“From the dawn of time we came…moving silently down through
the centuries. Living many secret lives, struggling to reach the time of the Gathering,
when the few who remain will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were
among you…..until now.”
This monologue from Sean Connery started off a franchise that was popular in its time: Highlander. Whether it was a good franchise is a matter of
debate, though. A few months ago, I started to wonder if there was a podcast
about the Highlander series out there. By the way, thank From Crisis To Crisis:
A Superman Podcast for that. Every April Fool’s Day, they do a parody review of
something else instead of a Superman comic book. This year, it was an episode
from the Highlander TV show. It took some searching, but I found one by the
name of Highlander Re-Watched. Since then, I’ve been catching up on all of
their episodes about the series and movies.
For those who probably don’t know, Highlander was a 1986
movie about Connor MacLeod, a 16th century Scotsman born in the Highlands.
He belongs to a race of Immortals who battle each other throughout time. When
the battle is over, the loser gets beheaded and the winner gains their strength
and essence through the Quickening. When the last Immortal on Earth is left, he
or she will earn “The Prize,” something that is kind of vague.
The movie was pretty much a standalone, done-in-one thing
since Connor wins the prize. Then, four
movie sequels, two live-action TV shows, an animated TV show, an anime, a few comic series, and a few (some cancelled)
video games came. Since I’ve been a sword-faring mood (Renaissance Festival and
Witcher 3 play), I thought I’d finally share my thoughts on the franchise as a
whole.
My Intro and the Movies
I don’t remember when I first heard about Highlander. It
could have been on TV or it could have been that pretty cool cover to
Highlander 2: The Quickening I’d see at the video store. If only I knew what other fans thought of that
movie at the time. Let’s just say it’s not one of the good ones. In fact, you
could argue that outside the TV series and the first movie, it was never that
good. I think we once rented a video that had the pilot to the Highlander TV series
and another episode one time, but I don’t think finished it. I guess I was too
young for it since I was probably 8 or 9 at the time.
Let's see... we have a Scottish man playing a Spaniard/Egyptian and a Frenchman playing a Scottish man. I bet that katana was made in Australia.
I don’t know when I first saw the 1986 movie. I think it was
on TBS but I don’t remember. I can tell you that I actually saw the whole movie a
couple of years ago. I liked it for the
most part. I can’t throw it onto my list of favorite movies, but it was a good
one. It got the ball rolling with the concept of Immortals fighting for some
big prize. Also, it had sword-fighting in it. Finally, it had Queen doing the
main theme. You can’t beat that.
As for the other Connor movies, that’s when it gets really
shaky. I know I saw Highlander 2: The Quickening (1991) on TV years ago. I even
rented the Renegade (uncut) version of Highlander 2 back in college. I didn’t finish
it, though. I thought the movie was alright but this was before I found out
about its infamous legacy. To make a long story short, it pretty much screwed
up the mythology that was set up in the first movie. It also just wasn’t a good
movie. I haven’t seen it since then. I’ve seen little of Highlander 3: The Sorcerer
(1994) outside of a few snippets online. From what I’ve seen, it’s more or less
a rehash of the first movie. Since its reputation is pretty low, I can’t say
that was a good thing or not.
This poster is as good as it gets with this movie.
Then, there are the movies that tied into the TV show: Highlander:
Endgame (2000) and… Highlander: The Source (2007). I’ve seen some of Endgame on
TV and I thought it was okay. It teamed up Connor MacLeod and Duncan MacLeod,
Connor’s cousin from the TV show, again. It even featured Donnie Yen in it, so
it can’t be that bad, right? Then, there’s The Source and I’ve heard it’s
really bad. I remember catching the ending of it one night on the Sci-Fi
Channel and I’ve seen snippets of it online. I even remember Spoony’s review
and it didn’t paint a pretty picture. Even the folk behind the movie don’t like
it, so you know it’s bad.
Ya know, there's some part of me that wants to see this piece of crap. Then again, I think I've found a nice birthday present for my sis...
Lastly, there’s an anime that’s called Highlander: The
Search For Vengeance (2007). I’ve never seen it but from what I can tell, it’s
loosely based in the Highlander universe. It follows another Immortal from the
Clan MacLeod as he sets on a path of vengeance. I don’t know if the other
MacLeods made it in this one or not. I have heard that it’s actually pretty
decent, though. I will give a watch one day. As for the other I’ve seen little
of, I’m not sure. Endgame and the third movie could be okay. As for The Source,
I might need help for that one.
TV Series and Animation
The thing I know most about the franchise is the TV show from
the 90’s. That intro is probably what
hooked me in. It had swords, some cool dude fighting, and Queen. You can never
go wrong with Queen. I know I watched a couple of episodes on The USA Network.
Later on, I watched some more episodes on Spike TV when they played it. This was
one of the first shows I watched on Netflix when I first got it. Unfortunately,
I didn’t finish watching the show on there since it was taken off. Plus, some
of those episodes got a little buggy at that time.
While I haven’t seen every episode, I can say it’s a fun
show. It follows the times and adventures of Duncan MacLeod, Connor’s younger
cousin. By the way, the show pretty much ignores what happened at the end of
the first movie. Connor just beat the Kurgan and didn’t get the Prize. Continuity
in the Highlander universe is weird. Anyway, we see Duncan throughout the ages
battle other Immortals, kiss many women, and be an all-around cool dude. The show lasted for six seasons (1992-1998), so it was had
a nice run on TV. Its first season is pretty shaky but it gets better after
that.
The show had some pretty cool fight scenes as well.
It was able to explore how this world with Immortals worked.
It definitely expands on the first movie in a nice way. It introduced concepts
like The Watchers and other variations of the Quickening. There were some nice
villains that were on par with and even better than the Kurgan. We also got some nice supporting characters
like Amanda, Joe Dawson, Methos, Charlie, and Richie Ryan. Amanda even spun off into her
own show called Highlander: The Raven. It only lasted for a season, though. I
haven’t seen that one but I’ve read that it wasn’t that good.
Finally, there’s an animated series out there. It was airing
around the same time the TV show was airing but it was kind of loose with its
continuity. Highlander: The Animated Series took place in a post-apocalyptic
future and featured another MacLeod. Seriously, what’s up with this clan having
so many Immortals? Is it the water? Anyway, it only lasted a couple of seasons.
Other than a few snippets online, I never watched it. I’ve heard it’s not that bad,
so maybe I’ll watch it.
Could it be good? I don't know but that dude in the middle is making me worried...
Comics, Video Games, and Other Stuff
Finally, there’s the stuff outside the TV and movie
spectrum. When it comes to these things, I know little, so I’m just going to
touch on what I’m interested in. I have heard that there are some novels that
tied into the TV show out there. I might check them out if I come across them.
I know that there are a couple of video games out there.
They’re for pretty defunct console systems, though. One of them was actually
for the animated series. It was released on the Atari Jaguar. There have also
been some cancelled Highlander games. I think one was supposed to be an MMORPG.
The one I vividly remember is from the late 2000’s. It was published by Edios Interactive
and supposed to be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It was also supposed to
feature an older MacLeod and it was even supposed to feature characters from
the franchise. They even released a trailer for the thing. I still don’t know
why it ultimately got cancelled.
Noooooooo! It looked so good! Argh, ugh, and bleh!
Finally, we get to the comic books. There are a few series
out there but not many as one would think. Dynamite published a series and a
couple of mini-series in the 2000’s. I actually have all of the main series
since it really only lasted 13 issues. It tied into the TV show and featured
both Connor and Duncan. As for why it only lasted that long, you tell me. Since
I have that series in trade, I’ll talk about it here one day. Currently, IDW is releasing a mini-series
called Highlander: the American Dream. I’m not buying it but I have heard that
it’s not bad.
………………………………………
In the end, there was definitely more than one thing to come
from this franchise. Whether it was all good is definitely a matter of debate.
I just went through the stuff I know about. I don’t know if I’ll ever cover the
TV series or movies in depth here. I will talk about the short 13-issue series
from Dynamite one day. It’ll have to wait since September is saved for
something else. If you’ve never watched any of this stuff, then I recommend
seeing the first movie. If you like that, chances are you’ll like the TV
series. As for the other movies, enter at your own risk. I really can’t comment
on the anime but I’ve heard it’s well-regarded. Well, I’m off to catch up with
the Man of Steel. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and watch your head!
No comments:
Post a Comment