Highlander (1986)

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An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponent, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled "Prize". (imdb)

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Cast and Information

Directed By: Russell Mulcahy

Written By: Gregory Widen, Larry Ferguson, Peter Bellwood

Starring: Clancy Brown, Sean Connery, James Cosmo, Christopher Lambert, Jon Polito, Celia Imrie, Roxanne Hart, Alan North, Hugh Quarshie, Beatie Edney, Sheila Gish, Christopher Malcolm

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Adventure

Franchise: Highlander

Country: UK, USA

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Highlander belongs to 35 collections

1. boobs (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 51 stars)

2. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (collaborative: moderated by Gregzilla - 40 stars)

3. Netflix Instant (collaborative: moderated by somnivore - 29 stars)

4. Onion AV Club: The New Cult Canon (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 28 stars)

5. IMDb Top 250 Complete (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 23 stars)

6. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)

7. Sword and Sorcery (collaborative: moderated by jeff_h - 13 stars)

8. So bad they are good (collaborative: moderated by cagedwisdom - 10 stars)

9. Sex (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 8 stars)

10. Rifftrax (collaborative: moderated by x-human - 8 stars)

11. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)

12. Cult Classics (collaborative: moderated by Jellysauce - 5 stars)

13. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)

14. Sword Fight (collaborative: moderated by iceblox - 3 stars)

15. Medieval Films (collaborative: moderated by KLucas1983 - 3 stars)

16. Inspired Tv Series (collaborative: moderated by Hailey - 2 stars)

17. Australian director (collaborative: moderated by djross - 2 stars)

18. Cinema Sins (collaborative: moderated by Phantom Nook - 2 stars)

19. Netflix Watch Instantly (public: dgeiser13 - 2 stars)

20. mwgerb's Netflix Instant Queue (public: mwgerb - 2 stars)

21. Top 2000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 2 stars)

22. Immortality (collaborative: moderated by juandr - 1 star)

23. Movies I Must See (public: gagknee - 1 star)

24. Guilty Pleasures! (collaborative: moderated by JohnnyZombie)

25. Marathons (collaborative: moderated by MThorhauge)

26. IMDB Ratings (collaborative: moderated by notyou)

27. Novelized (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer)

28. Movies with untapped potential (collaborative: moderated by mwgerb)

29. One Word Titled Films (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)

30. My DVD Collection (public: balseiros)

31. BF-80 (public: caffe)

32. Owned (public: ribcage)

33. My Movie Collection (public: cyrax_36)

34. Friday Night Movie Funtime (public: Ununnilium)

35. My ratings (public: tpbradbury)

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All Ratings | With Reviews

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TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
5	chemical404	51 _41st
Russell Mulcahy's cheese-fest with big aspirations managed to gather cult following and spawn endless sequels and spinoffs despite many obvious shortcomings. The whole pitch of the story sounds really good, when you think of it. Lambert's acting is a killing like always. And by 'killing' I mean that he can't act at all. In the end, it's not too entertaining, but there's something cute about cheesy films going big.
4	svicciarelli	88 _68th
In the end, there can be only one - and this first Highlander is the only one worth seeing.
4	XakkMaster	59 _27th
It's an 80s action film with a good plot about immortality and love, but horrible special effects and acting. The lone star in the film is the villian, who is a mean, disgusting and overly violent monster of a man. I have no interest in watching this particular film again, but if there's any movie that could use a well-funded and well-produced remake, I would say this is it. So much potential.
3	Space Pope	20 _6th
10 points for Queen, 10 points for the old guy next to the lamp post
2	Kavu	26 _11th
It's not easy to be this bad and cheesy without being funny, but Highlander manages that just fine.
2	cruelclown	45 _16th
This is much worse than I remember. Lambert plays a Scotsman with a terrible French accent while Connery is supposedly an Egyptian/Spanish with - guess what, Scottish accent; yeah right. No action choreography whatsoever too.
2	PeaceAnarchy	35 _2nd
Highlander sucks. It's not a good movie and most of the time it's not an entertaining one either. It drags and drags, with horrible accents and bad cinematography and it's so 80s it hurts. The concept is cool, which only makes it all the more disappointing that they couldn't do more with "immortals fighting with swords trying to chop each others heads off."
2	Mentaculus	40 _15th
The filmmakers showed remarkable bravery for making the life of an immortal feel like an eternity.
2	KMcNeil	7 _70th
Cool. Clancy Brown carrying around a fucking giant sword in a briefcase, Connery pretending not to be Scottish and Lambert hamming it up like he was in a food court. What's not to like? Hell - what's not to love? Points for decapitations and numerous weird wideangle shots (winner: A guy seen fleeing through the reflection of his dropped sunglasses). THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Uhm. And then three sequels.
2	BillyShears	80 _77th
Clancy Brown raids Cher's closet.
2	DavidBlast	60 _54th
Very strange, very 80s fantasy-flick, that started a film series, about which it can be said that there should have been only one...
2	ludvigsen	30 _6th
You remember this too fondly and I dare you to revisit.
2	Ununnilium	41 _24th
Man, for something that launched a huge franchise, that people talk about as "the good one"... a lot of it is terribly mediocre. There are definitely good parts, moments that hit a meaningful emotional note. (And of course Queen is always good.) But it's got mediocre fight choreography, a mediocre performance by Christopher Lambert, and a last half-hour that really goes down the tubes. Plus, it's weird to have a movie all about swords that has so many errors about swords.
2	WulfstanLee	30 _25th
The first Highlander film has aged poorly. Watching Lambert feels like seeing a proto-Tommy Wiseau (and would the cosmos implode if they ever teamed up?). The most charismatic performer in this movie is Michael P.S. Hayes.
2	Groovy_Souls	80 _73rd
I live for this shit. I can't help myself. Highlander is exactly the movie I was hoping it would be and more. It's ridiculous casting works for some reason (or at least adds to my pleasure watching this) and it's brilliantly wild worldbuilding and story ticks make for some of the best 80's action I've had the pleasure of enjoying.
2	Yiannos	43 _10th
Bombastic hokum that kicked off many bad visual trends. The mix of noir elements within a faux epic register was rather original, and the concept of immortals chasing each other across time is decent, as was the time shifting narrative which was unusual for a genre piece, but Widen's plotting is messy and he touches on many related themes (e.g the isolation and burden of mortality) without developing any of them. Lambert is a wooden plank as MacLeod, and Mulcahy's flashy style is dated.
2	Oktfest	85 _20th
Any movie that gives the hero the ability to say his name to a woman, tell her he cannot die, and she automatically sleeps with him, has to be a good flick. Add in the bad guy's name is "The Kurgan", and Sean Connery is slicing people up with an s-word like they're Alex Trebek's control over Celebrity Jeopardy, and you have a WINNER!
1	Filligan	36 _3rd
Mulcahy's direction is the film's best asset, but tonally there is no roadmap. And ultimately, this comes down to a final confrontation quickly, so the film struggles to fill two hours while we wait. Connery is in this for five minutes. Lambert has a weird stare and we're supposed to relate to him most. Why would any highlanders be friends anyway? Clancy Brown has the best motivation, maybe the only motivation. Holy shit this movie is boring.
1	Moribunny	58 _48th
Fun and original for what it is.
1	Ytadel	9 _98th
I am literally in awe of what I’ve just seen. There’s nothing this movie didn’t have. Sword fights. Sean Connery. Medieval Scottish highlands warfare. Queen songs. Michael Kamen score. Training montages. Growing old montages. Boobs. Old ladies on cars. WWII. Generic 80s movie cops. Wrestling. The Quickening. Clancy Brown going nuts to a degree that would make Ledger Joker go “what the fuck bro?!” How did Russell Mulcahy go from this virtuoso filmmaking to decades of unwatchable shit?
1	angrypierre	55 _24th
Starts daft. Gets dafter. Gets Sean Connery. Gets unnecessary backflips. Gets plot holes. Gets cheap stunts with zero fucks given about continuity. Gets the "perfect warrior" being a tall guy who grunts a lot. Loses all grip of its own internal logic, and basically botches a decent premise so badly it starts to become sort of good again. Undoubtedly a cult classic, but you'd be hard pressed to call it a "good" movie.
1	CinematicESP	67 _11th
I feel lame that I'm bothered that a French man awkwardly pretends to be a Scotsman (I will say I'm a fan of Lambert as Raiden though), while a real Scotsman plays an Egyptian Spaniard with a Scottish accent. That said, I like the concept, and how 80s it all is, though it's a bit uneven in places.
1	King_Mongo	45 _11th
Heck of a catchphrase generator and a fun central conceit. But Lambert believeable as, well, anything?
1	nandorizzi	75 _71st
A classic of the'80s, the film can provide a legend of the most creative way possible. Still has a great soundtrack with the band Queen.
1	youtellme93	30 _10th
So...very...slow
1	Barthalen	52 _30th
The concept is fun, but ye gods, the film itself is so damn cheesy and unengaging. The Queen soundtrack is neat I guess.
1	Luna6ix	84 _86th
A facinating anomaly of a movie, it's interesting that a movie with such a stupid premise could be so good, but it definitely has become a great guilty pleasure for many people who've seen it.
1	Hancock	60 _26th
Maybe deserve less, but i grew up with it
1	edkrak	45 _23rd
That script was terrible even for an 80s cheese. Mulcahy's direction somehow saves it from being completely unwatchable, but the film is completely aimless and makes no sense at all.
1	INDYATMN	72 _29th
Maybe my teen self would've liked this more. It mixes D&D elements w/ a "metal" vibe I may have found "awesome" at the time, but I'm not so sure. It's predictability isn't offset by anything I found funny & the (too) many sword fights aren't impressive. I became annoyed in the last 30 minutes waiting for the inevitable climax. The flashbacks aren't particularly interesting & that third act romance comes out of nowhere. & why does Connery train him? What's good? The imagery's often majestic.
1	cult_of_same	35 _37th
Any film that becomes a TV series is questionable.
1	OrionZulu	55 _16th
Silly stuff, but I kinda like this whole concept of going around chopping other people's heads with antique swords.
1	inhmn	80 _50th
one of my fav. movies from my childhood
1	andagh	55 _16th
Is Christopher Lambert the worst screen actor of all time?
1	WWallce4prez	60 _25th
There can be only one...movie that has sparks, back flips, and trench coats. Hilarious.
1	astrakhan	63 _8th
Absolute drivel, one of the flimsiest, shoddiest, most one-dimensional and poorly executed films I have seen, even for a B-movie.
1	SirStuckey	35 _10th
This movie is pretty terrible. I'm not really sure why it gets so much praise unless it based mostly on people seeing it the year it came out or as young kids. Half the things that happen in this film make zero sense, nobody acts particularly well, and the swordplay is not as nice as everyone says. It's good to laugh at but nothing more.
1	Hatman101	91 _84th
Queen! Decapitation! Sean Connery is Spanish!
1	sophiak	5 _2nd
Biggest load of none-sense. Maybe I'm just too "female" to understand it. Horrible. Every moment pained me.
1	CMonster	80 _69th
The difference between this and modern action doesn't have to do with quality, but how seriously they take themselves. This is pure 80's cheese. This movie is hilarious and has a soundtrack done by Queen. Win/win in my book.
1	fuzzleshnops	15 _7th
Hasn't aged well. Horrible soundtrack.
1	ribcage	81 _79th
How did the immortals know there could only be one? Who told them? Was it an educated guess?
1	LookJabba...	9 _91st
Highlander is one of the most re-watchable and nostalgic films of my lifetime and growing up I played the VHS to death. The bizarrely cast Christopher Lambert & Sean Connery share many over the top moments together but they are both great and Clancy Brown is one of my favourite villains. And the Queen soundtrack is a classic. This film is by no means flawless, it hasn't aged particularly well and it's 80's B-Movie filmmaking at it's absolute cheesiest. But Highlander is thoroughly enjoyable.
1	DyanneThorne	69 _61st
I remember loving this as a child/young teenager and it holds up okay. Except for the soundtrack, which is nowhere near okay, but actually amazeballs. The movie has a neat premise and some interesting (by virtue of being really batshit) visuals, but it takes a long time to get through what is actually a very simple plot.
1	filmseeking	40 _22nd
Well, this is really bad. It's like this film tries to be an unintended parody of itself. Almost nothing here makes sense or is explained properly, with Queen's hits being the highlights of this sci-fi-fantasy-historic-wannabe-epic-nonsense.
1	MacSwell	45 _17th
The fantasy narrative, which sees a number of immortals fight across centuries for an ultimate prize, is drab and haphazardly constructed, while the action scenes are underwhelming and the romantic elements a waste of time; it’s all held together by tacky charm alone. Lambert as the hero is a charisma vacuum (and his accent is truly awful) while Connery practically sleepwalks, but at least Clancy Brown offers a memorable turn as the evil Kurgan.
1	amazedemon	56 _11th
Highlander seemingly has a cult following that, sadly, I couldn't get on board with. I liked the soundtrack, ill-fitting as it was. I appreciate the 80's cheese, the mythology surrounding the Quickening, and the punk atmosphere even if the direction was middling. Unfortunately, Lambert's performance (including accent work) is film-ruining bad.
1	vv238	60 _63rd
So, you've got a Frenchman playing a Scot, a Scot playing a Spaniard, and Clancy Brown chewing scenery like he's going to starve. You've got a late-era Queen soundtrack and a dated dead-serious fantasy concept. Yes, all these things take the cheese to 11 but that's exactly why I love this film.

Average Percentile 49.69% from 4108 Ratings