DVD REVIEW! Highlander franchise!

Ok, So I finally got my fill of Highlander goodness and I'm just about ready to throw the new DVD's I bought on my shelf until the next time I feel the need for some sword fights and lighting storms but before I let it go I feel the need to share my experience with the Community.

I don't know why. I'm bored at work. Humor me.

So I got Highlander I (Directors Cut), Highlander III: The Final Dimension (Directors Cut) and the 2 DVD collectors edition of Highlander: Endgame (Also Directors cut)

A. We all know Highlander I. Great movie, cult classic. Clancey Brown is hardcore. Moving on. (See my article on Fantasy movies. Highlander is the first one I talk about)

B.

Highlander III

The only way I can describe this movie is that its a reboot. It's the Highlander franchises version of Escape from L.A. Its the same exact movie as the first one but told in a different way and given a few new twists. Namely, Kane's illusion power which I have to admit kept it somewhat fresh. Now I got the directors cut so you know what that means.....SHAMELESSLY EXTENDED SEX SCENE (is that a double entendre?? "extended"....whatever). Ugh! You would think that the prospect of seeing Debra Unger in action would make this scene a little more watch able but no.....absolutely not. Just skip it.

Other than that the movie does the Escape from L.A. cloned storylines like other reviewers have said in the past. Kane defeating Connors teacher (Kurgan killed Ramirez), Kane harassing his son in the car (Kurgan harassing Brenda from HL: I), and finally Kane mouthing off to Connor in a church (Kurgan mouthing off in a church). The scenes are the same but a little different. Which keeps in interesting. IMO.

C.

Highlander: Endgame

Now I must say they really brought some new ideas to the table in this one which I found very enjoyable. They finally bridged the gap between the Christopher Lambert movies and the Adrian Paul TV series. They gave some additional back story to the main characters and Bruce Payne (Jacob Kell) is a wonderful villain. Even rivaling Clancey Brown's Kurgan character from the original. Another thing that they injected in to the film was the premise of the "Posse" of immortals going around breaking the rules of the game and taking heads. This idea was first done in the TV series when the Hunters (Humans) would shoot up an immortal and then allow another immortal of their choosing to take their heads (I think it was called Unholy Alliance, 2 part episode, I watched it on Hulu). The other nice new twist would be that Jacob Kell really didn't want to take Connor's head. He wanted to torture him until they were the last two immortals AND THEN take his head. This is very different if you've ever seen the first and third movie because the main villains’ are always after Connor's powers. The last portion of the movie that I think they did a great job on was how Connor had to sacrifice himself in order to make Duncan strong enough to take Kell on. This was done very well and indicates the whole passing of the torch motif. Usually the mentors (before it was Ramirez, then the Sorcerer) both got killed by the main villain of the movie. However, in this one they gave it a nice little twist with Connor forcing Duncan to take his head. I don't know about you but I got a little teary eyed.

Ok, That was the good. Now the bad. In the behind the scene featurette they talked about how "large" the budget was for the film but you can tell right off the bat that this movie has a cheap feel to it. Not Sci-fi channel cheap but almost there.

Secondly, the Posse of immortals didn't really do anything in the movie other than get shot up in the first fight with the Watchers, fight Duncan Macloed half way through the movie, and then all of them get their heads cut off in this surreal anti-climactic last supper scene. I think they needed to get rid of them and they said "HEY! How about Jacon Kell just walks around the table lobbing off their hands while they just stand there!" BRILLIANT! I mean, come on, at least make them attempt to fight back so they can get completely owned by Jacob.

Thirdly, they blatantly reused a fight scene in the final battle and I mean BLATANTLY. They are fighting through .....you guesses it.....another abandoned factory when all of a sudden Duncan and Jacob do the same exact fight movements from 5 minutes ago. This pissed me off a lot because the fight choreography looked good the first time they did it but when they literally replayed it again to lengthen the end battle it took away from its original goodness.

Hope you enjoyed my retrospective. I think the movies aren't as bad as people make them out to be. Just have fun with it and take them with a grain of salt.

Thanks for reading. Comments are appreciated.

Fantasy movies and why we love them!

Since I’ve been somewhat of a downer lately I felt that I should write an upbeat post that shines a spotlight on some of the greatest feel good fantasy films of all time. The good old days before CGI ruined the media world.


Now I know what you’re thinking, Fantasy Movies usually are stigmatized as either really nerdy or really girlie but my dear friends you must understand that the oldest and greatest stories ever penned were fantasy in concept. The hero’s journey has been around since the dawn of man and has been retold time and time again throughout a multitude of different cultures across the face of the world. As simple as this formula is it is timeless and resonates with all of us because we too have encountered the hero's journey in our own lives and probably haven’t even noticed!

The Hero’s Journey:

The Call to Adventure
Accepting the Journey
Teacher coming down from the mountain
The Ordeal
&
The Triumphant Return

Just from memory I'm going to pick a few movies that I’ve seen in my life and talk about the impressions they made on me and what special messages I believe were hidden within them.


Let's begin!


Highlander

Recently I created a thread on the SpoonyExperiment.com forums regarding the Highlander series. The original movie was an epic adventure filled to the brim with swordfights, immortals, and large supernatural electrical storms but other than all the flashy special effects the movie touches upon a timeless motif.

Immortality

Since the beginning of time Human's have been attempting to make sense of their environment. How they would do this was to categorize all the elements and emotions they felt and anthropomorphize them into one specific deity. This deity of course would be immortal and embody their specified element (Earth, water, fire, wind, lightning, etc), emotion (love, jealousy, hatred, happiness, etc), or vocation (Medicine, blacksmithing, war, hunting, etc). In the movie Highlander however we see that the immortals have no power other than their universal immunity to death, unless of course they are decapitated. In an odd way they are similar to the Gorgans's from the ancient story of Perseus. All of them are semi-immortal unless their heads are separated from their bodies. The premise is gruesome but somewhat feasible if you think about it long enough.


Another idea which is taken from different stories throughout the ages is the battle of good and evil. It’s never said out loud but the personalities of Connor and his adversary Kurgan are polar opposites in every way. Connor is kind and thoughtful while Kurgan is a violent sociopath. The world of the immortals gets even more intriguing because they live among regular people but sadly have trouble taking part do to their long lives and sterility (all immortals seemed to be sterile until the newest Highlander movie "The Source" where it was shown that they can impregnate women some how..... but who cares about the Highlander sequels, they are all screwed up beyond recognition anyway), so by nature they are outcasts.


If you have already seen this movie and want some more immortal sword fighting action I would suggest giving the TV series a try. It really dives deeper into the world of immortals, the battles they fight, and how they interact within society.



Willow


Right from the beginning the movie draws inspiration from the biblical story of Moses. A woman who is holding a baby is being pursued and as a last ditch effort so save the child she sends it down stream. Luckily for the child it gets picked up by a nearby village of little people. I guess you can call them Hobbits, or dwarves, but in this specific movie they are called Pecks. I think? Peck may be a derogatory word used to describe them but I’m drawing a blank right now so it will have to do. They however are a good people who survive through agriculture and seem to be at peace with the land. After the baby is found by the main character (Willow) and his family they discuss about what to do with the child. The child is not of their race and must be brought to the council so that the elder can decide on what do to with it. This part in the story is known as the call to adventure because the Elder picks Willow to be the person to deliver the child to a nearby Human village. From there it the story goes on an exciting journey throughout their world. Chock full of Evil Sorceresses, a Skull Knight (General Kael!), and a multitude of other characters that really make the experience enjoyable. Mad Martigan is the typical Han Solo-ish character that starts out as an opportunist and as the movie progresses transforms into the white knight of the film. There are some very interesting supporting characters and different kinds of entities that draw the viewer deep within their world .

This is a very good movie and I must insist that all of you reading this should go and see it for yourselves. It is one of the last great fantasy films of all time. You shouldn’t miss it!



Krull

The world of Krull is a magnificent place. The environment is truly pristine and the inhabitants are colorful and pleasant. There is however an antagonist of mass proportions terrorizing the land. His name is the Beast and he commands an army of armored soldiers called Slayers who are equipped with weapons that are far superior to whatever the Krullites wield. The Beast is described as an all powerful entity who travels from world to world conquering the lands and doing what he pleases with the populations. The movie begins with Cowyln and Lyssa’s marriage to unite the kingdoms and from what it looks like after years of slayer onslaughts there isn’t that much left of either fiefdoms. As the wedding ceremony is about to be completed the slayers attack with a almost unstoppable power. They swarm the castle, grab Lyssa, and haul her back to the Beasts castle which seems to resemble a giant out of place mountain. To make matters worse this castle has the ability to teleport anywhere the Beast pleases and Cowyln is shot to pieces and has to be nursed back to health by the wise old hermit Ynyr. This is the mentor motif. An old sage of some sort who comes down from the mountain to bestow his knowledge on the up and coming hero. The movie Highlander had this as well with the teacher known as Ramirez (Sean Connery). Unfortunately most mentors tend to have short life spans after assisting their hero and meet their demise half way through the story. To make a long story short Cowyln who is commanded by Ynyr to find the “Glaive” which is an awesome weapon that looks like a gold five pointed star with blades that come out of the points. Its very well made and just to see it in action towards the end of the movie is well worth the wait. Now a lot of people were critical of how the weapon is used at the end but I for one thought it was done very well and I will explain why. The Glaive is supposed to embody power while love is represented in the form of fire. If you have seen the movie it’s a little easier to understand but it all comes together from one quote from the film.

“Power is fleeting, Love is eternal”

The reason why this cryptic message is so important is because the glaive (Power) is not strong enough to defeat the beast. Yes, it is used in many other important tasks within the Beast’s castle but it falls short of finishing the job. Only the fire (Love) of Lyssa and Cowyln together can vanquish the evil Beast and send him back into the void of space.

This is a very powerful movie and I remember searching for it forever before picking up the VHS (which I still own). It’s an amazing story that brings a message of how friendship and love is important to vanquish the evil and vices in ones life.

So ends this posting. I hope you have all enjoyed it and if you haven’t seen the movies I listed about please find time to watch them at least once. They are films that are very well made and have yet to be matched by any present day works.

Honorable Mentions:

Conan the Barbarian

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Beast Master
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LadyHawke
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Highlander III
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Legend
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Dark Crystal
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Labyrinth

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Hawk the Slayer

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