After many years I watched again Highlander. I didn't remember much of it, except that the last time I saw it I came away with a so-so kind of impression. Well, this time it was worse. The movie, or I, didn't age well. Probably both.
Obviously, it's an action flick, so the plot is paper thin, something to do with immortals trying to chop each other's heads off for reasons the writers had the good grace to mostly leave in the dark, and at some point the central conflict gets a little more personal anyway. The plot isn't the problem, by the standards of the genre it's as good as any.
And, of course, being made in the 80ies there is only so much one can expect in terms of technical perfection. The fight scenes are a bit tedious, and the special effects funny, but that, too, isn't really the problem.
One problem is that the acting is uniformly bad. In fact, it's been a while since I saw a cast that failed at their jobs in almost perfect harmony. To be fair, the script doesn't provide a awful lot of opportunity for great acting, but all major actors even fail at the most basic emotions, much less the few instances where some complexity might have been nice. In part that is also the fault of script, direction, and photography; a good example is a very emotional moment between our hero and his wife, which is filled with stilted monologue, quick glances at Lambert's expressionless face, and then sweeping landscape shots to illustrate the enormity of the emotion that the actor didn't.
The story itself is confused, and the characters are difficult to care for, and cartoonish. A few immortals pop into (and often quickly out of, in ways that make a mockery of the concept of "immortal") the storyline, but we never really learn much about them (with the exception of a little bit of background on Connery's character). The modern love story is contrived and ludicrous, and as much just a pretext for a little bit of mild nudity and humping as the rest is for the fight scenes. It's a carelessly strung together collection of stuff that is best not taken too seriously.
Another small annoyance is the music --- good pieces by Queen, but as a soundtrack to a movie too intrusive.
I guess it might still work for fans, but I doubt a modern viewer will get much pleasure from this movie. The premise is good enough for an action flick, but the execution just isn't very good.
Obviously, it's an action flick, so the plot is paper thin, something to do with immortals trying to chop each other's heads off for reasons the writers had the good grace to mostly leave in the dark, and at some point the central conflict gets a little more personal anyway. The plot isn't the problem, by the standards of the genre it's as good as any.
And, of course, being made in the 80ies there is only so much one can expect in terms of technical perfection. The fight scenes are a bit tedious, and the special effects funny, but that, too, isn't really the problem.
One problem is that the acting is uniformly bad. In fact, it's been a while since I saw a cast that failed at their jobs in almost perfect harmony. To be fair, the script doesn't provide a awful lot of opportunity for great acting, but all major actors even fail at the most basic emotions, much less the few instances where some complexity might have been nice. In part that is also the fault of script, direction, and photography; a good example is a very emotional moment between our hero and his wife, which is filled with stilted monologue, quick glances at Lambert's expressionless face, and then sweeping landscape shots to illustrate the enormity of the emotion that the actor didn't.
The story itself is confused, and the characters are difficult to care for, and cartoonish. A few immortals pop into (and often quickly out of, in ways that make a mockery of the concept of "immortal") the storyline, but we never really learn much about them (with the exception of a little bit of background on Connery's character). The modern love story is contrived and ludicrous, and as much just a pretext for a little bit of mild nudity and humping as the rest is for the fight scenes. It's a carelessly strung together collection of stuff that is best not taken too seriously.
Another small annoyance is the music --- good pieces by Queen, but as a soundtrack to a movie too intrusive.
I guess it might still work for fans, but I doubt a modern viewer will get much pleasure from this movie. The premise is good enough for an action flick, but the execution just isn't very good.