Powerful

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I seem to recall a lot of hype surrounding this movie when it came out, enough to spawn a number of sequels and a television series. I was never intrigued enough to see it until the other day and I can't say that it struck me as anything special. The film's back and forth between different historical eras is a little confusing at first until you get into the rhythm of the story, and then it's not too difficult to follow. As the principal character, Christopher Lambert doesn't project a very heroic persona, even less so as a civilian in the present day. I just didn't see any charisma in his portrayal of Highlander Connor MacLeod. In some ways I think he was outdone by his mentor Ramirez (Sean Connery) and the story's principal villain Kurgan (Clancy Brown). Even the romantic involvements with Heather (Beatie Edney) in the past and Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart) in modern New York City seemed bland given the epic pretensions of the story. I don't know, maybe I saw this on a bad day, but given the picture's reputation, I found it nothing to lose your head over.

Connor MacLeod, a Scottish fighter in the 16th century, is killed in the battlefield, only to learn that he's unable to die. Banished from his village, he's taken under the wing of an Egyptian warrior, who's also immortal like him. Immortals can die only when they are decapitated, and are fated to be drawn to fight each other throughout the ages, until only one of them remains and inherits the mysterious "Prize"...Highlander is unique action-adventure film. It has a highly original concept conveyed through a simple story which it uses not just to provide an excuse to show sword battles in late 20th-century New York, but also to explore themes such as the how the passage of time affects people and how problematic eternal life would be. The action scenes are not spectacular for today's standards, but I think they work. The atmosphere, from medieval Scottish plains to dirty and dark New York back alleys, is impeccable. Although the side characters might not be very complex, the protagonist's personality does change throughout the film, making him enjoyable to watch. I also find that Christopher Lambert was a great choice for the lead. The British band Queen ended up writing a few songs for this film which, somehow blending perfectly with the story, are one of the main elements that make Highlander unique.Highlander keeps its mystery as far as the origins of the Immortals are concerned, and it concludes in what was, for me, an unpredictable fashion as we learn what the Prize is. Many attempts at following the story up with sequels have been made, but it's virtually agreed that they all fall short. In the end, as the famous line goes, "there can be only one!"

Although a feast for the eyes with its flamboyant cinematographic technique and high level of innovation and imagination, it's a bit too dazzling to be convincing. The plot in itself is totally absurd: a highlander suffers from immortality, which makes him afraid of living (and loving), while there are other immortals as well who seem to be fighting about being the last immortal alive, since all these immortals are not immortal at all if their heads are cut off, and they all actually (except one) ultimately get their heads cut off, while the one remaining seems to be settling for quite a normal life after all. This is all ridiculous of course, but the cinematographic dashing eloquence blinds you to the lack of any reason in the film.The best scenes are those with Sean Connery, when he trains Christopher Lambert to fight properly. Only here there is great inspiration and even some humour. The worst scenes are all those with the dreadful Kurgan villain, and if you have seen him as a monster in other films you know what to expect. It's advisable to turn the volume down every time he appears, since the noisy rock music makes it even worse.The most impressing fighting scene (among far too many and lengthy ones) is the very first one in the garage. You haven't got used to the exaggerated pyrotechnical effects yet, they will eventually repeat themselves, but in the first beheading scene it's all new to you and must appear awesome indeed.Apart from the yelling noisy rock music, the rest of the music is good, and there are even some poetical highlights as well. All the scenes from Scotland are highly enjoyable, and fortunately it's these that will remain in your mind after the show, while you hopefully will forget all the New York rumbling atrocities in darkness.

Movie Review: "Highlander" (1986)Some amazing sword-fights are visually received here, when leading actor Christopher Lambert, younger than 30 years while principal photography conceived in Summer of 1985, as century-striving character of Connor MacLeod trained with elegance, charms and wits by Sean Connery as show-stealing support Ramirez in great costumes by three-times Acadamy-Award-winning designer James Acheson in favor of director Russell Mulcahy, who does his directorial best in keeping together an originally-received script with suspense, emotional heart-break and state of the art 1980s visual effects works to finish in an epic confrontation between nemesis character Kurgan, performed with no-remorse with terrifying action beats ingnited by actor Clancy Brown and MacLeod, who owns all audience's sympathies-shares, before being released to a full circle picture of cinematic satisfactions, which actually needed no sequels.Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC