Highlander 1986 Film Review

Every so often I get to check of a film of my list of films that i've never seen before and well today is just one such a day. As despite my best efforts in the past i've never been able to sit down and watch and then thus review the film that i'm about too review for you all today and heck even this weekend was filled with not one but two false starts for this review and well i've finally got some free time and i'm finally going to do it and so then join me as I review the film that proves that there really should have been only one with the film in question being called simply just "Highlander" enjoy.

The plot of this film is a secret that has been fought for centuries is coming to an end and it's up to the immortal Connor MacLeod to make sure that the evil The Kurgan doesn't win the war once and for all. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad but that's also the problem as the plot of this film isn't all that good either with the plot of the film being nothing more then OK at best and while the film does get credit for at the very least trying out a new plot as the sword and sorcery boom the nineteen eighties was still in full effect at this point in time it was also becoming stale with it's plots with the plot of this film being really rather entertaining and also being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod , Clancy Brown as The Kurgan and Roxanne Hart as Brenda Wyatt. Also starring in this film is Beatie Edney as Heather MacLeod , Alan North as Lt. Frank Moran , Jon Polito as Det. Walter Bedsoe , Sheila Gish as Rachel Ellenstein , Hugh Quarshie as Sunda Kastagir , Christopher Malcolm as Kirk Matunas , Peter Diamond as Iman Fasil , Celia Imrie as Kate MacLeod , Billy Hartman as Dougal MacLeod , James Cosmo as Angus MacLeod and James Bond icon and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade star Sir Sean Connery as Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as this films cast do try to turn in a good performance. The issue is tho is that alot of this films just aren't good actors with alot of them delivering the type of performance that you'd expect from them and really nothing more then that with the best performer in the whole entire film being either Sir Sean Connery or Clancy Brown as those are the only two actors in this film where it actually looks like that there actually trying to turn in a good performance with the acting in this film not really being helped by the fact that that this films script gives none of the films cast absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does effect the overall quality of the acting in this film.

Doing the CGI for this film is really the legends and the really greats that are currently over at Snapper Films. Now then  interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. As it's the kind of CGI that you'd expect to see in a mid to late eighties film but here that does oddly work to the films advantage as the film is meant to be a fantasy and as a result of that it is possible that the kind of CGI that we get in this film is perfectly natural for this film not only that this films typically eighties CGI does also add to the films overall charm and even makes the film really all the more charming. 

Despite this film being a very modest hit at the box office as it never even made it's production budget of nineteen million dollars. The film somehow managed to spawn an entire franchise which so far consists of six films five of which are live action with the other one being an animated film from the year 2007 but this film also spawned three TV series two of which are not only live action but one of them is also a spin off of the other one and it also spawned a series of comic books and series of video game as well so it's safe to say that this one little film managed to capture the hearts and imaginations of so many people as it's a franchise that is still being talked about today and is still going strong in someway shape or form with there being a reboot in the works with Man Of Steel star Henry Cavill confirmed to be playing Connor MacLeod.

The films lore and world building is really well handled with the film laying down the rules of this world fairly well. With the film making it clear that the only way to kill an immortal is cut off their head as well as making it clear that immortals are chosen from birth and don't even know it until much more later in life which is really interesting as is the fact that there's been this secret war going on for hundreds if not thousands of years however as great as these concepts are the film does nothing with them as it would be great to see the idea of this secret war being explored alot more then what it is in the final cut of the film as in the final cut of the film we get a line or two and that's really it and that's not enough as it would have been so much cooler to actually see this war play out during several of the films many flashbacks which could also be used to show us how Connor managed to survive all of these years as well.

To this films credit it does have a really good villain in The Kurgan who is just a joy to watch in every single scene that he's in. With the character being nothing more then joy a watch as he really is just a really entertaining and while he is a good villain he's also one that's not that well written as he doesn't have a clear end goal apart from every immortal wanting to kill each other that is in mind and there's no reason for him to be evil and as a result he just comes across as being evil purely for the sake of being evil which doesn't make that interesting of a character and as you have to make the villain just as interesting as the villain this has the add on effect of making Connor seem even less interesting of a character as a result and while both characters or indeed to fairly entertaining characters if you have an interesting villain you also have an uninteresting hero as you need the villain to be just as good and well written as the hero as that would make the hero look all the more stronger when they finally do defeat them at the end of the film.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and fifty six minuets and thirty eight seconds. Which is both a blessing and a curse as the film does have plenty of story and plot to cover that large amount of running time it's also far to much longer then what it really needed to be with this film having alot of scenes that add nothing to the overall plot of the film all of which could have been cut from the final cut of the film as they feel like nothing more then filler scenes that would have been better of if they were cut out of the film as that would have made the overall plot of the film alot more focused and it would have made the film alot more easier to sit through but on the flip side of that is the fact that the film should have been longer so that the films main characters could become alot more fully developed then what they are in the final cut of the film but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that means that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this films action being the best aspect of the film as we get to see just how much cool looking action scenes that could be done when it's just two guys trying to hit each other with a sword and what makes this films action all the more unique is the fact that we get to see alot of a really cool unique looking locations for them to take part with this really coming into play for the films final battle which takes place both in a sign and then in an abandoned building which helps to make that final battle all the more cool then what it already is and what it really had any right to be in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this was a hugely entertaining film in alot of aspects but at the same time it's a film that's also very flawed in alot of other aspects as well all of which make this film a bit of jumbled mess to sit through but it also makes it a film that's so bad that it becomes a good film all over again in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that means that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images this film being Google Images this is because all of the images that I got for this review and that are still of course currently up and really are on the really great Google Images with them all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.