Essay On Outland

884 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Science fiction vs western genre comparison

Closing the Final Frontier: Genre Analysis of Outland (1981)
Are all films that are set in space necessarily science fiction films? There are a few films that are labelled as science fiction regardless of the fact that the science aspect of the fiction is minimal. One such film is the 1981 film Outland, directed by Peter Hyams, which belongs to the Western genre more than it belongs to the science fiction genre, even though the setting of the film happens to be one of Jupiter’s moons.
According to Buscombe, “the major defining characteristics of a genre will be visual” (qtd. in Neale 14). This means that the formal elements that allow us to categorize Outland as belonging to the Western genre are primarily elements of the mise-en-scène. For example, the weapon that Marshal O’Niel uses is an old-fashioned shotgun; it thwarts the expectation that …show more content…

According to the director Peter Hyams, the Western genre had fallen out of fashion by 1981, but he wanted to make a Western regardless, and therefore he put his Western in space (Williams). Visual iconography of the Western genre is used ironically, for example, the area where the deputies rest is labelled a “saloon” by bold red letters, and even the doors resemble iconic Western saloon doors. It feels too anachronistic and excessive to be anything but irony. O’Niel’s shotgun and star-shaped badge function in the same way: they are iconography of the Western genre, but used in an anachronistic setting and in a self-conscious way. The narrative of the film is an appropriation of the narrative of High Noon, but set in the future as an attempt to appeal to its contemporary audiences, because it was after Westerns had already fallen out of favor with audiences. The ironic use of the visual imagery of Westerns and the appropriation of a famous Western narrative, repurposed and rehabilitated, are what makes this film a film of the latter phase of the Western

Show More
Related

  • Robert Ray's The Thematic Paradigm

    416 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this

    Read More

  • Cowboys in Kilts: The Failure of the Scenic in Rob Roy & Braveheart

    2775 Words  | 6 Pages

    My analysis begins, as it will end, where most cowboy movies begin and end, with the landscape.Western heroes are essentially synedoches for that landscape, and are identifiable by three primary traits: first, they represent one side of an opposition between the supposed purity of the frontier and the degeneracy of the city, and so are separated even alienated from civilization; second, they insist on conducting themselves according to a personal code, to which they stubbornly cling despite all opposition or hardship to themselves or others; and third, they seek to shape their psyches and even their bodies in imitation of the leanness, sparseness, hardness, infinite calm and merciless majesty of the western landscape in which their narratives unfold.All of these three traits are present in the figures of Rob Roy and William Wallace--especially their insistence on conducting themselves according to a purely personal definition of honor--which would seem to suggest that the films built around them and their exploits could be read as transplanted westerns.However, the transplantation is the problem for, while the protagonists of these films want to be figures from a classic western, the landscape with which they are surrounded is so demonstrably not western that it forces their narratives into shapes which in fact resist and finally contradict key heroic tropes of the classic western.

    Read More

  • Analysis of "The Thematic Paradigm"

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    The image created for the outlaw hero is the “natural man.” They are adventurous but also wanderers, and loners. Outlaw heroes are more likely to commit a crime, use weapons and carry guns. The outlaw hero represents self-determination and freedom from conflicts. On the other hand, the official hero is portrayed to be “the civilized” man. He often follows the norms of society, and has typical roles such as a lawyer, teacher, and family man.

    Read More

  • The Thematic Paradigm by Robert Ray

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Thematic Paradigm,” Robert Ray explains how there are two vastly different heroes: the outlaw hero and the official hero. The official hero has common values and traditional beliefs. The outlaw hero has a clear view of right and wrong but unlike the official hero, works above the law. Ray explains how the role of an outlaw hero has many traits. The morals of these heroes can be compared clearly. Films that contain official heroes and outlaw heroes are effective because they promise viewer’s strength, power, intelligence, and authority whether you are above the law or below it.

    Read More

  • Irreconcilable Realities, an Essay Written by Aaron M. Kenrner

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bernstein, Matthew. “The Classical Hollywood Western Par Excellence.” Film Analysis: A Norton Reader. Eds. Jeffrey Geiger and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2nd edition, 2013. 298-318.

    Read More

  • Epilogue To John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    One week after Lennie's death, George sits in the dark corner of a bar. The room is all but empty and dead silent. All the windows are shut, through the small openings come beams of dull light that barely illuminate the room. George stares at his glass with an expressionless face, but a heavy sadness in his eyes. The bartender comes towards him and asks if he would like something else to drink.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of High Noon And Shane

    1438 Words  | 3 Pages

    Westerns have been around for many years. Some would consider westerns to be American classics because they describe early life in a mostly undiscovered America. In class two western films were watched and discussed. These two westerns were High Noon and Shane. On the surface, these movies are categorized as the same genre and look very similar but after further inspection it can be determined that the movies have a lot of differences. Of course, both movies share the same central theme of law versus social order, but the way each movie portrays this central theme is very different. This universal theme between the two movies can be investigated through, setting, violence, view of family, how women perceive guns/violence, and the choice of

    Read More

  • The Gunslinger Hero

    2224 Words  | 5 Pages

    Somewhere out in the Old West wind kicks up dust off a lone road through a lawless town, a road once dominated by men with gun belts attached at the hip, boots upon their feet and spurs that clanged as they traversed the dusty road. The gunslinger hero, a man with a violent past and present, a man who eventually would succumb to the progress of the frontier, he is the embodiment of the values of freedom and the land the he defends with his gun. Inseparable is the iconography of the West in the imagination of Americans, the figure of the gunslinger is part of this iconography, his law was through the gun and his boots with spurs signaled his arrival, commanding order by way of violent intentions. The Western also had other iconic figures that populated the Old West, the lawman, in contrast to the gunslinger, had a different weapon to yield, the law. In the frontier, his belief in law and order as well as knowledge and education, brought civility to the untamed frontier. The Western was and still is the “essential American film genre, the cornerstone of American identity.” (Holtz p. 111) There is a strong link between America’s past and the Western film genre, documenting and reflecting the nations changes through conflict in the construction of an expanding nation. Taking the genres classical conventions, such as the gunslinger, and interpret them into the ideology of America. Thus The Western’s classical gunslinger, the personification of America’s violent past to protect the freedoms of a nation, the Modernist takes the familiar convention and buries him to signify that societies attitude has change towards the use of diplomacy, by way of outmoding the gunslinger in favor of the lawman, taming the frontier with civility.

    Read More

  • Evolution of the Gangster and America

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    Barry, , Keith, and Grant, ed. Film Genre Reader III. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press,

    Read More

  • Yojimbo : Ideology and Interpretation

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story is an Eastern take on the Hollywood western with a dash of satire,

    Read More

  • Fred Zinnemann High Noon Ethos

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    Much contention and controversy have historically surrounded the idea that Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952) is the single film that brought an end to what is commonly referred to as the “classical Western." Through a single crucial scene, one important character invokes the ancient advice lent by Aristotle in his seminal work, On Rhetoric, to persuade a town to turn on its hero and change the face of Western's forever. By adhering to the ancient philosopher's notion of ethos, pathos, and logos, the film effectively reworks a traditional Western opposition that had been at the core of the genre's classical narrative structure from its inception.

    Read More

  • The Hero's Journey in Modern Film

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the films Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Watership Down, and Trainspotting are all versions of The Hero’s Journey, consequently demonstrating just how prevalent these archetypes have become in modern cinema. And that mythology and storytelling are important parts of each culture because they prevent the darkness in our hearts from spreading.

    Read More

  • Characteristics of a Typical Western

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    A typical Western would usually be set in the late 19th century in the mid-west of America in a remote town. The town is usually small, lonely and unwelcoming. Typically a western set looks like it is in the middle of a desert with sand, cacti and tumbleweed which gives a desert look, there are usually never any lakes or rivers around these features make the place look really hot and deserted. The buildings are generally timber board houses with swinging doors and outside the buildings are places to keep their horses, there is also always a General Store and a Saloon. Horses and carriages and cattle are used to give a western feel. The cowboys are typically dressed in western style clothing for example they wear simple shirts and jeans they may also wear ponchos, waist coats, hats, boots with spurs, guns and a belt to hold the gun and bullets, Hero's tend to wear lighter clothing and the villain’s tend to wear darker clothing.

    Read More

  • Similarities, Differences and Connections between two Western Movies: Rio Bravo and El Dorado

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    Few Hollywood film makers have captured America’s Wild West history as depicted in the movies, Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Most Western movies had fairly simple but very similar plots, including personal conflicts, land rights, crimes and of course, failed romances that typically led to drinking more alcoholic beverages than could respectfully be consumed by any one person, as they attempted to drown their sorrows away. The 1958 Rio Bravo and 1967 El Dorado Western movies directed by Howard Hawks, and starring John Wayne have a similar theme and plot. They tell the story of a sheriff and three of his deputies, as they stand alone against adversity in the name of the law. Western movies like these two have forever left a memorable and lasting impressions in the memory of every viewer, with its gunfighters, action filled saloons and sardonic showdowns all in the name of masculinity, revenge and unlawful aggressive behavior. Featuring some of the most famous backdrops in the world ranging from the rustic Red Rock Mountains of Monument Valley in Utah, to the jagged snow capped Mountain tops of the Teton Range in Wyoming, gun-slinging cowboys out in search of mischief and most often at their own misfortune traveled far and wide, seeking one dangerous encounter after another, and unfortunately, ending in their own demise.

    Read More

  • Classical and Post-Classical Hollywood Cinema

    2472 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.

    Read More

More about Essay On Outland

Open Document