Newton is rolling over in his grave
Which he can do, of course, because he's buried on a planet that conveniently enjoys one Earth gravity (9.8 m/s2). I'm not sure if Peter Hyams thought about this concept with any great vigor when he wrote and directed Outland, an otherwise rather good movie.
- Looking at gravity, consider that the movie tells us right off that the planetoid Io has 1/6th the gravity of Earth. So why is everyone able to walk, run, and play racquetball as if they were on Earth? Maybe they could have spent a bit more on the special effects. What makes this funnier is that one of the characters brags about how the decreased gravity helps his golf game.
- Newton's Third Law doesn't apply to shotguns in space. On Earth, a shotgun has a kick back, or recoil. That's because it is simply a small rocket launcher. Just like a Saturn V rocket, a projectile is propelled by rapidly expanding gas. So if you are firing one on a planetoid (as mentioned above) shouldn't the recoil be more problematic?
- Think about high-power mining tools for a moment. Good. That's longer than the director did. Jackhammer in low gravity .... Okay, you get it.
As I said, though, it really was a good movie. The acting was not terrific, but the three leads each did a good job. Photography and art direction were top notch. All in all, worth a rental, but not a purchase.
