There Can be Only One

What can be cooler than immortal swordsmen having battles on the streets of New York while lightning flashes and power ballads soundtrack their attacks? That is the aesthetic proposition of Highlander, the 1986 film starring Christopher Lambert as one of the immortal swordsmen. And it was aided, of course, by a killer soundtrack by Queen, the 1970s/1980s rock group that were, for a time, the titans of the genre. It was a value proposition so good that, even a decade later, all the nerdy people I knew were still raving about just how awesome the film was.

But the thing is, that first film, that Highlander that all the nerds thought was so awesome, was actually a total flop at the Box office. Produced by the Thorn EMI and released by 20th Century Fox (at least in the U.S.), the film was made on a budget of $19 Mil but only recouped $13 Mil in theaters worldwide. But the 1980s were a different time from our modern era, and just because a film flopped in theaters back then that didn’t make it a total flop. Video rights, sales, rentals, and television licensing all worked together to make a mediocre performer into something better, and Highlander was no exception.

Over the years the film built something of a cult following, from many of those same nerds I used to know (and not to disparage them as I was one of their ilk as well, another nerd thinking immortal swordfighters were cool). Just five. Years after Highlander came out, the cult around the film had built up enough that a sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening, was released… and then flopped even harder. But then, we’ll get to that film at a later time. Suffice it to say that even if audiences in 1986 didn’t quite get the film upon its first release, it eventually found the audience it needed to become something of a hit.

And, again, it’s not hard to see why. Highlander is a sweeping action epic about immortals, focused on central hero Connor MacLeod, a Scottish clansman who, in 1536, gets mortally wounded by a black knight, The Kurgan (Clancy Brown), in a clan war. The Kurgan gets dragged off before he can finish off Connor, and our clansman is taken back home, mortally wounded and expected to die. But he doesn’t; instead he miraculously lives, fully healed in a matter of days. The people of his clan see this as a bad omen, though, so they chase him from their village, thinking he made a pact with the devil. Evil magic is about him and they want nothing to do with it.

And they’re not entirely wrong as Connor is, in fact, magic. He is one of the rare immortals, a fact that The Kurgan could detect as the black knight was also an immortal. Thankfully, a new friend arrives to train him: Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (Sean Connery), another immortal who means Connor no ill will. Together they train, and fight, and get ready for the eventual time, centuries later, when all the immortals will feel compelled to gather, to fight, so that, in the end, there can be only one. That one will get “The Prize”, and whatever it may be, it’s important that someone good, like Connor, wins lest The Kurgan (or someone of his ilk) uses it to do great evil upon the world.

At its best, Highlander knows just what it wants to be: a cool movie about immortal swordsmen fighting, killing, and being awesome. There’s no denying that when the action is just right, and the direction is able to let loose, Highlander finds just the right spot to tap into its inherent coolness and be as awesome as it should be. Big men, against cool backdrops, swinging swords while rock music plays. That’s really all the film needs to be cool, and there are plenty of these kinds of moments throughout the film.

The issues with Highlander come when the film has to try and justify its setup. It adds more and more mythology to its work, trying to explain why the immortals exist, what they’re fighting for, what all of it means, and, honestly, none of it is necessary. Do we need to know anything about what they do or why they exist? No, the simple fact they exist is reason enough to watch them. “We are born, every once in a while, and if we fight and kill another, we steal their power.” That’s it, that’s all you need to say. Drop in a bad guy, having him played by a character actor that devours scenery, and you have a movie.

Thankfully they do have that latter part, with Clancy Brown having a grand old time playing The Kurgan. Brown clearly knew what kind of film he was in, something silly but awesome, and he goes to town devouring as much scenery as he can during his screen time. The Kurgan isn’t actually a major part of the film, only appearing in a few scenes before the end of the film (and getting almost every good fight scene), but Brown makes the most of every scene he gets, creating an evil, imposing figure that feels appropriately villainous.

Lambert is less well cast for the role. He’s great in the flashback sequences that tell his story in the 1500s, his rise from simple clansman to eventual immortal hero. He feels less at home, though, in the modern-set sequences, where he has to keep his mystery while also fighting his sword battles. Lambert doesn’t seem comfortable in this version of the character, the more reserved, less wild version of Connor. It feels like he wants to chew scenery but doesn’t feel like that’s appropriate for the character, so it makes for a more boring, less interesting performance for the heroes.

But then there’s Connery who I want to say is miscast and yet… kind of isn’t. The worst part about his performance here is the actor supposedly playing an Egyptian Immortal who has, for decades, been living at the Spanish court, all while sporting a Scottish brogue, as is the actor’s signature vocal style. He supposedly worked with a vocal coach for this performance, but if he did, you can’t tell. It’s silly and doesn’t work. But the actor is able to paper over all this by just being an enjoyable, charismatic lout, and eventually you just stop caring. He’s great fun to watch, even if he feels discordant as hell.

But if I’m being honest, the worst part of the film is also the best part: the sword fights. There are times where these are awesome, with all the flash and action you want. But it’s also pretty clear that the actors couldn’t train for their roles as long as they needed to. The sword fighting feels very scripted, very staged, very safe. It never feels natural; instead it feels like actors swinging swords around to hit the other swords. It’s play fighting, never real enough to feel like it belongs in the movie. I had a hard time taking it seriously.

Plus, there are times where the low budget really shows. There are moments where the backdrops feel like setpieces on a stage with a green screen behind. There are times where visible wirework clearly shows. There are moments where lightning and magic is drawn by hand on the movie cells. These moments all look bad, showing just how much the production team had to scrape to get anything close to their vision filmed. I respect the effort, but the end result just doesn’t work as well as I would wish.

Honestly, I like Highlander when it’s about the Scottish warrior learning what it means to be an immortal. I get bored with the film when it tries to be about anything else. The film should have focused on what worked and saved all the other crap – the mythologizing, the magic, the modern setting – for a different film. It detracts from what works here and makes Highlander a weaker film than it needs to be.

I think the idea of Highlander is cool (it was cool enough to lead to four more movies, an anime, an animated series, and two live action series). Immortal swordsmen battling each other for power is a simple, excellent idea that can carry all kinds of stories. But this film tries to do too much, weakening all aspects of the film. A little can go a long way, and that’s what this film needed to understand. Instead of pushing its budget it should have worked within it on a focused story that introduced us to the world. That’s the Highlander wanted, but it’s this messy film (and its even messier sequels) that we got instead.