Director: Russell Mulcahy
Screenplay: Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown, Sean Connery
Country: United States/ United Kingdom
Running Time: 111 minutes
Year: 1986
BBFC Certificate: 15
1985 New York City; the Battle to end all Battles. The last remaining Immortals gather together to fight to the death: decapitation alone can kill them, and the victor alone can lay claim to “The Prize”. Amongst the contestants is Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert), who fought his first Battle in 1536 on the highlands of Scotland, swordsman Ramirez (Sean Connery) who mentored MacLeod and taught him the ways of the Immortals, and the evil and brutal barbarian Victor Kurgan (Clancy Brown).
“There can be only one!”
Why? Why are these immortals from the dawn of time forced to murder each other into oblivion? How do they know all the rules? In a story that otherwise shares some DNA with Terminator, it manages to both abandon and embrace an inherent absence of logic, yet the writing and acting are exuberant and Highlander is fantastic fun that withstands many rewatches, despite how ridiculous it is. Sean Connery as usual refuses to adopt any sort of accent and so we have a Scottish Spaniard opposite Christopher Lambert’s Scotsman, who sounds suspiciously French. But they work well together, especially thanks to Russell Mulcahy’s full-blooded direction.
From the opening scene, Mulcahy grabs you with a dynamic style that wrings potential from the daft plot. The rest of the cast are strong too; Roxanne Hart in particular has a touch of Sarah Connor about her character, even if ultimately she remains the archetype damsel in distress. Stalwarts such as Celia Imrie, James Cosmo and Beatie Edney (Purdie in Poldark) as the love of Connor’s life have small roles, but their presence lifts the material again. Highlander punches above it’s weight.
Everything on paper invites criticism, including the preposterous idea of marrying the story with a rock soundtrack. In retrospect, it’s impossible to imagine anyone other than Queen powering that film, a constant presence, for hero or foe, sentiment or violence. Just off their triumphant Live Aid performance, their ability to cover a range of genres was unique; from the soft and sentimental Who Wants to Live Forever to the barnstorming Gimme The Prize (they’re underrated as proponents of Metal, despite the seminal Sheer Heart Attack album). The band provides the narrative engine that maintains a line through the film. Freddie Mercury can even be heard briefly on a rendition of New York, New York.
Gimme The Prize is Kurgan’s theme and he is an incredible villain, even if the concept is a bit weird. He is the only Immortal with the build, temper and will to do the very thing all the Immortals are supposed to do. Which is cut off heads. There should be loads more Kurgans causing proper havoc, but Clancy Brown is having phenomenal fun as the only one trying to be the actual only one. Meanwhile, surely the logical opposite to a tank-like Kurgan is for the Immortals to team up, destroy him and retire to a commune where swords are banned and no-one mentions the Prize? The unspoken secret is, they are all villains with a thirsty decapitation fetish.
It should be dreadful, but Highlander is one of the most memorable films of the 80s simply because of the singular conviction by everyone involved and, a kind of magic. A shame it couldn’t remain as the only one. Embracing a preposterous narrative worked once; trying to give it a backstory would result in Highlander II, a jaw-droppingly poor film, and a franchise that’s never found solid ground. And yet, the affection for the original has endured for 40 years.
VIDEO
One of Highlander’s defining features is that it has always looked terrible. Even the Blu-ray was a muddy, murky affair. Therefore, the UHD transfer is a miracle. While in itself the presentation can be inconsistent, especially in a level of grain occasionally smoothing out, it still looks like a different, fresher film. The opening and subsequent scenes in the underground garage are sharp and full of detail in shadows. All the modern day sequences respond well to a 4K brush up, detail in faces and textures is enhanced beautifully. Effects shots have survived surprisingly well and actual sparks can be appreciated in the sword battles.
The Highland scenes come up less well, but there’s still an injection of colours and textures that are a joy. However, the inserted effect shot of Lambert injured on the battlefield hasn’t been touched since VHS days because they simply can’t, and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
The 4K transfer is hardly demo standard, but an incredible upgrade nonetheless and a must-see.
AUDIO
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. There’s a choice of 2.0 and 5.1, but stick with the former. The surround remix simply takes the power out of the centre. It’s also unavoidably disappointing for Queen fans. Some of us are used to gleefully over-powering Princes of the Universe on stereo and the lack of similar punch in the original soundtrack is apparent. Nevertheless, the soundtrack is clean and clear and still an improvement on earlier releases. It always had an eccentric sonic presentation but that’s part of the film’s character.
EXTRA FEATURES
There’s a nice selection of extras features, both new and old. The audio commentaries remain the body of the material, but there are a couple of excellent new documentaries. The piece on the music, featuring Neil Brand, is excellent. Neil is a regular and knowledgeable contributor to film music discussion, and here he gives a great insight into why Queen were so well placed to do the soundtrack, along with Michael Kamen.
- THE IMMORTAL ATTRACTION OF HIGHLANDER: Looking back at four decades of Highlander magicA KIND OF MAGIC: MUSIC OF THE IMMORTALS: A featurette on the Soundtrack
- CAPTURING IMMORTALITY: Interview with photographer David James
- Audio Commentary with author Jon Melville
- Audio Commentary with Russell Mulcahy
- Audio Commentary with William Panzer and Peter Davis
