Ravenous

I was able to get Season 1 at a good price and just started watching it. I like the first 2 movies and my cousin loved the show.

I gotta say so far Im underwhelmed. The pilot with Lambert was good and had promise but the supporting characters suck ass. The second episode dealt with finding the father of the kid who robbed Mac. The kid sucks, not to mention Macs chick does as well. It mostly focuses on this kid with Highlander acting as his damn caretaker body guard. Like a killer Mr Belvadere! But I get pretty pissed when they have episodes that dont have a beheading

Superman07

S1 is very person of the week. Usually somebody in the story ends up being an immortal that Dunan has to deal with.

Season 2 really picks up and begins to introduce you to the larger Highlander world, history and characters that will propell the story for much of the remainder of the series (S2-5). Much of this is set up by the S1 finale, but if you don't like the series by the end of S2 then I'd say it's not worth your while to continue.

A lot of people don't seem to like S6, but I thought it was enjoyable. It certainly is different from the others, but not much needs to be said unless you get that far.

lisadoris

I agree that S2 is where the show hits it stride. If you get to "Unholy Alliances" and you're still underwhelmed then walk away. Richie evolves into a pretty interesting character IMHO. I don't love S6 but it does have one of my favorite episodes so I own the DVDs anyway.

It's not Babylon 5 but Highlander is a cool guilty pleasure of mine.

Ravenous

Well thats promising to read. I did read that S1 was considered weak, but I will continue to watch. Unfortunaltey the seasons are getting harder to find and I only have the first.

I would have LOVED for them the center some episodes on the past life of Mac, instead of quick flashes, but of course Im only 4 eps in

Navinabob

Much like Babylon 5 you have to suffer through the first season in order to get to the good stuff.

Bateman

The entire series is up on Hulu if you don't mind watching online.

http://www.hulu.com/videos/search?query=highlander

Season 1 is very rough in parts and starts off pretty slow. I recall the action sequences being particularly bad as well when compared to later on in the series.

Superman07

Too bad there was never a Fitzcairn spin off. That would have been awsome.

Michael Corvin

I picked it up cheap as well and could only make it through about 2/3 of season one before giving up. I was clinging to "season 2 is much better" comments to help me get through season one, but it wasn't enough. Season one is just awful.

KnightLerxst

Season 1 gets better near the end...the episode with Grayson is really where things turn around. Season 2 is solid but I would say the best run is Seasons 3-5.

Draven

Yes, between a move away from "immortal of the week" and Adrian Paul improving as both an actor and a swordsman, the series got much better.

And it still has the best opening of all time:

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Nogura

I think the addition of the Joe Dawson character and related storylines helped the show quite a bit as well.

Also, for anyone interested, Jim Byrnes is a pretty talented musician with 3 or 4 CDs available. They used a lot of his music throughout the years.

chuckd21

Having only seen the first two films, should I even ask how the series and future movies dealt with, you know... the whole finality of the story?

ytrez

No. Don't bother going there.

Navinabob

The show worked on the premise that the first movie happened, but that Connor (Duncan's cousin) didn't kill the final immortal. But instead only killed a very impressive one which explained the huge burst of power (Kurgan).

Movie 2 decided to make all the immortals aliens. No really. Not kidding. Never-ever watch. But then an alternate cut came out, this version cut out as much alien stuff as possible and upgraded the movie to watch if you are bored. As far as I can remember, no connection to the show.

3 never happened. Never-ever watch.

The Raven series fits in sorta loosely here. Watch if you are bored.

Movie 4 happened after the series ended and actually resolves one of the two highlander's storyline. I enjoyed the director's cut.

Animated movie is next but honestly might come before or after movie 5. Never-ever watch.

Movie 5 looked sooooooooo bad I'm afraid to watch it.

Ravenous

Hey thanks for the link! Ill probably end up going that route with the seasons being harder to find and I dont think I want to spend more money on this...

Joan Jett as a fucking immortal? I never knew she had such an ugly voice or face; Ive never seen her close up. Ive realized what makes the show so bad is the bad acting/characters. Ritchie is shit and the gf is annoying; I cant enjoy the show no matter what when theyre on screen. Why do they focus on them so much? Paul isnt that bad when hes alone but these others hold him down.

Bateman

Richie gets a bit better as the season progresses and isn't around as much. At least there is a little unintended comedy with some moments of pure cheese with him in season 1.

The supporting cast does get better.

Superman07

3 wasn't that bad.

Which animated movie - the recent anime one? It wasn't that bad, but weird. I thought it had more Highlanderness than some of the sequels, but...yeah, weird.

I too have yet to get enough courage to watch #5.

Nogura

Don't try. Trust me, don't try.

RocShemp

Don't forget that movie 4 (Endgame) plays by the rules of movie 1. That is why in the theatrical/studio cut we find out that the Sanctuary was built on Holy Ground and yet there was no penalty for Kell's mass beheadings therein. You need to remember that in the first movie Ramirez said the reason they do not fight on Holy Ground is because "it's tradition". The supernatural shennanigans regarding Holy Ground were an invention of the series (Joe Dawson said the Pompeii was the last recorded site where two immortals battled on Holy Ground). To fit more with the series, the producer's cut (there was never a director's cut released) truncates Methos' line "it was built on Holy Ground and it's called the Sanctuary" to just "it's called the Sanctuary". The cemetary fight between Connor and Kell was also re-edited to make it seem that the two stepped off Holy Ground when they had their duel.

The animated movie is pure trash. Colin MacLeod is so boneheaded, whiney and annoying that he comes across as Ritchie Ryan without Duncan there to guide and protect him. The intent is that the character predates Duncan and Connor and this is meant to fit in the series continuity.

Owen MacLeod of the new videogame is meant to predate all three MacLeods (Colin, Connor, and Duncan) and is part of the series continuity (which is why Methos was his mentor).

There is also a comic book that is another attempt to reconcile the first movie with the series. It seems to be the best attempt so far but, honestly, it's best if you simply view all the movies as seperate continuities.

And let's not forget the upcoming remake which will establish yet another immortal universe.

RocShemp

Co-sign.

Highlander: The Source had the potential to be the best Highlander sequel ever but it's botched at every opportunity to the point that it truly earns all of it's current Sci-Fi Channel Original status.

Ravenous

Was the Source the movie with that stupid Immortal who moved real fast and was a blur than end with a baby? Dear god was that movie horrible. I hated myself for seeing it.

Before this and the show, I did see half of the movie with Paul and Lambert. It was pretty good and its the main reason why I decided to give the show a shot.

The show is getting a bit better. Joey Pants carried a good episode but Im only watching 1 a day. I cant stomach more than that

RocShemp

Yes. I hated them for making it. How was I to know it'd be crap. I know the "Sci-Fi Channel Original" is a clear warning sighn but I saw it before it got that label.

On a side note, apparently in the script (and supposedly featured in an earlier rough cut of the film), the baby was named Connor. There was some fan speculation that the baby actually contained the Quickening of Connor MacLeod.

That suggests (to me at least) that at one point they were going to explore a heavily modified version of Gregory Widen's original concept that immortals were never meant to kill one another.



It's the most decent of the sequels, even if they butchered the character of Connor. If this was to be based on the series, they should have remembered that the series version of Connor was more jovial and driven like Ramirez. Even movie Connor who was rather morose would not have given in so quickly. Other than that (and they gross underuse of Donnie Yen), it's a solid sequel.

Yeah, he was such a creapo in that episode. Wait 'til they introduce Darius. That's when the universe of immortals begins to open up. I adore Darius' backstory and where they were headed with his character. Sadly, the actor passed away and his storyline had to be abandoned.

Fortunately, later in the series they approached a similar angle by adding fan-favorite Methos (Tony's buddy in this season of 24). That's a character I'm sure you'll dig but you have to wait 'til late season two or early season three to meet him.

Superman07

Damn, that's some interesting information with regard to the original movie, as well as a possible angle for The Source. Does that mean it was a reincarnation of sorts? That would certainly be trippy.

You know, I wonder what that original vision says about H2. I'm among those that through it was the worst (note: I haven't seen Source), but it makes you stop and say, "Humm..." with regard to the directors cut and the past/present connection. I'd say the best part of that one was the jukebox in the diner. Nice little throwback.

RocShemp

Yeah. When I read Widen's original draft (although it still needed another draft or two to give it some polish), it really left me hungry for a remake that stayed closer to what he originally wrote.



I know Gregory Widen also wrote a script called The Immortals (I don't recall if it was submitted as a possible script for part four or part five) that was meant to detail the origins of the immortals. Sadly, Davis/Panzer rejected the script (I think because it required to big a budget) and went with something else. I've never read that particular script but have been looking for it.

As for the baby, the early cut that I saw of the Source did not feature the extra scene where he's around five years old and Duncan takes him to Connor's grave. Those who have seen that deleted scene say that that's where the child is identified as Connor. I guess since Duncan said "he is the one" when we first see the baby (still in his mother's womb), fans assumed he was indeed Connor MacLeod reincarnated. Wether he was or not would have certainly been revealed in the other two planned sequels (the Source was meant as the beginning of a trilogy). But since the Source was so terrible it didn't even warrant a theatrical release (and Adrian Paul has apparently disowned the film since his promised creative approval was never honored), we'll never know for sure.

The Source is MUCH worse. As for H2, I enjoy it as a (very) guilty pleasure and view it not as a sequel but as a cheesy sci-fi reimagining of the same story told in the first film. The alien angle was always the intended backstory. Davis, Panzer, and Mulcahy always blaimed the completion inssurance company for all the films woes but the truth is that all they did was pull the plug on a way overbudget production and hired someone to cobble together whatever footage was already shot.

When the first Director's Cut was released (on VHS and Laserdisc), the trio took advantage to not only re-edit the movie but also redub some scenes and trim some dialogue to excise all mentions of planet Zeist (and the subplot of Connor and Ramirez being linked by the Quickening, which makes Ramirez return in this and subsequent cuts rather perplexing). They also hired Christopher Lambert, Michael Ironside, and Virgina Madsen to shoot pickups for an unfinished mountain chase sequence and another sequence that escapes me at the moment.

The newest Director's Cut of Highlander 2 had a good chunk of the effects work redone, some title cards removed and a brief shootout in the Shield HQ Building ommited. A musical cue, when Connor and Louise have sex in the alley, was also replaced (and all the moaning sounds removed) by Michael Kamen's love theme from part one.

I still long for a cut closer to the French release that has all the extra footage back in (and make sure to keep the newer FX work for the Shield and planet Zeist) but none of the Zeist stuff removed and perhaps the lost betting scene (there was an early deleted scene were people on Zeist were betting of the final fight between Connor and the Kurgan in part one) back in as well. The movie is a mess and no amount of tinkering can fix it. May as well let it happily be the cheesy mess it is with its originally intended plot still intact.

Navinabob

Wait... I think we are all confused here. They were about "Haighlander: The Series" from the thread title, a vastly superior show to Highlander and its associated movies. I take it all back.

As far as I can tell from Google that the series we should talk about was about the land where John George "Acid Bath Murderer" Haigh lived in the early 1900s. He murdered nine people and dissolved their bodies in concentrated sulfuric acid. He mistakenly thought that police needed a body before they could charge him with murder. He was convicted through forensic evidence and executed in 1950.