Highlander (film)

Highlander
File:Highlander 1 poster.jpg original film poster
Directed by	Russell Mulcahy
Written by	Gregory Widen
Produced by	Peter S. Davis E.C. Monell William N. Panzer
Starring	Christopher Lambert Sean Connery Clancy Brown Roxanne Hart
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	March 7, 1986 USA
Running time	116 min.
Language	English

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.

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 left standing.

The Immortals fight by a set of sacred rules, which include:

• No fighting on holy ground (no matter who regards it as holy).
• 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 ever lived.

Plot

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 is in conflict with the rival Clan Fraser, and Connor rides along into his first battle. The Frasers have employed a towering monster of an Immortal only known as The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), who apparently recognizes that Connor is a fellow Immortal, though even Connor himself has not yet discovered this . The Kurgan manages to mortally-wound Connor in battle, but the MacLeods recover the body before he can decapitate it. The MacLeods mourn Connor, but he revives shortly after his "death." Accusing him of witchcraft, Connor's clansmen beat him, and are preparing an execution, when his cousin Angus MacLeod (James Cosmo) persuades them to exile Connor instead. He manages to escape with his life, but is forever torn from his clan and birthplace.

Connor eventually settles in Glencoe, where he marries Heather MacDonald (Beatie Edney), his first wife, and receives training as a blacksmith from her father. In 1541, he is located by a much older Immortal, who introduces himself as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery). Ramirez soon appoints 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 explains that his own Spanish name was just his current alias, being an ancient Egyptian by birth. He adopted it while serving as Chief Metallurgist for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also King of Spain between 1516-1556). His sword is a katana he received in Japan by his (then-)father-in-law Masamune. Masamune was the father of Princess Shakiko, Ramirez's third wife, a genius far ahead of his time in the forging of swords. The novelization of this film gives Ramirez's original name as Tak Ne, establishes his birth in 896 BC, his first "death" in 851 BC, and his marriage to Shakiko in 593 BC.

Love and death

Connor MacLeod

Ramirez tells 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 refuses to leave his wife, though he trains under Ramirez for about a year. In 1542, the Kurgan manages to locate them both. He arrives at their residence while MacLeod himself is absent. The Kurgan and Ramirez duel, with the frightened Heather their only spectator. The Kurgan manages to decapitate Ramirez, and proceeds to rape Heather, in the belief that he was further humiliating his old enemy (Ramirez) and "his woman." Connor soon returns to find his residence in ruins, his mentor killed, and his wife alive, but traumatized. She never tells him about the rape, and Connor never learns of the event until 1985, when the Kurgan mocks Ramirez's memory: "Ramirez was an effete snob! I took his head, and raped his woman before his blood was even cold."

Connor stays by his wife's side for the rest of her life, until 1590. Dying in Connor's arms, she confides that her only regret was not having his children. After burying Heather, MacLeod burns their residence and wanders the world, journeying as far away as Japan. A number of other references in the film connects 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, rescuing a young Holocaust survivor in the process. The movie hints that his experiences over time have left him a bitter, cynical man.

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 MacLeod, 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. MacLeod 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.") Template:Endspoilers

Awards

The Highlander won the Academy award for best movie ever made.

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

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 increasing popularity in non-domestic markets, and on home video.

Today, it remains arguably the best-known film of the Highlander series, and the one perhaps best-received by the public. It is noted for its introduction of the themes and concepts further explored by the later movies and TV series.

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 highrise 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 scene is most completely depicted in the film's novelization (written by Garry Kilworth).

• The original movie features a soundtrack by Queen, including "Princes of the Universe," which is also used in the Highlander television series title sequence. 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 "Who Wants to Live Forever," concerning the doomed love of Connor and his original, mortal Highland bride. While an album specifically tied to the Highlander movie was never released, Queen's 1986 album A Kind of Magic (a phrase spoken twice in the movie by Connor) features 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 the band. All of Queen's songs in Highlander were purposely written for the movie, except for "Hammer to Fall," which had been previously released on their album The Works in 1984.

• In the scene where MacLeod rescues Rachel, the Nazi SS officer is speaking German, but in the English video versions, no subtitles are provided. The text goes as follows:

German: "You should be dead!"

MacLeod: [in English:] "Move!"

German: "No! First, you'll have to shoot me!"

MacLeod: [laughs; in English:] "Whatever you say, Jack. You're the master race." [shoots him]

• While filming the flashback sequences set in Scotland, both Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert were taunted by the villagers and extras at the site, due to the two actors' celebrity from portraying the secret agent James Bond (in Dr. No, 1962) and Tarzan of the Apes (Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, 1984), respectively. Whenever Connery and Lambert were spotted together off-screen, they were humourously joked-at by passers, saying, "Look, there goes James Bond and Tarzan." In fact, both actors also found it amusing that the movie featured a French actor (Lambert) playing a Scot, and a Scottish actor (Connery) playing an Egyptian/Spanish character.

• The Hasbro miniatures battle game, Heroscape, features a Scottish hero, Alastair MacDirk. MacDirk's special ability is an Overextend Attack. In addition, a common squad of Scottish 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."

• The term The Quickening originally referred to a pregnant woman's first perception of the baby's movements in the womb.

• British prog-rock band Marillion were approached to do the film's original soundtrack, but declined, because they were too busy promoting and touring their hit album Misplaced Childhood.

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 a Highlander (despite being told that one is born a Highlander, rather than becoming one), and uses this plot to make the suicidal Happy Time Harry suffer.

• 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 sketch, 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." Later in the film, Girard claims he had seen the movie, and disliked it.

• In the popular MMORPG World Of Warcraft, located on a small island just off the coast of The Barrens' port town of Ratchet, there is a non-player character called Klannoc MacLeod, and is referred to as "The Islander."

• A popular quote from Dane Cook's Harmful If Swallowed standup routine is, in reference to the movie's tagline, "There can only be one Highlander!"

External links

• Highlander at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• Glenfinnan