HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING – A Retrospective Review

Introduction

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christopher Lambert is generally seen by many as one of the worst mainstream movies of all time. However, if one is to truly understand why the film is so bad you need to understand the original Highlander, released in 1986, as well as the subsequent releases throughout the years.

Highlander tells the story of Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) who is born in 1518 in Glenfinnan, Scotland. During a clan war, Connor is killed but then comes back to life. His superstitious clansmen drive him from the village where he eventually meets Ramirez (Sean Connery). He serves as the role of mentor to Connor. Subsequently, Ramirez tells Connor that he’s an immortal.

The Rules

Throughout Highlander, immortals battle each other through fantastic swordplay in an attempt to behead other immortals. Upon accomplishing this feat, the victors gain the fallen’s strength, experience, and knowledge. This absorption then becomes a phenomenon that is known as The Quickening.

When only a handful of immortals remain, they’re drawn to a faraway land (the USA) to battle it out to the last. The final immortal wins the Prize which is a vaguely unspecified power about knowing everybody else’s thoughts and feelings. Presumably, this is meant to equal some form of deification.

In Highlander, Connor has a heartbreaking love story in the past. He’s immortal, she’s not. He also has an enduring love interest in the present. Naturally, Connor wins the Prize. This is about as close-ended a premise as you can find in a script. After all, winning the Prize means all the other immortals are gone. Where can you go from there?

Loopholes

Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1995) tries to exercise this loophole. The concept is that three other immortals were caught in a cave-in in the past. So, they were technically dead when Connor won the Prize by defeating the only other remaining immortal, The Kurgan (the excellent Clancy Brown). Once the cave-in was excavated, the immortals resurrected and, naturally, pursued Connor.

In 1992, the Highlander franchise launched a television series that was meant to focus on Connor. Lambert didn’t want to reprise the role, so Adrian Paul (The Breed) was cast. Paul wanted to explore his own character, so they created Duncan. He was from the same village as MacLeod but was born in 1592.

Subsequently, the producers needed to get around the fact that Connor MacLeod was meant to be the last immortal, following the events of Highlander. Their solution was to just ignore it. They even referenced Connor killing Kurgan as if it was just another battle. Apparently, the fight was still on.

Highlander: Endgame

Highlander: Endgame (2000) introduces Duncan to the cinematic world. This was so Connor and Lambert could pass the torch. Paul is excellent at the swordplay and action scenes, whereas Lambert struggles with his vision. apparently, the actor had to extensively rehearse so that every move could be memorized.

Although he was only two years younger, Paul carries himself with greater vigor. This is a result of his extensive martial arts background in the Kung Fu forms Choy Li Fut and Hung Gar. He also studied Tae-Kwon-Do, Wing Chun, and boxing. Subsequently, Paul looks fluent and skilled in all the fight scenes he is in.

Highlander: Endgame does have some nifty concepts that explore the mythology. However, at the time the film was released, the series was growing tired and redundant. The original film’s iconic tagline: “There can be only one” was a line oft-repeated throughout. Well, apparently not.

Highlander: The Source

Highlander: The Source (2007), exclusively features Duncan. The film follows him and a group of immortals as they try to find the origin of where they come from. Credit should be given for legitimately trying to explore the mythology. However, it plays like some 4th-grader’s fanfiction. The movie also looks like it was filmed on a very moderate budget.

As an aside, there’s also been Highlander: The Animated Series (1994–1996) and Highlander: The Raven (1998–1999). This show follows a female immortal. There also was The Methos Chronicles (2000), a fan series that follows one of the original series’ characters, Methos, a 5000-year-old immortal.

The Highlander franchise is a popular intellectual property. It’s one that has appealed to generations of people on so many levels for decades. Whether it be the fantastical element, the romanticism, or the tragedy of living forever and seeing those you love fade away and die. Highlander has become part of sci-fi and fantasy culture.

Highlander II: The Quickening

What makes Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) so bad is the way it tries to continue Connor’s story from the original. It’s perfectly OK to build on what’s been established. However, what the sequel does is recycle the original film’s tropes. James Cameron’s Aliens (1986) is not just a great action flick. It also teaches us more about the aliens. Unlike Highlander II: The Quickening, it’s a brilliant sequel.

In 1994, the ozone layer has depleted, resulting in solar radiation killing multitudes across the globe. Connor helps the world’s scientists unite and understand one another. This is so they can build a shield to encompass the Earth and protect it from solar radiation. The shield is this omnipresent buzzing melancholy bronze glow. It keeps the world in perpetual twilight. By 2024, people have fallen into despair living in such conditions.

Connor, now elderly and mortal is resigned to this hopelessness he created. Still, Connor remembers that he and Ramirez were renegades on a planet called Zeist. Apparently, they led an army to overthrow a tyrannical government but were captured. As punishment, the government exiled the renegades to Earth. It was there that they became immortal and would have to battle it out to the last. The victor could then return to Zeist. Really?

A Nonsensical Plot

As an aside (albeit an important one) from this nonsensical plot, it should be noted that the planet Zeist looks like a desert. Also, everybody’s mortal. Why anybody would want to get back there? However, now that Connor is eligible, evil General Katana (Michael Ironside channeling Clancy Brown) sends flying assassins to Earth to eliminate him. He fears that Connor’s return will spark a new uprising.

When Connor kills one of the assassins in one of the clumsiest cinematic decapitations of all time, it re-triggers The Quickening, so Connor de-ages. Connor then dispatches the other assassin and the adventure is underway in earnest. Katana, disgusted at the failure of his assassins, comes to Earth himself to deal with Connor MacLeod.

While dodging Katana’s shenanigans, Connor learns that the ozone layer has inexplicably repaired itself. As a result, he decides the shield needs to be taken down. The problem is that it’s run by an evil corporation that profits from its use. Connor needs help and calls for Ramirez who was beheaded in the original Highlander. He returns because Connor shouts out, “Ramirez! I need you!” This is the Fort Knox of plot armor.

Production

The bulk of Highlander II: The Quickening is filmed in Argentina and when the country’s economy crashed, the film’s investors took control of the film. Director Russell Mulcahy virtually walked off the project and disowned the film after screening just the first 15 minutes of the film. Lambert had also threatened to walk off.

Mulcahy would later release a director’s cut. This cut would renovate the Zeist elements and turned the Zeistians (the Zeistlanders?) into unspecified people from the past. It’s impossible to do anything meaningful with that part of the story. Those characters and events are still there. Changing their names and backstories can’t fix that much.

It’s hard to reconcile that Russell Mulcahy, Christopher Lambert, and Sean Connery all signed on for this chaotic mess. It must’ve been in the script before they started filming and they all went ahead with it. Still, didn’t anybody flag the absurdity of this nonsense, or was it just about collecting a paycheck?

Plot and Mythology

One has to respect that Highlander II: The Quickening tried to explore the origins of the mythology. It also gave Connor something meaningful to do with the Prize and he put it to use. The film is daring in its intention to be original and continue Connor’s story. It’s epic with its choices. Yet, none of those choices makes much sense. Some of the parallels to the original are also just crazily stupid.

For example, in the original Highlander, Connor’s present-day love interest is Brenda Wyatt (Roxanne Hart). She’s a police forensic scientist who starts poking holes in Connor’s claims that he is who he claims to be, Russell Nash, an antique dealer. She stalks him and sees him battle another immortal. Additionally, she also investigates him and then dines with him in an attempt to learn more.

Finally, as the couple starts to grow close and intimate, Connor tells Brenda who he truly is. He puts a dagger in Brenda’s hand and forces her to stab him. As a result, she sees he’s telling the truth and they have sex. This is all done in a glittering 1980s love scene. In Highlander II: The Quickening, Brenda’s dead, the victim of the solar radiation. So, Connor is unencumbered yet again, needing a new love interest.

Louise Marcus (Virginia Madsen), a political radical, enlists old 2024 Connor for help. He stonewalls her, the scene lasting seconds. General Katana’s flying assassins come in for an attack and Connor kills one. He emerges from an explosion unscathed and young again. Louise witnesses all of this and Connor tells her who he is. They begin kissing and that’s all it takes. They don’t establish the begrudging rapport that Connor had with Brenda.

Analysis

There are worse movies than Highlander II: The Quickening. Obviously, there are terrible low-budget movies. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room (2003) is a genuinely bad movie. But it’s so bad it’s funny. There are other sequels that have mauled properties offensively. However, the beauty of this sequel is that it truly aspired to be something. Not just a continuation of Connor’s story. It wanted to be a social and environmental commentary.

Kudos is given though to one scene where Louise looks through Connor’s possessions. This search catalogs the lives he’s led through the centuries, revealing the identities he’s assumed to disguise that he’s immortal. It’s a short scene that captures the spirit of the original. It also offers an insight into how this guy has had to navigate time and people just to continue to exist anonymously.

Conclusion

It’s a shame this same thought wasn’t given with regards to how the story reconciled with the original Highlander. From its premiere in 1991, Highlander II: The Quickening has reigned supreme as one of the worst films ever. Nothing could come close to how it shot for the stars. Yet, only got as high as the gutter, before whirlpooling into the sewer.

Further, it’s also a testament to how bad Highlander II: The Quickening is that every other Highlander incarnation just flat out chooses to ignore its existence. That’s something franchises now do commonly. However, this was generally unheard of back then. If this had somehow justified a sequel that continued this particular story, it’s frightening to consider where they might’ve gone next.

More from Cinema Scholars:

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF – A Retrospective Review At 50
POSSESSION (1981): A Retro Review

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