Outland 4K UHD (1981)

Arrow Films are releasing writer-director Peter Hyams' 1981 'space western' in a limited edition 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative.

At a mining facility on Io, one of Jupiter's moons, workers are going crazy and killing themselves. New marshal William O'Niel (Sean Connery) with the aid of the station doctor (Frances Sternhagen) discovers that the number of instances has risen dramatically over the last 12 months. Could the mine's increased productivity over that time have anything to do with it? And what about station boss Mark Sheppard (Peter Boyle) and the members of O'Niel's force he is paying off? Can one man take a stand against the corruption on the station, even as hired hit men are on their way there to make sure O'Niel is no longer a problem?

Peter Hyams had apparently been lamenting the death of the western before realising that westerns had moved 'into space' which prompted the screenplay for OUTLAND. But there's much more to this than just HIGH NOON on a moon. The look and feel of the movie is very much informed by Ridley Scott's ALIEN of just two years before. Space has become less the domain of bold explorers and is now just another place to have factories filled with workers. You can also see how the look of OUTLAND informed James Cameron's subsequent ALIENS (1986) and indeed David Fincher's ALIEN 3 (1992). 

The model work and photography are excellent, complemented by Jerry Goldsmith's score. We all know Jerry Goldsmith was God in movie music, but he really did know how to nail the emptiness and yet at the same time the claustrophobia of space. Acting-wise it's Connery's show all the way but the rest of the cast ably support that.

Arrow's 4K comes with a new commentary from Chris Alexander that's my favourite kind - informal, chatty and feels like you're watching with a good friend. Peter Hyams' archival commentary is also on there and reveals he has a wicked sense of humour. There's a fantastic new interview with Hyams conducted by Howard S Berger that's 52 minutes long and has him talking about his career up to and including OUTLAND. Berger also interviews DP Stephen Goldblatt (29 minutes) and VFX supervisor for the Introvision process used in the film, William Mesa (34 minutes), and returns for a piece on 'Peter Hyams as Auteur' in which he argues the case well for those who don't already think the man deserves more recognition than he has so far had. 

Academic Josh Nelson gives us an 18 minute video appreciation of the film and we get the usual trailers and image galleries. Arrow's limited edition also includes a booklet featuring new writing on the film, a double sided poster and a reversible sleeve.

Peter Hyams' OUTLAND is out in a limited edition 4K UHD set from Arrow on Monday 3rd November 2025