"THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!"
Highlander is a 1986 fantasy adventure movie starring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, and Clancy Brown(aka Mr. Krabs). It follows the story of Conner MacLeod, of the clan MacLeod, as he discovers what it means to be an immortal with the help of his friend and mentor Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez( we'll just call him Juan from now on). The action heats up as Conner is forced to do battle with another of his kind, the vicious Kurgan. It will take all he's got to survive, but who wants to live forever? Let's dive in!
Christopher Lambert( Conner Macleod)
Christopher Lambert plays Conner Macleod, an unwitting immortal taking his first steps into a larger world. He brings the perfect mix of fear and recklessness that would probably be the way someone would react if you told them they could only die by losing their head. He grows as the story progresses and Christopher Lambert does an excellent job of showing that growth. Though he hasn't really done much since, I chalk that up to the random hand of fate again, much like Brendan Fraser. Christopher Lambert is a good actor but he just hasn't picked the right projects to catapult him to super stardom. The only thing people might know him from other than Highlander would be the so bad it's good Mortal Kombat movie from 1995, where he play Raiden. He will pretty much always be the"guy from Highlander", but as legacies go, that's not too bad.
Sean Connery(Juan-you know the rest)
Sean Connery plays an Egyptian Immortal(born 896 B.C.)( though you could never tell by the way he talks) named Juan( Originally he was named Tak-Ne but he lived in Spain for a while) who claims to know nothing of Haggis, though he mysteriously talks with a thick Scottish accent. All kidding aside he is an interesting character with a rich backstory and many encounters with the Kurgan over his incredibly long life. He teaches Conner the ways of the immortals and how to have a reasonable chance of avoiding being decapitated. Obviously this is just one of many memorable Sean Connery roles but it does share the dubious honor(see Highlander 2, or don't take my word for it it's not worth it) of being the only movie franchise aside from James Bond that Connery appears more than once in. Despite his consistent accent Sean Connery is a great actor and I think Highlander should be a part of his career he is proud of.
Roxanne Hart(Brenda Wyatt)
Roxanne Hart plays the female lead, forensic pathologist Brenda Wyatt, who is investigating the string of decapitations cropping up in modern New York. She slowly learns the truth about Conner and falls in love with him. Though he reciprocates the feeling he tries to keep her at arms length to protect her from the battle that engulfs his life. Roxanne Hart does a good job in this movie, I won't say great but she certainly doesn't detract from the movie. She has had modest success and continues to land small parts on T.V. but hasn't worked in film since 2015 . I can't say I'm really that broken up about it, she's good enough and finds work, but not great. Shes one of those actors I call a neutral presence, they don't add much but they also don't detract, which is a lot more than can be said of a lot of "actors".
Clancy Brown( The Kurgan)
Clancy Brown is The Kurgan(aka Victor Kruger), a powerful immortal( once thought to have been the most powerful) who came from the Kurgan steppe tribe. He will stop at nothing to kill all other immortals( and anyone they love or who happens to get in his way, he's not picky) and claim the ultimate reward "The Prize". The Kurgan is ruthless and an expert killer, and he has some armor straight out of Conan which makes him even more cool. Clancy Brown is a great actor and has played many roles over the years( not everything he is in is good but he usually is) and he doesn't disappoint as the Kurgan. He's had a lot of great roles over the years and I won't waste time listing them here, suffice it to say he brings an air of menace and insanity that make the Kurgan a truly frightening opponent.
Highlander uses a number of lighting effects and your standard Matte-paintings and blue screen effects. Where this movie really shines is in the sets and fight choreography. Highlander was shot primarily in Scotland and London, with a two week shoot in New York City. Director Russell Mulcahy felt that shooting the movie using quick cuts and timing fights and action to the soundtrack would be the most effective and I have to say the results do look very good.
This is Eilean Donan, a small castle in Scotland and a filming location for the movie. You really don't need much in the way of special effects if you have a place this beautiful to shoot in.
It's hard to describe just how well the fight scenes work in this movie, you really just need to watch and see for yourself. The visceral battles undercut by the epic music really bring you to the edge of your seat. The fight choreography was difficult to learn and resulted in a few injuries but the final product really shows it was worth it.
(Shout out to Titanfind if you are still around for the video accompanying the song)
Above is just one example of the excellent music on this soundtrack. One of the greatest bands of all time Queen provides the majority of the soundtrack and they do a fantastic job. "A Kind of Magic", "Princes of the Universe", and "Who wants to Live Forever?" are just a few and they proved to be very popular outside of the film as well. Michael Kamen provides the orchestral score and boy does he do it well. The sweeping music of this movie really does it's job, it brings you closer to the world and punctuates the action and emotion perfectly. I really think the soundtrack is whats helps to elevate Highlander to the status of a great movie and not just another sword and sorcery B movie.
Unsurprisingly, like many great movies, Highlander was a huge flop and panned by critics. The film made just 12.9 million against it's budget of 19 million and was largely written off in the U.S. It was received better in Europe but obviously not by much. However as time wore on and people could own it at home, Highlander became a cult classic and some critics were forced to revisit the movie and give it the credit it deserved. I'm not saying Highlander is the greatest movie of all time or anything, but it definitely didn't deserve to flop so hard or be so maligned. It's campy sure, but that's all part of the fun.
I really enjoy watching Highlander. I've seen it about a dozen times and it never gets old for me. This is another movie that comes together to be more than the sum of it's parts. Without the perfect confluence of events that led Marillion and Fish to drop out of the soundtrack, the great performances by the actors mentioned above, and the risky filimg style of director Russell Mulcahy all coming together I think this movie would have been just another foot-note in Hollywood history. As it stands, it's a rip-roaring fantasy adventure through time, filled with plenty of sword fights and epic rock, what's not to love? If you haven't seen this movie you really should. It's a unique experience and a high point of 80's action.
Thanks for reading! I'll leave you with another great song from the soundtrack.
