StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
gorf
Why is this movie so popular? Is it the soundtrack? The memorable lines? Clancy Brown? Maybe it's because I didn't watch it as a kid (not that the movie is appropriate for children anyway).Because this movie is pretty bad. First of all, it's extremely boring...if you're already tired when you watch it, you're going to struggle. The whole movie feels like a strange dream, so maybe it doesn't matter if you fall asleep. You can just dream the restThe fight scenes are nothing special. Stiff, slow...I've seen better fight scenes in a day care center. And this is from the 80s. There's no excuse, especially when you watch Douglas Fairbanks or Errol Flynn in much older movies.The sex scene is totally unnecessary. Did it add anything at all to the movie? Would Casablanca be better if we saw Bergman and Bogart naked? Producer: "But...if they keep their clothes on, the peasants...uh, moviegoers won't understand that the main characters love each other!"When people talk about Highlander, it seems like they're more interested in "The Kurgan" than Connor McLeod, which is never a good sign. People laugh when old ladies are murdered, or when he says bad words in a Church etc. Maybe it's because the Heylenderr himself is uninteresting. Maybe people are insane. Evil isn't supposed to be fun...There's no real moral in the story either. It's a story about a bunch of idiots who chop each other's heads off for a New Agey price. Anyone can be the winner, no matter how rotten he is. It's almost like the impersonal "force" in Star Wars (even though those movies have redeeming qualities). It doesn't care whether you're good or evil.I'm probably going to get my head cut off for saying this, but Queen is one of the most overrated and overexposed bands in the world (some of their songs are decent). Rock music is bad enough on its own, but when you mix it with a bad fantasy movie, the result is hilarious...and not intentionally, like in Flash Gordon.Not recommended.(According to IMDB's trivia section, Sean Connery recorded the opening lines in a bathroom. How fitting...)
vesil_vesalier
Generally speaking, soundtracks with songs written exclusively for movies that include the content of said movie don't usually work. Actors with thick accents and a serious lack of experience don't usually turn in performances that are actually believable. High-level actors with accolades of amazing performances don't usually lower themselves to do independent, low-budget movies with painted backgrounds and animated special effects.All that being said, every single one of those things happened with HIGHLANDER, and it is fantastic.I'll stick to my original rating of 8, because there's enough goofy material included into this film to bring it down to that number, but it's a HIGH 8, nonetheless. I've never seen any other movie with Christopher Lambert in it, who plays the lead character, Conner McCloud, but I know he's not exactly on the A-list, nor has he ever been. Clancy Brown, who plays the Kurgen, has been in more television shows and impressive films than I can easily count without references, and MAN did he have a ball in this role, playing the heavy. The supporting cast, including Roxanne Hart as the love interest, do very well in supporting the main conflict between Lambert and Brown, and Sean Connery does NOT steal the show from Lambert, although he certainly has the ability to. No, instead, like Johnny Depp in CHOCOLAT, he is there to strengthen the film, not take it over, and he does very well doing just that.The small problems with the film come in its over-the-top elements that we all just kind of accept, because we're left with little choice. The more times you watch films like this, the more you can see the tiny parts not really helping out the overall flow and plot of the movie, and sometimes that can be distracting from the main course of the film, hence the 8 rating I've given it. From painted backgrounds to animation drawn over the main filming, to police procedures and ridiculous side characters, this film has it all chocked full of silly, mixed in with semi-serious, in a way that somehow works, although looking at it from outside the film, there's no good reason why it should. There's a theme here, and it is stronger and more powerful than anything else in the film, and THAT is what makes it all come together.When I heard a few months ago that a remake is in the works, my stomach turned, as it always does when it comes to remakes. Don't get me wrong, I've seen at least a few that were solid films. But none of them have been better than the originals, which always leads me back to the main question: why bother? But I already know the answer. Money. If there's a chance the studios and the corporate fiends that run them can gain more green paper, they'll do it, and damn the consequences. It's amazing to me that those that have more money than I will ever see in my lifetime have nothing better to do with all that amazing potential than to simply spend their lives acquiring more of it, instead of using it to make new and better things.But I digress. HIGHLANDER is a fun, incredibly entertaining movie, that isn't aging too poorly, in spite of all of its silly parts, with an incredible soundtrack and a great cast.When they make the remake, who is going to fill Queen's shoes? And HOW are they going to do that?
comps-784-38265
Whilst rather dated to watch now (having been made in the 80's)what makes this film stand out is how original the story is. This film is quite unique, very different and enthralling, despite having a scotsman play an Egyptian, a french man playing a scotsman. It jumps back and forth in time telling the story of conan mcloud how he discovered he was immortal back in the 16th century and lived until modern times. There are various immortals around the world and they can kill each other by decapitation, which they are all trying to do to each other, until there can be only one. The last survivor will get the 'prize.' A classic film of it's day, well worth a watch if you like the genre.Sadly they went on to make highlander 2 which was a complete fiasco of nonsense.
