Sure, it's cheesy in many respects, but its central mythology still resonates even decades later.
See full article...
See full article...
There can (still) be only one: Highlander is 40
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Highlander: The Series was a worthy successor for the first two to three seasons, then it jumped a big ol' immortal shark and went all campy.
Upvote
117
(117
/
0)
Oh - one small nit-pick: Branda doesn't find Connor's sword, she finds Fasil's - a Toledo Salamanca.
Upvote
134
(134
/
0)
We used "Highlander" as the name of an option in our system that enabled "exclusive" operation. Turn out we had to explain the joke to all the younger people.
Still worth it.
Still worth it.
Upvote
208
(210
/
-2)
Clancy Brown as Kurgan anchors the film and drives a good vs evil subplot with mad humor and wild joy rides.
Candy: Hi. I'm Candy.
Kurgan: Of course you are...
Candy: Hi. I'm Candy.
Kurgan: Of course you are...
Last edited:
Upvote
148
(148
/
0)
infernal666
Ars Praefectus
The fact that Clancy Brown also voices Mr. Krabs puts a smile on my face every time I see him on the show.
Upvote
82
(82
/
0)
Upvote
111
(113
/
-2)
And yet he can invoke terror as Captain Hadley in Shawshank Redemption
Upvote
82
(82
/
0)
Anyone else still regularly get the soundtrack stuck in their head even though they haven't watched the movie or listened to the music in more than decade? Or is it just me?
Upvote
121
(121
/
0)
infernal666
Ars Praefectus
Queen has lived rent free in my head since I was a child, so yes.
Upvote
174
(175
/
-1)
I’m afraid to show it to my kids - they typically laugh at seminal movies from my childhood. This movie got us all into sword fighting and queen so mission accomplishd! Kids these days are spoiled by all the FX and digital cameras and so can’t appreciate the raw cuts, loud music, and disjointed story.
Sadly, I hung up my sword and raincoat many years ago.
Sadly, I hung up my sword and raincoat many years ago.
Upvote
67
(67
/
0)
Lishen, when you hire Sean Connery for your motion picture, you're going to get Sean Fucking Connery, along with a good shmacking.
Upvote
255
(255
/
0)
Just who wants to live forever and give me the prize and of course princes of the universe!
Upvote
36
(36
/
0)
Queen's "A Kind of Magic" is the unofficial soundtrack - I listen to it more often than I watch the movie. Thankfully there were no sequels 
The TV series was .. OK
Upvote
77
(78
/
-1)
I really don't know what you're talking about. I have no memories of other than the Highlander movie itself. And any suggestion that there might have been more is purely the result of people partaking of mind altering substances - especially those people of the production companies.
Upvote
86
(91
/
-5)
Weren't there three? There was the live-action Duncan MacCloud and a sort-of spinoff called The Raven, I think? Or was that the animated one?
Upvote
37
(38
/
-1)
Loved the movie, had a crush on Roxanne Hart, always a huge fan of Clancy Brown, Sean Connery is forever the King, baby, and I'm actually excited for the new film directed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski and starring Henry Cavill. I am setting my expectations now--the new film won't be better; it just has to be fun.
Upvote
59
(60
/
-1)
Four, actually. The third sequel was Endgame, as you mentioned, and then in 2007 or 2008 there was The Source, a truly awful piece of garbage that was so woeful it got dropped from theatrical release and was shunted to being a SyFy original movie.
Upvote
31
(34
/
-3)
Clancy Brown makes everything better. I kind of lump him in with Brad Douriff and Jeffery Combs in that regard -- there's never been a moment where I've seen one of their names in something and didn't immediately say, "Oh, cool!"
Upvote
60
(60
/
0)
I really miss the era of pulp fantasy/sci fi from that era, which always seemed to consist of rich, original, idea-based, completely self-contained stories. The difference between how those films felt in comparison with the franchise-building fodder of today is palpable, and is perhaps most easily detected in how many of the latter are based on the former.
I'm thinking Alien, Blade Runner, The Terminator, Conan the Barbarian, Highlander, The Thing, all these kinds of movies. (I know that most of these gave rise to sequels, just saying that none of them depended on sequels for the story to feel complete.)
I'm thinking Alien, Blade Runner, The Terminator, Conan the Barbarian, Highlander, The Thing, all these kinds of movies. (I know that most of these gave rise to sequels, just saying that none of them depended on sequels for the story to feel complete.)
Upvote
110
(111
/
-1)
IMO, any reboot, simply can't match the casting of the original.
I really think they should just do a different story in the universe instead of rebooting the original.
Upvote
41
(41
/
0)
Considering Queen is my favorite band and Who Wants to Live Forever is one of my favorite songs, I hear it quite more often than I watch the movie. I'm sure the DVD is still in my house somewhere, though I may no longer have any working hardware that can play it!
Upvote
30
(30
/
0)
Albino_Boo
Ars Praefectus
The Raven was a spin off but with a female immortal. By that point it was b list tv, I think it got binned after 1 season.
Upvote
25
(25
/
0)
When all else fails, there's always youtube:
Who Wants to Live Forever
Princes of the Universe
Don't Lose Your Head
Upvote
18
(18
/
0)
Upvote
76
(77
/
-1)
The soundtrack, which is one of the best in a movie, really helps raise this production above and beyond. Add in the cast? Superb.
Upvote
32
(32
/
0)
True, but she also finds pieces of Connor's sword, folded "1000 times" that was like finding a 747 in Ancient Egypt (or words to that effect).
So, not the WHOLE sword, but the existence of A sword that shouldn't have existed.
Upvote
60
(60
/
0)
On a related note is what Amazon is going to do with the Bond franchise. As per the last movie, Bond is definitely dead.
Bond reboots have been done with every different actor who played Bond. But with Bond dead you can’t easily reboot - unless you return to the 1960s, and I’m not sure how well that works out. Which leaves telling a different story. But then that wouldn’t be a Bond movie, and the Bond universe isn’t really very large in the first place. (On a side note to my side note, did the Broccolis deliberately kill Bond off because they knew they were selling the rights?)
However, Star Wars was successful in telling a different story with Rogue One. But they had a compelling story to tell with that movie.
Upvote
6
(15
/
-9)
Wait Amazon owns James Bond now?!
...
Huh... what a crazy thing to sell off, considering that up until Marvel caught up just a few years ago, the Bond franchise was the most prolific one I'm aware of.
Upvote
20
(20
/
0)
I quite enjoyed the TV series. I remember watching the original movie after watching a season or two of the TV series, and both my wife and I thought that the TV series put it to shame. At this point I don't remember how the series ended, or when we stopped watching, but there were some quite good characters, such as Methos.
Didn't Roger Daltrey cameo on one episode? Ah yes, more than one (Thank you, imdb.com).
Didn't Roger Daltrey cameo on one episode? Ah yes, more than one (Thank you, imdb.com).
Upvote
23
(23
/
0)
I did like the additional bit where certain immortals had special powers, and these too could be inherited. But, then there were cases where someone was beheaded by a mortal and all that power just fizzled out with no vessel to receive it. I always wondered what that meant for "the game". I didn't see much of the series, but I was aware of it.
Upvote
21
(21
/
0)
That's pretty far removed from a uniquely casted move like Highlander. There have been seven James Bonds, what is one more reboot, remake, etc...
OTOH, remaking Highlander is like remaking Alien, Terminator, Taxi Driver, Casablanca, Big Lebowski, or Princess Bride. Movies that are heavily defined by the actors that starred in them.
The Highlander universe is a rich one, that opens the story telling to nearly all of recorded history, why invite almost certain unfavorable comparisons to Clancy Brown's Kurgan. Even as weird as Connery playing an Egyptian, he has charisma that will be hard to match. Even oddly accented Christopher Lambert is perfect for the man out time.
This is definitely in the above list of movies I never wanted to see a remake of.
Make a new story in the universe. The canvass is near limitless.
Upvote
51
(51
/
0)
The whole competition setup of Highlander was so implausibly awful, that even good swordfighting couldn't save it for me.
I remember coming out of the theater and wondering, "Who designed that stoopid game?"
It goes into that pile of things that were culturally significant, but didn't resonate with me. Which is right next to the pile of bad things that did resonate, and are now slightly embarrassing.
I remember coming out of the theater and wondering, "Who designed that stoopid game?"
It goes into that pile of things that were culturally significant, but didn't resonate with me. Which is right next to the pile of bad things that did resonate, and are now slightly embarrassing.
Upvote
-13
(12
/
-25)
100% Clancy Brown carries this excellent movie.
Highlander was also a pioneer in ethnicity blind casting: a Frenchman playing a Scot. A Scot playing a Spaniard*. And an American playing a Slav.
Upvote
52
(53
/
-1)
It is fascinating to me how much chance seems to play a role in what resonates. Were you in the mood to enjoy some campy popcorn movie fun? Then Highlander might have resonated. But if you wanted campy fun, and saw <serious oscar winning movie> then you might not love the serious movie.
Upvote
23
(23
/
0)