Highlander (film)
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| Highlander | |
|---|---|
 original film poster |
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| Directed by | Russell Mulcahy |
| Produced by | Peter S. Davis E.C. Monell William N. Panzer |
| Written by | Gregory Widen |
| Starring | Christopher Lambert Sean Connery Clancy Brown Roxanne Hart |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | March 7, 1986 USA |
| Running time | 116 min. |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | Highlander II: The Quickening |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Highlander is the first installment of the Highlander film series, opening on March 7, 1986. The film takes place in 1985; a number of flashback scenes (most of them set in 16th century Scotland) establish the backstory and the characters' relationships to one another.
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[edit] The Immortals
The protagonist is Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. The villain is known as The Kurgan, or in more modern times as Victor Kruger. They and a number of minor characters are Immortals, humans for whom decapitation is the only means of death. They battle for the 'Prize' (the nature of which is roughly described, claiming that the last man standing will be able to influence the world's destiny through the world leaders) in an age-old Game; the Prize goes to the last Immortal standing.
The Immortals fight by a set of sacred rules which include:
- No fighting on holy ground (no matter who regards it as holy).
- Immortal combats are one-on-one, with no outside interference. The victor claims the loser's powers.
- At some point, the few remaining Immortals will be drawn to a "distant land" (i.e. New York City, unknown to Old World denizens in the 16th Century) for the Gathering, where the last surviving Immortal will claim the powers of all the others who have lived.
[edit] Plot
[edit] Scotland
According to the film, Connor MacLeod was born in the year 1518 "in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel". In 1536, his clan was in conflict with the rival Clan Fraser, and Connor rode along into his first battle. The Frasers had employed a towering monster of an Immortal only known as The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), who apparently recognized that Connor was a fellow Immortal, though even Connor had not discovered this yet. The Kurgan managed to mortally wound Connor in battle, but the MacLeods recovered the body before he could decapitate it. The MacLeods mourned Connor, but he revived shortly after his "death." Accusing him of witchcraft, Connor's clansmen beat him, and were preparing an execution when his cousin Angus MacLeod (James Cosmo) persuaded them to exile Connor instead. He managed to escape with his life, but torn from his clan and birthplace.
Connor eventually settled in Glencoe where he married Heather MacDonald (Beatie Edney), his first wife, and received training as a blacksmith from her father. In 1541 he was located by a much older Immortal, who introduced himself as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery). Ramirez soon appointed himself Connor's tutor in the situation of being Immortal, their pursuit of the Prize, and the rules of this age-long "Game." He also explained that his own Spanish name was just his current alias. He adopted it while serving as Chief Metallurgist for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also King of Spain between 1516-1556). He was originally Egyptian, and his sword was a katana he received in Japan by his father-in-law Masamune. Masamune was the father of Princess Shakiko, Ramirez's third wife, a genius ahead of his time in the forging of swords. The novelization of this film gives Ramirez's original name as Tak-Ne, his birth in 896 BC, his first "death" in 851 BC, and his marriage to Shakiko in 593 BC.
[edit] Love and death
Ramirez told MacLeod to leave his wife or face heartbreak, explaining that "I was born 2,437 years ago. In that time I've had three wives. The last was Shakiko, a Japanese Princess...When Shakiko died I was shattered. I would save you that pain. Please, let Heather go."
Connor refused to leave his wife though he trained under Ramirez for about a year. In 1542, the Kurgan managed to locate them both. He arrived at their residence while MacLeod himself was absent. The Kurgan and Ramirez dueled, with the frightened Heather their only spectator. The Kurgan managed to decapitate Ramirez, and proceeded to rape Heather, in the belief that he was further humiliating his old enemy (Ramirez) and "his woman." Connor soon returned to find his residence in ruins, his mentor killed, and his wife alive but traumatized. She never told him about the rape, and Connor never learned until 1985, when Kurgan mocked Ramirez' memory: "Ramirez was an effete snob! I took his head and raped his woman before his blood was even cold."
Connor stayed by his wife's side for the rest of her life, until 1590. Dying in Connor's arms, she confided that her only regret was not having his children. After burying Heather, MacLeod burned their residence and wandered the world, journeying as far away as Japan. A number of other references in the film connected him to historical figures and events, namely an 18th century duel on Boston Common (in which a drunken MacLeod was repeatedly run through by a sword, to no effect, by an insulted husband) and killing a Nazi officer during World War II. The movie hints that his experiences over time left him a bitter, cynical man.
[edit] Modern day
The action then shifts to 1985 New York, where the few surviving Immortals are drawn for "The Gathering," a final series of confrontations to determine the victor of "The Prize." Eventually, the last two surviving are Connor, under the alias of Russell Edwin Nash; and the Kurgan, under the alias of Victor Kruger. Meanwhile, the spike in murders by decapitation has drawn the attention of the police, who suspect Connor as the sole person responsible. Among the investigators of the case is police forensic scientist Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart). Her investigation gets her closer to Connor, and they eventually fall in love with each other. This does not escape the attention of the Kurgan, who abducts her to get Connor to finally stand and fight him, instead of avoiding the final battle. Connor battles the Kurgan, defeats him (with a little help from Brenda), and wins The Prize, which is revealed to be mortality, the ability to sire children and a kind of telepathic/empathic gift wherein he can communicate with and influence the greatest minds or most powerful people on the planet (hence Ramirez's warning to Connor as to what horrors someone like the Kurgan could bring to the world should he win it).
(Some subsequent entries in the franchise have retconned the battle with the Kurgan into a personal victory for Connor, instead of the actual end of "The Game.")
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Christopher Lambert | Connor MacLeod/Russell Nash |
| Roxanne Hart | Brenda Wyatt |
| Clancy Brown | The Kurgan/Victor Kruger |
| Sean Connery | Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez |
| Beatie Edney | Heather MacLeod |
| Alan North | Lieutenant Frank Moran |
| Jon Polito | Detective Walter Bedsoe |
| Sheila Gish | Rachel Ellenstein |
| Hugh Quarshie | Sunda Kastagir |
| Christopher Malcolm | Kirk Matunas |
| Peter Diamond | Iman Fasil |
| Billy Hartman | Dugal MacLeod |
| James Cosmo | Angus MacLeod |
| Celia Imrie | Kate MacLeod |
| Alistair Findlay | Chief Murdoch Fraser |
[edit] Reception
The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy and scripted by Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson and Gregory Widen. Upon initial U.S. release, it was not well-received, but it gained popularity in non-domestic markets and on home video.
Today, 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.
Movie critic Joe Gayeski of the website AndersonVision gave the "Director's Cut" edit of Highlander four stars out of 5, or according to the definition of his ratings, simply "Great".
[edit] Trivia
- The director's cut is nearly identical to the International Cut, and is 8 minutes longer than the U.S. cut. It includes amongst other things a flashback to World War II that further develops the character of Rachel Ellenstein.
- A duel sequence that introduced an Asian immortal named Yung Dol Kim was cut from the film, and the footage for the scene, along with certain other deleted scenes, was later destroyed by fire. A few stills from the sequence, some in color and others in black & white, did survive, and were later used in the collectible card game based on Highlander for cards featuring the Kim character. All that is known about Kim is that he was working as a night security guard in a New York City office building at the time of the Gathering, where he was challenged and ultimately beheaded by the Kurgan. In the continuity of the film, the Kurgan's duel with Kim takes place before his duel with Kastagir.
- The original movie had a well-regarded soundtrack by Queen, including "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, notably Brian May's heart-rending "Who Wants To Live Forever" concerning the doomed love of Connor and his original, mortal Highland bride.
- In the scene where MacLeod rescues Rachel, the SS-Officer is speaking German, but in the English video versions no subtitles are provided. The text goes as follows:
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- German: "You should be dead!"
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- MacLeod: [in English:] "Move!"
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- German: "No! First you'll have to shoot me!"
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- MacLeod: [laughs; in English:] "Whatever you say, Jack. You're the master race." [shoots him]
- During the filming of this movie, Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert got along even better than their on screen counterparts, even going as far as to call each other by their characters' names when not filming. The two were (and continue to be) such good friends that Lambert threatened to back out of the sequel unless Connery's character was added to the film[citation needed].
- The Hasbro miniatures, battle game, Heroscape, features a Scotish hero, Alastair MacDirk. MacDirk's special ability is an Overextend Attack. In addition, a common squad of Scotish warriors, the MacDirk Warriors, are featured in Heroscape. On their unit card is featured two ability descriptions. Highland Fury contains this clause: 'There can be only one Human Champion for all the Macdirk Warriors you control.'
[edit] Cultural impact
- Master Shake from the animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force considers Highlander to be a documentary, and the events that happened were in real-time. He also believes that jumping off a magical cliff will make him immortal.
- Robot Chicken, an animated series airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, made a parody of Highlander, using Hollywood as the setting, and several teen idols such as Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes and Hillary Duff as immortal characters. The initial duel in the skit, set in an office, may be a reference to the "lost" duel between The Kurgan and Yung Dol Kim (see above).
- In the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Will Ferrell's character, Ricky Bobby, compares the intense rivalry with NASCAR driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) with the plot of Highlander. While explaining the movie to Girard, a Frenchman, he states that it won the Academy Award for "Best Movie Ever Made".
[edit] External links
