Welcome to The World Of Highlander

Highlander is a film and television franchise that began with a 1986 fantasy movie starring Christopher Lambert, who plays Connor MacLeod, the Highlander. Born in Glenfinnan, in the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, MacLeod is one of a number of Immortals. Over the years, there have been five Highlander movies, two television series, an animated series, an animated movie, an animated flash-movie series, ten original novels, seventeen comic book issues, and various licensed merchandise.

Films

Highlander

The first of what became a series of films, Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was released on March 7, 1986, with the tagline "There Can Be Only One." The film features a number of flashback scenes establishing Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod's early history, and builds up to his final destiny amongst the last of the mysterious Immortals. Through a mentor and fellow Immortal — Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez, played by Sean Connery — he learns of the existence of other Immortals, who occur spontaneously throughout history. An Immortal can die only after being beheaded, and Immortals battle one another in ritual single combat to the death, until the "Gathering," when the few remaining Immortals will fight until only one remains to take "The Prize". The Gathering occurs in modern-day (1985) New York City, when the Highlander, who has fallen in love again despite trying to cut himself off from humanity, narrowly defeats his powerful and evil enemy, The Kurgan, whom he has encountered repeatedly over the previous centuries, and who has slain Ramírez and many others. The movie was originally titled Shadow Clan in the earliest drafts of the film. Upon its release, the film was not a financial success and was panned by critics. However, it gained a strong cult following, was a hit internationally, and is regarded by many as the best movie in the series. The original orchestral score was composed by Michael Kamen, but the soundtrack includes several songs by Queen, like "Princes of the Universe", which was also used in the Highlander television series title sequence. Queen 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 wife Heather. Box office-wise, the movie only took in $2,453,021 in its opening weekend and ended up grossing $5,735,847. However, the movie had more success internationally, taking in $12,885,193.

Highlander II: The Quickening

Highlander II: The Quickening, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was released on November 1, 1991. The film mainly takes place in 2024, with flashbacks to events in 1999, and also a very distant past on the planet Zeist. MacLeod designs an energy shield to protect the Earth after its ozone layer began to disintegrate, but the Shield's heavy red clouds and blocking of natural sunlight have plunged mankind into despair. The Shield has also fallen under the control of the Shield Corporation, which taxes heavily for its services in the pursuit of profit. Meanwhile, MacLeod has physically aged into a frail old man — his mortality part of winning the Prize – and expects that he will eventually die of natural causes. After he kills one of the Immortals from Zeist sent to kill him, he becomes young and Immortal again, much to his dismay. He then joins with Louise Marcus (Virginia Madsen), who had led a group of terrorists who try to dismantle the Shield. This film offers an alternative origin for the Immortals, who are depicted as aliens exiled to Earth from Zeist. In direct contradiction to the original film, Ramírez and MacLeod were friends before their exile from Zeist. In the original, they first met in Scotland in 1541, with no mention of Zeist whatsoever. This was a primary reason the movie immediately met with harsh criticism. Russell Mulcahy was disappointed with the movie as originally released, and later made his own "Renegade Version" director's cut with a proper sequencing of various scenes, and the filmmakers' explanation for why the movie turned out as it originally did. One of Mulcahy's most dynamic alterations was the relabeling of the Zeist footage as a flashback to an ancient, technologically-advanced civilization on Earth, much more in line with the later continuity of the first film and series. In 2004, a Special Edition was released, featuring several distinct alterations, including new computer-generated visual effects throughout the film.

Highlander: The Sourcer

Highlander: The Final Dimension (alternatively titled Highlander III: The Sorcerer) was first released on November 25, 1994. The third movie contradicts both the second film and the television series, acting as a stand-alone sequel to the original movie. MacLeod battles a warrior who missed the original Gathering, because he was buried deep in a Japanese cave that is holy ground, isolating him from the supposedly final contest of the first film. Kane (played by Mario Van Peebles) is a master of the "power of illusion," which allows him to create false imagery to deceive his enemies. Connor, who has lived with his adopted son John for years with the belief that he is the final Immortal, must return to New York and finish the job he started back in 1985. Along the way, he finds a new love, Dr. Alex Johnson (Deborah Unger). The movie was a box office flop. Critics and fans claim that it was little more than a carbon copy of the first film.

Highlander: Endgame

Highlander: Endgame, first released on September 1, 2000, was an attempt to merge characters from both the original film and from the series. The story follows Duncan MacLeod as he confronts Jacob Kell, a renegade Immortal who has assembled a group of fellow warriors, as well as an impressive body-count. Kell, who holds a centuries-old grudge against the elder Connor MacLeod, has slain Connor's dearest loved ones, and he does not follow the traditions of single combat. Connor has spent a decade trying to escape the Game in a hidden Watcher fortress known as the Sanctuary, but he and Duncan are forced to confront this new threat that neither one of them alone can succeed against. As the two MacLeods will not break the single-combat tradition, Connor convinces Duncan to decapitate him, thus gaining the power that he needs to defeat Kell. This directly contradicts Highlander 2: The Quickening, in which Connor McLeod, is seen in the future, as an old man. However, Highlander 2 also features a method whereby one Immortal can resurrect another so it does not necessarily create a paradox. Critical reaction to Highlander: Endgame was negative. It holds a 12% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 52 reviews, higher than Highlander II and Highlander III, both of which hold ratings of 5% or lower, and a score of 21 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 16 reviews. The film was not a financial success, managing to garner only $15m of its $25m budget. The film opened at #3, grossing $5,067,331 in the opening weekend. It went on to gross $12,811,858 domestically and gathers $3,031,750 from foreign markets for a worldwide total of $15,843,608. However, it was a commercial hit when it was released on DVD. This prompted the producers to release the director's cut version of the film, whose reception was far better than the theatrical in that new and edited footage was added, along with better special effects and audio tracks.

Highlander: The Source

Highlander: The Source is the fifth instalment of the Highlander film series, which premiered on the Sci Fi Channel on September 15, 2007.The film follows Duncan MacLeod and a group of fellow Immortals seeking the source of immortality. The film retcons the meaning of the Game and the phrase, "There can be only one." Critical reaction to Highlander: The Source was universally negative. The Sci-Fi Movie Page gave it only one and a half stars out of a possible five.

Live-action Television

Highlander: The Series

In 1992, a television spin-off was developed, entitled Highlander: The Series. It was shown in syndication from October 3, 1992 to May 16, 1998. The series was an offshoot of the 1986 feature film but with one major difference: Immortals still exist post-1985. Adrian Paul starred as Duncan MacLeod, another immortal from the same clan. The series also starred Alexandra Vandernoot, Stan Kirsch, Amanda Wyss, Jim Byrnes, Philip Akin, Michel Modo, Lisa Howard, Elizabeth Gracen and Peter Wingfield. Over its six year run, the series had guest stars including Joan Jett, Vanity, Roger Daltrey, Richard Moll, Traci Elizabeth Lords, Sheena Easton, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Nia Peeples, Rae Dawn Chong, Eric McCormack, Sandra Bernhard and Ron Perlman. The show was co-produced in syndication by international partners including Gaumont, RTL Plus (Germany), Rysher Distribution (United States), Reteitalia Productions (Italy), Amuse Video (Japan) and TF1 (France). The series had high ratings internationally. However, the ratings fell during the show's sixth season, which ended its six year run in 1998.

Highlander: The Raven

The television series had its own spin-off after using its sixth year as a casting call. Highlander: The Raven starred Elizabeth Gracen, reprising her role as the popular character Amanda Darieux. It lasted one season due to low ratings and the change in the marketing of syndicated shows.

The Reunion

In 2008, Reunion, a reunion special was filmed starring Peter Wingfield, Elizabeth Gracen, and Jim Byrnes reprising their roles. The 17 minute special was a low budget project 10 years after the series (or between the fourth and fifth movies). Filming took place at producer Peter Davis's beach home with the actors volunteering in their roles. The plot involved the characters discussing Methos' plans to get married and settle down with a mortal woman and her son.