Highlander: The Source (2007)

Director:

Brett Leonard

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Kelvin Watkins (screenplay) and
Mark Bradley (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 August 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In a world without end, their will is eternal. But a quest for the source of immortality will awaken the Guardian.

Plot:

Duncan MacLeod and his fellow Immortals quest to locate the Grail of their world.

Plot Keywords:

Immortal | Quest | Immortality | Watcher | Highlander

Cast

Adrian Paul	...	Duncan MacLeod
Thekla Reuten	...	Anna Teshemka
Cristian Solimeno	...	The Guardian
Peter Wingfield	...	Methos
Jim Byrnes	...	Joe Dawson
Stephen Rahman Hughes	...	Zai Jie
Stephen Wight	...	Reggie Weller
Thom Fell	...	Cardinal Giovanni
Patrice Naiambana	...	The Elder
Sakalas Uzdavinys	...	Security Guard
Laurynas Jurgelis	...	Boy in Stadium
Geoffrey T. Bersey	...	Brother Radu (as Geofry Bersey)
Antanas Surgailis	...	Monk 1
Laimutis Leonas Ciunis	...	Monk 2
Rolandas Boravskis	...	Jurgis
Saulis Siparis	...	Man in Tyres
Marina Ivenkova	...	Screaming Woman
Mykolas Dorofejus	...	Hanging Man
Alius Makovskis	...	Old Guardian
Buckley Norris	...	Captain

Directed by
Brett Leonard

Writing credits (WGA)
Stephen Kelvin Watkins		(screenplay) and
Mark Bradley		(screenplay)
Mark Bradley		(story)
Gregory Widen		(characters) (as Greg Widen)

Produced by
Chris Chrisafis	....	co-producer
Guy Collins	....	co-producer
Peter S. Davis	....	producer
Zivile Gallego	....	assistant producer (as Zivile Januskaite)
William N. Panzer	....	producer
Adrian Paul	....	executive producer
B.J. Rack	....	executive producer
Michael Ryan	....	co-producer
Ramunas Skikas	....	co-producer
Christian von Tippelskirch	....	line producer
Donatas Zvalionis	....	co-producer

Original Music by
George Kallis

Cinematography by
Steve Arnold

Film Editing by
Chris Blunden
Les Healey
Terry Jones		(documentary editor)

Casting by
Dalia Survilaite

Production Design by
Tom Brown

Art Direction by
Dean Clegg

Costume Design by
Alexandra Tonelli

Makeup Department
Egle Mikalauskaite	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Arturas Dvinelis	....	production manager
Lisa Jordan	....	post-producer
Agne Silickaite	....	second unit manager
Barrett Taylor	....	post-production supervisor (USA domestic version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrius Brazas	....	third assistant director
Marco Ciglia	....	first assistant director
Rita Clifford	....	second assistant director
Agne Januskyte	....	second assistant director: second unit
Michael Samer	....	second second assistant director
Eddie Stacey	....	second unit director
Neil Tuohy	....	first assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Arturas Bujokas	....	sculptor
Arturas Cerkauskas	....	set dresser
Aurelijus Gaidelionis	....	assistant property master
Gediminas Gerulis	....	on-set dresser
Gintas Matonis	....	construction coordinator
Ramunas Rastauskas	....	property master
Sarune Tautvaisaite	....	stand-by props
Vilius Vanagas	....	art department assistant
Rosanna Westwood	....	stand-by art director

Sound Department
Paul Cotterell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Les Fiddess	....	foley artist
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Howard Halsall	....	adr editor
Dan Johnston	....	foley editor
Zdenek Manych	....	boom operator
Rene Mikan	....	sound mixer
Rob Prynne	....	sound effects editor
Steve C. Shaw	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer

Special Effects by
Michael Clifford	....	special effects supervisor: Lithuania
Jens Döldissen	....	special effects supervisor
Sean Kenrick	....	special effects technician
Ian Morse	....	makeup effects supervisor
Anthony Parker	....	prosthetics creator

Visual Effects by
Phil Anderson	....	special effects supervisor: model unit
Bob Ballan	....	senior model maker
James Ballan	....	model maker
Steven Bray	....	digital compositor
Steven Bray	....	matte painter
Alan Church	....	visual effects supervisor
Lee Clappison	....	colourist
Tom Collier	....	lead compositor
Neil Culley	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Nick D'Aguiar	....	junior compositor
Neil Damman	....	senior model maker
Stefan Drury	....	head of film effects: LipSync Post
Simon Ford	....	senior model maker
William Foxwell	....	digital lab operator: Lip Sync Post (as Will Foxwell)
Simon Giles	....	visual effects supervisor
Meetal Gokul	....	assistant digital editor
Varun Hadkar	....	digital compositor
Julia Hall	....	senior designer: LipSync Post
David Hewitt	....	model maker (as Dave Hewitt)
David Hilton	....	model unit camera operator (as Dave Hilton)
Katja Hollmann	....	digital lab producer: Lipsync Post (as Katja Lazare)
Russell Horth	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Pete Howlett	....	digital compositor
Daryl Jordan	....	visual effects editor
Richard Ketteridge	....	visual effects editor
Daniel Kumiega	....	computer graphic artist
Danius Kvedaras	....	compositor: LipSync Post
David Lloyd	....	head of film technology: LipSync Post
Alasdair MacCuish	....	senior producer: Lipsync Post
Ashish Malhotra	....	compositor: Maya Entertainment Ltd.
David Margolis	....	digital compositor
Anshul Mathuria	....	digital compositor
Aileen McIntosh	....	digital lab operator: Lipsync Post
Alberto Montañés	....	digital compositor
Alan More	....	model unit producer
Gary Morton	....	construction manager: model unit
Jesh Murthy	....	visual effects: Anibrain
Kevin Phelan	....	head of post production: Lipsync Post
Thomas Power	....	model maker (as Tom Power)
Glen Pratt	....	lead compositor: LipSync Post
Angela Rose	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Jon Rosenthal	....	digital effects artist
Steve Scott	....	senior model maker (as Steven Scott)
Steve Shaw	....	digital consultant
Sampat Shetty	....	digital compositor
Naveen Shukla	....	digital compositor
Brett Smith	....	visual effects (USA domestic version)
Avishay Sweiry	....	animation designer: LipSync Post
Daniel Tomlinson	....	digital lab operator
Joe Took	....	model maker
Leigh Took	....	model unit supervisor
Vasanthan	....	senior compositor
Howard Watkins	....	creative director: LipSync Post
Sheila Wickens	....	visual effects supervisor: LipSync Post (as Sheila Gorman)
Jonathan Wood	....	digital effects artist
Christopher D. Martin	....	lead visual effects designer (uncredited)

Stunts
Stanislav Adamickij	....	stunts
Sándor Boros	....	stunts
Tomas Ereminas	....	stunts
James Grogan	....	stunt double
László Imre	....	stunts
Bela Kasi	....	stunts
Péter Katona	....	stunt driver
Péter Katona	....	stunt performer
Leonid Kotik	....	stunts
Levente Lezsák	....	stunts
Ruta Nemanyte	....	horse wrangler
Slava Samuchov	....	stunts
Eddie Stacey	....	stunt coordinator
Grigorij Strelec	....	stunt rider
Jonas Tamulevigius	....	stunts
Béla Unger	....	stunt arranger
Béla Unger	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Feliksas Abrukauskas	....	second assistant camera
Richard Blanshard	....	still photographer
Egidijus Braziunas	....	gaffer
Marc Dando	....	digital lab supervisor
Linas Dikcius	....	assistant camera
Ross Fall	....	digital imaging technician
Simas Gricius	....	best boy: second unit
Vytaitas Gudlevicius	....	key grip
Zdislav Jagelo	....	electrician
Rolandas Joneliukstis	....	first assistant camera
Justin Lanchbury	....	camera coordinator
Petr Machacek	....	first assistant camera
Florian Rettich	....	digital imaging technician
Rokas Rudzionis	....	key grip: second unit
Audrius Zelenius	....	assistant camera
Linas Zilys	....	dolly grip

Casting Department
Vanessa Baker	....	adr voice casting
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting
Vita Survilaite	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Julija Mickenaite	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Silvestras Dobroslavskis	....	post-production
Scott Freeman	....	assistant on-line editor
Scott Goulding	....	on-line film editor
Dirk Meier	....	digital image technician
John Nash	....	on-line editor
Tomas Rugevicius	....	assistant editor
Neguine Sanani	....	additional editor
Brett Smith	....	colorist
Milena Tasso	....	assistant editor
Samantha Welland	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
George Kallis	....	conductor
George Kallis	....	songwriter
Liz Schrek	....	music supervisor
Mark Tucker	....	score recording engineer
Tom Villano	....	supervising music editor
Graham Walker	....	music production supervisor

Transportation Department
Inga Zavoronok	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Brian Bero	....	armorer
Christopher Gray	....	post production assistant
Christopher Hutchins	....	director's assistant
Arturas Nemanis	....	horse master
John O'Quigley	....	data technical manager
Rasa Rimkute	....	assistant to cast
Caroline Sax	....	script supervisor
Ramunas Skikas	....	managing director
Susie Tullett	....	unit publicist
Rasa Vilkaityté	....	assistant production coordinator
Loreta Zajarskyte	....	production coordinator

Thanks
Kristi Lake	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Davis-Panzer Productions
• HandMade Films
• IAC Films
• Lietuvos Kinostudija
• Lithuanian Film Studio
• Sequence Film

Distributors

• Lions Gate Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• NonStop Entertainment (2008) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Eagle Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2007) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• IAC Films (2006) (non-USA) (all media) (sales)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2008) (Thailand) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2008) (Vietnam) (all media)
• Lions Gate Films (2006) (USA) (all media)
• Lionsgate
• Mediafilm (2009) (Italy) (all media)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Anibrain (visual effects)
• Oysterr (visual effects) (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Hyperactive Broadcast  editing equipment
• AON/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services  insurance services
• Amber Catering  catering
• Cage Rage  stock footage
• CineFinance Insurance Services  completion guarantor
• Dennis Davidson & Associates Public Releations (DDA)  public relations (as DDA Public Relations)
• Electric Cinema and Sound  additional adr Birmingham, UK
• Geluidsstudio Alfred Klaassen  additional adr (Amsterdam) (as Studio Alfred Klaassen)
• Getty Images  stock footage
• Grosvenor Park Productions  production finance (as Grosvenor Park)
• Lip Sync Post  digital intermediate and titles
• Lip Sync Post  post-production facilities
• Lip Sync Post  sound re-recording
• Lip Sync Post  visual effects
• Malde & Co.  auditor
• Matchframe Video  post-production facilities (US version)
• Micdi Productions  music editing (US version)
• Midtown Editorial  post-production facilities (as Christy's Midtown Editorial / USA domestic version)
• MotionFX  camera equipment provided by
• Oncore Productions  post-production script
• Phaze UK  sound design
• Post Sums  post-production accountants
• Soundworks  sound re-recording (US version)
• Stargate Digital  additional visual effects (USA domestic version)
• Sync Point  foley services (as Sync Point, Ltd)
• The Moving Picture Archive  stock footage
• Virtualmix  sound re-recording
• Wildfire Studios  ADR Recording Facility (uncredited)
• Wilshire Stages, The  ADR recording facility (uncredited)
• Zet Catering  catering

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language

Runtime:

86 min | Brazil:99 min (DVD version) | Russia:94 min (DVD version)

Country:

UK | USA | Lithuania

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A | UK:15 | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Kaunas, Lithuania

Company:

Davis-Panzer Productions

Trivia:

Russell Mulcahy was attached to direct the film early in development. Mulcahy disagreed with Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer on the direction of the story, as he wanted it to be a prequel focusing around the first-ever generation of immortals, thousands of years before the original Highlander (1986), with Adrian Paul only appearing as Duncan MacLeod in a framing story. On the other hand, Panzer and Davis wanted to follow up Highlander: Endgame (2000) and have Duncan appear throughout the whole film. Eventually, Mulcahy left the production, feeling that a repeat of the events that resulted in the critical and commercial failure of Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) was about to happen.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene at the monastery, Duncan and Joe breaks through the monastery door with Joe's jeep. A few minutes later, as the Guardian arrives, Reggie goes out to fight him, and the monastery door is unharmed.

Quotes:

Anna:You're a smart guy, Reggie. How come you make believe you're not?
Reggie Weller:Now what makes you say that, love?
[Anna playfully slaps him on the shoulder]
Reggie Weller:[more serious] When people think you're a bit of a cabbage, they tend to underestimate you. That's good for keeping a head on one's shoulders when you're immortal.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Spoony Experiment: Highlander: The Source Review (#3.20)" (2010)

Dreadful - Too Bad There Aren't Minus Ratings

I loved the first Highlander movie, loved the series, and have found every movie after the first to be pretty awful - but I watch them anyway, hoping against hope that they'll prove me wrong. I thought it couldn't get any worse than Highlander: Endgame, but I was very much mistaken. This is just a terrible movie - like watching a train wreck.

If they didn't destroy continuity in every movie and rewrite the history of the Highlander universe, it might be bearable. Like every other Highlander movie, this one acts like nothing came before it and nothing about it makes sense - it's an insult to the intelligence of the fans. And we have to suffer through yet another half-witted attempt to re-invent the source of immortality and what happens if "there can be only one." The post-apocalyptic world is just plain dark and dreary. Endgame was sort of heading in that direction - it was significantly more world-weary and tattered than the world of the series. However, The Source just plain doesn't make sense. For the world to have gotten in this condition, more than a few years would have to have passed, and Joe Dawson should look more than a couple of years older - by rights the character should have been dead before this movie takes place. But hey, I guess they figure we can't add either.

The fight scenes are terrible - the speeded-up special effects destroy the fun of the fight scenes, and you always expect one decent sword-fighting scene in a Highlander movie - not this one! If I had realized how bad this was going to be, I could have resigned myself to ogling Methos for a couple of hours. This movie is so bad even *that* isn't enjoyable. If I had seen this in a movie theater I'd have wanted my money back. As it is, I want back the time I wasted watching this dreck.

I'm giving up Highlander movies for good. As far as I'm concerned, There Can Be Only One Highlander Movie - and this isn't it.