... Having survived long enough to reach 'The Gathering' in the original 'Highlander', the time when the last immortals alive converge in one place and fight to win 'The Prize', namely to be to last immortal. After defeating his arch-nemesis The Kurgan, MacLeod wins the prizes and gains the ... Read review
Years after battling the Kurgan in Scotland and New York, Conner MacLeod and his suave ... more
mentor, Juan Villa-Lobos Ramirez, are back, tracking time-warps and new adventures in this all action sequel, again directed by Russell Mulcahy.The Kurgan may have v...
In this labyrinthine sequel the Immortal MacLeod saves the people of Earth from immanent ... more
ozone layer-related destruction by building a shield that deflects sunlight. But the people of Earth aren't especially grateful as the constant state of night ha...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Advantages: Sean Connery's Return as Ramirez Disadvantages: Pretty much the rest of the movie.
...in order to kill The Highlander once and for all. Having survived these assassins MacLeod regains his immortality.
Around the same time as Connor regains his immortality, Juan Villa-Lopez Ramirez (Sean Connery) is brought back to life, (though the explanation for this isn't immediately that apparent). I thought his return was actually quite amusing. Ramirez getting used to the modern world is also entertaining, such as him having a ... ...seems much more tongue-in-cheek than the original. Sadly, I think this detracts a little what made the original so gripping.
Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery once again have a good on-screen repore and their exchanges are about the best thing in the movie. They're first meeting is enjoyable to watch and the shift from Mentor/Student of 'Highlander' to a more Father/Son relationship is very well played.
I thought Michael ... more
Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) was born in 1518 in the highlands of Scotland. He is immortal and has lived for over four hundred years. Having survived long enough to reach 'The Gathering' in the original 'Highlander', the time when the last immortals alive converge in one place and fight to win 'The Prize', namely to be to last immortal. After defeating his arch-nemesis The Kurgan, MacLeod wins the prizes and gains the knowledge of all living things.
Made in 1991, 'Highlander II: The Quickening' starts off in 1999, as the Earth is on the brink of destruction because the O-Zone layer is about to collapse. Connor MacLeod and he's colleagues have developed a shield that will surround the Earth, blocking out the Sun's rays and preventing the Earth from total destruction. Once the shield is activate, the movie cuts to twenty-five years in the future where we see and aged Connor MacLeod who has surrendered his power as an immortal. In 'Highlander II' we learn that the immortals originally came from another planet called Ziest and were sent to Earth in order to vie for 'The Prize' as a partial banishment by the world's 'leader', Gen. Katana, (played by Michael Ironside). Learning that MacLeod is still alive and fearful that he might return to Ziest, Katana sends people to Earth in order to kill The Highlander once and for all. Having survived these assassins MacLeod regains his immortality.
Around the same time as Connor regains his immortality, Juan Villa-Lopez Ramirez (Sean Connery) is brought back to life, (though the explanation for this isn't immediately that apparent). I thought his return was actually quite amusing. Ramirez getting used to the modern world is also entertaining, such as him having a suit made to the 'William Tells Overture'. 'Highlander II' seems much more tongue-in-cheek than the original. Sadly, I think this detracts a little what made the original so gripping.
Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery once again have a good on-screen repore and their exchanges are about the best thing in the movie. They're first meeting is enjoyable to watch and the shift from Mentor/Student of 'Highlander' to a more Father/Son relationship is very well played. I thought Michael Ironside plays a reasonable part as the "bad-guy" Katana, but I thought he lacked the sinister quality that Clancy Brown brought to The Kurgan in 'Highlander'.
As an action movie, 'Highlander II' works quite well, with explosions and impressive fight scenes; however, it lacks some of the character-development and engaging story of the original. I think this movie suffers from a poor script and overall plot. The acting, like the first movie, is fairly good, but the actors are let down by the script. Some scenes are better than other and do help develop Connor's character and give more details about his life across his four hundred years on Earth, but overall the plot of this movie is somewhat lacking and doesn't engage the viewer long enough. The fact that in later sequels, 'Highlander II' is completely ignored I think shows the fact that little care was taken in producing a consistent timeline that could be developed. I think the fact that the movie is only about eighty-six minutes long also affects the movie. Arguably, had they made it longer they might have had time for more interplay and story that might have improved the movie. Equally though, making it any longer given the overall poor script might have just made the movie even worse. That's probably one those questions will never know the answer to.
The special effects are reasonable, though I don't think they've stood the test of time quite as well as the original. I wouldn't say the effects look cheap as such, but given they were made six years after the original, I would have expected a slightly more 'credible' set of special effects. I liked the reprise of some of the Queen songs from the original, however I think the other music isn't quite as fitting to the movie.
The DVD itself really seems to be a budget release and is not what I would call stylish at all.
The menu is extremely disappointing. A still picture, (which isn't that good a quality picture if the truth is known) there is only one option, which is to play the movie. The lack of bonus material is also a disappointment as they didn't even try to put any filler material on the disc. A photo gallery, perhaps even a trailer, (which I'm not normally a fan of) would have been better than nothing but, for whatever reason, the producers of this DVD decided to provide nothing.
Once again, I think the rating of 15 might be a little high in today's age, but equally I think a 12 would be inappropriate. As ever, parental discression is advised.
I think I probably enjoyed 'Highlander II' more than most people because I thought certain ideas were fascinating, such as the blood-bond between MacLeod and Ramirez that allows the later to come back to life. That said, I still felt a little let down by this effort.
I would only recommend this DVD to completists, (i.e. people who like to own the whole series of something). I think beyond that, it has little or no appeal and I would advise that if you wanted to watch a sequel to 'Highlander', go for the third movie as, whilst not quite up to the standard of the original, it's a vast improvement on this movie. 'Highlander II: The Quickening' is one to be avoided in this reviewer's opinion.
Advantages: At least there is the Renegade Director's Cut version now available Disadvantages: See main review, too many too mention!
...tag line for the first Highlander film was "There Can Be Only One". Highlander II was botched so badly that there had to be two. Two versions. One, a horrendous mish-mash of unfinshed footage and nonsensical editing, and the other a "Renegade" cut some years after the event by the Director - who had been forced to relinquish control over the original theatrical release by the film's investors. The former almost irreversably damaged the reputation ... ...and is considered by most Highlander fans to be a significant improvement on the studio's butchery.
The worst crime of The Quickening (removed from the title for the Renegade version, which was simply named Highlander 2) was its bizarre wish to disregard all the key themes of its predecessor, abandoing coherence and logic while also, unforgivably, rewriting the main characters' histories. This new development in particular incurred universal wrath ...
EnglishPatient 22.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Highlander 2 - The Quickening (DVD)
Advantages: It's not a bad film now it's been rehacked Disadvantages: but it's not a patch on teh original, and theres no Queen soundtrack!
Highlander 2...pap. Rubbish. A waste of the franchise. A dissapointing sequel. Some of the opinions you may very well have heard from fans of the series abou this, the follow up to the fantasty hack-em-up film that achieved quiet cult success on both sides of the atlantic.
And yo may well have watched it and thought the same. Because, in all honesty, the first release of this second film (confused yet?) was a bit on the rubbish side with hughe chunks ... ...meant certain parts of the film were not in their right places.
To top it all, the plot changed the whole premise of the show form one about immortals who have lived for all time to that of aliens from the planet Zeist. Yes, I know what you're thinking. And I don't know how many of them they took either.
BUT DO NOT DESPAIR! Because it wasn't just the fans of the first film that thought this sequel was crap. The director and producers thought it ...
hipchickvic 27.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Highlander 2 - The Quickening (DVD)
Advantages: Good handling of a mediochre script Disadvantages: Script and constant darkness
Highlander II: The Quickening is the 1991 sequel to the 1986 film Highlander, which pitted immortal Connor MacLeod against an evil immortal at an event known as the Gathering. Director Russell Mulcahy returns for the sequel, as does Christopher Lambert as MacLeod. The film was less successful than the first, with a rather dubious and other-worldly plot and a low level of special effects reducing it to a more cult status than a commercial success.
... ...who was a fan of Highlander is likely to enjoy it, although perhaps not as much as the first film. There are elements of genius, and Lambert's portrayal of an immortal wishing he was mortal is very good, although this doesn;t make for very exciting viewing.
In conclusion, this is a well made film which has some dodgy parts and perhaps wasn't handled with an overall audience in mind. It is definitely targeted as those who enjoyed the first film. ...
pmcds 09.11.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Highlander 2 - The Quickening (DVD)
Advantages: Sean Connery Disadvantages: It's very weak
"Highlander 2". What can I say? Surely with a film like the prequel, this should not fail. Surely. Maybe not.
The "action" starts about thirty years from where the original left us, and we now see Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) as a content old man living his life out. Enter favourite 80's baddie, Michael Ironside - and as soon as Connor gets a taste of the "action" he suddenly becomes immortal again. Strange - it gets worse.
We are told ... ...world, we see the "Spanish" Sean Connery return, who only tries his best, and of course the typical 80's weak heroine, Virgina Madsen, makes an appearance.
A failure of a film, although do try and see the directors cut of the film - it's a touch better, and less ludicrous. "Highlander 2" is very stupid indeed. ...
Kozinski 18.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Highlander 2 - The Quickening (DVD)
"...[Connery] turns in a wry performance..." (Sight and Sound, p.47-8, 01/06/1991)
DVD Description
In this labyrinthine sequel, the Immortal MacLeod saves the people of Earth from immanent ozone layer-related destruction by building a shield that deflects sunlight. But the people of Earth aren't especially grateful, as the constant state of night has made them cranky and prone to criminal sprees. Moreover, bounty hunters from the Immortals' home planet, Zeist, have given chase, and it could mean curtains for us all unless MacLeod and an ecologist can liberate the Earth and banish the assassins. Available in Original, Director's Cut, and Renegade Versions (3 different running times.)
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