Film Review: Highlander

My first film review since Psycho and since I will be a bit busy over Christmas I wanted to end this year on a high note. So I thought what better way to do that then review one of my most all time favourite films of all time; Highlander.

The film stars Christopher Lambert as Connor Macleod, born in Scotland in the year 1518 and in the year 1536 is mortally wounded in battle by the warrior Kurgan (Clancy Brown), however he does not die and instead fully recovers from his injuries. Driven from his village he eventually becomes a blacksmith and settles down with a woman named Heather (Beatie Edney). One day a mysterious man appears named Juan Sanchez Villa – Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery) who explains to Conner what he really is; an Immortal just like him, Kurgan and many others. Connor can not age and can not die (Besides from having his head chopped off) and must eventually battle with all of the other Immortals to obtain the Prize, because there can be only one! This story takes over the course of centauries and ends up in New York 1885 where Connor must fight Kurgan in a final epic showdown.

I immediately liked this story after only the first few minutes and that is because I am a massive fan of the old mid nineties to late nineties adventure films (like Conan, Jason and the Argonauts, Brave heart etc). They just don’t make them like this anymore maybe because they really rely too much of computer special effects nowadays or because their locations don’t look as epic, it is hard to explain but nothing modern can compare to them.

I admit I am getting a little off topic here so back to the film; what I really like about the structure this film is how it cuts to flashbacks every now and again to tell another part of Connor’s story but it does not upset the flow of the film at all because it is all relevant.

Of course however one of my favourite things about this film is the awesome sword fights that they have in it. That is another thing about modern adventure films; their sword fighting is all about over the top moves and jumping about. In Highlander it looks a lot more authentic and realistic, it is really on the edge of your seat stuff, I mean the final duel between Connor and Kurgan is something I will never forget.

As for the cast I can not think of any other actors who would have been better at the roles. Christopher Lambert gives a stellar performance as Connor Macleod and he really makes you feel for the character as you watch the events of his incredibly long life. This is one of my favourite Sean Connery roles as the tutor Ramirez but who could forget Clancy Brown as the villainous Kurgan; the guy his menacing, psychotic and intimidating, it is hard to believe that anyone can beat him. Then of course you have a really good supporting cast from Connor’s first wife Heather to his modern love interest Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart).

Other stuff I would like to mention is the great use of establishing shots during the flashbacks in Scotland. They really capture the beauty of its country side; one of my favourite scenes of the film is Connor’s training montage which has some epic shots. Then there is the music delivered by my favourite band Queen and did a fantastic job at it. I mean come one who could not get sad during the scene when Connor’s marriage with Heather is flashing by and they play Who Wants to Live Forever, you would have to be made out of stone.

Overall I really recommend this film to anyone who likes adventure fantasy films because it is simply one of the best but then again I think everyone should check out this film. It is a prime example of adventure fantasy film at its best which the modern era of today is severally lacking.

SCORE: 10/10

Here is a quick run down of the Highlander sequels, I did not want to do separate reviews on all of them but I did not want to leave them.

Highlander 2: The Quickening: The worst one of the sequels because they add sci – fi to the plot and it fails at every turn. You might have already heard bad things about this film and they are mostly all right and it is a shame. However it is not completely unwatchable; I myself still watch it when I want to watch all Highlanders in order and some of the fight scenes are OK but I will not blame you for skipping this one. SCORE: 2/10

Highlander 3: The Sorcerer: Now this is a true squeal to the first Highlander and the makers must have wanted that to be obvious because they completely disregard the events of the second film. However it is not all perfect because some parts feel like a copy of the first film, and I wished they could have had more sword fighting. But this is really good because it includes some great music (especially during the sword repairing montage), great sword fights when they get down to it and I found the villain Kane (Mario Van Peebles) to be a really cool antagonist. SCORE: 6/10

Higher: Endgame: Easily the best of all of the Highlander series because I feel that out of all them, this one returns as close to it’s roots and tries to recapture the essence of the first film. This film does not star Connor however instead it focuses on Duncan Macleod (Adrian Paul) the star character from the TV series. This film has a lot of really great moments, from the really great fight scenes, the wide range of cast and the great use of flashbacks that really does remind me of the first film. However because this film is about the star of the TV series there is a lot of references to it so those who have not seen it might find some points hard to follow and even though I really like Duncan as the main character it does get to me that Connor is a secondary character in this one. I do highly recommend this squeal for all of the Highlander fans. SCORE 8/10 

Film Review: Psycho (1960)

My first film review and I thought I would on one of my favourite films and an all time classic; Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Like all my other reviews this will contain SPOILERS so I advice you to only read on if you have seen the film.

This film stars Janet Leigh as Marion Crane who steals $40,000 from the realtors office she works for in hopes of giving it to her boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin) because he is massively in debt and does not want to marry when he can barely afford it. Marion flees out of town and ends up staying a night at the Bates Motel run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a troubled man with a domineering mother. That is the first half of the story, the second half stars Marion’s sister Lila Crane (Vera Miles) who searches for her and also introduces the character Milton Arbogast (Jon McIntire) a private detective.

I really liked this story; it is simple but effective and really gets the audience involved with it. It also has a lot of suspense, for example when Marion is on the run there is a cop who stalks her and you just don’t know his the cop suspects her or not. (MASSIVE SPOILER) This film also contains the famous shower in which Marion is killed by Norman Bates and it is one of the best film scenes I have ever seen. The camera work and the acting by Janet Leigh is so convincing, this was a time when bloody violence and nudity was frowned upon but they do an amazing job making it as realistic as possible. That is another thing I really liked about the film; the brilliant camera work, they do a lot of excellent close up shots on the faces of the characters and there is a great scene where Arbogast is falling down the stars and like the shower scene they really convince you it is happening.

Every single character’s performance in this film is perfection but the highlight of them all is Anthony Perkins for his portrayal as Norman Bates. He makes the character seem as polite and shy as possible while at the same time really disturbed, especially during the conversation he has with Marion and he explains his hobby about taxidermy. The music is also great in this as well, the one that plays during the shower scene has become iconic and the fast paced one that plays when Marion is on the run really suits the moment.

Overall this is one of the most iconic films ever created and one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest. Even though this film was not the first slasher film it is certainly started off a new craze for it that began in the 1980s. I really do not have anything bad to say about this film because it is a fine example of cinema at its best.

SCORE: 10/10