Fantastic Finale or Failed Fourth (Highlander - Endgame (DVD))

Member Name: The Solid Grey

Product:	Highlander - Endgame (DVD)
Date:	05/06/02 (1053 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A really good sequel

Disadvantages: Ignores the continuity even more than the first two sequels

The end yet again!, another film great, followed by a number of not so great sequels. For the people in the UK, you may not know about this one because Highlander- Endgame wasn?t released at the cinema's here, a straight to video job, usually this type of occurrence means only one thing: a load of rubbish, so is this worth the XXX words op', we shall see....

~~Highlander~~
The first film came out sometime in 1985, and as far as I know was a great hit, well I certainly loved it. Apart from being fairly original, it had all the classic great ingredients, great action, good plot, sword fighting (there's something about sword fighting, take Star Wars, Zorro etc. for example), a hero, mystery, the classic good verses evil, and a great sound track by Queen of course.

~~The Idea~~
On earth there are a number of people known as the immortals, they exist through time, and only by decapitation can they be killed. Sword fighting through the ages, the immortals fight until only one remains, and that one will win 'The Prize'. The film told the story from one immortal's point of view, a Scottish born immortal known as Connor McCloud - The Highlander.

~~Sucess~~
The film spawned two more sequels Highlander - The Quickening, and Highlander - The Sorcerer. The first sequel took a science fiction and ecological spin, telling that the immortals were banished from another planet centuries ago, and McCloud battling to save the planet in our future. The third film, confusingly happened between the first and second, and threw the continuity the wind (again), by having several immortals, suddenly turning up after being stuck in a cave for centuries.

Also a TV series was made, this centred on another immortal related to Connor (a cousin?), Duncan McCloud. A further TV series spin off, this time from the series itself, continuing a character from the TV series called The Raven. The TV series built up on the ideas
in the film and added to the myth.

~~Highlander - Endgame~~
This is the fourth Highlander film, and really its a film of the TV series. It features both Connor from the film and Duncan from the TV series.

~~Details~~
It stars Christopher Lambert (from the films), and Adrain Paul (from the TV series), also Bruce Payne, Donnie Yen and Peter Wingfield. Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski, it was produced by Peter Davis and Willian Panzer, and written by Joel Soisson (based on a story by Eric Bernt, Gillian Horvath and Willian Panzer). It was made in 2000, its 96 minutes long, rated 18 for UK.

The Video costs £5.29 (not including postage) on Blackstar. The cover is a fairly distinctive picture of Christopher Lambert and Adrain Paul weilding their swords with the hilt of Connors sword in close up between them with Highlander Endgame written on it.

~~Plot~~
Connor McCloud disappeared ten years ago, and an old enemy of his is out to win the prize at any cost. Jacob Kell doesn?t obey the rules, in fact he goes of out the way to break them. Duncan McCloud, vexed at the whereabouts of Connor, finds out that his once wife, Kate, who he made immortal, is in league with Kell.

The watchers don't want the prize to be won, Duncan wants his wife back, Kell wants revenge and Connor just wants out. So who's going to win the Endgame?.

~~My Opinion~~
I rented this first, a while ago now, and I was a little apprehensive. Why?, well first because I'm a fan of the films and second, because I heard that the film was staring characters both from the film and TV series, I wasn?t sure how it would work or how good it would be, and I mean, sharing the lead role of one of my favourite films with someone else, someone I hadn't got to know or like?, would it be what I've come to know and love?.

There were a lot of things in the film I never knew, stuff from the TV series. I never watched the T
V series, didn't really have the time, but yeah, I liked it. There was a lot of things from the first film, Rachel, the girl Connor saved who later became his secretary appears in this film which a nice touch. Also there are some clips of Connor and his wife from before he knew he was immortal, which to be honest, were so well done you couldn't tell if they were from the original film or not. Also featured is the apartment/antique store Connor owned in the first film, again a nice piece of authenticity.

The film is presented like the first and third where clips of the past are intercut with the present going ons. The great thing about this is that it goes back to when Connor didn?t know about the immortals, and he goes back to the village to see his mother, its really well done and blends in well with the original film. All these links back to the first film makes this film really feel like the sequel we've been wanting all this time.

I felt slightly alienated by the links to the TV series, the things I didn?t know about and I felt a little left out, but it didn?t intrude on the film as such, that is, there wasn't anything I didn't understand or at least wasn't explained.

There were some really good additions to the mythology, The Sanctuary, the new enemy, but also some things I didn't like so much, such as the watchers, as I felt it took out some of the secrecy of the immortals.

There is some nice filmography, some good effects, its a nice production, but really it felt like a feature length episode, when I saw the X files movie it didn't seem like a film but a long episode. Highlander Endgame doesn't quite have that blockbuster feel, but its close.

The character of Connor I know better and obviously want to win, but Duncan though, for me doesn't have the hero quality. I don't know the character so well and I wasn't that interested in him winning, for me he just didn?t
quite have that edge that I think a hero needs.

The cover states that its from the producers of the original Highlander film and on the back it says an all new cut featuring 12 minutes of extra footage. Well some of the same people are involved, which is perhaps why the film fits in well with the style of the first film. As for the 12 extra minutes well I've only seen it once before so I couldn?t really tell, but I never noticed anything new.

~~Plotholes~~
Plot wise this film is very much of a mess. For all intense and purpose Highlander Endgame is a film of the TV series, because its the only part of the Highlander franchise it really fits into. The problem with this film is that, like sequels to other films where a sequel wasn't considered is that they have to spend time getting out of the situation they ended with in the previous film. Star Trek: The Search For Spock, for example spent the whole film recovering Spock after killing him in the previous film.

In Highlander Endgame, however they totally ignore this problem - the fact that Connor was the last immortal left alive in the previous film- its not even attempted to be explained why there are so many immortals still alive now.

The simple fact of the matter is that film companies make sequels to make money, film goers want sequels to be continuations of the first only bigger and better, and in most case they aren't quite as good.

It seems that they really wanted to make a film to cash in on the TV series, but as the series is based on the film and if you're going to have a Highlander film then you have to have Connor, and the fact that Duncan possibly hasn't got the power to draw the audience the films need, you end up with the mish mash of continuity you are presented with here.

Also not only does the film need fit in with the other films, but also the TV series and has to give equal time to two heroes, and have a plot. Unf
ortunately it seems that this was too much to do, Duncan ends up fighting an enemy that isn?t really his to fight and so the hatred just isn?t there and so you aren't rooting so much for the enemy to be killed or Duncan to win.

The end of this version of Highlander Endgame isn't, that is, not of the immortals, as there are at the very least, two immortals left alive. So despite the title its isn't the endgame, not for the immortals at any rate.

~~Conclusion~~
So it seems a strange film, as it doesn't fit in with the original or any other sequel, and isn't a film of the series entirely either. The events and action that takes place is good, and there is some really nice touches, but you're left wanting more.

I like my continuity, not that I'm a slave to it, I don't mind a few inconsistencies, but at the end of the film, you left knowing that is doesn't make sense and wanting an explanation, its possible to fit this in with two of the other films (in one way or another, possibly) but not all, and even then it totally disagrees with the end of the first film, so it makes you wonder why try to fit in some continuity in and not all?.

The fact that the film has been cut down from what it could have been, as the region 1 dvd had a rough cut of the film, not only longer but a slightly different story and also has some deleted scenes. Also the trailers contained scenes not in the film. I think different versions were released in different countries, with different endings, so its possible that there was more.

A DVD version will probably come out, but who knows when, I believe this (the video) was due to come out some time ago, but I think due to not being released at the cinema?s here, is the reason why (because no one may buy it). I'd love to have the DVD, if not just for the extra's that are on the region 1 DVD, but the video cost only a fiver, so its not much more than renti
ng, and there may be no extra's if one is released anyway.

In the end, not bad but not great either you have to be a fan to watch it but if you love the films then you may only get half of what you want. A further film is need to really complete the continuity but with the failure of this it seems unlikely.

So watch it if you like the film and you'll mostly like it, but don't try to make sense of it.

The Solid Grey

Summary: