MovieChat Forums > Outland (1981) Discussion > Remake?

Remake?

posted 19 years ago by jemieabernethy
19 replies | jump to latest

I bought the dvd because it was was on offer, i barely remember trying to stay up with my brother to watch it when i was young and i half remembered it and my curiousity was peaked. It's a damn good movie, well structured, good plot, slightly dodgy model/minature shots for the modern audience, but a damn good film.

Now although i find so many remakes and sequals don't live up to the original, (with the exceptions of King Kong and Predator 2) but i'd like to see a remake of this even though i liked the original. What do you think?

Death to Michael Greenburg! First he Kill's Apophis now he Kill's Fraser. B*stard!

[–] RedDawn04 19 years ago

predator 2 sucked so bad

[–] admiral_andersen 19 years ago

Why? There was a predator in it... That ought to be enough!

[–] reservoirfrog2003 18 years ago

If that rule applied, then ALIEN VS. PREDATOR would be good ... which of course it's not ...

[–] kamas716 18 years ago

this was a re-make of High Noon (in space). I don't think we really want to see another remake. What we need in Hollywood are new ideas.

[–] schwarz-10 18 years ago

well put...
when you spend some $100 million on a movie why not spend another, say, $2 mil for a good script? that is a question I would really love answered...
As non-American, I believe that Hollywood simply goes with the flow and makes movies that will be accepted on the American market anyway and some product placement, merchandise and video game licencing cover the expenses. I do not wish to sound anti-American or offensive but it seems to me that it is the market(the audience) that still pays the $15 or whatever ticket price thay put for lousy remakes, sequels, prequels... Anything seems to go in America and Hollywood has no incentive to change...or even pay for a decent script...
Outland become somewhat legendary in my country Bulgaria back in the 1980s as it was one of the few sci-fi flicks to even reach Bulgarian screens. Especially a flick with the James Bond guy...
So for me - Outland has more of a sentimental value...

[–] Fiberglass_guy 18 years ago

If a Movie, any movie, has a good story. Hollywood will screw it up if they try to remake it at this point in time.
Once upon a time, hollywood had a heart & soul and understood artistic vision & merit. Now we have souless suits, in control with their study groups, market skews, demographic research. They have PDAs and Blackberrys where their eyes and ears should be. One day the tide will turn, but it is not yet.
Any good story remade by such people is destined to become warm, moist crap.

[–] athomas1 18 years ago

I would rather see a sequel, maybe with Sean's character coming out of retirement or something. His son could be a space marshal.

[–] freya1939 18 years ago

Oh please no more remakes. The originals for the most part are better, except Lolita naturally, but why not just re-release the filum at the cinema? After all put Star Wars ANH on the big screen and the theatre is packed.
How many remakes of things do we need when there are some excellent H.G Wells stories out there that need doing.
Nope Outland is great and will remain great!
Leave alone!!!

"I am not very successful as a little girl, when I grow up, I will probably be a mess."

[–] jrtjazz 18 years ago

NO! not every classic film needs to be remade.

if you want to see a remake get a few friends together and film your own version and appreciate good films--without wanting to see them being remade probably ending up starring vin diesel,the rock and other sh ite actors.

[–] Alan Smithee 18 years ago

One of the great things about the sci-fi genre is that it allows its creators to critique contemporary issues by setting them in fantasy settings. Take the famous "first televised interracial kiss" between Kirk and Uhura on Star Trek. Nowadays a black character kissing a white on film would hardly raise an eyebrow.

"Outland" was a commentary on the "war on drugs" which was raging in the United States during the 1980's. Back then it was believed that this war could be "won" and the importation/use of foriegn narcotics like cocaine and heroin totally eliminated. Nowadays narcotic abuse is just something that just about every city and town in America has uneasily become used to. In some liberal parts of the country there are efforts to de-criminalize or even legalize the use of some drugs like marijuana. In "Outland" the O'Neil character is trying to prove himself by stopping the drug-trade once and for all on his mining station. A modern, drug-cynical audience would instantly realize that even if he succeeds in taking down Shepard's operation and stopping the shipments, a week later somebody else is going to find a new way to smuggle in the drugs or produce them locally. This sorta ruins the end of the film.

The current "war" is the "war on terror." If somebody wants to make a really edgy sci-fi flick it should have to do with alien terrorists and our response to them... some say that Paul Verhoeven's 1997 "Starship Troopers" was eerily prescient in that regard.

[–] wiseowl-5 18 years ago

I know Outland was a space-based "High Noon", but it also has elements of a classic cop drama. The futility of O'Niel's effort is part of what makes his decision to stand and fight noble. He knows that, as Shepard, the Boyle character, says, if the ring in question is stopped, it will just come back again. O'Niel fights to prove something to himself, something the Shepards of the world can't fathom, a moral blindness like that of the empty suits someone mentions above. I love this movie, especially the gritty version of a future where things get dirty and people are selfish, and the exploration of the concept of courage.

By the way, on one of the threads someone asked what "Con-Am" meant. It stood for Consolidated-Amalgamated Mining Company, which had the "franchise", apparently mineral rights, to Io, from the Earth government.

And I agree, NO remake.

[–] Lunchbox-3 18 years ago

I just watched this again the other night and I was going to say the opposite, I actually wasn't going to even call it a true sci-fi film because I didn't think it presented any real new ideas or social commentary wrapped in sci-fi, I felt it was simply a western dressed as a space movie the same way "Alien" was a horror movie set in space.

You make a point about the war on drugs and how O'Neil believes he can win the war. I don't think that's true at all, in fact he knows he will fail, he expects that when the killers arrive, he will die. Listen to his conversation with his son that last time, he is saying goodbye. The movie is really just about a man and not a big social idea. As O'Neil says, he's part of a big machine that only works if everyone does the wrong thing, and he was chosen to be part of it because everyone thinks he's the kind of man who will do the wrong thing, and he decides he wants to prove them wrong. Now you could equate that to the illegal drug trade which is a big machine that only functions because it's corrupt on every level. I still the movie is more about the one man than about society as a whole but there is a parallel.

[–] williehellenbach 18 years ago

Outland is a sci-fi retelling of the classic film "High Noon". "Blazing Saddles" is as well albeit in the comedy genre. So, in a way this is a story/plot that REALLY works well, and consequently, has been told time and time again.

"It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself."

[–] Polaris01313-1 18 years ago

It's fine the way it is. We don't need a remake of it!!!

[–] Woodyanders 18 years ago

I'm so sick of Hollywood remaking old movies. This film is fine as it is. It doesn't need a remake. If it was remade today they would cast some bland young hunk ala Orlando Bloom in the lead and have Jessica Biel play his hot babe wife. Moreover, the makers of the remake would probably have the villains kidnap the wife, a cliche that "Outland" commendably avoids altogether.

"Warren Oates died for our sins"

[–] nihilistwonder 18 years ago

I remember "Outland" being rather unique with them message that no matter where humans end up, they'll always bring their problems with them--- even the heroes aren't heroic in the epic "Star Wars" or even "Star Trek" manner. Also liked the almost completely unusual romantic/sexual tension between the visibly aging hero and heroine, and their ultimate self-denial in favor of a greater cause, and the hero's wish to preserve his marriage. I have a feeling these elements would be totally mucked up in a remake--- that younger, prettier, shallower people would be cast as the leads, and modern CGI effects overwhelming the essential story--- all of which would be just wrong.

"Shake me up, Judy!"

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] wkargel 17 years ago

The premise of the movie was great, but it suffered from a poor script and low-budget effects, props, etc. I love Sean Connery (one of my favourite actors), and he alone saves the movie for me. I would personally love to see this movie redone properly, with CGI effects and all, and with a similar great actor of the current generation in the lead role. No, not Swartzenegger. Perhaps Bruce Willis? Actually, I think somebody like George Clooney or Viggo Mortensen would be perfect for the role (about the same age as Connery when he did the original movie).

Any Hollywood producers reading this...? ;-) LOL

Cheers,

Bill