Highlander
Original style-A poster
Directed by	Russell Mulcahy
Produced by	Peter S. Davis E.C. Monell William N. Panzer
Written by	Story: Gregory Widen Screenplay: Gregory Widen Peter Bellwood Larry Ferguson
Starring	Christopher Lambert Sean Connery Clancy Brown Roxanne Hart
Music by	Queen Michael Kamen
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	March 7, 1986
Running time	116 min.
Language	English
Followed by	Highlander II: The Quickening
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Highlander is a 1986 film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based on a story by Gregory Widen. The film is set in 1985 with flashbacks establishing the backstory and the characters' relationships to one another^{[citation needed]}. The film has inspired a number of movie sequels, three television series, non-canon novels and comic books and a feature-length animé^{[citation needed]}. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (605x763, 114 KB) Licensing This image is of a movie poster or title card, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie or the studio which produced the movie in question. ... Russell Mulcahy (born June 23, 1953 born in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian film director. ... William Panzer (1942-2007) was an american television and movie producer best known as one half of Davis-Panzer Inc, the production company behind the Highlander (series) franchise. ... Worked as a firefigther for three years. ... Worked as a firefigther for three years. ... Christopher Lambert (born March 29, 1957 as Christophe Guy Denis Lambert) is an American-born French actor. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is a retired Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Clarence J. Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. ... Roxanne Hart born July 27, 1952 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. She is an American television, film and stage actress. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... Michael Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 66th day of the year (67th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Gos Belinda Carlisle Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Russell Mulcahy (born June 23, 1953 born in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian film director. ... Worked as a firefigther for three years. ... This article is about the year. ...

Plot

Scotland

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) was born in the year 1518 "in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel." In 1536, his clan is in conflict with the rival Clan Fraser, and Connor rides along into his first battle. The Frasers have employed a towering monster of a man known as The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), who apparently recognizes that Connor is a fellow Immortal, though even Connor himself has not yet discovered this, although he feels the pain from sensing the Kurgan's proximity. The Kurgan manages to mortally wound Connor in battle, but the MacLeods recover the body before he can decapitate it. The MacLeods mourn Connor, but he revives shortly after his "death." Accusing him of witchcraft, Connor's clansmen beat him, and are preparing an execution, but his cousin Angus MacLeod (James Cosmo) persuades them to exile Connor instead. He escapes with his life, but is banished from his clan and birthplace. Connor MacLeod, also known as The Highlander, is the most important character from the fictional multiverse of Highlander movies, Highlander: The Series and Highlander: The Animated Series, portrayed by actor Christopher Lambert. ... Christopher Lambert (born March 29, 1957 as Christophe Guy Denis Lambert) is an American-born French actor. ... Events A plague of tropical fire ants devastates crops on Hispaniola. ... Memorial to the Jacobites, at Glenfinnan, Lochaber. ... Loch Shiel is a 25km freshwater loch 120m deep situated 20km west of Fort William. ... Year 1536 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... For other uses, see Clan (disambiguation). ... The Clan Fraser (Gaelic - Clann Frisealach, French Clan Frasier) is a Scottish clan of French origin. ... The Kurgan is a fictional character from the Highlander movies, portrayed by actor Clancy Brown. ... Clarence J. Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. ... Immortals are a group of fictional characters seen in the movies and series of the Highlander franchise. ... “Witch” redirects here. ... James Cosmo (born 1948 in Clydebank, Scotland) is a tough guy actor, with numerous credits in film and television. ...

Connor eventually settles as a blacksmith in Glencoe, where he marries Heather (Beatie Edney). In 1541, he is located by a much older Immortal, who introduces himself as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery). Ramirez soon appoints himself Connor's tutor in the situation of being Immortal, their pursuit of The Prize, and the rules of an age-old "Game," noting that "in the end, there can be only one." He also explains that his own name was just his current alias, being Egyptian by birth. He adopted it while serving as Chief Metallurgist for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also King of Spain between 1516-1556). His sword is a katana he received in Japan in 593 B.C. by his (then) father-in-law Masamune. Masamune, a genius far ahead of his time in the forging of swords, was the father of Princess Shakiko, Ramirez's third wife. Ramirez also took it upon himself to improve Connor's swordsmanship, which he commented on as "no better than that of a clumsy child." For other uses, see Blacksmith (disambiguation). ... Glen Coe is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. ... Beatie Edney is an English television actress. ... Events The first official translation of the entire Bible in Swedish February 12 - Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago de Chile. ... Ramirez was a character who appeared in the movie Highlander and was the immortal who instructed Connor MacLeod as to the ins and outs of their condition and the mythology of The Gathering. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is a retired Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Georg Agricola, author of De re metallica, an important early book on metal extraction Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. ... For the Carlist claimant King Carlos V, see Infante Carlos, Count of Molina. ... It has been suggested that Regents: Iberian States be merged into this article or section. ... // Events March - With the death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, his grandson Charles of Ghent becomes King of Spain as Carlos I. July - Selim I of the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Mameluks and invades Syria. ... Events January 16 - Abdication of Emperor Charles V. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor January 23 - The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. ... For other uses, see Katana (disambiguation). ... Masamune Portrait This article is about the swordsmith. ...

Love and death

Connor MacLeod

Ramirez tells MacLeod to leave his wife or face heartbreak, explaining that "I was born 2,437 years ago. In that time, I've had three wives. The last was Shakiko, a Japanese princess... When Shakiko died, I was shattered. I would save you that pain. Please, let Heather go." File links The following pages link to this file: Highlander Categories: Images with unknown source ... File links The following pages link to this file: Highlander Categories: Images with unknown source ...

Connor refuses to leave his wife, though he trains under Ramirez to prepare for Immortals like the Kurgan. However, the Kurgan manages to arrive at Connor's home while MacLeod himself is absent. The Kurgan and Ramirez duel, with the frightened Heather their only spectator. The Kurgan manages to decapitate Ramirez, and proceeds to rape Heather, in the belief that he was further humiliating his old enemy (Ramirez) and "his woman." Connor soon returns to find his residence in ruins, his mentor killed, and his wife alive, but traumatized. She never tells him about the rape, and Connor never learns of the event until 1985, when The Kurgan mocks Ramirez's memory.

Connor remains with his wife until her death from old age. Dying in Connor's arms, she confides that her only regret was not having his children. After burying Heather, MacLeod burns their residence and wanders the world, journeying as far away as Japan, and - like the rest of the Immortals - finally ends up in America. These travels include an 18th Century duel on Boston Common (in which a drunken MacLeod was repeatedly run through by a sword, to no effect, by an insulted husband), and killing a Nazi officer during World War II, rescuing young Rachel, a Holocaust survivor, in the process. His experiences over time have left him a bitter, cynical man. National Socialism redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ...

Modern day

The action then shifts to 1985 New York, where the few surviving Immortals are drawn in "The Gathering," a final series of confrontations to determine the winner of "The Prize." Eventually, the last two surviving are Connor, under the alias of "Russell Edwin Nash" and the Kurgan, under the alias of "Victor Kruger." Meanwhile, the spike in what appear to be murders by decapitation has drawn the attention of the police, who suspect Connor as the sole person responsible (he is in fact responsible for at least one of the deaths being investigated). Among the investigators of the case is forensic scientist Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart). Her investigation reveals MacLeod's apparent longevity through different names, and she eventually falls in love with him. This does not escape the attention of the Kurgan, who abducts her to force Connor into a final confrontation. MacLeod battles the Kurgan, finally defeating him (with a little help from Brenda), and apparently wins The Prize, which is revealed to be mortality, the ability to sire children, and a telepathic/empathic gift wherein he can communicate with and influence the greatest minds or most powerful people on the planet. This article is about the year. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... Brenda Wyatt is a character from the fictional universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actress Roxanne Hart. ... Roxanne Hart born July 27, 1952 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. She is an American television, film and stage actress. ...

Cast

Christopher Lambert (born March 29, 1957 as Christophe Guy Denis Lambert) is an American-born French actor. ... Connor MacLeod, also known as The Highlander, is the most important character from the fictional multiverse of Highlander movies, Highlander: The Series and Highlander: The Animated Series, portrayed by actor Christopher Lambert. ... Roxanne Hart born July 27, 1952 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. She is an American television, film and stage actress. ... Brenda Wyatt is a character from the fictional universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actress Roxanne Hart. ... Clarence J. Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. ... The Kurgan is a fictional character from the Highlander movies, portrayed by actor Clancy Brown. ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is a retired Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films. ... Ramírez is a character from the fictional universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actor Sean Connery. ... Beatie Edney is an English television actress. ... Heather MacLeod is a character from the fictional universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actress Beatie Edney. ... Alan North (born December 23, 1920) is an American actor best known for his roles in Lean on Me (1989), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and the 1982 television series Police Squad!. Categories: 1920 births | American actors | American actor stubs ... Jon Polito (born December 29, 1950) is an American actor, best known for working with the Coen Brothers. ... Sheila Gish (April 23, 1942 - March 9, 2005) was a British stage and television actress. ... Rachel Ellenstein is a character from the fictional universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actress Sheila Gish. ... Hugh was born in 1954, in Accra in Ghana. ... Sunda Kastagir is a fictional character from the Highlander movies, portrayed by actor Hugh Quarshie. ... Christopher Malcolm (born August 19, 1946, Aberdeen, Scotland) is a British actor, best known for his role as Saffron Monsoons openly gay father Justin in British comedy TV series Absolutely Fabulous or as the mad escape patient in Only Fools and Horses. ... William Russell with Peter Diamond (right) on the Doctor Who story The Romans in 1965. ... The following is a list of minor Immortals from Highlander, Highlander II: The Quickening, Highlander III: The Sorcerer, the movie scripts and novels. ... Billy Hartman is a Scottish actor well known for his part in ITVs Emmerdale as Terry Woods. ... James Cosmo (born 1948 in Clydebank, Scotland) is a tough guy actor, with numerous credits in film and television. ... Celie Imrie (born 15 July 1952 in Guildford England) is a British actress. ...

Reception

The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy and scripted by Peter Bellwood, Larry Ferguson and Gregory Widen. Upon initial U.S. release, it was not well-received^{[citation needed]}, but it gained increasing popularity in non-domestic markets^{[citation needed]}, and on home video^{[citation needed]}. It has since obtained status as a cult classic film in both domestic and non-domestic markets, leading to several sequels, a television series and a volume of fiction. Russell Mulcahy (born June 23, 1953 born in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian film director. ... Worked as a firefigther for three years. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... For other uses, see Fiction (disambiguation). ...

Today, it remains arguably the best-known film of the Highlander series, and the one perhaps best-received by the public. The themes and concepts introduced by the film were further explored by many of the later movies and the TV series.

Alternate cuts and deleted scenes

• The European and Japanese cuts of the film contain scenes not found in the U.S. cut^{[citation needed]}.
• The Director's Cut is 8 minutes longer than the U.S. cut^{[citation needed]}. It includes, amongst other things, a flashback to World War II that further develops the character of Rachel Ellenstein. [1]
• A number of deleted scenes from the film were lost in a fire. One such scene introduced an Asian immortal named Yung Dol Kim^{[citation needed]}, who was beheaded by the Kurgan^{[citation needed]}. Another featured Connor and Kastigir in a night club with Detective Bedsoe^{[citation needed]}. A few stills from these sequences, some in color and others in black and white, did survive^{[citation needed]}.

A directors cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials or video games, that is supposed to represent the directors own approved edit. ... Rachel Ellenstein is a character from the fictional universe of Highlander movies, portrayed by actress Sheila Gish. ... Deleted scene is a commonly-used term in the entertainment industry, especially the film and television industry, which usually refers specifically to scenes removed from or replaced by another scene in the final cut, or version, of a film (including television serials). ...

DVD releases

Highlander has been released to DVD on four occasions in the United States, initially on May 16, 2000 on a single disc^{[citation needed]}. Subsequent editions were released on February 16, 2002 as a two disc set (Immortal Edition) and a single disc set both with a DTS Soundtrack^{[citation needed]}. These version also include the European edition scenes cut from the American Edition. May 16 is the 136th day of the year (137th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... DTS Coherent Acoustics is the full name for the audio format standard usually known as just DTS. It is covered in U.S. Patent 5,956,674. ...

Soundtrack

The original movie features a soundtrack by Queen, including "Princes of the Universe," which was also used in the Highlander television series title sequence^{[citation needed]}. Queen saw an early screening of Highlander, and decided to compose music for the film's entire non-symphonic soundtrack^{[citation needed]}. They wrote many of the songs specifically to match the mood of the scenes when the songs were played, notably Brian May's "Who Wants to Live Forever", concerning the doomed love of Connor and his original, mortal Highland bride^{[citation needed]}. Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... Princes of the Universe is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by Queen. ... This example of a title sequence, from long-running serial drama Another World, was seen from 1966 to 1981, making it one of the longest-running continuous title sequences on television. ... For the Australian film composer, see Brian May (composer). ... Who Wants to Live Forever is a song by the English rock band Queen. ...

While an album specifically tied to the Highlander movie was never released, Queen's 1986 album A Kind of Magic (a phrase spoken twice in the movie by Connor) features most of the songs from the film, as well as other music on the same theme^{[citation needed]}. Notably, Queen's version of "New York, New York" (playing while The Kurgan drives Brenda through New York) was never released by the band^{[citation needed]}. A Kind of Magic is a 1986 album by English rock band Queen. ...

All of Queen's songs in Highlander were purposely written for the movie, except for "Hammer to Fall", which had been previously released on their album The Works in 1984^{[citation needed]}. Hammer to Fall is a 1984 hard-rock song written by Brian May and performed by the British rock group Queen with Freddie Mercury on lead vocal. ... The Works is a 1984 pop/rock album by English band Queen. ...

Cultural impact

• Master Shake from the animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force considers Highlander to be a documentary, and the events that happened were in real-time. He also believes that jumping off a "magic cliff" will make him an Immortal (despite being told that one is born an Immortal, rather than becoming one), and uses this plot to make the suicidal Happy Time Harry suffer^{[citation needed]},

• Robot Chicken, an animated series airing on Cartoon Networks's Adult Swim, made a parody of Highlander, using Hollywood as the setting, and several teen idols such as Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes and Hillary Duff as Immortal characters^{[citation needed]}.

• In the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Will Ferrell's character, Ricky Bobby, compares the intense rivalry with NASCAR driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen) with the plot of Highlander. While explaining the movie to Girard, a Frenchman, he states that it won the Academy Award for "Best Movie Ever Made." Later in the film, Girard claims he had seen the movie, and said "it was shit."^{[citation needed]}

Information Aliases Cup, The Drizzle, The Fume, Milkshake, Mr. ... An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ... For the movie, see Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. ... This is a list of villains or monsters that appear in the television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force. ... Robot Chicken is an Emmy Award-Winning American stop motion animated television series produced by Stoopid Monkey, ShadowMachine Films, Williams Street, and Sony Pictures Digital, currently airing in the US as a part of Cartoon Networks Adult Swim line-up, in the United Kingdom and Ireland as part of... An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ... For Cartoon Network outside of the United States, see Cartoon Network around the world. ... Adult Swim is the name for an adult-oriented television programming network. ... John William Will Ferrell (born July 16, 1967[1]) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American comedian, impressionist, writer and actor who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, and has since gone on to a successful film career. ... Jeff Burton (99), Elliott Sadler (38), Ricky Rudd (21), Dale Jarrett (88), Sterling Marlin (40), Jimmie Johnson (48), and Casey Mears (41) practice for the 2004 Daytona 500 The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... This article is about the British comedian. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Highlander (film)

• Highlander at the Internet Movie Database
• Highlander at Rotten Tomatoes
• Glenfinnan