Something of a commercial disappointment on release - I think the Ladd Company, who made it, were hoping for another Alien, for it feels like that movie (working class types in space, an unscrupulous company, people smoke in rooms).
It's not as good but it holds up well, in part because it stars Sean Connery but also because the effects have aged nicely. Maybe not the computer type but the sets and ships on Io, off the planet Jupiter, the atmosphere, the quality of acting. Frances Sternhagen is great fun, as are James Sikking and Steven Berkoff and Peter Boyle.
The set up is nice and simple - a marshal discovers the mining company are killing its workers with drugs that make them produce faster. It doesn't develop entirely logically though. Surely some people would be on Connery's side? Some miners? (I think Boyle should have framed Connery for the deaths somehow to turn people against them.) The ending felt underwhelming with Boyle just punched out - no expose like in say Capricorn One. How did Connery get access to Boyle's transmissions? Why didn't he use this more?
Other things: The subplot involving the wife and kid feels pointless - better to have cut it. I don't mind a bit of mystery but some explanation as to why Connery took a stand would be appreciated. The expert assassins are really dump to fire in a compressed chamber.
It's like the script needed another draft or two just to iron out logic flaws. But it's easy to look at and Connery in sci fi is fun. Hyams directs stylishly, too.
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