Highlander (1 & 2)
HIGHLANDER (15)
D: Russell Mulcany
EMI (Peter S. Davis & William N. Panzer)
UK/US 1986
111 mins
Adventure/Fantasy
W: Gregory Widden, Peter Bellwood & Larry
Ferguson
DP: Gerry Fisher
Ed: Peter Honess
Mus: Michael Kamen; Queen
PD: Allan Cameron
Cos: James Acheson
Christopher Lambert (Connor MacLeod), Sean Connery (Juan
Sanchez Villa-Lobos Rodriguez), Roxanne Hart (Brenda Wyatt), Clancy Brown (The Kurgan)
Narratively, the film is a bit of a mess (as are the
different accents), nevertheless this cult favourite is highly entertaining and has amassed a huge following over the years.
Frenchman Christopher Lambert plays Scottish Highlander
Connor MacLeod, suspected of being involved in witchcraft and thrown out of his tribe after he returns from a battle alive after suffering wounds which would have certainly killed the average
man. He is visited and mentored by a Spanish swordsman (played by Scotsman Connery), who tells him that he is one of a group of immortal warriors, who must battle to the death until only one
remains (The only way they can die is by beheading).
The narrative doesn't do itself any favours by bouncing
between the Middle Ages and modern day New York, with an occasional scene from other significant historical events thrown in every now and then, before a showdown with the last immortal in a
derelict factory.
The visual effects have dated rather badly and the
performances aren't very spectacular either, but the sword fights & action scenes are quite well executed while the soundtrack of songs written and performed by the rock band Queen is as
immortal as the characters within the film.
Far from perfect, but reasonably good
entertainment.
7/10
HIGHLANDER II: THE
QUICKENING (15)
D: Russell Mulcany
Lamb Bear (Peter S. Davis & William N.
Panzer)
US 1991
100 mins
Adventure/Fantasy
W: Peter Bellwood
DP: Phil Meheux
Ed: Hubert C. de la Bouillerie
Mus: Stewart Copeland
PD: Roger Hall
Christopher Lambert (Connor MacLeod), Sean Connery
(Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez), Virginia Madsen (Louise Marcus), Michael Ironside (General Katana), Allan Rich (Allan Neyman), John C. McGinley (David Blake)
The narrative in this inconsequential sequel is even
more incoherent than the original film, starting with a expositional prologue which explains that MacLeod and all the other immortals are alien beings exiled onto Earth to battle one
another to the death as a form of punishment. Connery's character Ramirez miraculously makes a return (one of the worst examples of deus ex machina in cinema history) and joins forces
again with Lambert's Connor MacLeod, as they battle to save the planet from a dictatorial leader from their home planet, as well as saving Earth from ecological disaster with some dogshit
about the Ozone layer shoehorned in for no particular reason (other than that it was topical in 1991).
The story is a complete mess whether or not it's
viewed as a sequel to the original film (which it isn't) or completely standalone on its own merits (or lack of). The Queen-performed soundtrack which gave the original film a
bigger fanbase of appeal is complete gone making this quite easily one of the worst sequels ever produced.
Various versions have filtered onto DVD and Bluray
releases, cutting out all references to an alien planet, but this somehow makes even less sense to the plot. More slipshod sequels followed, not quite as bad as this, but they weren't
very good either.
1/10
