SPOILERS
In 1986, with a Queen soundtrack to be proud of, there was "Highlander". With Christopher Lambert as Connor McLeod of the clan McLeod, 80s cinema had a hero worthy of our attention. With that in mind, it feels obvious now that a sequel was always going to appear. This sequel eventually would make an appearance in 1991, but to this day, I'd be very surprised if anyone felt this film was a good idea.
In "Highlander II: The Quickening", Connor McLeod is an old man. Having become mortal at the end of the original feature, McLeod saved the world with a "shield" to protect the world from the typical 1980s terror that was Global Warming. Twenty five years later and the shield has become a plague upon mankind, covering the skies and leaving the world in eternal darkness. With the help of his old friend Ramirez (Sean Connery) and Louise Marcus (80s icon Virginia Madsen), McLeod does battle with old enemy General Katana (Michael Ironside) as he attempts to fix his old mistake.
There really is little good that can be said about this second Highlander film. Simply put, it never should have been made. Rather than trying to think up any good points, let's just look a few of the problems with it.
Firstly, the plot of "Highlander II" destroys elements of the original film. Whilst in the original, McLeod was born in medieval Scotland and Connery's Ramirez was an ancient Egyptian, in this film they are exciled rebels from a different planet. Sent to Earth as punishment, they are told they may only return home once there is only one of them remaining. This new twist to the Highlander idea is hideous and quite frankly, farcical.
The second truely awful thing about this film is the acting. Whilst not a massive fan of Sean Connery at the best of times, in this film he is particularly attrocious as the Egyptian Alien with a Scottish accent who dies to the sound of Scottish Bagpipes. Alongside him is the tedious Christopher Lambert who speaks so softly during the film that the volume needs to be raised to a degree that any sound effect deafens the audience. Whilst a novel if unbelievable partnership in the first film, in the sequel Connery and Lambert are generally awful.
The final problem with this film which is worth talking about is the colours and the lighting involved. As a result of the "shield" being bright red and blotting out the Sun, the vast majority of this film is set in either pitch black or in a brain haemorraging red and black mix. It is impossible to follow the events in this film, not just due to the abysmal plot, but also because if you look at the screen for too long, you find your retina burning inside your skull.
In an attempt to summarise, whilst the creators of "Highlander" produced a simple action film which was simple to relax and enjoy, when they created this first sequel to it, they created an abomination. "Highlander II" is in the worst 100 films of all times list on this website, the only criticism to be made of this is that it isn't in that list at number one. Avoid this film like the Black Death.
In 1986, with a Queen soundtrack to be proud of, there was "Highlander". With Christopher Lambert as Connor McLeod of the clan McLeod, 80s cinema had a hero worthy of our attention. With that in mind, it feels obvious now that a sequel was always going to appear. This sequel eventually would make an appearance in 1991, but to this day, I'd be very surprised if anyone felt this film was a good idea.
In "Highlander II: The Quickening", Connor McLeod is an old man. Having become mortal at the end of the original feature, McLeod saved the world with a "shield" to protect the world from the typical 1980s terror that was Global Warming. Twenty five years later and the shield has become a plague upon mankind, covering the skies and leaving the world in eternal darkness. With the help of his old friend Ramirez (Sean Connery) and Louise Marcus (80s icon Virginia Madsen), McLeod does battle with old enemy General Katana (Michael Ironside) as he attempts to fix his old mistake.
There really is little good that can be said about this second Highlander film. Simply put, it never should have been made. Rather than trying to think up any good points, let's just look a few of the problems with it.
Firstly, the plot of "Highlander II" destroys elements of the original film. Whilst in the original, McLeod was born in medieval Scotland and Connery's Ramirez was an ancient Egyptian, in this film they are exciled rebels from a different planet. Sent to Earth as punishment, they are told they may only return home once there is only one of them remaining. This new twist to the Highlander idea is hideous and quite frankly, farcical.
The second truely awful thing about this film is the acting. Whilst not a massive fan of Sean Connery at the best of times, in this film he is particularly attrocious as the Egyptian Alien with a Scottish accent who dies to the sound of Scottish Bagpipes. Alongside him is the tedious Christopher Lambert who speaks so softly during the film that the volume needs to be raised to a degree that any sound effect deafens the audience. Whilst a novel if unbelievable partnership in the first film, in the sequel Connery and Lambert are generally awful.
The final problem with this film which is worth talking about is the colours and the lighting involved. As a result of the "shield" being bright red and blotting out the Sun, the vast majority of this film is set in either pitch black or in a brain haemorraging red and black mix. It is impossible to follow the events in this film, not just due to the abysmal plot, but also because if you look at the screen for too long, you find your retina burning inside your skull.
In an attempt to summarise, whilst the creators of "Highlander" produced a simple action film which was simple to relax and enjoy, when they created this first sequel to it, they created an abomination. "Highlander II" is in the worst 100 films of all times list on this website, the only criticism to be made of this is that it isn't in that list at number one. Avoid this film like the Black Death.