Outland: Sean Connery's Forgotten Sci-Fi Gem Blasts Back in 4K

Sean Connery’s gritty 1981 space‑western Outland—long a cult favorite with Alien vibes—blasts back in a gleaming Arrow Video 4K remaster.

I love shining a light on great movies that slipped through the cracks, and this one absolutely did. Peter Hyams' 1981 thriller Outland just got a fresh 4K polish from Arrow Video, and if you’ve never seen it, this is the perfect excuse to fix that.

So, what is Outland?

Think High Noon in space. Sean Connery plays a lawman stationed on a mining colony on Jupiter's moon Io. He uncovers a nasty corporate scheme, gets marked for death, and ends up facing hired killers with basically no backup. It’s lean, tense, and way gnarlier than you might expect from a studio sci-fi movie of that era.

The era that made it (and why it feels familiar)

Outland landed in a very specific moment for sci-fi. Star Wars (1977) had just blown the doors off what effects could do, and Alien (1979) dragged the genre into R-rated, blue-collar horror territory. Outland sits closer to Alien’s neighborhood than to Star Wars’ swashbuckling: it’s adult, industrial, and corporate-paranoid.

That corporate vibe is not an accident. Peter Boyle plays the main company heavy, very much against type, and the shadowy employer he represents feels a lot like Alien’s Weyland-Yutani without ever saying the name. Behind the scenes, the connective tissue is wild: nine department heads overlapped across Alien and Outland’s production design teams. The movie was produced by The Ladd Company, run by Alan Ladd Jr., the same executive who greenlit Alien at 20th Century Fox. A year after Outland, Ladd would back Blade Runner. And yes, Outland and Alien both have excellent Jerry Goldsmith scores. If you’re sensing a family resemblance, you’re not wrong.

Why you probably missed it

Despite being a big-budget sci-fi action movie with Sean Connery front and center, Outland flopped. Part of that might have been timing for Connery, who was still wrestling with the post-Bond slump. Some even argue the failure nudged him toward doing Never Say Never Again. His real comeback didn’t kick in until 1986 with The Name of the Rose and Highlander, followed by The Untouchables in 1987. Outland never really got its due in the sci-fi canon.

The Arrow Video 4K: why this is the moment

The new Arrow release looks terrific in 4K and comes loaded with context. Outland was the first film to use the IntroVision front-projection system, an important stepping stone to the kind of compositing work we take for granted now. The extras dig into how IntroVision was developed and where it led. If you’ve ever marveled at the kids running from the train in Stand by Me or Harrison Ford’s leap from the prison bus in The Fugitive, you’ve seen what that tech could do.

There are also lengthy interviews, including Peter Hyams and cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt. In a refreshingly candid bit of shop talk, Goldblatt explains that even though he’s credited as DP, Hyams actually shot the film and brought him in specifically to handle the IntroVision sequences. It’s the kind of nuts-and-bolts detail that makes this package feel like more than just a shiny transfer.

Why it’s worth your time now

• Connery in tough, no-frills mode, doing grounded action with real stakes
• A sharp Jerry Goldsmith score that gives the movie its pulse
• Grimy, tactile production design with that Alien-adjacent industrial dread
• Peter Boyle playing the corporate villain against type
• Practical nastiness: some very cool bladder gore effects
• A gorgeous 4K presentation and extras that actually teach you something (IntroVision’s history, plus new interviews with Hyams and DP Stephen Goldblatt)

Bottom line

Outland never got the love it deserved, but this Arrow Video 4K makes a strong case for a reappraisal. If you like your sci-fi tense, grown-up, and a little mean, this one hits the spot.