40 years ago tomorrow, a film premiered in American cinemas whose incredible success no one at the time would have predicted: »Highlander«, starring Frenchman Christopher Lambert as the Scottish Connor MacLeod (who barely spoke a word of English at the time) and Scotsman Sean Connery as an Egyptian with the melodious Spanish name Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez.
The story revolves around several immortals, of whom, for whatever reason, there can only be one, and who therefore behead each other with swords. This doesn't prevent them from being friends, however, allowing Ramírez to become a mentor to the Highlander MacLeod.
The film's plot begins in New York City in 1985. In the underground parking garage of Madison Square Garden, we witness the first sword duel between Connor MacLeod and another immortal named Iman Fasil, who ultimately loses his head.
When we rewatched the film after a long time, we couldn't help but wonder why Iman Fasil (stunt coordinator Peter Diamond) prefers to move forward using back handsprings. The fact that all the car headlights come on and all the engines start after MacLeod decapitates him also seems a bit cheesy by today's standards. But the film doesn't dwell on questions. If you can accept that, you can have a lot of fun with this 80s fantasy action flick.
The film was directed by Australian Russell Mulcahy, who previously made his living directing music videos. This influence is clearly evident in the film. Mulcahy has a knack for lighting, flashes of light, fog machines, and elegant editing, including some very effective match cuts that connect the different timelines the movie takes us through. The episodes of MacLeod's long life begin in 1536 in the Scottish Highlands, continue through 1541, 1587, Boston in 1783, through World War II in 1943, and finally to New York in 1985.
Also worth mentioning is the story's antagonist, Victor "The Kurgan" Kruger, whom the young Clancy Brown portrays wonderfully over-the-top with memorable one-liners: "Hi. I'm Candy." – "Of course you are..."
Then, of course, there's the soundtrack by Michael Kamen and the songs by Queen. In »Who Wants To Live Forever«, the beauty of the Scottish landscape and the tragedy of immortality culminate when the aging Heather (Beatie Edney) dies in MacLeod's arms.
The film received mixed reviews at the time, but it performed very well at the box office, and, true to its immortal Highlander roots, it enjoyed further success, first on VHS, and later on DVD and Blu-ray.
Several sequels followed: »Highlander II: The Quickening« in 1991, »Highlander III: The Sorcerer« in 1994, and the spin-off series »Highlander« (1992–1998) starring Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod, an immortal from the same clan as Connor. »Highlander: Endgame« with Duncan and Connor hit cinemas in 2000, and finally, »Highlander: The Source« was released in September 2007 on the SciFi Channel.
A »Highlander« remake, directed by Chad Stahelski (»John Wick«), is currently in production, starring Henry Cavill as MacLeod, Russell Crowe as Ramirez, and Dave Bautista as Kurgan.
MacLeod and Kurgan action figures were released by NECA in 2005 in 7-inch scale. Around the same time, Sideshow released Connor in his New York trench coat outfit as a 1/6 scale figure. In 2017, he appeared in a kilt in a 1/6 scale release by Kaustic Plastik. Of course, all of these are long sold out or only available on the secondary market. But the good news is that you can currently pre-order a state-of-the-art Connor MacLeod in 1/6 scale from Iconiq Studios:
https://www.space-figuren.de/Movies/Highlander/1-6-Scale-Connor-MacLeod-Highlander::28743.htmlHave fun, and don't lose your heads!