breathed's successor to ''NewspaperComics/BloomCounty''. Or to the 2011 {{Metroidvania}}-lite ''VideoGame/{{Outland}}''.

Unrelated to Berke Breathed's successor to ''NewspaperComics/BloomCounty''.

--> "Because maybe they ''are'' right. They sent me here to this pile of shit because they think I belong here. I've got to find out if they're right. There's a whole machine that works because everyone does what they're supposed to. I found out I was supposed to be something I didn't like. That's what's in the program. That's my rotten little part in the rotten machine. Well, I don't like it, so... I'm going to find out if they're right."

''Outland'' is a 1981 SpaceWestern film written and directed by Creator/PeterHyams, starring Creator/SeanConnery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle and James Sikking, and set in a mining colony on Io, one of UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter. Like ''Film/AssaultOnPrecinct131976'', the plot is ''Film/HighNoon'', but this time, [[RecycledINSPACE in space]]!

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Aside from the HollywoodSpace examples listed below, we now know there's very little titanium on Io to mine.

* HighNoon: Subverted. The men sent to kill O'Niel are arriving on the noon shuttle, which ends up arriving several hours early.

** Sheppard himself considering how the dangerous nature of the drug he's selling.

** Sheppard himself considering how dangerous the drug he's selling.

** Sheppard himself considering how dangerous the drug he's selling is.

** Sheppard himself considering how dangerous the drug he's selling is. During the investigation, Dr. Lazarus finds out that number of deaths over the last 18 months were increasing. FridgeHorror sets in when you realize that, sooner or later, a worker suffering from psychosis might kill others or destroy vital equipment; the very same equipment he'd need to stay alive.

* MyNaymeIs: Yes, the hero's appears to be the odd spelling ''O'Niel'' rather than the normal O'Neil or O'Neill.