Is Highlander Approaching The Endgame?
6 September 2004
News broke last week at both Sci-Fi Wire and Cinescape that the Highlander franchise is in the early stages of developing an animated movie based on all the movies and the television series, but could this be another case of franchise fatigue?
The first Highlander movie which was released in 1986 and was written by Gregory Widen and directed by Russell Mulcahy was an unexpected sleeper hit and became somewhat of a cult classic when it was released on home video. The story followed the adventures of Connor MacLeod who was born in 1536 and is an immortal whom is part of a Game where he must fight other immortals in battle and decapitate their heads in order to gain all their strength and knowledge. Connor is trained by Ramirez who was played to perfection by Sean Connery. However by the end of the first movie the game was well and truly over, Connor killed the Kurgan and suddenly knew everything….. Or did he?
Due to the popularity of the first movie a second movie was produced in 1991 which was again directed by Russell Mulcahy and written this time by Gregory Widen who concentrated on the characters and Brian Clemens who worked mainly on the story and plot. Connery and Lambert were reunited, in spite of the fact that Cannery's character of Ramirez lost his head and essentially died in the first movie. This was explained by having Connor summon Ramirez via means of an unexplained super natural ability.
The story of the second film picks up several decades after the events which were depicted in the first film. Connor MacLeod is now an old man, who after having won his mortality and a lot of knowledge in the previous movie, has used his abilities to save the world from ecological disaster by inventing a shield which protects the Earth from the break down of the Ozone Layer.
However a couple of decades have passed since the shield was activated and it is no longer needed. Only trouble is a corporation will not lower the shield while there is still money to be made.
We also learn of MacLeod's origins in the movie which in a way is where the movies story fell flat in the eyes of many Highlander fans. Basically MacLeod and a group of immortals led by him and his friend Ramirez were banished from their home planet of Ziest. This point of the movie was somewhat underdeveloped and the whole idea of MacLeod and Ramirez being banished due to the fact that they were considered to be revolutionaries on their world may well have worked better if it had been referenced in the first movie. But Highlander over the years has completely contradicted itself, and the Second Highlander movie was just the beginning of those contradictions.
The movie functioned fairly well as a stand alone Sci-Fi movie but it really lacked the depth and feel of the opening instalment, and the references to how long lived Connor MacLeod was, as well as seeing his in different time periods was thrown out in favour of showing us a little snippet about the planet Ziest. This movie in the eyes of many is the weakest of all the Highlander movies.
In 1992 Highlander The Series was launched and a very successful series it was too, though again events in the show contradict pretty much everything that has gone before, it did not seem to overly bother the folk at Panzer entertainment, and it also did not prevent a cameo from Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod in order to pass the baton off to Adrian Paul who portrayed his clansman Duncan MacLeod.
The Highlander series was a series which brought Highlander to the masses, due to the less than successful second movie, most peoples only memory of Highlander was the 1986 movie. However this series took the Highlander story to a whole new level.
Duncan MacLeod is very different to Connor MacLeod, the character played so effectively by British Actor Adrian Paul had an almost Zen like quality to him, and it was this intense quality to the character that to me attributed so much to the shows success. During the course of the series we met Immortals who were MacLeod's friends as well as some recurring enemies. The series also boasted recurring guest appearances by many well known actors as well as pop performers turned actors. Hell we even seen a guest spot done by one of the Kemp twins who the international cinema audiences will know best for their portrayal of the infamous East End Gangster's the Kray's. If I was to go on and on about what Highlander the series offered I would be here all night, but one thing it did provide was intrigue because in the shows second season we learn of a secret organisation of humans who note down and record the movements of immortals but never interfere, they are called the watchers and provide much of the drama which made the series possible. It was in so many ways the success of this series that allowed producers and directors a shot at doing the third Highlander movie.
In 1994 Highlander 3: The Sorcerer arrives, however the general plot of the movie completely disregards the fact that Connor has a Clansman by the name of Duncan and does not even humour the audience by referencing the series in anyway. The story which was written by Gregory Widen and Brad Mirman not only disregards events that have taken place in the series, but they also disregard the failed second movie as well. Yet another contradiction in ‘The Highlander' franchise.
It is hard to say that this movie failed, though it did not do as well as the first it was marginally better than the second. The plot picks up several years after the first Highlander movie. Believing that he has won the Prize i.e. his mortality and the chance to lead a normal life Connor MacLeod is awoken to the fact that he is no longer, ‘The only one…..'
The immortal Kane who has been considered dead and buried for centuries has awoken and he will stop at nothing to take the head of Connor MacLeod and take what is rightfully his the prize. The movies tag line of sorcerer is very relevant to the plot because Kane is a master of illusion and uses magic in order to try and get the upper hand on his enemies. This movie probably would work well as a prequel to the second Highlander movie; however there is still a degree of inconsistency to it by the mere fact that neither the ‘Highlander' series nor Duncan MacLeod is mentioned. The question is, ‘If Connor MacLeod is the sole surviving immortal, how come Duncan Macleod and all his immortal enemies and friends are able to exist if indeed the game that Connor is involved in is dead and buried like the movie claims'.
Our story does not end here though. Due again to the success of Highlander the series and the modest success of the third movie a Highlander animated series was made which was set a few hundred years in Earths future and featured a descendant of MacLeod called Quentin MacLeod who is kind of a messiah to the immortals who have lived among humans for 700 years. Where as the television series had depth and good humour with a measure of drama, the animated series was very much aimed at a younger audience and is not looked upon by most purist of the Highlander franchise favourably. Like the second movie it is a chapter that fans would rather forget about.
1998 was the year of ‘The Raven' as in Highlander: The Raven which followed the trials and tribulations of Amanda Darieux aka Amanda Montrose who was Duncan MacLeod's on and off love interest in Highlander: The series. This show was pretty hot on the heels of the original series final year, but lacked the intelligence and wit of the original Highlander series. In fact many fans feel that Elizabeth Gracen who played the role of Amanda in both the Highlander series and Highlander the Raven deserved an academy award for having carried ‘The Raven' for its short one season. However Highlander ‘The Raven' was pretty much a prize stuffed turkey as far as television shows go, and to many fans of Highlander is best forgotten, one thing in Ravens favour is the fact that it referenced characters and events which were in the original Highlander series unlike the lack of references made in the third Highlander movie.
In the year 2000 the 4 th Highlander movie was made and was appropriately titled Highlander: Endgame. This movie failed miserably to impress the cinema going public and was repackaged as a straight to video release.
The story of Endgame sees Duncan and Connor MacLeod reunited for the first time since the Highlander series began its 5 year run back in 1992. Endgame although a relatively good story and premise totally contradicts prior events in the movies and series. The fact is the movie franchise and the television franchise had always been treated as two separate creations which in the long term created a lot in the way of contradictions and continuity problems with regards to the plot.
The story of Endgame capitalises more on elements from the Highlander series than it does from the movies, so for anyone to view this movie they would need to know about the Highlander Universe in which Duncan MacLeod exists. The movie had a lot of action and a few twists and turns to the plot, but in so many ways it could have been handled better. Though having Duncan be forced into taking the head of his clansman Connor was a bit of a blow to any person who considered Highlander 2 to be a sequel to the first and third highlander movie.
However unlike the previous three Highlander movies it was left open, Duncan MacLeod defeated Kell but he was still an immortal at the end of the film, which leaves it open for a 5 th movie which is going to be another feature according to the Hollywood trades the 5 th Feature film will be titled 'Highlander: The Source' and is rumoured to be going into production later on this year for a proposed 2005 release date.
