High Noon 2004, The 1981 science fiction film "Outland", starring Sean Connery as a federal agent on an interplanetary mining outpost, has been compared to "High Noon" due to similarities in themes and plot. The plot for the 1987 high school comedy film Three O'Clock High was loosely based on "High Noon". A teen desperately attempts to avoid a fight with a menacing bully, set to happen at 3 o'clock. "High Noon" is referenced several times on the HBO drama series "The Sopranos". Tony Soprano cites Gary Cooper's character as the archetype of what a man should be, mentally tough and stoic.
Will Kane gets cold feet, he tells him to go to his family, and then refuses the help of a teenager." Kane was also ranked by the American Film Institute as the fifth greatest movie hero of all time. Nevertheless, although Cooper's performance has received considerable praise as indicated above, Majors and Skerritt's performances have not been so positively received. "The New York Daily News" referred to Lee Majors as "sadly miscast" as Kane in the sequel. "Entertainment Weekly" also contrasted Cooper with Skerritt to Skerritt's disadvantage. Reviewer Ken Tucker reminisces upon "the all-purpose image of Cooper that's taken hold in the