One thing I forgot to mention last rant was that Adrian Paul took over as the director for a couple of episodes in season four (“Homeland” and “Methuselah’s Gift”), and he also got behind the camera for two episodes in the fifth season (“Revelation 6:8” and “The Modern Prometheus”). Probably not coincidentally, three of the four episodes he directed are among the best in the series. Again, Adrian Paul’s contributions made Highlander: The Series the success it was. Unfortunately, as he lost interest in the series, the show also went downhill.

Continue reading “A Kind of Magic: Highlander The Series, seasons five and six” →

Despite struggling a bit early on without a clear direction, season one of Highlander: The Series was popular enough to warrant a continuation. That alone was remarkable enough; the franchise hadn’t exactly shown itself to be terribly viable beyond one movie up to that point. The second season did face some major hurdles, with the lead actress leaving the show and some budget cutbacks. Despite these problems, the show hit its stride and went on to produce some of the best moments of the franchise in seasons two through four.

Continue reading “A Kind of Magic: Highlander The Series, seasons two through four” →

Following the catastrophe that was Highlander II: The Quickening, no one wanted to see another Highlander movie. The franchise got killed the moment someone decided that the immortals were really aliens from planet Zeist. But Davis-Panzer Productions wanted to continue the franchise somehow, probably because it was the only property they owned that had moneymaking potential. Movies were a dead end for the franchise (at least until later in the 1990s), so the production company had to out its hope into a TV series.

A TV show allowed for more episodic adventures with different immortals, drawing from the rich tapestry of experiences of immortal Connor MacLeod. After all, Connor was about 500 years old, and the movies had only scratched the surface about his past. There was only one major problem: Christopher Lambert, the actor who had brought Connor to life, didn’t want to do TV.

Continue reading “A Kind of Magic: Highlander The Series, season one” →

Last time, I covered what went wrong before Highlander II: The Quickening was released and some of the issues that the opening of the film suffers. But there’s enough wrong here to warrant two entries. So…what other problems does Highlander II have?

Continue reading “A Kind of Magic: Highlander II, part two” →

Okay, let’s get this over with.

Highlander II: The Quickening. When you’re talking about crappy follow-ups to good movies, you’re talking about Highlander II. It is easily one of the worst sequels of all time, and even all the monkeying around with director’s cuts decades later has failed to make it even remotely tolerable.

The saddest part? Highlander II isn’t even the worst movie in this franchise. That honor goes to Highlander: The Source. But one trainwreck at a time. Let’s go over Highlander II, both its successes and failures.

Nah, I’m only kidding; there are no successes to discuss.

Continue reading “A Kind of Magic: Highlander II, part one” →

Highlander. I love it, even though it has caused me so much pain.

Like many fans of the Highlander franchise, I keep coming back for terrible movie after terrible movie, each time hoping that those in control of the franchise somehow catch lightning in a bottle as they did with the first film.

As the powers-that-be struggle to find footing for a Highlander reboot which seems doomed to meet the same disastrous fate that befell the franchise’s many sequels, let’s take a look at the original film. A box office flop but a cult classic, 1986’s Highlander proved strong enough to create a devoted fan base that has remained throughout the years, despite a plethora of sequels that rank among the worst films of all time.

How did this off-beat urban fantasy turn into a hit? In truth, Highlander was about as fortuitous a series of accidents you will ever see in the film industry.

Continue reading “A Kind of Magic: Highlander” →