Highlander

video, Highlander (1986) film

I first saw this film back in around 1997 at a sleepover with a few other boys. It was probably the first '15' rated film I saw, and several things about it stuck vividly in my mind, and I can understand why, seeing it again about thirteen years later! I remembered seeing a fight in an underground carpark where a guy gets his head sliced clean off (and it is clean - it may be considered violent, but it's not really gory); of scenes in the past such as MacLeod rolling in the grass with a maiden; of Kurgan, though I forgot his name, causing trouble in a church; and of MacLeod battling ghosty things at the end. I just didn't remember the frame of the story, and how he got to all these events. I vaguely remembered Ramirez, but probably more from the cartoon series than the film.

That's another reason I never forgot this film, because it kind of permeated popular culture for a while, and I used to enjoy the animated series (though it was toned down - no slicing heads off bodies, I think he just had to learn something from each of the immortals), and I believe they even did a straight to DVD film a couple of years ago. The concept definitely had legs, being a legendary construct that strongly fuels the imagination. Come on: a group of immortal beings destined to fight through the ages, and remember centuries past, and all so they can come together at the end for The Gathering and fight to the death - how could it not be inspiring? There can be only one!

The Gathering idea was one of the few things that seemed like a letdown to me now. We were promised these immortals would be drawn to the specified place, but only three turn up! I wanted a group of them, each challenging others. Maybe that's what they did in the sequels, I have no idea. Kurgan was a great villain, played superbly by Clancy Brown. A seven-foot monster that has a sense of cruel humour (the terrible ride he takes the policewoman on as he drives towards oncoming vehicles in a dangerous game of chicken, has even more horror when it dawns on you that he won't be killed and can take whatever happens, but she would be dead. His mocking imitation of her screams is both funny and sickening), but even he obeys the strict tradition of not fighting in church, which gives that scene where he meets MacLeod, a great tension.

One thing I noticed however: Connor says he'll be waiting outside, and I took that to mean outside the church, but it's a while later that they fight and it's nowhere near the church. One thing that really stood out to me this time, was that despite being made in the mid-eighties, most of it holds up, because (apart from the inevitably lacking ending with the animated attack - hand-drawn animation in live action was never going to be the answer), it's all Scottish moors, dark city streets or luxurious apartments. The environments, much like 'The Lord of The Rings', are a character in themselves, and the beauty and grandeur of some of those shots is still as effective as ever. It was also directed extremely well, with some amazing camera moves - spinning round and about an environment such as the wrestling stadium or the hillside training he partakes with Ramirez. One shot stood out for me from memory: when we transition from Connor's fishtank up out of the water of a Scottish Loch. Stunning.

The mundane police story enhances the more extraordinary moments, and it struck me that 'The Matrix' must have got a huge level of inspiration from this film, with real life carrying on for most people, yet a life and death struggle happening all around them. I wanted to know why these few were born as immortals, and why MacLeod seemed to be the 'youngest', only being around for a few hundred years. I hoped Ramirez would explain more, but his role was cut surprisingly short. I thought he was there at the end to help MacLeod in a battle in the dark, but it was obviously the duel in the crumbling tower that was what I remembered, and I'm pretty sure I was surprised he died so early back then, too! I wish Connor's wife Heather had been played by an old woman in the scene where she's supposed to be dying of old age, because she looks slightly older than she was before, with a few wrinkles - it seems like she's dying from having grey hair!

The music was fine, although I could have done with a strong orchestral theme, but the Queen music wasn't intrusive for the most part. I'm not surprised that so much came off the back of this film (four sequels, a five-season long TV series, plus the animated one), as it has such possibility and depth. MacLeod has a good line in frowns, and his eyes really look like they've seen ancient times. There were some quite humourous moments for such a dark film (the English country duel where MacLeod keeps getting up after being stabbed through the heart was quite odd, but amusing), and there were so many iconic shots, be they natural beauty or Jedi-like sword-wielding. It may be a little clunky in places, but generally it was a fine mythical adventure, spanning the centuries in epic grand scale.

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