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Highlander 2 - Renegade Version

Highlander 2 - Renegade Version

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Much better...
Review: Here was my comment after coming out of the original movie of Higlander 2:

"There should have been........only one!"

The whole thing about them being aliens **ruined** the whole movie IMO. I am glad they took it out in this edition. The rest, while not the best is still great action movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible movie worst sequel
Review: This is movie is terrible. It is a lot more scientific than the other ones or the show. It focuses too much on the fact that the sun has been destroyed and the sky is red. The first half hour of the movie shows Christopher Lambert's character (Connor MacLeod) as a old man. Saying that he has claimed the prize and lived his life up to become an old man. Then it tosses u a completely different story then from the first one. It says that Connor MacLeod and Juan Ramirez(Sean Connery) are punished by becoming immortal and being sent to the future as in the renegade version and to earth from the planet Zeist in the original. And it claims that there are more immortals form the Planet Zeist or from the past that can challenge MacLeod thus making him immortal again. And then MacLeod can call Juan Ramirez even though he's been killed to help him. I dont recommed this movie. If u saw the first one and liked it, see Highlander 3 the final dimension, and highlander endgame.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Forgotten Sequel
Review: Highlander 2 was originally based around the concept that the Immortals (including Connor McCleod and Ramirez)were, in fact, aliens from a distant planet known as Zeist. Only when they were exiled from their homeland to Earth were they cursed with immortality that can only be taken from them if their heads are cut from their bodies. It was an attempt to give fans of the first film what they wanted - an explanation on why Immortals are, well, immortal. But these seemingly good intentions didn't work out so well in the end. The explanation did not have to be THAT far-fetched, guys. Of course, that is why the television series and the following two films completely ignore this concept. In movie history, I don't believe there has ever been a sequel that has been so ignored by other films in the series. Highlander 2 is almost a "what if?" scenario that strays from the original formula before going right back again with Highlander 3 (though at its core, 3 is a much worse film).

The original cut of Highlander 2 was a mess, and not the version the directors, writers, and producers had been shooting for. This so-called Renegade Version revisits the material and improves upon it vastly by putting scenes in their proper order and by inserting scenes that were missing altogether the first time around. This is almost a DIFFERENT film. And, of course, almost abashedly and apologetically, the filmmakers have decided to lop out all references to the origins of Immortals as pertaining to another planet in a distant galaxy. Instead, the scenes that take place on Zeist are now supposedly part of a lost time and place here on Earth, which makes absolutely no sense at all given that there are spaceships, teleporters, holograms, machine guns and such. Though I strongly feel that the explanation for the Immortals is weak and, certainly, a mistake, I think the Renegade Version's attempt to hide from this is also a mistake. It makes the story, oddly enough, even MORE far-fetched, and confusing as well to any newcomers. But, in truth, this Renegade Version was made for the die-hard fans, so newcomers should probably not apply to begin with.

Aside from this brand new flaw in the narrative, Highlander 2 is certainly improved from its earlier incarnation. Still, the fact remains that this is a fairly mediocre film at its core, and no amount of revisions can undo this. It lacks the emotion of the original, and increases the campiness factor tenfold. The futuristic setting is been-there and done-that science fiction tripe, and detracts from the originality of the overall premise. The best thing about Highlander 2 remains the same as before, though, and his name is Sean Connery. His return is hard to swallow given he met his end in the first flick, but it's not something I question given that he almost single-handedly saves the film. He and Christopher Lambert share a grand chemistry, and it returns here. Connery also takes credit for the most comical and delightful bits of the film.

All in all, Highlander 2 is to be taken as a "what if?" in the series and then you're expected to forget about it completely. If one watches it with that in mind, it has its appealing moments. This new version, in particular, brings more to the table and imbues Highlander 2 with a tiny bit more of that Highlander essense that was lacking at first. When it comes down to it, though, Highlander 2 and Highlander 3 are disposable, and the only true sequel to the original is Endgame. This DVD is a nice addition for the less-picky Highlander zealots, though, and the commentary track is fun and enlightening, and so is the featurette.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Boring!
Review: Could this movie have possibly been any more boring than it was. I really didn't like this movie at all, and "Highlander" is one of my favorite movies. I considered "Highlander" to be a classic, and this movie was just a disgrace to "Highlander" fans. Giving this movie 2 stars was really being too kind.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: the dark side of the Hero's Journey
Review: I need to confess a bias up front:

While the film is every bit as bad as the previous reviewers have stated, parts of it shine for me.

I like the image of an old McLeod unredeemed in spite of winning the Prize years before. Shades of the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, who pointed out that once you actually get the Grail, the tribulations are not over. Now you have to bring its healing contents back to your community. And that is NO easy task. McLeod tampers with the course of the world instead of helping people talk to each other; the result is an energy shield (sort of like a missile defense shield?) that saves the planet temporarily but sets it up for a future version of the Dark Ages. (Notice all the fans. A premonition of global warming?)

When more Immortals arrive on the scene--two lame, tongue-rolling idiots from the distant past--McLeod begins to realize that the game's not over yet. So when his future friend, a terrorist, asks him whether someone has just died, he replies, "Unfortunately not." HA!

Sean Connery's entrance is also memorable: to the accompaniment of a stroke of lightning, he lands in the middle of Hamlet, when the actor playing that character laments, "Alas, poor Yorick..." And the scene in the oldest tailor shop in Scotland is good for some laughs, Ramirez being the oldest (and most demanding) gentleman in Scotland.

Michael Ironside's commandeering of the subway train ("Let's have some fun!") is amusing, but the brief flash in which you see the baby spinning down to the bottom of the car was entirely unnecessary.

Why "The Quickening"? Because all the main characters learn to manage and direct the Quickening instead of just being incinerated by it when they cut a guy's head off. The Quickenings themselves are lame, except for McLeod's first one, which is awesome--you can see the aliveness of that serpentine force as it walks toward him--but the Quickening idea is psychologically interesting. McLeod employs it to reach Ramirez. Ramirez saves lives with it. General Katana energizes a train with it. Such energies are in themselves neutral; it's what we do with them that counts.

In fact, the Immortal looks very much like another underground class of eccentrics ignored for the past two thousand years: the shaman. "From the dawn of time we came...." There are shamans bright and dark, even now, regardless of whether they received some traditionalist training or attended workshops on soul-retrieval. As the most recent Highlander film makes plain, you don't become a shaman until you get wounded unto death.

Probably the film's best scene is the sacrifice made by Ramirez, and his assessment of it: "Most people have a full measure of life, and most people just watch it slowly drip away. But if you can summon it all up, in one time, in one place, you can accomplish something glorious!" Amen!

My one disagreement with previous reviews is that something was irretrievably lost, even in the Renegade Version, by having McLeod and Ramirez come from the past. It was a move of dramatic desperation, yes. No archeological evidence exists to corroborate the existence of an ancient high-tech civilization. But: the origins of the Immortals remain a secret. Even the reactionary priests of that early time don't know it. But they do invoke a familiar statement when they send McLeod and Ramirez on their way into the world of today: in the end, there can be only one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: We need the sun to live!
Review: The theme of the first film is back with two twists. First the extraterrestrial origin of the immortals who were thrown on earth to fight to the finish. Second the highly profitable, for some, invention of a solar screen for the earth that creates a mess in twenty-five years, a mess that has to be corrected by removing the shield, an action that the private corporation that installed it refuses. The action is just the same as in the first film : fencing and beheadings. The ecological stake is interesting and looks like a denunciation of private concerns when we are confronted with the future of the earth, a future that should always be controled by the people, and not by private interests or by super-heroes. Rather disappointing. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, paris Universities II and IX

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not as bad as people say
Review: The original version of Highlander 2 was horrible and wasn't what the director and producers wanted released. So they released the Renegade Version of Highlander 2 and I must say that the Renegade Version is much, musch better. Everyone keeps putting Highlander 2 down, but all I'll say about it is at least it's not as bad as Highlander: Final Dimension.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Renegade version clears things up a bit
Review: Yes the original version of Highlander 2 [stunk], but the Renegade version is actually good. While there are holes in the storyline, remember, Highlander 2 takes place in an alternate dimension (as does the original Highlander where Conner claims the prize, and the series does as well), keeping this is mind, Highlander 2 is a guilty pleasure. The added footage clears a lot of things up that were left unexplained, and the booklet included with this is neat to look at so you can see what all was intended to be seen. My advice, skip the original version (Highlander 2: The Quickening), and watch the Renegade version instead, plus it looks and sounds great on DVD.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: There are better ways to waste your time
Review: I'll try and keep this clean. When the original Highlander: The Quickening made its way to theaters back in 91, I was psyched to go see it. I loved the first film for its originality and the mythology was great. I even waited in line for hours to catch a sneak preview a week early at a local theater in Florida. When I got out of the theater, all I could think of was "Did the writer of this movie even watch the first one?" Aliens from Zeist? OOps a crucial plot element, sorry. But please, that whole element trashed what made the original cool and interesting. Now, the renegade version is better than the Quickening, but they make an attempt to hide the whole alien angle by setting their origin "a really long time ago". That works, I guess. Personally, I believe this chapter of the Highlander mythos shoould be deleted, not redone, rescored, rehashed, or re-edited. The shining star of this DVD is the featurette, in which the director tells you that the movie studio basically botched the whole film. The sound quality is pretty good, and the widescreen makes the viewing acceptable. I give the movie a 1 rating because I was not provided with a half. Die hard fans such as myself will just have to watch the film to decide for themselves.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: You'd need a renegade version to save this mess
Review: I'd heard how bad Highlander II was so when it was on the SciFi channel I watched it just to see for myself. That mess mostly ignored the first movie, just took a few bits and used them in a completely different way to how Highlander I presented itself. What were they thinking of with the Alien concept? I don't see how this movie could be reedited into something sensible and I won't pay the money to find out, buy it at your own risk.


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