Highlander (1986)
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Highlander Movie Review
Highlander is a 1986 fantasy film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery. It’s a solid and epic movie, but ultimately a missed opportunity.
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“There can only be one“
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It follows an immortal born in 16th century Scotland and living in New York City in the 20th century. The film often jumps to different time periods as it tracks this villainous man who wants to kill the protagonist as “there can only be one”. It’s a terrific premise for sure, though I’ve seen it many times, but here it’s actually rather well utilized into quite an epic adventure.
I personally would have liked to have seen more time periods as that would have made the movie much more interesting. And of course I wanted less action as the countless sword fights really got on my nerves and made the movie a much duller watch overall, especially because overall they aren’t all that well executed nor particularly entertaining.
Christopher Lambert gave a pretty mediocre performance in the main role. The character himself is fine, but his accent and his overall performance really made the movie feel amateurish at times. But I really liked Sean Connery and he was so likable that he needed much more screen time. Brenda is a charming love interest and even though The Kurgan is very over-the-top, he’s still a great, highly competent villain who posed a genuine threat to the main character.
Highlander definitely looks great. Although it could have been even more ambitious, I still liked its epic quality in terms of time and settings. I adored the Scottish Highlands and all the natural landscapes at display here, and the production design is stupendous with many instantly memorable, well conceived sets that set the stage for some memorable action sequences really well. The score is also very strong, albeit the Queen songs I didn’t like all that much.
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Highlander is a very campy movie with over-the-top action scenes and especially dialogue. It can be serious, but in some scenes it’s quite cartoony and resembling an early superhero flick. But those can also be its strength depending on the person watching the movie. I personally disliked some of those scenes, but others I found quite amusing as the humor can be solid here. But it’s very much of its time as this very 80s film in its approach and execution. The first act somewhat bored me with its action, but later on the movie became much more fun.
Though very campy, over-the-top and cartoony in some sequences, Highlander is nonetheless an epic fantasy adventure in time and settings with a solid score, some terrific sets and memorable imagery. The acting can be shaky, but its villain is very effective. The concept is great and the movie is quite solid and memorable, but it could have been much better overall.
