Rating: 
Summary: Cult Classic Adventure
Review: Nearly lost in straight-to-video-hell, Highlander rose like the Phoenix to become one of the most popular cult classic fantasy adventure movies to ever grace the screen.
Released in 1986 on a shoe string budget, the movie is shot in dark and gritty New York City, flashing back to Scotland hundreds of years earlier. The main character is Conner MacLeod (played with European gusto by then unknown French actor Christopher Lambert) a Scottish Highlander who discovers, very painfully, that he is special; one of a sparse race of immortals that will walk the Earth until one of them wins `The Prize'. An early battle scene that takes place in the 1600s depicts him fighting with his clansmen and being impaled by another immortal (not known to him at the time), The Kurgan, played with scene stealing villainous venom by Clancy Brown.
After coming back to life, McLeod is ejected from his village as a demon hellspawn and forced to live in solitude with his wife in the highlands. Despite his shame, he wants nothing more then to have children and a family.
Enter Sean Connery, in a role that most certainly helped bring him back into the lime light, playing Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, or `Spanish Peacock' as McLeod likes to call him. [A strange observation; they have a Frenchman (Lambert) playing a Scotsman, an American (Brown) playing a German barbarian, and a Scotsman (Connery) playing a Spaniard...strange role reversals, but I digress] Connery is fantastic, playing the role for all it is worth. He reveals to Connor his true nature, that he cannot have children, and that they are meant to walk the Earth until `The Gathering', where the last few remaining Immortals will gather and fight for The Prize.
What happens next is somewhat predictable, but nonetheless, Director Russell Mulcahy handles it well. The action scenes are great with good swordplay between people of different cultures. The scenes that take place in modern day New York are fascinating in that you get to see how this man born over 300 years ago lives in today's world.
Hot on his heels is an attractive forensic scientist who discovers that McLeod's sword, an ancient early version of a Japanese Katana, was created long before the Samurai ever started making them. This peaks her interest and soon she finds out more than she ever thought she would.
Although dark and moody, the movie is lightened with flashbacks to McLeod's happier times, some injection of humor in just the right places and music provided by Queen. All this amounts to very original movie despite its low budget and near death status going to straight to video. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch It. Love It.
Review: Forget the series, and please, please, forget the stupid sequels. This is the only Highlander that matters because anything that came after it was just plain idiotic.
Christopher Lambert is an Immortal. Unless you lop off his head, he will live on forever and ever. This doesn't necessarily go over well in his 16th century Scottish village, but that is the least of his problems. We get the background in a series of flashbacks from the 20th century MacLeod, and to me, the past was always more interesting than the present. Not that the present is not interesting either. In fact, the movie as a whole, is mesmerizing.
There can only be one, and Kurgan, a rather nasty Immortal, is out to find our Highlander and do him like he did MacLeod's mentor (Sean Connery), which is basically lop off his head and drain him of his power. Mind you, MacLeod is out to do the same to Kurgan because there can be only one!
This is a rather simplistic overview of the plot, but to sit here and explain it in detail would be confusing to both the reader and the author of this review. There is simply too much to tell and explain, and what is the fun in that? This is a magical movie, and you just don't give away the good stuff. This is the type of movie that you just sit down, watch, and lose yourself in.
The 20th century love interest is the weakest part in this movie. Brenda (Roxanne Hart), is hardly compelling, a bit on the annoying side, and her look was dated even in 1986. She can't act to save her life. But it doesn't matter, because this fantasy-adventure has everything that Hollywood lacked at the time, and everyone else did an outstanding job, giving this movie the cult classic status it deserves. Christopher Lambert never did anything that mattered again as far as I am concerned.
The soundtrack, by Queen, is phenomenal, and though a soundtrack does not make a movie, unless it's "The Wall" or "Tommy", it is worth mentioning because it is truly beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: 5 star movie. Not so great DVD
Review: OK, I do not regret buying this DVD at all. I mean, it was great to finally have an explanation as to who Rachael is in regards to Conner. It was great to also see all the other small scenes that are missing from previous versions. The directors commentary is also interesting, BUT WHAT IS UP WITH THE SOUND????? It was very frustrating to watch. 1 minute it's too low, the next minute it's too high. You strain to hear dialogue (sometimes you don't hear it at all) and when you do hear it, it gets overpowered by the background noise and the music. Oh well, instead of constantly altering the volume on my remote I just put it on low and turned on the close captioning. Hmmm..anyone else have this problem?
Rating:
Summary: High level action and fantasy.
Review: HIGHLANDER was undoubtedly among the best of the medieval/fantasy/Dungeons and Dragons sort of movies that proliferated in the 1980s. The choice of the brooding Christopher Lambert was perfect for the part of the Highlander, Conner MacLeod. There is a quiet intensity to his acting, and it works well here. Sean Connery, as his mentor and fellow-immortal, Ramirez strikes just the right balance of swashbuckling and seriousness. His acting is perfect. (So what else is new?)For me, however, Clancy Brown's Kurgan steals the film. His physical features and bug-eyed grin are dead perfect! And his way over-the-top performance, at times, makes you a little afraid of his character, but he makes you laugh, as well. The confrontation between Kurgan and Conner in a church is a great balance of wit and tension. The battles in Scotland, at the beginning of the film, and the mayhem in the streets of New York City at the end are priceless. My favorite moment: Kurgan steals a car and takes Conner's love interest for a ride. As he careens through the potholes and traffic, he quietly sings "New York, New York". Now I know where all our cabdrivers take their lessons from. HIGHLANDER is a great piece of quality mind candy that actually tackles some deep issues.
Rating:
Summary: CLASSIC
Review: First, I must confess that I rented the movie because my favorite music group, Queen, was doing the soundtrack. But, unlike Flash Gordon, this movie actually has Queen songs right in it! But, as I watched this movie, I began to get really involved in the story. Christopher Lambert(who, in my opinion, is really hot in this movie!) plays Conner Macleod, a Scottish warrior who has been alive for over 300 years. He has come to NYC to battle the last remaining immortals, for there can be only one! The guy who plays Kurgan freaked the sh*t out of me! He was generally scary! I think one of the reasons I loved this movie was because of the underlying love story. I almost cried when Nash lit the candle in the church! Anyway, if you love Queen as much as I do, you'll love to hear their music throughout the movie. Even if you don't like Queen (I can't imagine why you wouldn't, but...), you'll love this winding tale of horror, love, and a kind of magic!
Rating:
Summary: "Tell them I'm immortal"
Review: This is easily the best film of all the Highlander sequals. An excellent story and well put together with flash backs of Scotland in the fifteenth century. None of the sequals to this film were really of the same intensity and deepness. In fact all the follow ups were very lame.
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