Oh my... (Highlander)

[Sir Edward]

So, I decided to get Dr. Horrible in DVD format from Amazon, and while I was at it, Amazon recommended "Highlander: The Source". It was cheap, so I thought "sure, why not"...

Well, I'm planning to watch it tonight, so I'll let you know what I think later... but I decided to read some comments online. Check out this review on IMDB:

The movie is so bad, you can't stop watching it!, 16 September 2007
1/10
Author: henry_wyckoff from United States

I thought that Highlander II and the animated Highlander series were the most horrible incarnations ever created, but Highlander: The Source proved to be truly horrible and might win the award for "Worst Highlander Film Ever." The dialogue reads like unedited fanfic, continuity gaps and non-sequiturs are frequent, the special effects are laughable (as in, so bad that they induce involuntary laughter), and the sword fighting sequences -- which make Highlander what it is -- are too painful to watch.

The sad thing is that there was a lot of potential for this story. The overall effect was a movie worthy of a showing on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

I watched this on the Sci-Fi channel, which means that I didn't have to shell out money for a movie rental or a theater viewing, but it still cost me dearly: two hours of my life have been spent. I could have spent that time at the pub, but oh no. I didn't even have the foresight to bring home some beer to dull my senses and make the movie seem to be enjoyable. Highlander had been that much redeemed since Highlander II that I didn't even consider the possibility that it would be a bomb. That reminds me: this movie demands the development of a drinking game.

(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299981/)


... Wow. Now I definitely have to watch it.

[Sir Wolf]

ya i watched it on the sci fi channel too. man what a way to end it all. sigh... let me know when y awatch it, i don't wanna spoil andy thing... likes its possible ahhaha

[Sir Edward]

OK, so I watched it.... The twist in the concept at the end was interesting. But wow, what a piece of crap of a movie. It was impossible to take it seriously. I mean... wow.

[Das Bill]

First, kudos on buying Dr. Horrible, which is only the greatest thing ever created. EVER.

But yeah, I sadly sat through Highlander: The Source when it came out on the Sci-Fi channel. I knew it would be bad, but wow, I didn't comprehend just how bad. How UNBELIEVABLY bad. Or how little it made sense. Dana came in while I was watching it. Here's the transcription of the conversation:

Dana: Who's that guy?
Bill: Uh, I don't know.
(pause to watch a little bit)
Dana: What are they doing?
Bill: I'm not really sure.
(pause)
Dana: Why are they doing that?
Bill: I don't know.
Dana: What's this movie about, anyway?
Bill: I think you know my answer to that.

The fact that it was a Sci-Fi Channel original movie says a lot, though. I haven't seen a single one of those that was even remotely palatable. Even the one with Bruce Cambell fighting insect aliens. (Seriously... how can you screw that up?)

[Sir Wolf]

hehehe that blue billion year old fat guy? the super fast dude? it was kinda just silly.  ahhhhhh the baby at the end. but is it immortal? hmm? hmm?  there can be only one... movie that is, and thats the directors cut of the first one

[Sir Edward]

Haha, yes, the Guardian. The first time he speaks (except for his "There can be only ME!" line in the first fight), he's trying to mock Duncan with a Scottish accent, but he comes off like Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies... All of his movements were cartoonish.

I mean, it's as if they intentionally wanted it to be ridiculous. What were they thinking?

And the review I posted... I have to agree... this movie doesn't even have any decent sword-fights. The few fights that it has are more implied than anything, and sped up like crazy.

WORST MOVIE EVER. Well, not really. Druids is really bad too.

[Dragonlover]

Actually, I've been joking with my Lady on the fact that the Sci-fi
channel has a LOT of dud movies going on.....

[Sir Edward]

I usually don't bother to watch them. *sigh*

[Sir Wolf]

come on, u know u like you some Carnasour or Manskeito or Skeleton warrior! hehehe.my mother in law watches sci fi movies for comedy. everytime i see a new "sci fi" original movie commercial i always yell out to my wife "Call yur mom!" hehehe just to give her a hard time...

[Sir Edward]

The few I've seen weren't very good, but I didn't think they were as bad as Highlander: The Source...

I mean, the main character didn't even have any real meaningful dialogue. It makes me wonder how desperate these actors were that they would subject themselves to this.

[Sir Wolf]

and to think he stopped highlander so he could go back to dancing. i saw a commercial of another adrian paul TV movie he's going to be in.. he must be proud

[Das Bill]

You know, I always remembered Highlander the series as being pretty cheesey. A few months back I discovered that the entire series is online now, for free on www.hulu.com. (I discovered this while watching Dr. Horrible for the first time, which is also hosted on that site... how's that for tying the thread back to the original post?)

I spent much of my holiday break watching the series. A lot of it is still very cheesey. A lot of it is cheesey by modern standards, but wasn't so bad back when it came out. And a lot of it is surprisingly good. I watched the first couple of episodes for a laugh, and they were bad, but then it starts to get better and better throughout the first couple of seasons. (then it gets terrible again in the later seasons)

I didn't realize it until then, but a lot of my romantic ideals about honor and chivalric ideals were in some small part inspired by that show. I'm almost ashamed to admit that. But there are a lot of episodes about putting honor over desire, and I started remembering times of my life that were likely, in a small way, influenced by this (as well as many other things besides Highlander, naturally). I kind of surprised myself, really.

For the record, the swordfighting is still pretty atrocious in the series... but the unarmed fighting is surprisingly quite good. While it was still theatrical, it was very precise, well done, and in many cases correct form (if slightly exaggerated). Go fig.

[Sir Edward]

Yeah, it's always interesting going back and seeing something that you haven't seen in a long time and seeing how your views of it have changed, and what still holds up after all of those years.

I was definitely a bit influenced by it as well. A lot of the times, the moral of the story is still a good one, even if the implementation is cheesy. I never really thought of the show as being that cheesy back then, but rather just a fun diversion. Now that I have the DVDs and have watched a little of the first season again, I can see where it's definitely cheesy by today's standards, but like you, I see that some parts are surprisingly good too. I remember that the show took some time to find it's path, and was probably strongest in the middle seasons.

It's funny, I had no interest in katanas until I got hooked on the Highlander franchise. They're still not my area of focus, but to this day I still appreciate their beauty, and synthesis of form and function.

The funny thing is that I'm spotting a lot of the production mistakes that weren't evident back when it originally aired. Having the show on DVD, combined with an HDTV, allows you to see very clearly when they're using the aluminum choreography blades instead of the "Hero" props. Often they're still holding them in the close-ups.

[Sir Edward]

Oh yeah, I also wanted to say that it's interesting to go back and look at what some of our early influences were, in terms of where we are today with our hobbies, interests, and philosophical beliefs.

A lot of times, we're influenced early on by things that, in retrospect, might be somewhat embarrassing. I know I was influenced by Highlander, but also Star Trek, among other things. Captain Kirk was a great role model.

I was already following a path towards Chivalry (without calling it that), and collecting swords, before the Highlander series started. But being a show that involved aspects of these things, to the 19-year old that I was when it began, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd find it fascinating.

[Das Bill]

One of the things about looking back on the show is that I mainly remembered it for guys running around with swords in trenchcoats, which of course was appealing when I was 13. I rewatched it purely out of nostalgia, and I found that quite a lot of it has little to do with swords or swordfighting. In the first couple of seasons, some of the best moments are the character interactions. I also loved that they really spent a lot of time tackling the idea of what it really means to never grow old, to have to constantly restart your life over and over, and to lose everyone around you. There were a lot of really good moments throughout

Now, of course, some of the episodes are just plain silly. Some were outright stupid. After all, its just Highlander, not Oscar Wilde. Either way, I definately enjoyed rewatching it.