Highlander - an immortal movie (Highlander (DVD))

Name: pbyron

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Product:	Highlander (DVD)
Date:	29/03/01 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great classic with excellent picture quality

Disadvantages: Not as many extras as it should have had

Highlander is one of those films that caught the audience unawares when it first came out. It had very little in the way of publicity, but the strong story and great 'presence' of the film soon spread the word that this was one movie to go and watch.

The plot is pretty simple, a Scottish warrior of the MacLeod clan in 1536 is fighting another clan and is wounded in battle. He realizes that he is different from everyone else, however, when his near fatal wounds heal up completely and it makes everyone else afraid. He meets a strange man (Connery) who explains that MacLeod is an immortal and cannot die.

It transpires that the immortals have fought each other through time and he has to train to fight to the death (which, for an immortal, means decapitation with a special sword) Refusing this, he hides out. The audience next join him in modern day America, where he tries to live a normal life until a series of bizarre murders where the bodies head’s are chopped off leads him to realize that his enemy has returned to claim him and that there can be only one immortal.

The film is simply stunning, choosing a completely different style for the time, mixing a strong musical score from rockers Queen and an almost MTV style camera effect that makes everything seem different and otherworldly. The performances from all the main characters are fantastic and there is a sense that this is more than a basic story, it’s more like a modern fairytale.

It’s amazing how well this film has stood the test of time and it is just as watchable today as it was when it first appeared. The picture transfer on the DVD is amazing and although the sound quality doesn’t match up to today’s 5.1 soundtracks, the Queen songs really help the film along.

There are a few cringeworthy aspects of the film, like Connery sporting a fairly awful mix of his own Scottish accent and something else altogether and sounding very
odd (he’s supposed to be Spanish-Eqytian) but unforgettable sequences like the end fight and the excellent ‘Who wants to live forever’ track really make this a classic, and despite to the terrible sequels, Highlander really is a kind of magic.

Summary: