Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Movie DVD

THIS VERSION OF THIS DVD IS NO GOOD, THE PICTURE QUALITY IS HORRIBLE AND IT IS NOT ENHANCED FOR WIDESCREEN TV'S AS IT SAYS IT IS IN THE DVD COVER.

Average Rating:

Rating: - NO GOOD DVD
THIS VERSION OF THIS DVD IS NO GOOD, THE PICTURE QUALITY IS HORRIBLE AND IT IS NOT ENHANCED FOR WIDESCREEN TV'S AS IT SAYS IT IS IN THE DVD COVER.

Rating: - Very Well Crafted Sci-Fi version of 'High Noon'
This could have turned out to be another B grade Sci-Fi version of 'High Noon'. But the Writing, Directing, Casting, Acting and just about everything else in this film are all very good. All the characters came off as completely genuine and believable. Sean Connery, Peter Boyle, Frances Sternhagen, and the actress who played the station doctor (could not find out who she was) were very nearly perfect.

The plot is as follows: Connery plays the newly arrived federal marshal in charge of law enforcement on one of Jupiter's moons. The moon base is run by a large mining conglomerate under a government franchise, with Peter Boyle playing the general manager. Conditions are harsh, and the general ethos of the place is to work hard, play hard and bank your overtime and hazard pay for your next vacation. Frances Sternhagen as Connery's number two sums up the best features of the place as "the hookers are clean, the booze isn't watered down..."

This particular franchise is the best performing in all of the solar system and everybody is happy -- the workers for the fat paychecks and the managers (especially Boyle) for the much fatter bonuses. There is only one problem, a significant number of the miners are going crazy and committing suicide. At Connery's insistance the "old wreck" of a doctor investigates the matter and discovers that many of the men are using a highly dangerous super-stimulant that induces psychosis with prolonged use. Connery also discovers that along with collecting large bonuses for the work of his drug-made supermen Boyle's character is also involved in the distribution of the drug, and Connery's number two (played perfectly by Sternhagen) and everyone else that matters are being paid to look the other way. The new marshal has the choice of going along to get along or trying put a stop to it and chooses the latter -- initiating an increasingly deadly game with Boyle and his henchmen. There are a few twists and turns which I will not give away here and the predictably violent final showdown.

The reason I gave this DVD five stars is that unlike so many Sci-Fi and/or "action" films in which the characters are little more than cardboard cutouts and the action and special effects are the only reason for watching the movie, the characters in this film are real people with genuine emotions and imperfections. A scene that Connery plays with the doctor in a space-age racketball court in which he explains why he is risking everything for people that don't even give damn is one of the best I have ever scene in a movie of this kind. I am aware that most reviewers of this movie were not overly impressed. I was. Take it for whatever its worth. If you prefer your movies have a bit of heart and usually avoid Sci-Fi and action films for this reason you might want to give this one a try.

DVD quality was not outstanding but I did not find it to be a problem.

Poscript for parents:
If you watch movies with your children you should be aware that the movie includes a scene in which a miner having a psychotic break threatens and injures a nude prostitute with a large knife and also includes a scene in a bar that features 3-D softcore porn. (Softcore in the sense that the men and women are nude and the intercourse obvious but no primary sex organs are actually visible.) With the exception of the scene with the prostitute, the violence in the rest of the movie is typical cops and robbers stuff.

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Rating: - Worst DVD transfer I have ever seen!
This is a perfectly good movie, should get 5 stars (or at least 4), but I have never seen a more horrible butcher job of a transfer before in my life. It's grainier than a bad VHS video, I can't believe these people actually released this without cleaning it up first. Glad I only paid [...] bucks for it at BigLots or I'd be raising holy h*** about getting a refund.

+5 (or 4) stars for the movie, none for the digital video transfer (if that's what you can call it). -kd5-

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Rating: - In serious need of a makeover...
Okay, so I'm going to sound off a bit on a particular pet peeve of mine. Recently a lot of very good, classic movies have been suffering at the hands of the `eventual remake' when a lot of decent yet nothing special films remain forgotten and ignored. So, I make my plea. Instead of remaking comedic classics like `Clue' or attempting to revitalize `Gone with the Wind', why don't you focus on smaller films that never got the audience they deserved because the technology of the time failed to elevate the material.

Case and point; I give you `Outland'.

This is not a great movie, but it is a decent one, and it is one that would really excel with a fresh remake. Touch it up a bit, add some new graphics, clean up the grit and add a glossy veneer and will take the film to another level.

This is the kind of film that begs for a remake.

The film revolves around a police marshal in the distant future who is stationed on a mining colony off one of Jupiter's moons. He is immediately given the cold shoulder by the men aboard the colony, and when a few strange deaths raise concern he is really given the shaft. He uncovers a drug smuggling scheme and is pretty much given direct orders to ignore it. When he doesn't do as he's told he finds his life in danger.

Conceptually, the film is good. The acting is even pretty decent, with Sean Connery fitting very nicely into the role of the macho hero. But, in the end the film lacks in the technical department, and with the choppy editing and the poor transfer the film kind of goes all over the place as it reaches the end. In fact, the last half hour was very hard for me to watch. The thing is though, this would make for a great movie if it was made right now, with a tight and smart script (rework it just a little to bring it up to date) and a strong cast (I don't want to see Vin Diesel or anyone like that) coupled with a talented and visionary director (I'm thinking Danny Boyle) and you'd have a home run.

Alas, I doubt this will ever get the glossy treatment it deserves. If that is the case I can't say that I'd run out and see this one. It's good, but not good enough. Connery isn't enough to make this entirely worth it, and the picture quality is very, very weak.

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Rating: - Yup - 'nother release of the same garbage transfer
This gets more and more interesting. They re-release the same old unacceptable quality DVD yet again, Amazon deletes the old reviews, and those of us that care about this film come back here and tell everyone that this is a good story but the crawling, shifting, pixelated transfer to DVD will give you a headache. If you really want to see this entertaining story - buy a used one for the lowest price you can trust. You will enjoy the story but be disappointed by the view. You won't play this DVD often because of the way it was mastered. I would give it four stars if the DVD were even acceptable.

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