Highlander

Rating:
Summary: this is not the original theatrical release
Review: I'm giving this version of "Highlander" only 3 stars because
what I really wanted was the orginal theatrical release.

I don't even know if the original theatrical release is now available on dvd.

The 'director's cut' is only different in that some more
footage is added, specifically a scene where McLeod rescues
Rachel from the Nazis. Frankly, I don't think this scene was
necessary. The original movie version was the best, in my
opinion. The relationship between McLeod and Rachel worked
better left as a mystery, rather than explained.

Rating:
Summary: If there can be only one, this is it!
Review: No matter what the Amazon description says, this is one of the best stories ever brought to DVD. The Immortal Edition is great; however, if you already own the Director's Cut, save your money and burn the music. Amazon's description of dizzying filmography and hard to follow story are out of line, this movie rocks!!

Rating:
Summary: Great Cult Movie
Review: I first saw this movie when it came out. The DVD has alot of extras, behind the scenes and blurbs about the actors. For those who like action, scifi, romance, blood & guts, this movie has it all. Sean Connery lights up the screen and Christopher Lambert is just plain awesome. I would recommend you get all the Highlander movies.

Rating:
Summary: "When I was 16, It was a very good year"
Review: I liked this movie when I was 16. Sean Connery was great (still is the best part of this movie). It had an interesting concept for the time and I was...16. I watch it now and think its ok. I would have given it a 5 stars back then now I find it difficult to give it a 3. Maybe its because back then Christopher Lambert was a rising star and not the straight to video poor actor he has become. The appearance of the Fabulous Freebirds and the Queen soundtrack are really good.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent transfer, but not my favorite edit
Review: Just got a chance to see "The Immortal Edition". To say that this is a better transfer than the initial DVD release is an incredible understatement. Unlike the first DVD (where the MPEG artifacts had MPEG artifacts), this is a nice, clean anamorphic transfer that looks quite good on my 120" screen.

The main menu is peculiar and has a somewhat irritating a/v segue between the top-level menus and the sub-menus, but it's usable.

My principal gripe with this disc is the "director's cut" edit. In some ways, this edit improves the original US release by providing additional back story for some of the characters. However, this cut also adds some other footage which, in my opinion, detracts heavily from the mysterious nature of the beginning of the movie. They've also "touched up" some of the effects work in a couple of the battle scenes in a way that didn't add much.

The 5.1 remix (DD and DTS) also adds some gratuitous sound effects which I find distracting and actually (in the climactic sequence) detrimental to the movie.

So, in sum, this disc is a mixed bag. I have ordered it after viewing a rental copy because the quality if the transfer is the best so far. However, I wish I could have this transfer quality with the original edit (plus the WW-II sequence) and a true-to-the-original 5.1 mix.

Rating:
Summary: Queen DVD clips at last
Review: If you're a Queen fan and you where waiting for any DVD clips; well on this DVD set you will find 2 discs; don't fool your self; only one of them is a DVD, the other is a music CD.
The DVD contains the Highlander movie with cool extras in which you will find still pictures and more' but the most important are the 3 Queen clips: 'Who wants to live for ever', 'A kind of magic' and 'Princes of the universe'

Unfortunately the other CD is a music CD and not a DVD
which contains 3 tracks:

PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE, which can be found on Queen's a kind of magic
ONE YEAR OF LOVE ' EXTENDED VERSION, that if you listen closely you can hear the edited segments, very disappointing.
and FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS, which can also be found on Queen's a kind of magic and Greatest Hits II.

It's a sham that Queen chooses to repeat and re-release songs that every one has heard before and when they do release some thing new, it's just the tip of the iceberg of what these talented people have created over the years.

Here's a revolutionary idea: releasing all of there Video Clips on DVD, including: days of our lives, the miracle's Scandal and all those evasive hot space clips such as back chat, body language and many, many, many more.

Please, Queen, I beg of you don't re-release 'we will rock you' and "we are the champions" as an audio single again!!!

Rating:
Summary: I have the POWER! Whoops wrong sword-swinging Hero
Review: "In the end there can be only one."

This film spawned three sequels and a very successful television series, and a second television series "Highlander: The Raven" has come and gone. I think there was a short lived cartoon series as well. Like most very successful movie and or television series there is a series of books to continue where the movies and television series left off, you can blame Star Trek for that trend I think. So where is the comic book and the video game?

Now The Plot. In 1530's Scotland Connor MacLeod played by Christopher Lambert, learns his true identity and nature of being an immortal, by dying. The only way an immortal can truly die is to be decapitated. Connor is trained by fellow immortal Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez played by Sean Connery, for the time of "The Gathering". The Gathering is a time when only a few immortals are left and they will be drawn to each other by a strong feeling and compelled to fight each other to the death. The last remaining immortal will win the prize, which although not thoroughly explained, is the main goal for all immortals. The bad guy is called The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), the strongest and most powerful of all immortals. The Kurgan knows that Connor is immortal and during a battle between clans kills him but is swept away by other fighters before he can cut off Connor's head. Flash-forward to the 1980's Connor, going by the alias of Russell Nash falls in love with Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart) a police pathologist that reminds him of his 1500's Scottish wife Heather. Conner soon learns that The Kurgan, now Mr. Victor Kruger is around and on the hunt. You get the idea for the rest of the film.

This DVD is released by Republic Pictures, and has it's good qualities and it's bad. The Picture and Sound Quality is very good. The Sound is digitally THX re-mastered and is therefore excellent. The soundtrack is performed by Queen, an interesting side note is that they were originally slated to do just the main title theme but loved the film so much they were inspired to provide more songs for the soundtrack. The Picture quality is mostly great but dark in some places and somewhat grainy during some of the flashbacks to 16th century Scotland.

The Extras are a mixed bag. This DVD is Widescreen, but I don't think animorphic. There is the original Theatrical trailer, which like most DVD trailers is of lesser sound & picture quality of the actual movie. The 10th Anniversary Director's cut has unseen, in the theatre, footage, mostly the Scottish Highland flashbacks which add to the understanding of the film, but for some reason were left out for the original North American theatrical release. There is an audio commentary by Director Russell Mulcahy, with Producers Peter Davis and William Panzer. Language Choices for playback and subtitles is English & Spanish. Another feature, which is both a blessing and a curse is the "Slide Show" of publicity stills, background production information, cast bios and all sorts of stuff. When this is "Played" it flies by with Blinding turbo MTV speed, with no audio background. Fortunately my Sony player has two slowmo speeds, so with the slower speed, and by pausing, I was able to view the bio information, the publicity stills, production notes etc... Another curse is the chapter selection has ONLY 9 "Key" Scenes, fortunately by using the scene list in the booklet you can enter individual scenes remotely.

When I first saw the brown bordered cover, with the word "Widescreen" all in bold caps on the left hand side, slightly larger than the Title, I knew something was done very cheesy.

Since I'm an occasionally watching fan of the television series, I like the movie that made the series possible. It took me two or three episodes of the series to understand some of the ways of the immortals. In some ways I like the series better than the movie. But I'm disappointed with some of the "Extras" on the DVD. Unfortunately some of the practices I'm disappointed with, are apparently standard Republic Pictures DVD practices. The Second DVD in the Highlander series "Highlander 2 - Renegade Version" also has a lame 9 "Key" scenes chapter search and the ultra fast "Slide Show" and don't forget the Bold "Widescreen" emblazoned on the front cover of the case.

So although my ratings will be on the high side I'm disappointed with the packaging and especially the lameness of the extra's. So for Highlander The 10th Anniversary Director's Cut I give a 4 for picture and a 5 for sound.

Rating:
Summary: Should have been titled "The Queen Edition."
Review: I have mixed feelings about this DVD. The digital transfer here is light-years better than that of the previous DVD incarnation. The sound quality is also significantly better, although it fails to live up to the expectations of a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Unfortunately, the annoying (previously deleted) scenes incorporated in the "Director's Cut" DVD are present here as well. The DVD would have been enhanced by making these scenes available as bonus material - or better yet, offering viewers the choice of watching the main feature with or without them.

It is the bonus material that disappoints the most. The same extras present in the dismal "Director's Cut" DVD release are here, with the notable exception of the bug which turned the behind-the-scenes photos into the slide show from hell. Also included are several Queen music videos from the movie's soundtrack, as well as photos of the band.

However, the latter appear to be stills taken from the music videos, or cover art of singles released throughout the world in support of Queen's "A Kind of Magic" album. Anyone familiar with the CD reissue of this album has seen them in the booklet - and would know where to find the three songs featured in the bonus second disc. There is nothing new here.

The Queen material strikes me as a misguided tribute to the late Freddy Mercury. Even the feature DVD disc has his image next to Christopher Lambert's! And while the soundtrack is arguably an important part of the movie, it is hardly the reason why HIGHLANDER has become a cult favorite. Thus, all the Queen material, while relevant, accomplishes very little in this DVD release. Neither Freddy Mercury nor his bandmates wrote, directed, or acted in the film. I would have rather seen a making-of featurette, or hear Sean Connery in character.

If you love HIGHLANDER, get the single DVD, which would rate 3 1/2 to 4 stars. The "Immortal Edition" is a misnomer, and offers little bang for your buck, since you could get BOTH the regular DVD and Queen's "A Kind of Magic" CD for less. One has to wonder whether the HIGHLANDER DVD is becoming an immortal itself, with new versions being released all the time, yet none meeting the obvious expectations of fans. There should only be ONE, but why, when the releases can go on forever?

Rating:
Summary: There can be only one
Review: And this is the one. The first time I saw the Highlander movie I was
awestruck at the fine job done in creating the atmosphere of the
movie. Wheather it was a Wrestling Match at Madison Square Garden,
in the Hills of Scotland, or Duncan's Antique Store.
The excellent Soundtrack from Queen which can be found on the
CD "It's a kind of magic" stirs your heart with emotion.
This movie will be immortal. But then again, who want to live forever?

Rating:
Summary: Finally, Highlander is on DVD as he should be
Review: I ordered this Anchor Bay edition (AKA The Immortal Edition) long before it was released because I wanted it so badly. Yes, I am a HUGE fan of the original Highlander, but hate the movies that followed and haven't really seen the series. The earlier release of the DVD (I believe it's the 10th anniversary edition) was dubbed "The Underwater Edition" because of horrid sound and apparently it had a few other problems as well. The Immortal Edition is excellent IMO. The picture and sound is great. The commentary is the same as the 10 anniversary edition but still entertaining and enlightening. No deleted scenes, but Queen videos, a stills gallery, and a host of other goodies. If you're a Lambert, Connery, Clancy, or Highlander fan, you will not be disappointed by this DVD.