sci-fi films that everyone should experience at least once, “Outland” took a timeless Western narrative and launched it into the outer realms of space. Set on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, Connery portrays Marshal William T. O’Neil, tasked with maintaining order at a mining outpost. Unbeknownst to him, a significant amount of corruption permeates this locality, leading him to embark on a quest to uphold justice, no matter how distant from Earth he may find himself.
If that plot seems recognizable, it’s due to Hyams adapting the storyline from the 1952 legendary Western, “High Noon.” Connery assumed the role in a futuristic context akin to Gary Cooper’s Marshal Will Kane, trading the untamed frontier for the ominous void. This element is what distinguished “Outland” from other science fiction features of its era. Connery wasn’t pursuing a chest-bursting extraterrestrial, nor hunting a raspy-voiced sorcerer wielding a light saber. O’Neil was merely an individual making do in the vast emptiness of space, which garnered the film much acclaim.
