Movie Two Hundred Ninety Four
An immortal is being hunted by another for the ultimate prize and there can be only one, in Highlander.
In present day, an immortal named Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is attacked in a parking garage by another immortal. Upon beheading him, MacLeod is given his powers. In the 16th century, we see clan MacLeod preparing for battle with clan Fraser, led by Kurgan (Clancy Brown), who wants the right to kill Connor. In the present again, a metallurgist named Brenda (Roxanne Hart) is looking into the identity of the immortal killed in the garage through his sword. She finds herself entwined with Connor but Kurgan is still pursuing him for the final battle to win the prize.
Don’t judge me too harshly, but somehow I had avoided watching anything related to Highlander all my life up until this viewing. There’s no good reason for it, I just never really got around to it and now here we are. I think I just kind of assumed I knew everything about the story and there was no good reason for me to watch Highlander. Turns out I knew next to nothing about Highlander and I’m really glad I finally watched it. I’ve heard very mixed things about all the sequels and spin-offs, so I’m not sure if I’ll be diving headfirst into the greater Highlander mythology, but I can finally mark ‘watch Highlander‘ off my things to do list.
I will say that the lack of any nostalgia-factor of Highlander did not detract from my reaction to the film, in fact, the so incredibly 80s appeal of it is still wholly intact. The soundtrack is synthy and awesome, there are montages, and the dialog probably wouldn’t do well if analyzed, so the film works in the same vein that all 80s action do. Highlander is definitely a film that I regret not seeing sooner but at least I finally took the time to see it.
If there is anyone else out there that has never seen Highlander, I have to ask: did you think a sword was important in any way? For some reason I did, like it gave them powers or something. Just curious.
Highlander is the type of film that you put on to turn your brain off from the distractions of real life. It’s not terribly deep, though it does have its moments, and the action is pretty great. I was definitely smiling more than rolling my eyes, a sign that I consider Highlander a success.
I give it 3 why was Sean Connery written to be Spanish when he’s clearly not? out of 5.
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This film rules, the sequels were meh, at least to me.
“Happy Halloween ladies!”
I saw this for the first time a few years ago. I liked it quite a bit, and decided to never check out the sequels. Besides the fact that Highlander II is a frequent topper of any “Worst Sequels” lists, there’s also just the fact that the ending of Highlander pretty much says “no sequels”. It’s just not possible to have a good sequel to it.
That’s kind of how I feel. I’m open to stories about different immortals, though. I think I may check out the TV series at some point, that seems to be fairly well liked.
“Highlander” was probably one of my first Beta rentals–and yes I wrote Beta, as in max, loser to VHS.
I love how the highlander is really a French actor, and the only true Scot in the cast is playing an Egyptian with a Spanish name.
You can pretty much ignore all the sequels since they pretty much ignore the original film, with the second film being the worst. How they got Connery–this is after “Untouchables”–in it is beyond me. As for the syndicated TV show, it actually was decent.
Good reading a review with no nostalgic bias.
Yeah, I’ve heard good things about the TV series, if I was going to check out something else for Highlander, that would be it.
This is one of my all time favorite and most watched movies. Whatever you do, DO NOT watch #2. I’ll send you an email on why not, to not spoil it for your readers.
Yes, don’t watch the sequels!! The TV series is much better than any of the sequels. 🙂
Yes, Sean Connery’s Scottish accented Spanish nobleman…*cough*, despite that, it was a helluva film!! Great film! 🙂
I laughed so hard when he came onscreen, I’ve gotta be honest
I used to watch the series a lot when I was in college, but I don’t think I saw this movie.
You never had the urge to see where it began?
Oh, sure. I’ve watched Connery in Zardoz and Diamonds are forever. I am sure this would have to be bettter. 🙂
hahaha perhaps
Sack the casting agent man. A Frenchman as a Scotsman and a Scotsman as a Spaniard? 😉
Haha I figured you would have something to say about it. Do the accents just kill you when you watch stuff like this?
They do indeed man. The best Scots accent I’ve heard was from Johnny Depp in Finding neverland. He underplayed it very well. Most tend to it all wrong.
I LOVE this film, so, SO much. In fact, I think you’ll be hard pushed to find something that I don’t like about it. I really should post about it at some point. There is loads of really cheesy crap in this film, but it’s just great at the same time – which seems like a contradiction in terms! The sound track is amazing, the accents are bloody terrible, but there are also some really fantastic camera shots. 🙂
One thing I am disappointed about in your synopsis is the brief gloss over the parking lot incident. That is one of the best parts of the movie. I forget the character’s name, I prefer to call him Twinkle-Toes. I just love his ridiculous back flipping. It’s just so OTT but so great. Makes me laugh each time! 🙂
LOL Twinkle-Toes… I was so close to making that my rating instead of Connery
I’ve bored everyone else with this story so it’s your turn now… I went to Scotland, right, and I was doing some research on my family name (not ThereWolf, you’ll be surprised to know) and heritage, all that stuff and the history bloke sez, ‘Aye, you actually belong to the MacLeod clan…’
So basically, I’m very probably immortal. Unless someone chops me head off.
And yeh, I love this film. Speaking of accents, you should have a listen to Ivana Milicevic doing a Scots brogue in the Charlie Sheen movie Postmortem… shocker.
Wow, that’s pretty awesome! You should probably start carrying a sword around, just in case someone comes looking for your head.
I was hoping to find a YouTube video of her in that movie but fell short. Painful accents totally ruin movies for me, though.
This is a terrific film. I do recommend seeing the 2004 version of Highlander II (with updated/corrected special effects, narrative restructured back to its original intention, etc.); it’s worth a look on Blu-ray. For the record, I’ve seen the original theatrical version of Highlander II (on VHS more than 15 years ago), and everyone will agree with me when I say that it is truly awful (it wasn’t the film the director had set out to make). Also check out the making-of documentary which explains what went wrong during the making of Highlander II.
Hm, very interesting…That does make me curious to see it.
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