Marshal W.T. O'Niel is assigned to a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. During his tenure miners are dying - usually violently. When the marshal investigates he discovers the one thing all the deaths have in common is a lethal amphetamine-type drug, which allows the miners to work continuously for days at a time until they become "burned out" and expire. O'Niel follows the trail of the dealers, which leads to the man overseeing the colony. Now O'Niel must watch his back at every turn, as those who seek to protect their income begin targeting him… In the distant future, a police marshal stationed at a remote mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy, and gets no help from the populace when he later finds himself marked for murder. Futuristic tale of marshal (Connery) based on a remote mining outpost in an outer-galactic territory who encounters a drug trafficking ring that's turning the citizens into psychopaths. Rather than accept graft in return for passive approval, Connery elects to take on the syndicate, managed locally by corrupt mining manager Boyle. But Boyle isn't intimidated by Connery's attention until his efforts start to hinder supply at which point assassins are hired to kill the meddling marshal.<br/><br/>Claustrophobic and at times ultra-violent science fiction thriller has elements of sophistication in its set design and props, although bland dialogue and clichés dent the overall effect. Connery does a reasonable job as the new marshal banished to the badlands finding support in short supply after his deputy (Sikking) is executed as a pre-emptive warning shot. He soon finds himself a pariah and magnet for trouble, his only ally a wily doctor (Sternhagen) not content to sit idle and let Boyle's assassins net their quarry. Aside from the three principals, Sikking (who appears in a number of Hyams' films) has a brief but memorable role, while P.H. Moriarty features late in the film as one of the silent assassins.<br/><br/>Moody, atmospheric and at times suspenseful, director Hyams demonstrates his experience with the sci-fi genre, here juxtaposing "High Noon" into outer-space. Connery might have been an unusual choice at the time, but his presence is perhaps just what a film of this scale needed to reach the mainstream. I really do like Sean Connery. Nobody has a voice like his that I know of and has entertained for generations. But that doesn't mean every movie he has done is great. Sometimes, like this one, the movie is average.<br/><br/>Connery is the law enforcement with a mining company on Io, one of Jupiter's moons. The scenery looks like a cross with Star Wars IV and maybe NASA. Special suits to go outside, but yet mining. The company is importing something illegal to make the miners work more - with deadly results. And only Connery can save the day, just like real life.<br/><br/>It just did not do enough to fill my belly. Sometimes I liked the action, but other times I was waiting for time to pass by. I think they could have cut out 10 minutes of it and still be an OK movie. So overall its fair. "C"
Olivaolye replied
295 weeks ago