In the first one, Connor McCloud wins the “prize” by cutting off the head of the last remaining immortal, who was pretty mean anyway. The Immortals’ motto is of course “There can be only one.” Connor is that one. He wins. End of story.
In the sequal it turns out the immortals weren’t really born on earth at all, but came from some planet called “Kleiss” in punishment for a failed rebellion. Sean Connery manages to come back to life for a while. Connor grows old (having won the prize he’s no longer immortal.) He gets rejuvenated though when some bird guy from Kleiss is sent to asassinate him (We never really find out why they want to asassinate him. He’s old and about to die anyway.) Anyway, he cuts Michael Ironside’s head off, thus reproving the adage that “There can be only one.”
Number 3 pretty much ignores number two. This one picks up after number one except it turns out there was one immortal (Mario Peebles,) who got caught in ice or something and thus didn’t get to compete for the prize. He gets loose, and Connor McCloud cuts off his head, once again demonstrating that “There can be only one.”
Number four has little bearing on anything except that it shows cut scenes from #1. It plays off the TV show, somehow. In this one, Connor’s buddy cuts his head off (which is gonna make it a bitch to win the prize without a head.) His buddy then cuts off the bad guy’s head thanks to the added strength from killing Connor. There’s lots of immortals left at the end of this one (though it takes place later than the first chronologically.) So, the idea that “There can be only one,” which has at least been a common thread through the movies and TV, turns out to have changes somehow.
What I’m looking for is somebody to reconcile all these movies (and TV) into one consistent package.
Explain how they all are true. This is bothering me.
Am I the only one who thinks that this post cannot possibly get any responses that will resolve all of these movies? I enjoyed the first movie. I thought the tv series was ok. Without even seeing the other movies, I was already confused on the plot.
Apparently “only one” doesn’t lend itself well to sequels.
No, no, no! You must ignore the so called Highlander movies number 2 and 3. They never happened according to every Highlander purest I know. Personally, I’m of the opinion that those were made to give Chris Lambert something to do.
Number 4 was um… hm… the movie sucked, but Adrian Paul was in it so I can’t complain too much.
Highlander the series has to be viewed kinda like First Knight in relation to the King Arthur myth. As long as you view First Knight as having absolutely nothing to do with the known King Arthur myths, it was not so sucky.
To watch the Highlander series and still be able to suspend belief, you have to forget all about Connor. Both the seris and the original movie have to be viewed as stand alones.
Well, it’s possible to resolve 1,2,3 and three, IMO. ALl we have to do is say they happened in the order 1,3,2.
In all of these, it’s agreed that Connor wins the prize.
Number four though, has him not winning the prize, and even dying before the action in number 2 could possibly occur. The best that I can figre out is that Connor’s buddy, the other Highlander, who kills him, somehow gets subsumed by the spirit of Connor. That guy loses his identity and becomes Connor as Connor’s will takes over.
We leave the historical background alone, and assume that the contemporary action in 4 takes place before that in number 1, and we’re in good shape.
No wait. That doesn’t work. In 1 we see Connor at a Wrestling show featuring Michael Hayes. Michael Hayes of The Fabulous Freebirds stopped competing in the early 80s. In 4 they drive late 90s cars. Therefore, 4 has to come after 1.
Continuity in film series has driven wiser folks than us to raving madness.
Godzilla, James Bond, the old Universal horror films with Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolf Man…there are many details which do not match. The Highlander series is another mind-destroying trap, filled with outright contradictions.
DC Comics used to divide the universe in parallel Earths, where today’s Superman and Batman were on one Earth, and the 1940s Superman and Batman lived on another.
About the best you can do is watch each movie as a seperate entity. If it refers to an earlier entry in the series (say if Pierce Brosnan's James Bond mentioned an old enemy named Goldfinger), take it as **that movie's version** of events related in the earlier film.
Most people can’t remember the name of the movie they just saw by the time they get across the parking lot to their cars, and have no idea the anguish continuity-minded folk endure.
Ok… Here is the Straight Dope ™ about the Highlander movies.
According to the DVD of Highlander: Endgame, the First three movies were seperate entities. Connor wins the prize, Planet Kleiss, Mario on ice, blah, blah, blah. Those movies, while good, were not part of the continuity of the current Highlander Universe. Matter of fact, the movies are not even in the correct order. If you were to watch them correctly you would have to watch 3, 1, then 2.
Once we get into the Highlander: the Series, Highlander: Raven and Highlander: Endgame this is a completly different Highlander Universe as dr hermes explained in relation to the Marvel and DC comics universes.
On a side note: I saw Endgame the night it came out and left the theater when Connor lost his head. I love Adrian Paul and all that, but a 15 year fan of Connor seeing this… I was pissed.
It should also be noted, that the only time that the movies or series ever got the MacLeod plaid correct was the scenes in Endgame when Duncan becomes immortal. All the other times they are using a ‘generic’ plaid.
<font color=#003100>
There can be only one.
<P>Highlander is my all time favourite movie. The rest aren’t worth the celluloid they were filmed on. <P>Burn them.
<P>The series has nothing to do with THE movie.
<P>Problem solved.
Highlander 2 was somewhat resolved in the director’s cut of it - they call it the Renegade Version or some such silliness. They originally didn’t want the Highlanders to be from another planet. Originally, instead of moving from planet to planet, they moved from way in the past to the present. This makes a little more sense. This way, Connor wins the prize at the end of #1, which causes him to become mortal (some prize!). Then other immortals travel through time to meet him as an old man. Since he’s no longer the only immortal, he loses the prize, but becomes young and immortal again. Crap ensues.
The rest you’re on your own with. To paraphrase what I said in some other thread (which I suspect prompted this one) - “There can be only one. But we’re flexible.”
Forget resolving the movies - someone help me resolve my memory! I distinctly remember posting in another thread about this earlier today (well, yesterday), but I can’t find it anywhere. If you need me, I’ll be over here with my head in this bucket.
The only movie is Highlander. There are no other movies, therefore no discontinuity exists. You must ignore anyone who tells you otherwise. Repeat mantra-like as required: There is only Highlander.
As for the series you can view it only one of two ways, imo, it’s a parallel time frame, or it all happens before the movie Highlander takes place, because once Conner takes the prize, I’m sorry, kids, game over, he is The One.
The only way to judge each movie is to completely forget anything that happened in any previous Highlander movie, because it’s fairly obvious that the writers are ignoring anything that happened before.
You can’t even say “1,3,2” works, because 2 contradicts 1 on several key points (the only one of which that I can’t remember is that 2 says that the immortals arrived on earth shortly before the timeframe of 1, but Sean Connery said in 1 that he got the sword from a swordsmith in ancient China.)
I think #2 is the only one that really tries to follow #1 without destroying the climax of the original. Unfortunately, it was cheaply and sloppily made. I think this hurts it in the eyes of fans–as does its strange additions to the backstory & powers of the Immortals.
#3 blatantly contradicts #2 and makes out Connor’s claim to have won the Prize (at the end of #1) to have been jumping the gun. This retroactive revision is offensive, and not convincing coming from a movie that mostly rehashes #1 with flashier special effects & crappy swordfight scenes–and kills off Brenda.
#4 precludes #2 and doesn’t really deal with anything #1 or #3 said about Connor’s life in the 20th Century. It mostly ignores the previous movies (except for the 15th century stuff from #1). #4 is supposed to be set in the TV series continuity, which is not consistent with the original movie.
The TV series, in fact, is less consistent with the original movie then #2 or #3. But it is better liked. The differences in the TV show’s continuity serve the dramatic purposes of an ongoing series. The main changes are as follows:[ul]
[li]In the TV series, Immortals are common–tripping over each other. Instead of being the Highlander, Connor is the “elder Highlander.”[/li][li]In the TV series, Connor killed the Kurgan in New York in the 1980’s, but did not win the Prize.[/li][li]Also, the TV characters aren’t really sure there is a Prize, or what it is–unlike the movie characters.[/li][/ul]