by Morgan Drake Eckstein

Created on: July 09, 2008   Last Updated: February 12, 2009

The inspiration of several sequels and TV shows, the movie "Highlander" tells the story of Connor MacLeod as he fights to be the last surviving immortal and claim the prize. The movie was directed by Russell Mulcahy, starring Christopher Lambert (MacLeod/Russell Nash), Sean Connery (Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez), and Clancy Brown (Kurgan).

Before the first scene, there is a voiceover by Ramirez (Connery) that sets up the premise of the film; this is fortunate considering that the viewer might be at a loss during the first part of the movie otherwise. He tells us that there have been immortals living secretly among us for centuries, and that they will gather, fighting to the death to claim "the prize."

The opening scene, set at Madison Square Garden, shows MacLeod (Lambert) sitting in a turbulent crowd of wrestling fans, the only completely still man in the crowd. It is an eerie scene, one that immediately shows the isolation of MacLeod. Then he seems to sense something and gets up. He goes to the parking garage, and engages another man in the first sword fight of the film.

When I first saw this film on the big screen in 1986, the year of its theatrical release, it got me interested in sword fighting. The biggest change in my perception of the film over the years is my opinion of the sword fighting. Today, I must admit that the sword fighting is not as good as I originally remembered; one would think that people who lived and died by the sword for centuries would be better with them. But considering I didn't notice how sub-par the sword fighting was until after I picked up some training myself, the average viewer will not find it lacking.

Macleod defeats his opponent, chopping his head off (the only way that immortals can die), and takes his quickening. A mysterious thing, the quickening appears to be the life-force of an immortal released from their body; the victorious immortal absorbs as much as they can with the excess energy being released in the form of lights and kinetic force that acts on the surrounding environment in an explosive manner.

As MacLeod runs from the scene of the fight, the camera pans up though the ceiling and we find ourselves four hundred years in the past in Scotland. This is the first flashback of the movie; and for most of the rest of the movie, we will leap back and forth between the present and the past. This story telling device will later become an earmark of the television series based on the premise of this movie. It is a useful

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>