Thursday, June 21, 2007

Highlander...too high

Highlander - Russell Mulcahy - 1986 - 7/10

Summary:

Christopher Lambert is the Highlander, an immortal who has lived for more than four centuries. The Highlander, who now calls himself Nash is in for a rough ride as The Gathering, the time when there remains only a few immortals, draws near. At the time of The Gathering, all of the immortals will feel the pressence of their kinsmen and gather to fight to the death for the fabled "Prize." Lambert has a hard time though as he is wanted for the murder of an immortal who tried to kill him. Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart) is close on his trail, trying to unravel the mystery of this weird longswordsman. Spliced throughout are flashbacks to Lambert's training, in the mid 1500's when he first became aware of his immortality, by Juan Ramirez (Sean Connery, playing an Egyptian Spaniard next to Lambert's Scotsman). Frothing over The Gathering is the evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown), Lambert's nemesis through the ages. There can be only one.

Critique:

I first wanted to see Highlander after I saw the Bunny Video that hammered home the line "there can be only one." The movie is pretty good, mostly because I think the entire idea of the Highlander, of the immortals is so great. Just the idea of living forever - all that you see, all that you lose, all that you can't have despite having eternal life, is all so intriguing to me. It also helps that half the movie is flashbacks to the fifteen hundreds which helps you see past the cheesy eightiness of the movie. The beginning of the movie was almost hysterical as two men in suits pull long swords out of their suits and begin dueling. The duel was expected, but the swords seemed to come out of nowhere. After that though, its very easy to get caught up in the movie, because, as I said before, the story is so compelling. Lambert is good and bad. Good in the sense that his attitude and look fits very well, especially in the ancient scenes. He is bad in the sense that he seems to be overracting. Sure, that might be his lines or the story, but its too much some times. Clancy Brown on the other hand is able to walk the fine line between great villain and overacting joke, and does so quite well. Connery, as usual, is great here, despite playing a character you could never actually picture him as. An Egyptian Spaniard? Ha! What suprises me so much though is that Connery and Lambert came back for a pathetic sequel that has to do with the ozone! How does that make any sense (the plot)? What is even more embarassing is that Lambert lets himself get roped into two more movies, playing the Highlander for four movies.

Verdict:

It's worth it.

If you liked this movie, see...
...Judge Dredd
...Demolition Man
...Time Bandits

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