Highlander (1986)

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1. 

   greenhorg

   This whole movie looks like something you'd see airbrushed on the side of a van. 10 years 6 months ago
2. 

   badblokebob

   Pfft to you all, I love Highlander. 12 years 1 month ago
3. 

   Siskoid

   When I was a teenager, everyone talked about Highlander. I saw on TV once and only once, and didn't really give it my full attention, so I just nodded along at the pop culture references when someone in my D&D group would make them (and after all, it did spawn more films and a couple of TV series). Almost 30 years later, I finally watch it again, as if for the first time, and in my subsequent research, discover public opinion of it has gone from cult favorite to disliked piece of dreck in the interim. Well - and I can say this without the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia - I'm going to defend it. Okay sure, it's got 80s affectations, like an action star who uses accented English and minimal acting skills, and dated clothes, hair and special effects. The B-movie clichés, like sometimes lame sword fighting choreography (Clancy Brown can't fake it) and the gratuitous sex scene, are less forgivable. But I can't agree with those who say the direction is terrible; it was the best thing about the film. On that score, it felt like Russell Mulcahy was drinking from the same water many Hong Kong directors were. It had cool transitions - especially when flashing back to MacLeod's history - and hid its choreography problems relatively well with atmosphere, surprising camera shots, and expressionism. Of course, the stuff even detractors DO like - the Queen soundtrack, the premise of Immortals fighting across history - is still great. It doesn't mean I'm going to run out and find the sequels and TV series - there can be only one - but the original is a fun, watchable product of its time that nevertheless has some modern style to it. 9 years 3 months ago

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