Highlander was a hit in the eighties and still is a favourite to many people. It has been said to be one of the top films to see even 20 years on. The film was made in 1986 and is still a must see film.
Russell Mulcahy directed the film Highlander as well as the second Highlander film. He was born in 23rd June 1953 in Australia. He has also directed the TV series "Queer as Folk".
He has also directed many music videos over the years for artists such as "Video killed the radio star" for the group The Buggles that was the first music video. Also "Rio" and "Save a Prayer" for the band Duran Duran, "Vienna" for the band Ultravox and "A kind of magic" for the band "Queen" as well as many Elton John videos.
Plot
The main story is that over hundreds of years immortal people are born. There true purpose on earth is to become "the one". When they become "the one" they will get the best prize of all… becoming mortal. This gift can be used to help or even destroy mankind.
The main character, Connor MacLeod is a Scottish highlander born into the MacLeod clan. They battle against rival clans, which happened a lot in this period in the harsh days in Scotland.
Connor soon discovers he is immortal and will come in connect with many other immortals over the next hundreds of years to succeed by getting the best reward ever. The main baddie is The Kurgen who will do anything for this prize in his own vicious way. Connor will need to face The Kurgen or The Kurgen will bring evil to the world.
Over the course of the film we get an insight into Connors past as well as following the story in present time. Also some very funny moments he has encountered over the years as well as his experiences as being an immortal highlander.
We see him in different periods of time and what he has witnessed. We see the relationships he has been involved in and how being immortal has come up against.
However he may be found out by Brenda who works for the police force who is on his back over the death of someone in a car park. She suspects him as well as the police force as the murderer so she decides to look more into his background. But she soon discovers more than what she expected.
The actor was born on the 29th march 1957. He has stared in all of the Highlander movies as well as other movies in France and American such as Tarzan, which he performed brilliantly in.
In the film he plays Connor MacLeod who was a Highlander in 1536 with the MacLeod clan. His mission is to battle against many other immortals, which he needs to destroy to be "the one" and get the prize at the end.
Christopher Lambert plays this character brilliantly. I love his accent, which is very sexy that gives him even more foreignness to his character. He plays the character with passion and intensity.
Clancy Brown = The Kurgen
Clancy Brown was born 5th January 1959 in Ohio. He has done a lot of work in media such as doing the voice for many characters over the years and playing characters such Brother Justin Crowe in Carnivale and in a role in the famous the Shawshank Redemption film.
The Kurgen is the best baddie in all of the Highlander movies. His character has been created excellently. He is a vicious and cruel warrior who he desperately wants to receive the prize and will do anything to get it.
His deep husky voice with his dark, unusual warfare clothing gives him an edge and making him a little scary. We get a look at his weaponry skills in many scenes in the film. He has great one-liners, which I have included at the end of the review.
Roxanne Hart = Brenda J. Wyatt
Roxanne is famous for being nominated for Broadway's 1983 Tony Award as Best Actress in the film Passion.
I guess she becomes Connors girlfriend after perusing him over the death of an immortal warrior. She falls for him when she finds out the true nature of his mission. I guess she falls for the handsome looks, witty personality and his passion for success. She plays Brenda at a high standard and she is good damsel in distress.
Sir Sean Connery = Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
Sean was born on the 25th August in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is well known for roles such as James Bond in films such as Dr No and in the film The Untouchables. Also seen in the list of top sexiest men ever (but not my type) and list of top greatest actor of all time.
His character is fun and very different from Connors character. He is much more witty and a little flamboyant in the way he dresses and the way he speaks. We see him train up Connor and passing on all of him fighting skills, transforming him from an aggressive warrior to a skilled fighter that wont stop at anything to achieve his goal.
His role is not very big but he plays it brilliantly with his memorable personality.
Ramirez knows he can't defeat The Kurgen so the only way to destroy him is to train up Connor. Now he can pass on all of his skills and tactics creating a more powerful version of himself. We see Ramirez succeed in this, as Connor becomes a skilled fighter.
Other Characters and actors…
Beatie Edney = Heather Macleod Celina Imrie = Kate Macleod Billy Hartman = Dugal MacLeod James Cosmo = Angus MacLeod Alistair Findlay = Chief Murdoch Alan North = Lieutenant Frank Moran Jon Polito = Detective Walter Bedsoe
Extras
The DVD also contains… o Trailers o Posters o Photo album o Chapter search o Filmography It lasts for around 116mins
Audio is in English, Italian or Spanish The film is rated at 15. I do agree with this rating at 15 as it contains a sex scene, violence and some swearing. However I watched the film ages ago and I was younger than 15 and I did not find it that bad but many parents may disagree with this.
Packaging
The front cover is simple, in similar colours and keeps with the theme. It has a basic picture of Connor MacLeod above a picture of Ramirez with the name of the film in between the two pictures. I believe it can be improved a lot. I think it needs to be more eye catching, brighter colours and a bold title as people browsing for a film to buy can easily miss the DVD.
But it's a good film and does not really matter because as soon as you see the title most people know exactly what it is. I find the back of the DVD gets even worse as the blob at the back is terrible.
The writing needs to sound more appealing to someone who has no idea what the film Highlander is about. Also to show the excitement you get from watching it as well as the great story line.
The packaging in this DVD is totally different from the ones released in the 1980's and early 1990's. Personally I think they were much better and had images of Connor getting his grand prize or when he is in his Highlander costume. This image is a little bit of a let down but I am sure not everyone judges the cover over the film.
Why buy it?
The scenes in Highlander are amazing. The way that Russell has used the camera to link scenes are very clever way of connecting scenes together. An example is when he uses the fish tank to link to the next scene featured in a lake in the hills of Scotland. This type of technique is seen throughout the film.
Russell has used scenes to give off different vibes to fit in with what is happening in the scene. Many scenes give the sense of intensity by using run down areas or dark and gloomy car parks. The feeling makes the scenes more mysterious and with the connection to the characters such as The Kurgen.
The scenes, which are featured in Scotland, have been produced at such a high quality giving the audience a real feeling into how it was back in the 1500's in Scotland. The battle scenes are outstanding and fit in perfectly with that period. Everything seen is genuine and looks excellent.
However this film was made 20 years ago so the special effects are not to today's standard. But for that time it was seen as a new and brilliantly done. But don't put you off as its still a film worth trying and also to be tried by the new generation.
During the film we hear music from the brilliant band, Queen. The music was from their album A Kind Of Magic, containing songs such as Princes Of The Universe, New York, New York and Who Wants To Live Forever (my favourite song in the film).
Queen contributed to the film by doing all of its music for the background of the film. They do this successfully by adding music to heighten the mood of the scenes. Queen are a brilliant band and will always be known for their amazing songs, brilliant number ones and exceptional albums over so many years.
With Freddie Mercury's outstanding singing and the music from the rest of the band members, it really finishes off the film so well. I am sure it would totally not be the same without Queen contribution to the film
The acting in this film is exceptional by all of the actors and actresses that participated to the Highlander film. I think Clancy brown was a fantastic baddie in Highlander with his husky voice and scary features.
I think Christopher Lambert was also great and he really shows off his acting skills. This was seen by all of the actors in the film
The fight scenes are full of street fighting mixed with oriental sword fighting. Even though they were down 20 years ago I still think they are impressive, also for being that good for that time.
There is a mixture of how each character fights as well. We see fiercer and forcefully fighting type from The Kurgen but it contrasts against Connors more skilful and tolerant behaviour.
We see skills with Connor's fighting as well as some from Ramirez. This is seen when he teaches Connor the skills needed for a Highlander and to survive against so many different immortal with all sort of fighting styles.
The way that Russell has changed how we see the fight scenes are good, using the camera to heighten the mood and to make it fast paced to fit in with the speediness of the fight scene.
The costumes in the film are remarkable. They fit in perfectly with the period they are portraying to the audience. Costumes are seen from 1500's as well as battle costumes at this time, 1700's, World War 2 clothing and modern day (1980's). From this there is a wide variety, which has been covered perfectly.
The costumes must have taken so long to create and to get it to that type of quality but it has shown to be worth it. I am sure that it must of cost a fortune.
My favourite outfit has to be The Kurgen's battle costume with the amazing sword that finishes off his dark and brutal character. His headwear has been carefully crafted resulting in brilliantly made headpiece and with his feathers and black leather outfit it has really been perfectly designed.
This fits his character and is totally different from what we see from Connors character.
The things that has been incorporated into the film to fit in with period has been done so well. Trying to get in so many periods into one film must be hard but it has made the film into one of the greatest films made because of this. Going form one extreme to another is not easy but Russell and his crew have made it look like nothing.
The storyline of the film has been wonderfully put together. The film is based on good vs. evil but also accompanied with elements of love, hate, vengeance and tragedy.
The script has been well thought out and brought a new sort of line of film which followed after the film was released.
We feel a lot of sympathy towards Connors for the situation he is in. Even though many people would love to be immortal, there are so many factors that make it the worst experience to go through. Such as seeing love ones die and always needing to cover up the fact you are immortal, this is all seen in the film.
The story will be entertaining to all sorts of people. People, who love a good love story, people who love action and fight scenes or others who like science fiction type films. But whatever type of person you are I am sure you will be entertained.
The opening scene is just one example of what a great film this is. The opening starts with a wrestling match and the camera draws into Connor in the crowd.
One thing is it's a different way to start a film and also we get a feeling that Connor senses something. All we the audience wants to know is what is he going to happen next. In the next 10 minutes we see this and a fight scene with strange electrical current going through him.
Why is this happening? How has this happened? What is going on is just a few questions are going through your head. All through the film we get these questions answered.
I really don't think there are many really big bad points about this film. Like I mentioned before about the special effects are all that could be picked at about the film.
A scene such as the ending is a bit of a disappointment when the strings are seen, but does make people laugh so that's a positive.
Overall I think this a film that is a brilliant film and is worth trying. The creation of Connor MacLeod and the other characters has been loved by loads of people over the years. The storyline is different and is full of action. I would definitely recommend it to all sorts of people with different tastes in films.
To finish off my review of the Highlander review here are some famous quotes from the film and also my favourites. This just shows what a good film it is.
"I am Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. I was born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. And I am immortal"
"There can be only one!" = Connor MacLeod
"Hey, it's a kind of magic!" = Connor MacLeod
"It's better burn out, than to fade away!" = Kurgen
I've been alive for four and a half centuries, and I cannot die. = Connor Well, everyone has got their problems = Brenda
Highlander [1985]
This 1986 fantasy/action thriller has since spawned two sequels, a TV series, numerous
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comic-book spin-offs, and a loyal (if somewhat oddly obsessive) following of fans. Directed by music-video veteran Russell Mulcahy (which explains the dizzying camer...
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very helpful![Highlander [1985]](http://picnic.ciao.com/uk/63463317.jpg)
