Highlander (series)
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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 flash-movie, fourteen original novels, various comic books, and licensed merchandise.
"From the dawn of time we came, moving silently down through the centuries. Living many secret lives, struggling to reach the time of the Gathering, when the few who remain will battle to the last. No one has ever known we were among you.....until now."
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[edit] 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 only die by being beheaded, and each Immortal must battle another in ritual single combat to the death, until the "Gathering," when the last Immortals left will fight until only one remains to take "The Prize." The Gathering occurs in modern-day New York City, and sees the Highlander, who has fallen in love again despite trying to cut himself off from humanity in general, narrowly defeat his powerful and evil enemy, The Kurgan, whom he has encountered time and again over the many years, and who has slain Ramirez and many others.
The film remains arguably the best-known piece of the Highlander mythos, and the one best-received by the public. It introduced many themes and concepts that were further explored by the later movies and TV series.
[edit] 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. He suddenly rejuvenates and becomes Immortal again upon the sudden arrival of new Immortals, who were sent to kill him by an old enemy on Zeist. He then joins with Louise Marcus (Virginia Madsen), who had led a group of terrorists who try to take down the Shield.
This film offers an alternative origin for the Immortals, who are depicted as aliens exiled to Earth from Zeist. In direct contradiction with the original film, Ramirez 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 from critics and audiences alike. Fans of the original were not pleased with Immortals' coming from another planet, and with the return of Ramirez, whose dramatic death scene in the original was considered among its highlights.
Russell Mulcahy was disappointed with the movie as originally released, so much that it's said he walked out of the premiere after only 15 minutes. He 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. Filming had ended late and over-budget, and much of it was done in Argentina, which at the time was experiencing hyperinflation. The insurance company decided to take "creative control" from Mulcahy so that the resulting movie would see maximized revenue. 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 the later TV series. In 2004, a Special Edition was released, featuring several distinct alterations, including new computer-generated visual effects throughout the film.
[edit] Highlander III: The Sorcerer (Highlander: The Final Dimension)
Highlander III: The Sorcerer (alternatively titled Highlander: the Final Dimension) was first released on November 25, 1994. MacLeod battles a warrior who missed the original Gathering because he was buried in deep a Japanese cave. 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 third movie effectively contradicts both the second film and the television series, acting as a stand-alone sequel. Whether or not the film retcons the ending of Highlander is debatable, since Kane tells Connor that he never had the Prize.
[edit] Highlander: Endgame
Highlander: Endgame, first released on September 1, 2000, was an attempt to merge characters from both the original film and from the Highlander TV series. The story follows Duncan MacLeod as he confronts Jacob Kell, a renegade Immortal with has assembled a group of fellow warriors and an impressive body-count. Kell, who holds a centuries-old grudge against the elder Connor MacLeod, has taken the lives of Connor's dearest loved ones, and 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 can alone succeed against.
[edit] Highlander: The Source
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This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content may change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. |  |
Highlander: The Source is the fifth installment of the Highlander film series, which has completed principal photography, and is now in post-production. It is as yet unknown if the film will be shown in movie theaters, or if it will go directly to home video. The Source will follow Duncan MacLeod into the near-future, during a time of economic and social despair, as he encounters a new threat in the form of the Guardian. As stated on the official website, the film is intended to be the first in a new trilogy of films.
[edit] Spin-offs
The various spin-offs can be divided into two categories: one that follows the timeline started by the 1992 television series, and those that function as stand-alone spin-offs of the overall franchise.
[edit] TV series timeline
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A 1990s TV series used the same basic ideas as the films, and was simply called Highlander: The Series. Its first episode was aired on October 6, 1992. The series centred on Connor MacLeod's younger Immortal "clansman" Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul). Connor (Christopher Lambert) made a guest appearance in the first episode to provide continuity.
Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul)
- Highlander: The Raven was a series that took one of the characters in the previous live-action series, Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen), as its central character. She was accompanied by former police officer Nick Wolfe (Paul Johansson). The first episode was aired on November 7, 1998.
- A 2001 animated flash series, The Methos Chronicles, was an Internet Flash-series based on Methos (voiced by Peter Wingfield), a character drawn from the television show. This short-lived series lasted only one ten-episode season. The animation quality was considered by most to be poor, but it has found something of a cult following amongst die-hard Highlander fans.
[edit] Stand-Alone
- A 1994 animated series, Highlander: The Animated Series, was set in the far future, and featured the character of Quentin MacLeod, voiced by Miklos Perlus. It bears little resemblance to either the movies or the television series, and is considered to be outside the continuity of the both the series and the films.
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This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content may change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. | |
- Highlander: The Search for Vengeance is the first animated Highlander feature film done in the Japanese animé style.
[edit] Other Media
- The Best of Highlander: The Book by Maureen Russell
Highlander (novelization) by Garry Kilworth
Highlander: The Element of Fire
Highlander: Scotland the Brave
Highlander: Shadow of Obsession
Highlander: An Evening at Joe's
- The new Highlander comic book series from Dynamite Entertainment, featuring the creative team of Brandon Jerwa, Michael Avon Oeming (Red Sonja) and artist Lee Moder. This series takes place around the period of the first film, and was launched with an introductory-priced #0 issue.
- The Original Scores CD — Highlander; Highlander 2: The Quickening and Highlander: The Final Dimension.
- Highlander: The Last of the MacLeods — a 1994 video game based on Highlander: The Animated Series, originally developed for the Atari Jaguar's 64-bit CD-ROM drive.
- Future Highlander Video Game — a MMORPG video game is currently in development. It will be based in the movies and the TV series.[1]
[edit] Continuity
To newcomers, the most confusing aspects of the franchise are the blatant inconsistencies and paradoxes between the television series and the films. To explain the paradoxes presented, the entire Highlander franchise may be seen as completely separate storylines, occurring in alternate realities. The common thread between the realities is the succession to the first film:
- The reality of the original film and Highlander II, in which Connor spends his mortal life dedicated to solving the environmental problems of the Earth, until his immortality is returned to him with the arrival of his old rival General Katana and his henchmen.
- The reality of the first Highlander and Highlander III, which establishes that a group of Immortals — trapped in a cave centuries prior to The Gathering — escape after MacLeod's fight with Kurgan, and the battle for The Prize begins again.
- Any of the realities featuring the first film and/or a stand-alone spin-off, such as the 1994 animated series and Highlander: Vengeance. These are typically "loose" follow-ups to the original Highlander, at best.
- The reality of a retconned Highlander, in which Connor does not win the prize, followed by the Highlander television series, Highlander: The Raven, Highlander: Endgame, Highlander: The Source, and any subsequent sequels featuring Duncan MacLeod. In this reality, there is a much larger number of Immortals still living in the 20th century.
In the final reality, Connor's battle with the Kurgan (as alluded to in the series pilot, and in one later episode) is simply viewed as the beginning of the Gathering, and not a final fight for "The Prize." The second and third films, as well as the stand-alone spin-offs, are not officially considered part of the series' universe. Some fans of the original film choose to disregard the franchise altogether.
[edit] References
- ^ Highlander (working title) for Xbox. Gamespot. Retrieved on 2006-09-13. -- Game announcement
[edit] See also
- List of Highlander Immortals — A complete listing of every single Immortal to appear in every Highlander storyline.
[edit] External links
- Highlander comics/comic publisher Dynamite Entertainment
- Unofficial Highlander WWW and Mailing list Archive Site
- Highlander Filming Location
- Roquetaillade castle
