Synopsis-
I’m willing to bet many have never seen or heard of this overlooked Sean Connery film before. However, thanks to a wonderful remastering process to the Blu-ray format, you’ll be able to enjoy it at home on your high-def TV or projector and be blown away by Sean Connery playing a Marshall in outer space. The overall plot deals with a man who has been sent to the Jupiter moon of IO, in the distant future, to become a mining facilities new Marshall. Connery’s character of William T. O’Neill represents someone who wants to do right, and not let corporate greed or corruption get in his way. Early on in the film while he’s introduced to the mining operations manager, Sheppard, played by Peter Boyle (you may recognize him from Everybody Loves Raymond), it becomes obvious what O’Neill is up against: A good ole boys network that wants to ensure company profits are taking precedent over playing by the rules. Add that level of stress to the fact that O’Neill’s wife just left him, and you have yourselves a nice foundation of needed conflict to the storyline moving forward.
Now, it has been declared before that this film is essentially a version of “High Noon” in space, a space western if you will. I don’t disagree, but what really makes this movie tick is the excellent acting, punchy dialogue, and extremely believable set design that evokes a dark, depressing atmosphere that you’d expect for miners working on in space. I don’t want to spoil the plot of this movie, but let’s just say that as compared to the films Alien, and Bladerunner, which as far as I’m concerned could be set in the same universe, that humans are the true enemy involved this time out. There are no alien parasites, or artificial life-forms, but just some of the most rancid human beings you’ll see playing the role of antagonists.
Last but not least, I should mention that actress Frances Sternhagen, who plays Dr. Lazerus here, knocks the role out of the park. She’s arguably the most convincing cankerous, and witty doctor ever portrayed on film next to Dr. McCoy from Star Trek. Her chemistry with Connery is nothing short of excellent throughout the picture, and it’s a shame we never saw her in more mainstream roles over the years. Nonetheless, this is a well-paced, and edited film that should entertain you for its running time of 112 minutes. You don’t have to be a Sci-fi fan to enjoy Connery getting to play a bad-ass law man, you just need to appreciate what I feel is a well put together feature film with great drama, action, and pacing. I will warn that many scenes are of a graphic nature, i.e. heads exploding, along with a few very disturbing scenes that still scare me to this day (I’ll let you be the judge what those may be)
Here’s a link to the film’s official trailer that was released in 1981 (The Blu-ray makes it looks like a new film!)
Video Quality- A+
I’m not going to mince words here. The video quality of the Blu-ray makes this film look like it could have been made in present day. Additionally, it enhances every aspect of director Peter Hyam’s world here to make you feel like you’re really watching people who work off of Earth, on a far off Jupiter Moon. I can’t underline enough how much the Blu-ray picture quality breathes new life into this underrated gem of a film.
Audio Quality- A+
Overall, the Dolby Digital 5.1 track makes Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack pop, along with showing off the film’s sound effects that create the believability these characters are in a very claustrophobic setting.
Extras- D
Unfortunately, the only downfall of this release is no behind the scenes extras. Only a director’s only commentary audio track, along with the original trailer for the film. I suppose given this is arguably the best Sci-Fi/Action flick you’ve never seen before, this makes the lack of extras acceptable, however, it’s still sad that more effort wasn’t put in to show how this film was made back in the early 80s.
Overall, I highly recommend you give this film a chance on Blu-ray. I’d be curious to see what Sean Connery himself thinks about how it’s held up after all these years, but I’m here to tell you it’s one of the better films you’ve never before seen. Nuff said.
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