Directed by: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown
Plot: Conner Macleod is the Highlander, an immortal who must do battle with the last of the immortal opponents. The last one alive will receive what is known in the film as "The Prize".
The film: One of the stand out aspects of this film has to be the soundtrack but thankfully there is a lot more to Highlander than just good music. It is an epic tale of good versus evil but the cool thing about this film is that it looks at two distinct periods from Macleods life.It is split between 15th century Scotland and present day (when the film was made) New York City. No, Macleod isn't a time traveller, he's an immortal, and he's lived a long life. The action in the film takes us through other time periods too such as the second world war and touches on the emotional side of living such a long life. It is particularly interesting to see how Macleod remembers parts of his life from long ago and how the memories are both nostalgic and at the same time haunting.
Overall opinion: Although I like 80s films on the whole I find that many of them fail to deliver on the emotional side of things. This is one of the few films of that period that shows character weakness which is brought on by the curse of immortality. There is one sad scene in particular which shows just how painful immortality is for Macleod`when his wife passed away from old age while he lived on. This scene is accompanied by one of my favorite Queen tracks, 'Who Wants to Live Forever', which adds to the emotion no end. This is a great film and one that I'll be watching time and time again. While doing research for this film I stumbled upon found that a remake is in the works with Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. Well, all I can say is hooray for the Hollywood sequel machine, I look forward to not seeing it at the cinema (probably).
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