I love this movie,i think it was one of connerys best.That said what is up with these movies set in the distant future,and there still using shotguns.they have achieved intergalactic space travel but they haven't developed any energy weapons both leathal and non leathal.Ghost of mars is another example.Don't you think at least the hitmen would have used something different then what the marshall used. thats my 2 cents
shareThere are a lot of good comments in favour of shotguns. But I think tazers might be more plausible. Even if the damage from a shotgun can be limited, I still think it would be considered way too dangerous to have projectile weapons on any outer-space structure.
It might've been more realistic to show law enforcement using tazers through most of the movie, but criminals (and maybe some cops) smuggle firearms. I could see Connery pulling out a trusty old shotgun he likes to keep for special occasions for the final showdown.
Overall I think the movie holds up really well.
It does. You can nitpick almost anything.
Incidentally, I just bought the MAD magazine with their parody of it and I love it. They refer to the "High Noon" thing even then and I love the parody, but I still have great love for the film.
The thing that everyone seems to miss in Outland is just how good the film is overall. If you ignore the similarity between it and High Noon and just concentrate on the screenplay, dialogue, sets and general film-making apparatus, it's a blindingly well-made film.
I've heard of lasers being improperly used in circumcision (and in this case I'm not talking about David Reimer, if anyone wants to get really specific) that have cut off the body part in question, rather than just the 'tip'. Sorry for the less than G rated example, but the tech probably exists to do far more when actually intentional.
Having said that, I _like_ the idea of shotguns. Although I would bet the farm that the reason was budget for the special fx (as has been mentioned) - one might also consider the budget in that 'universe'. Law enforcement today in most parts of the world isn't the highest funded institution around. Better in some places than others, but you get my drift.
If, hypothetically, the rest of the people on IO weren't (or at least shouldn't have been) armed, then shotguns would be a very useful, acceptable option, for all of the aforementioned reasons (and they can be fired in a vacuum, and ironically might have a different spread pattern, though I wouldn't like to bank on whether it would be wider or narrower) and especially so because they wouldn't cost a fortune to arm, maintain and use.
Atmospherically (as in the dramatic type, not the scientific type) I think they add to it well. It's a combination of western, sci fi and police procedural (to a slightly lesser extent).
I'm not sure precisely what the armies of the world will be using in another 40 years, but I think it's highly unlikely that things like the ak-47 and m-16 - both of which were produced decades before this film - will be completely relegated to collectors/antiques. The colt 1911 is coming up on it's 100 yeqar anniversary, and it's still a big favourite with gun enthusiasts for it's rugged and reliable design. Sure it's been tweaked considerably over the years, but you get my drift.
John McKenzie
that was weird to see, an old school Shotgun in space in the distant futureWhen there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...
Stop being paranoid.
Girl_Power
http://www.wecansolveit.org/
Why, didn't one of the marines in Aliens have a shotgun as a back-up weapon?
shareThe movie does not imply that they have "achieved intergalactic" space travel.
They are still in the solar system on IO, a moon of Saturn.
I just stumbled across this film on HDNet and I thought I'd see what other people thought of it. I'm glad I did, because this is literally one of the best threads I've ever seen on IMDb. Very interesting and intelligent stuff. Good work, people.
I once dated a blind girl - you really had to hand it to her.
How odd... I was just thinking about this very topic recently.
I think that generally, shotuns are ideal - less chance of overpenetration than a pistol or rifle.
They're versatile - slug and beanbag type rounds are easily used in most modern shotguns, as well as traditional "batches" of round shot.
As to the idea of energy weapons - the biggest problem with them is energy density - how do you store enough energy for a comparable number of man-stopping or man-killing shots?
I'm not even talking about the ability to permanently blind or seriously burn someone's skin - wounds like that are considered cruel and technically are not "man-stopping."
I think that's a long way off - current rechargeable technology would be hard-pressed to store the juice for one shot with the power of a .45 ACP round, let alone the equivalent of six or more.
The only downside issue I could see with using shotguns or other firarms in space, would be if rounds miss - there would be small metal particulates circulating around a closed air-recycling system.
Look at a film like Aliens - which seems to take place at least 75 years ahead of Outland. Although Hicks and Vazquez had personal weaponry that were clearly from our era (OK, Gorman's pistol was an HK VP70, but that at least looked futuristic official Marine issue), the official infantry weapons and squad automatic weapons still used the basic principle a solid projectile driven by a chemical reaction, albeit in a caseless package.
Why change what works? We have technology that would allow me to replace all the doors in my house to sensor activated electronic doors, which, undeniably, are much more modern and technologically advanced than the mechanical latch mechanism that I'm using now. But that would be a lot of work just to change something that already works fine, incredibly expensive and what would happen if the power were to go out? Basically it would be just a massive violation of the K.I.S.S. principle. Likewise with a laser weapon, what could it do that a shotgun couldn't do just as well in that situation and what happens when the power goes out? I could load a shotgun, not use it for years and still be pretty confident it will work when I need it. Would people be dieing because they'd forgotten to charge up their laser weapons? Do they have to carry spare battery packs in case of protracted laser battles and remember to keep all of them charged? I think that you'd definitely want the simplest, most rugged, self contained and proven design in such a remote environment.
Also, it seems to me that he could have used a rifle or handgun, as long as he was using frangible bullets in it.
Think of it this way: did you go to work in your flying car today? How's that jet-pack working these days? We may communicate with advanced technology, but we still kill people the same way.
If we all liked the same movie, there'd only be one movie!
Maybe,,,
Peter Hyams just liked shotguns.
[deleted]