Movies - Highlander

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	Movies - Highlander

Highlander is a 1986 fantasy movie directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christopher Lambert, who plays Connor MacLeod, the Highlander. Born in Glenfinnan, in the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, MacLeod is an Immortal. With the first film released in 1986, Highlander has seen four features, an animated series, future anime project, a television series lasting six seasons, an animated flash internet, fourteen original novels, comics, and licensed merchandise.

Highlander : There Can Be Only One

The first film of the series, originally called "Highlander: There Can Be Only One" was released on March 7, 1986. The film features a number of flashback scenes establishing Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod's early history.

The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy and scripted by Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson and Gregory Widen. It remains arguably the best-known film of the Highlander series, and the one better-received by the public. It is noted for its introduction of the themes and concepts further explored by the later movies and TV series.

The original movie had a well-regarded soundtrack by Queen, most notably containing "Princes of the Universe," which is also used in the Highlander television series title sequence. While an album specifically tied to the Highlander movie was never released, the Queen album "A Kind Of Magic" (a phrase spoken twice in the movie by Connor) featured most of the songs from the film, as well as other music on the same theme. Notably, Queen's version of "New York, New York" (playing while the Kurgan drives Brenda through New York) was never released by Queen. All the Queen songs in Highlander were purposely written for the movie, except the song "Hammer To Fall" which had been previously released on their album The Works in 1984. Queen saw an early screening of Highlander, and decided to compose music for the film's entire non-symphonic soundtrack. They wrote many of the songs specifically to match the mood of the scenes when the songs were played.

Highlander II: The Quickening

Highlander II: The Quickening was released on January 31, 1991. The film features a series of events occurring over a period from August, 1994 to 2024.

According to a narration by Connor, twenty-five years of darkness have had caused humanity to lose hope and fall into a decline. The Shield has fallen under the control of "Shield Corporation," and its current head David Blake (John C. McGinley), taxing for its services in pursuit of profit. A number of terrorists have emerged trying to take down the Shield. Among them is Louise Marcus (Virginia Madsen), a former employee of the Corporation. Meanwhile, Connor has since begun aging once again ever since his 1985 victory over the Kurgan -- a result of his winning The Prize. He has physically aged into a frail old man, and expects himself to eventually die of natural causes.

Criticism

Set in the early 21st century, this film veers towards science fiction. It was again directed by Russell Mulcahy, and scripted by Peter Bellwood, with other material by Brian Clemens and William Panzer. Upon release, this film was met with harsh criticism by both critics and audiences. Fans of the original film were less than pleased with the concept of Immortals being aliens from Planet Zeist and with the revival of Ramirez, whose dramatic death scene in the previous film was considered among its highlights. This is often viewed as contradicting the original movie.

Highlander III: The Sorcerer (Highlander: The Final Dimension)

Highlander III: The Sorcerer (Highlander: The Final Dimension) first released on November 25, 1994. Effectively a prequel to Highlander II, as the main events take place in 1994.

The film sees MacLeod defeat a wizard with hypnotic abilities. The third movie largely ignores many of the plot inconsistencies introduced by the second film.

Most of the film was shot in Morocco.

Highlander: Endgame

Highlander: Endgame first released on September 1 2000, this film was an attempt to merge characters from Highlander I and characters and situations from the Highlander television series. The story begins with a flashback to 16th century Scotland, where we are introduced to Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne), once a friend of Connor MacLeod's (Christopher Lambert).

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