Generally speaking, soundtracks with songs written exclusively for movies that include the content of said movie don't usually work. Actors with thick accents and a serious lack of experience don't usually turn in performances that are actually believable. High-level actors with accolades of amazing performances don't usually lower themselves to do independent, low-budget movies with painted backgrounds and animated special effects.All that being said, every single one of those things happened with HIGHLANDER, and it is fantastic.I'll stick to my original rating of 8, because there's enough goofy material included into this film to bring it down to that number, but it's a HIGH 8, nonetheless. I've never seen any other movie with Christopher Lambert in it, who plays the lead character, Conner McCloud, but I know he's not exactly on the A-list, nor has he ever been. Clancy Brown, who plays the Kurgen, has been in more television shows and impressive films than I can easily count without references, and MAN did he have a ball in this role, playing the heavy. The supporting cast, including Roxanne Hart as the love interest, do very well in supporting the main conflict between Lambert and Brown, and Sean Connery does NOT steal the show from Lambert, although he certainly has the ability to. No, instead, like Johnny Depp in CHOCOLAT, he is there to strengthen the film, not take it over, and he does very well doing just that.The small problems with the film come in its over-the-top elements that we all just kind of accept, because we're left with little choice. The more times you watch films like this, the more you can see the tiny parts not really helping out the overall flow and plot of the movie, and sometimes that can be distracting from the main course of the film, hence the 8 rating I've given it. From painted backgrounds to animation drawn over the main filming, to police procedures and ridiculous side characters, this film has it all chocked full of silly, mixed in with semi-serious, in a way that somehow works, although looking at it from outside the film, there's no good reason why it should. There's a theme here, and it is stronger and more powerful than anything else in the film, and THAT is what makes it all come together.When I heard a few months ago that a remake is in the works, my stomach turned, as it always does when it comes to remakes. Don't get me wrong, I've seen at least a few that were solid films. But none of them have been better than the originals, which always leads me back to the main question: why bother? But I already know the answer. Money. If there's a chance the studios and the corporate fiends that run them can gain more green paper, they'll do it, and damn the consequences. It's amazing to me that those that have more money than I will ever see in my lifetime have nothing better to do with all that amazing potential than to simply spend their lives acquiring more of it, instead of using it to make new and better things.But I digress. HIGHLANDER is a fun, incredibly entertaining movie, that isn't aging too poorly, in spite of all of its silly parts, with an incredible soundtrack and a great cast.When they make the remake, who is going to fill Queen's shoes? And HOW are they going to do that?

Movie Review: "Highlander" (1986)Some amazing sword-fights are visually received here, when leading actor Christopher Lambert, younger than 30 years while principal photography conceived in Summer of 1985, as century-striving character of Connor MacLeod trained with elegance, charms and wits by Sean Connery as show-stealing support Ramirez in great costumes by three-times Acadamy-Award-winning designer James Acheson in favor of director Russell Mulcahy, who does his directorial best in keeping together an originally-received script with suspense, emotional heart-break and state of the art 1980s visual effects works to finish in an epic confrontation between nemesis character Kurgan, performed with no-remorse with terrifying action beats ingnited by actor Clancy Brown and MacLeod, who owns all audience's sympathies-shares, before being released to a full circle picture of cinematic satisfactions, which actually needed no sequels.Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC

I was amazed to see how popular the "Highlander" series had become seeing as how it's spawned an animated show, live-action show, books, comics, and video games! Seriously, I think it's gotten the most adaptations since "Star Wars"! While nowhere near as good as that, this is still a good film. I am now able to understand the Gumball episode "The One". I am now able to understand the parody of the fight scene at the beginning in the huge driveway. It helps that the main character's pretty likeable.I like how this movie keeps expanding on itself. It's told in a non linear form, going back to the early days of McCloud's life. Well, anything would seem early given how he's hundreds of years old. Sean Connery is the most recognizable actor in the movie and his character was dealt with very well too. I like the idea of classic ideas being put in a future generation. I just realized how much I like sword fights. ***

HIGHLANDER is an established '80s classic and a fondly remembered action fantasy that has spawned numerous sequels and a television series to date. In my mid teens, I absolutely loved it and would watch it every few months, enjoying the mythology and the action scenes. Now, ten years down the line, I felt it time to revisit my teenage favourite. The bad news is that I found HIGHLANDER the film to be a bit of a disappointment, a film that felt clunky, clichéd and almost wearying at the seams. The biggest disappointment about the movie, though, is how much it has aged.Although the Queen soundtrack is still kind of cool, it has definitely dated the movie, in much the same way that FLASH GORDON will always be dated by its soundtrack. The special effects for this movie, aside from a couple of cool decapitations, are also terrible – the drawn-on swirls at the movie's climax being particularly bad, resembling the doodles a kid might have made during a quiet day at playschool. Although the mythology still isn't half bad, and the flashbacks to Scotland's history, whilst cheap, are still fun, the cast is a further letdown.Christopher Lambert is quite good but he seems unsure of himself, hampered by his poor command of the English language. Clancy Brown, whom I remember loving, is now an ape, and his overacting at the ending is quite unforgivable – Russell Mulcahy definitely should have reined him in during his rampage of destruction towards the film's close. Sean Connery goes for impish and annoying, although he has a certain charisma you can't deny, although his Egyptian character will always remain a mystery. One of the most unintentionally funny things about this film is the casting of actors playing other faces, not very convincingly (so we get an American playing a Russian, a Frenchman playing a Scotsman, and a Scotsman playing an Egyptian).The fight scenes are quite poorly choreographed and one of the film's biggest subtractions – whilst the destructive finale is okay, the rest are frankly dull. That's a shame, considering the talent involved; the very first battle (in an underground car park) features Peter Diamond, one of Britain's greatest stuntmen, so you think it'd flow a little better. Compare this flick with almost any Hong Kong movie from the same period and you'll see what I mean about the quality. The movie's highlight is a touching reflection on immortality as Lambert cradles his dying bride, very well played by Beatie Edney. Other than that, predictability and crudeness reign, and fond memories are crushed in the dust by the clunky, over-the-top direction. I find HIGHLANDER a very difficult film to rate because it is cheesy, it is dated and over the top, but it's also so-bad-it's-good in places and cheesily entertaining in others. You'll have to make your own mind up about it.