Highlander




There can only be one!

Immortals dueling each other to the death, a Queen soundtrack and plenty of 80's cheese--sounds like a cult classic to me.

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is introduced through various flash backs as having been born into a sixteenth century Scottish village (hence the title). He eventually finds out that he's been born immortal and is soon taken under the tutelage of another immortal, Ramirez (Sean Connery). Between the flash backs we see him in the present residing in New York, no less. An old nemesis of his called the Krugan (Clancy Brown) is in town and intends to kill all the other immortals, including Connor, to win the fabled Prize that awaits the last man standing.

The premise certainly is a neat idea that is mostly followed through on. Some other creative notions also get thrown around, though not always to the best of effect. A bulk of the story is spent hashing out Connor's back-story circa five hundred years ago. This pretty much kills off any kind of mystery he might have had, but it is interwoven with a surprising fluidity and it gives Sean Connery a part anyway. The cinematography is actually quite competent and perhaps a bit flashy, but it usually helps to capture the mood.

With these things going for it only a script like this could so completely undermine everything. At times it is passable enough, but mostly it is unforgivingly cheesy. Scenes that require a little extra of any one emotion are usually handled without much finesse. And other times the effort comes out just plain clumsy. For a lot of people the rock score provided by Queen makes this movie, but with a few exceptions it's little more than an intrusion.

Lambert gives an odd performance (not just with his made up accent) that is hard to identify with. Sean Connery doesn't have a large part, but he perfectly portrays the caring teacher when he is onscreen. It's Clancy Brown as the uncompromisingly evil Krugan who steals the show. He makes for a perfectly rotten villain who is actually daunting with a unique sense of vulgarity.

While there are some good ideas to be had, they're not always properly executed. However, there's more than enough entertainment here, including some great sword fights.



-The Gnome