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Highlander

Highlander

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sound and Picture review only
Review: There is enough written about the film, so I am just going to state my views of the technicalities of this version of the DVD since I couldn't find a review about the Immortal Edition.
I must say that the picture is much improved from the director's cut edition. However do not expect it to be state of the art. You can still see at times the grains but it is much more superior that the director's cut.
In terms of sound, the DVD boasts the DTS-ES system. Now that is state of the art. However, since this is an old film the sound cannot be compared to the Gladiator and Seven discs.
This is the best version of Highlander that is available. I should know I have the director's cut version. A bit pricey though. I think for that price they should at least include a "making" documentary. All in all, I would truly recommend it to my friends if the price within the region of USD 20. I think we can do away with the Queen CD!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: DVD DTS quality
Review: You can read the other reviews for a synopsis of the story and the movie, I am reviewing the quality of the latest release that recently came out with DTS. The video quality is mediocre at best.
The graininess comes and goes and is mostly atributable to the quality of the source being used. This gets a 2-3 stars. The audio quality and use of DTS was nothing to write home about. The audio did seem to be at an awfully low level compared to other DTS discs that I have watched. I would give the audio 3-4 stars. For a gauge on my comparisons I would give the DTS version of Gladiator 5 stars all around.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun and exciting
Review: While having a rather short plotline, this film exploits every angle it can take with it. You might be turned off by the description on the back cover, which comes off sounding like a B-class flick. That impression is misleading - the cinematography, filming quality, and even acting (normally not something you'd compliment Lambert on) are GREAT.

The soundtrack is obviously 80's (read: all Queen), but that's still fun. Clancy Brown really shines in his role here, and Sean Connery adds a distinguished note that really seals the film up well.

This is a fun one. ...

T

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sword Play, Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Magic
Review: OK, it's not a fantastic movie (although there are plenty of hard-core fans who will tell me otherwise) but I do like it, even though I only give it 3 stars.

Let's start back in the 1500's with the birth of a simple man who only wants to lead a simple life of farming and children. Some things never work out. Connor MacLeod is an immortal, one of a rare breed of beings who can only truely die by having his head seperated from his body by a naked blade in battle. The problem - there are many others like him who wish to do just that in an effort to control the prize and possibly the fate of the world. Well, in this movie there's just the one who decides to renew the chase in New York City 400 years after their first meeting.

The film follows Connor from his first days of learning what he is in Scotland, to an infamous sword dual in colonial America, and concludes in a fierce fight to the death in NYC. Along the way we meet the people Connor meets and integrates into his extraordinary life.

Christopher Lambert does a fine job as Connor, and of course Sean Connery his is usual self. I personally feel Clancy Brown is great as Kurgan, the fearless warrier whose mission is to become the last of the immortals, and whose joy is making Connor sweat.

Sword fights in this film are pretty good. A little bit of romance that it probably could have done just as well without. The story has a nice flow to it, bouncing back and forth through time at the appropriate moment to explain certain aspects.

DVD features are fairly typical. Director's commentary, behind the scenes photos, some (supposedly never before seen footage) and a slew of production stills.

Photographic quality is excellent. Sound is Dolby Digital Surround. This one isn't the pick of the litter, but it's a good film nonetheless.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A mostly good movie, but the DVD is flawed
Review: Normally, I'd probably score this movie as a 4, and with the amount of extras the most recent "Immortal Edition" release has on it, I probably should have. But the horrid quality of the sound and video transfer on this film is like a pin poking at my brain. It seems as though they used a lot of high grain film in this movie (to help compensate for the mostly low-lit settings), and sadly, it shows. They couldn't use the best film or cameras when making Highlander, because of the tight budget. And although the transfer used for this film was THX certified, it was done in the 80's for an Anniversary Edition Laserdisc, and the transfer equipment wasn't nearly as advanced as what the studios now have access to. The movie itself is simple, and mostly pretty darn good (with a few small exceptions where I can't believe how stupid it gets), and with this many extras in one package, most buyers aren't going to be overly dissapointed. But what we have here is a 4 star movie with 5 stars worth of extras, and a 1 star transfer. So 3 is the best I could muster for it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The start of it all
Review: One of the most original ideas that came out of he 80's and spawned a true cult following. Highlander was the movie that made America recognize Christopher Lambert. The story was well played out and the action was intense. Hoever it was the idea of the immortals and their eternal struggle for the game that seperated this from the rest.

Highlander starts off at a sporting event. While there Connor McCloud (Lambert) encounters an immortal. After they duel Connor is vicotoriouse by severing the head of his opponent. After wards the police try to track him down for the beheading. In the mean time an old opponent from the past returns to try and slay him. In the meantime a female detective gets ever closer to solving the mystery behind the orginal duel. We are also shown flashbacks of when Connor was younger in the highlands of scotland where he was tutored by Rameriez (played by Sean COnnery) a spainard who was also immortal. In the end we learn about some of the rules to include that no immortals could duel on Holy Ground. In the end Connor is victoriouse and it is assumed that he has won the prize, mortality.

Highlander started a lot of things, but overall it is one of the few strong cult followings. While it may never rival the intesity of Star Trek or Star Wars it is still a succesful series that spawned 3 sequels, 2 live action series, an animated sereis, and a possible broadway musical. This is overall one of the best ideas and series to come out of the 80's.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Swashbuckling Futuristic Thriller
Review: Christopher Lambert stars as Connor MacLeod, a 450 year old Highlander who has been transported in time to present-day New York. Following him is his arch-enemy Kurgan, played superbly by Clancy Brown. Their battle began centuries ago on a basic premise: There is a small group of immortals that live among humanity, and the only way that they can die is by decapitation. They seem no different in appearance than regular mortals, but their first death sets them at that age forever. (note Lambert's youthful appearance even though he's 450 years old). They are always engaged in battle and when one decapitates another, he takes his powers ("the quickening") and at some future time the survivors will face off against one another ("the gathering") until there is only one survivor, who will become immensely powerful.

Sean Connery also stars as Ramirez, who has come to help Connor develop his skills as a swordsman so he can successfully face Kurgan. Unfortunately, it is Ramirez who pays the price.

I enjoyed this movie and the way it was formatted. I felt that the flashbacks from the present-day to the past were helpful in understanding the plot and how the relationship between MacLeod and Kurgan developed. The acting, especially by Lambert and Brown, is first rate. Sean Connery does a fine job as well. Its too bad that his role was so short. The climactic battle between MacLeod and Kurgan is the best part of the film, with the flashing blades and exploding neon signs. Fantasy and sci-fi fans will surely enjoy this tale, but stay away from the sequels!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Edition of an Excellent Film
Review: The idea behind the original Highlander film made for an intriguing story that unfortunately could not be equalled by its sequels--tampering with so basically succesful a tale was virtually guaranteed to result in failure.

For those uninitiated to the Highlander plotline, the idea is fairly simple: that amongst humanity live a small group of immortals who can only die by decapitation. These immortals seem normal humans until their first death, which "sets" them forever at that age. They forever are involved in fighting each other, for when one takes the head of another, he gains their powers in the "quickening," and at some point in the future when very few immortals remain, they will come together for one last battle (the "Gathering") in which there can be only one survivor--who will then win the prize, a gift of immense power.

That's where the film takes up the action, though it does also focus on past events in the characters' lives through flashbacks later used to great extent in the spin-off television show. Connor MacLeod (played by Christopher Lambert) is one of the few remaining immortals when the Gathering is at hand, and he must both battle the evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown) and keep his sword battles from drawing too much interest from modern-day police detectives who unsurprisingly are keen to track down murderers leaving behind headless bodies.

Sean Connery plays the ancient immortal and Connor's mentor Ramirez in many of the flashback sequences to great effect--so much so that film producers tried to reintroduce his character in the second and far less satisfying sequel.

The format of interspersed historical flashbacks and the modern-day chase sequences serves the film well, giving the characters background and laying out the rules by which they interact in the Game. The soundtrack done by Queen also works quite well in context. Overall, the movie is fairly unique in its story and does a good job exploring the at-times torured psyches of the immortals.

As for the particulars of the DVD transfer, the video quality is fairly decent--far superior to the VHS, but still a bit dark and murky at points. The audio mix is fairly good as well, and the second disc features music by Queen (available on their album "A Kind of Magic"). Overall, the added features of this edition do not revolutionize the film to separate it from previous versions, but they are worthwhile and provide for a more well-rounded and enjoyable film than earlier editions.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Among the best movie legends
Review: This movie had it all. Good story, good swordplay and great special effects. Christopher Lambert does his best role here and he is backed up by an already-old but outstanding Sean Connery. The Queen intro song is excellent, so is the rest of the music.

This is the best of all the Highlander movies, the sequels are mostly weak and doesnt compare with the first one.
there ya go people! its really worth to buy!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unwatchable
Review: I tried, lordie, I tried to watch the whole thing. I just couldn't. "Highlander" is wallowing somewhere near the top of my list of worst films of all time. What's wrong with it? Well, pretty much everything. Christopher Lambert is such a wooden actor he should have tried out for the lead in Nutcracker. No facial expression, no tone of voice, nothing. The costumes, particularly the alleged 16th century Scotland getups, are like something out of a Studio 54 disco party. The makeup --take a look at the layer of beige on Sean Connery, designed to make him look like an Egyptian or Spaniard or something, it's never clear which. It misses parts of his face. The music is ham-handed and intrusive, particularly during the fight scenes. You can tell it's supposed to be exciting because the music gets real LOUD. The scenery, awful. There's the scene where Lambert gets dunked in the Scottish lake and discovers he doesn't drown... you can actually see the sides of the swimming pool festooned with plastic water plants. There's the combat scene with Connery where the castle is made of plastic bricks that tumble down with every sword stroke.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought this film was a Monty Python sendup of the real dungeons-and-dragons genre. Alas, it's not. It's supposed to be serious. Test yourself, see if you can watch it until the end.


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