RETRO REVIEW: Highlander (1984)

Highlander is one of those rare cult classic films, the kind that grows into a franchise into its own right. At the time this film was made, the cast (aside from Sean Connery) were all lesser-known talents, though its main stars became well known since then. It’s a movie that is driven by its core concept—an immortal from the Scottish Highlands who must battle other immortals to achieve a mystical “Prize”. At the same time, the Highlander franchise has always been something of a victim of its own success, as what makes this specific movie great did not transfer so easily to its sequels and spinoffs.

One of the real strengths of Highlander is its script, which presents us with an iconic hero as well as a legendary main villain. Connor MacLeod is a fascinating character that is fueled by layers of history and a well-developed backstory. He begins as a brash young warrior, and after banishment, bereavement from the death of his mortal wife, and centuries of solitude, he becomes haunted and closed off from the rest of the world. He has two separate and yet solid story arcs—the story in the past, where Connor learn how to live as an immortal, and the story in the present, where Connor learns to open himself up to love. On a story level, both ideas work the way they’re presented in the script, and Connor’s transformation in both arcs is given proper development. Likewise, the other immortals in the story are quite compelling and remain memorable character even after over thirty years. Kurgan is a brutal and truly terrifying villain, more so because he has no fear of death and an unending bloodlust from centuries of murder. Ramirez, the mentor to MacLeod, is a fascinating character even on paper, and the movie only gives a small glimpse of what he’s experienced after over 2000 years.

At the same time, the story also explores the present-day consequences of immortals dueling in modern-day New York. This part of the story is less compelling, though there are moments that are compelling and follow logically. The idea that the police would interpret the battles over The Prize as a series of headhunter murders adds up, and the cops in the movie are mostly solid background characters. The police in this film are generally clueless, given that they don’t know what the audience knows, but they work as antagonists to MacLeod occasionally. The one mortal character who does eventually piece together the clues is Brenda (played by Roxanne Hart), an inconsistent character that starts with a good idea. The movie tries to present her as a character with intelligence and some agency initially, as she tries to discover MacLeod’s secrets. In the end, though, the character doesn’t quite work, as she settles into the role of love interest/damsel in distress once she learns the truth. Even worse, the Brenda character has no real chemistry with Lambert’s MacLeod, and we don’t get a sense of why Brenda gets through MacLeod’s emotional defenses. This undermines our investment in Brenda’s fate when Kurgan attacks, since we have no real fear that Connor will die, as he’s immortal. Still, the movie makes us care deeply about the immortal characters, and the action is superb, and that overcomes any of the weaknesses in the script.

The worldbuilding also tends to be a bit hit or miss, which is fine for a singular movie, but sets a weaker foundation for a series. The movie gives you just what you need to know to understand the action, and as long as you understand the basics of immortals, that’s enough to enjoy this film. We need to know the rule about holy ground to establish the meeting between Connor and Kurgan in the church, for instance, because that explains why they don’t fight immediately. The flashbacks to Connor’s earlier life are excellent, with some beautifully shot transitions between time periods and some fascinating details that flesh out Connor’s history. At the same time, other world design elements don’t contribute to the plot at all and seem nebulous, such as The Quickening and the race with the stag. Most of all, the problem with Highlander as a continuing series is The Prize itself. Once all the immortals are dead and The Prize is won, the series is essentially over, making it difficult to continue the story beyond stories set in the past. The Prize also seems a bit nebulous and not worth the effort to obtain it once the story reveals what it actually is. The movie also leaves open numerous questions, opting to wave them aside so that the movie can focus on the romantic drama and main conflict with Connor and Kurgan.

The casting is largely quite good, though there are some points that may raise eyebrows. Christopher Lambert is outstanding as Connor MacLeod, showing his range as an actor through the development of the character. Lambert plays the young Connor as boisterous, laughing, and unrefined, showing a clear difference between the haunted immortal he is as a 400-year-old man. The beauty of Lambert’s performance is in the eyes, which look much older in his present-day scenes. Clancy Brown is one of my favorite villain actors, and his Kurgan may perhaps be one of his finest performances as a “heavy” in a film. Some of it is his imposing physical presence, which is large and intimidating, as well as his deep and gravelly voice. However, much of it is the way that Brown plays this villain, embracing the role and portraying Kurgan as a monster who enjoys the mayhem he causes. He gets the benefit of some outstanding lines at times, such as the classic “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” from the church scene. His voice projection, charisma, and performance make that line truly memorable, and I cannot imagine anyone but Clancy Brown doing nearly as well with that line. Sean Connery was always a fantastic actor in anything he was in, and he was able to play the foppish Ramirez while losing none of his charismatic edge. The other actors are generally solid in their roles, though it is Lambert, Brown, and Connery that carry the weight of the film.

Although there are flaws that date the film, such as certain aspects of the script and the special effects, Highlander is still a genre film classic and deservedly so. This is a movie that has an undeniable charm because of the writing, main actors, and the world it introduced, so much so that it is easy to love even with its small concerns. Unfortunately, Highlander has also been a movie that has proved impossible to top even within its own series. The movie is in many ways a victim of its own success, defeating nearly every attempt to follow it, save for Highlander: The Series. Still, the original Highlander stands the test of time, and it is a film that is still worth revisiting even after all these decades.

Score: 4.5/5

Director: Russell Mulcahy

Cast: Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, Beatie Edney, Alan North, Sheila Gish, Jon Polito, Christopher Malcolm

Author Profile

Steve Sellers

Steve Sellers had been a fan of superheroes ever since Superman: The Movie. But it took the JSA, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, Twilight Zone, and Chris Claremont's legendary run on the X-Men to make him a writer and a longtime fan of comics, fantasy, and science fiction. Steve is the co-creator of WHITE DRUID & MICHAEL NERO and GUARDIANS OF ELAYIM for Omen Comics, and he is also the creator of BLITZ and SHOCKWAVE for Revelation Comics (an imprint of Omen Comics).