Highlander II: The Quickening. It's a Kind of Tragic.
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- Опубліковано 3 лис 2022
- #Highlander #90s #90smovies
Stam Fine Reviews looks at the sequel to Highlander- a classic 80's fantasy action film. Highlander II isn't a classic anything, other than a classic example of making an utterly terrible sequel.
Directed by Russell Mulcahy. Stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Virginia Madsen, and Michael Ironside.
Highlander takes the premise of the first film, and retcons the lore so that the Immortals are exiles from the Planet Zeist. No, really. - Розваги
Even with several more movies and TV shows, The Highlander series never fully recovered from this one.
The Source was overkill for Highlander as well.
@@tuffcommander The Source wasn't just a bad Highlander movie, its one of the worst films i've ever seen.
I have a soft spot for H2, I tend to treat as a standalone. None of the sequels/spinoffs work, as the original was written as a one off!
The entire franchise seemed to have this, "I only need the bullet points of what came before" attitude in making sequels. The only thing you can do is believe each thing is its own universe where events similar to the first movie happened in all of them.
Endgame (no, not that one) was probably the best of the sequels, being more a sequel to the TV series, but still messed up several things the series explicitly said and had a major OOC moment.
Series: Duncan NEVER married
Endgame: Yes he did
Series: Pre-Immortals can't have kids either
Endgame: Yes they can
Entire Franchise: Fighting/Killing on Holy Ground is BAD (admittedly never confirmed why or what would happen)
Endgame: It's no biggie
Sounded like it recovered to me. 3 more sequels and 6 seasons of tv shows and a spin off is pretty good going
I saw this in the theatre.
When the credits rolled and the lights came up, everyone was dead silent. I'd never known anything like it.
People just quietly picked up their things and left in silence.
I had the exact same experience in my local theater.
In our cinema when the end credits rolled we got up and cheered!!
Saw it on its initial run in the theatre. Same experience. However, for our viewing the image was not aligned correctly. So that meant for the entire movie we could see the audio track on the side of the film. It was endlessly more entertaining than what was occurring on screen.
I’m glad I never saw this in the theater, only parts of it on Tv. There can be only one the original.
You aren't the only one. I'll bet most ended like that
Three things I remember about seeing this in the cinema.
1) It was my birthday
2) I lost a contact lens on the way there and found it on the way home, so technically I've only seen half of it.
3) I encountered someone from the previous showing while walking in, who merely commented, "Arse".
Sean Connery's line readings during the planet Zeist scenes at the start are priceless. He sooooo doesn't want to be there.
I saw this movie in the theater with my first wife. Rarely did she ever swear and even less in public. When the movie ended and we stood up she said, quite loudly, "What the FUCK was that?"
I was so hyped to see this in theaters. Me and my best friend left stunned. We were silent the entire ride home.
You're lucky. I had to apologise to the friend I dragged with me. "I /swear/ the first one was good!" for the entire bus ride.
I think the Rotten Tomatoes synopsis is "There should have been only one"
My memory of this movie is that I went with friends to see it the day my father died. It made a bad day better because it's so terrible it made me laugh and forget about everything else for a little while.
I saw Clueless the day I was told. I just got back from a back packing trip with a friend and his dad. We got back and the next day my buddies parents suggested we go see a movie. We saw Clueless when picked up by my friends parents I was filled with dread. Like I had done something wrong and the hammer was about to drop. I remember seeing my friends mom's eye's looking at me in the rear view mirror. When we got to his house I saw my mom's car. This was the confirmation to me that I had fucked up badly and was about to pay. Turns out that my Dad passed away suddenly. That nervous feeling was because my friends parents knowing ,but needing to distract me until my Mom could be present.
For some reason your comment made me think of a similar association with a movie. Clueless is petty decent and I don't mind watching it but it does make me remember little slice of my life.
@@justinbrown691 Thank you for that, and I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did. I found my father dead in his bed, which was a sudden surprise too but more immediate, I suppose? No time for dread.
It really is strange how life-changing memories like ours get attached to peripheral stuff like this and how surreal it becomes--- as well as the clarity of those memories. Your clear memory of your friend's mother's eyes made me think of another memory of my night. Right before seeing Highlander 2 with my partner at the time and my best friend, we had dinner at Olive garden. We were laughing and having a good time and then I stopped short and said, "Wow, my father's been dead for 3 hours now." Grief is a freaky mistress in a bumper car randomly sideswiping you 🙂
"Somehow, Ramirez returned."
Surely the sign of an excellent sequel
We were huge fans of Highlander and we saw H2 at the cinema. Me and my friend left in silence, and sat in silence afterwards, trying to process what we had just seen.,
This always felt like one of those movies where they had a script they bought and decided it was "close enough" to an existing product and just turned it into a sequel.
It's one of those sequels where you ask if they actually watched the first one.
Christopher Lambert fucking rules. Dude deserved to be way more popular than he was back then
The tv show was good.
I was too young to understand Highlander 2. I'm 50 now and still too young.
I saw the second movie first. So when I rented the original a week later, I was confused and annoyed that it contradicted Highlander 2.
4:03 "Somehow Ramirez returned" 😂😂
"There can be only one" I feel like they were pretty specific about that from the get-go!
The only good thing about Highlander II is largely forgotten but absolute banger of a song 'Trust' by Heren Stevens, which is the only reason I own the vinyl soundtrack for this film.
OK, I'm putting that into Search right now!
Only movie I ever saw in the theater that I walked out on. Didn't even ask for a refund, I just wanted OUT.
How far in did you make it?
I must have been too poor or too busy to see this in cinemas, and by the time Video Ezy got the VHS on shelves I'd heard enough bad review from friends I decided to give it a miss. I have continued giving it a miss ever since.
Thanks for covering this, I got all the understanding I needed without sacrificing an extra couple of hours watching the film!
I made the mistake of watching this pile of shite in the cinema. About halfway through, somebody shouted "this is shit!" and the whole audience laughed.
My ideas for highlander 2
1.time travel
Or
2. Immortals from other planets come together from other planets for the quickening
Or
3.post highlander….conners escapades as the ‘only one” with a new type of non immortal villain….exploring Conner’s new abilities as the only one.
Thanks for this review - it made sense of the movie after I'd seen the film and had no idea what was going on. Also, the backdraft joke was a ripper. Thanks for the laugh!
When I first saw the movie at the time my first reaction was WTF ?!!!. Suddenly he is not the last one anymore. And he is not even from Earth ??? And it's in the future ??? Oh, and Ramirez is alive again ??? Why ????
I too remember seeing it in the cinema and we saw the trailer for the undiscovered country before it… My mate and I both walked out wishing we’d seen the other film…
I agree. If you must watch this film, find it in it uncut renegade version! At least it’s tolerable! And I must admit Virginia Madison in her prime was one hot woman! And Sean Connery returning his Ramirez at least was entertaining!
The amazing thing was that I went to see this film all excited but I could sense that even during the opening titles that it was going to be a terrible sequel.
I have a theory about Zeist. While Ramirez was on Earth for 2,500 years, MacLEOD for 500 years, only 20 minutes had passed on Zeist. Katana let his ADHD impulsive nature get the best of him. If Connor waited to go back any longer, he would have missed the new episode of Everyone Loves The Kurgan.
In the original script, one day in Zeist = one century on Earth
@@tiiito1988 I did not know that. So I've been right about this? lol
the whole alien planet idea was a stupid idea for this franchise
@@NitpickingNerd obviously. But I like to have some fun with it.
In the fight scene that with the flying aliens, that allows MacLeod to regain his powers, that scene was so badly done. You see the lines holding up the actors in so many shots, from that point of the film I knew the film didn't care. How were they not seen in the daily's or during production?
As a Scotsman, aye, in terms of Highlander films, there can be only one.
after chuckling at it, i felt genuinely upset that i didnt come up with such a funny title myself.
If "This Island Earth" was ever remade, Christopher Lambert could easily play a Metalunan, with that forehead of his.
That's at least a 5 head.
Normal View anyone?
This brings backs memories of going out to the pictures with my school friends, great memories. Oh, I did completely forget everything about this movie, though!
What an absolute dreadful pile a steaming doggie caca this film was. The original Highlander was such a pleasant surprise. I remember renting it and watching it late one night at home. I just loved it! When Highlander II came out, I was really curious...how could they make a sequel when the original ended so well? Still, I was excited and went to the theatre to watch that one. There weren't many other -victims- people there. Good holy heaven, it's a bad film. You might be thinking it's so bad it's good? No, it's not. It's just plain bad. The writers must have been on a bad acid trip when they wrote this. There is no other logical explanation. Imagine if the sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, explained that Luke and Leia were actually hairless orangutans from an ancient mystical Earth colony on the far side of the moon. Hans was a cross-dressing sumo wrestler who needed to constantly smoke Camel cigarettes dipped in kerosene in order to survive. Obi-Wan magically came back from the dead and delivered all his lines like he was in a real-life musical. Darth Vader was no longer the villain, it's now Charo. Ben and Luke must perform a sing-off of Cuchi-Cuchi with Charo in order to keep the Universe from imploding!! That would have made more sense than the absolute poop-fest of Highland II.
I remember seeing bits of this on tv as a young boy in 1994. I had no idea what was going on.
I hadn't seen Highlander. I went with a friend who was hopping with excitement at the prospect of this film... I felt his dismay and disappointment seeping from him - and for my part was totally lost. I didn't have a clue what was going on. I sort of liked the style of it, but...
Then, I saw Highlander on video, and oddly wasn't over impressed with that either. Only when I finally caught up with the TV series did I quite like it - though it's horribly dated now; somehow, some of that early 90s tv is even worse than the stuff from the 80s!
I even saw the other sequels, and quite enjoyed them although they were clearly straight to video...
Perhaps, maybe, take the whole mish-mash - including the TV series - and just do a reboot.
It wouldn't be sacrilege - Disney's rebooting the Star Wars Universe with each new series (another franchise that needs to be remade, simply to even out the tone of the whole thing).
Good vid.
Damnit, you made me want to see if I can find this streaming somewhere, just to see if it really WAS as bad as I remember (and as you say)!
I can't decide if old Connor looks like Yogurt from Spaceballs or old Salieri from Amadeus...
This movie is a drunken dream sequence Connor had passed out on the floor of Duncan's Dojo after they went out.
It's never a good idea to start your film with the primary villain doing something monumentally stupid just to get the plot going. Katana could have sat on his ass and Connor would have willingly died of old age on Earth.
They never explained how/why Connor didn't already know Ramirez in the first film or how/why they ended up on Earth in different millenia. I know the recuts added time travel to this mess, but I never bothered with them.
The TV series was a success because it focused on a different character and first implying The Gathering was much longer period and then pretty much ignoring it after season 1. The first movie still happened, except the part where Connor becomes mortal. It's enough of its own thing to be in its own alternate universe from the first movie and you can enjoy it without all the "but this happened in the movie" stuff. It did a good job of showing the ups and downs of being immortal with a character who's a bit lest angsty than Connor.
I Loved the first film. But This Was an insult☹☹
The look of Highlander 2 is diet Blade Runner meets Brazil
I remember years ago watching this on the tv and the second I heard 'The Planet Zeist', I immediately thought...oh shit!
Do it for Zeist!
Damn fine title, Stam Fine!
I don't care what anyone says, I love this insane movie.
Lol I love your 'Christopher Laaaaaaaambert' I'm going to use that everytime I mention his name and point people to this video when they give me stange looks!
Thanks, Stam. It sure looks great though. just on the visual side of things.
I loved the first film. A slick looking fantasy film in the past and present. In a way that makes it have some forward only time travel elements. This one is basically the same thing, but executed so poorly. Still looks and sounds great but has a lot of eye rolling junk in it. However, if this were not TIED to the first SUCCESSFUL and well liked Highlander film, and was just about a futuristic fantasy good vs evil, it would probably more fondly remembered, with the bad story beats and junk taken out. Which is to say, it is kind of like Split Second with Rutger Hauer. A cool 90's adventure in a city vibe. 📽
This one is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. If it wasnt for the fact that it was a highlander sequel, this could have made for a fun little B-movie. The problem is, it shredded an existing universe.
Also, i cant bring myself to completely loath anything with Virginia Madsen and Michael Ironside in it.
I usually just pretend that this is a Fred Olen Rey knock off of highlander (that happened to have very accurate casting on the McLeod and Ramirez knockoffs) and then im good. 😊
Keep in mind, Connery starred in Zardoz. You really can't claim he had any standards. Don't know why he passed on at least making a cameo on Indy 4.
The one good thing I took away from this movie is that it was the first time I'd seen John C. McGinley, who impressed me by doing a lot with so little. I felt downright prescient when Scrubs came out a few years later and proved he really was a great comedic actor.
I always think of him as "O'Neil" from _Platoon_
i wish the original cut was rereleased, i honestly enjoy it more than the attempts to make it make more sense.
I know I saw this at the cinema. However I remember absolutely nothing else about it.
I still like it
First movie that I saw in the theater that actively made me angry.
"The country's economic troubles at the time" is a phrase you can say about any year and you will be 100% right about Argentina
Vividly remember going to the cinema with my best friend to watch this when i was a teen and both of us could not believe what we were watching, then a few years later he got a bootleg vhs of a different cut, and we bought the Laserdisc with the few cuts on it, what a mess
Crazy that arguably the greatest action-fantasy film of all-time has a sequel that is arguably the worst of all-time.
I was one of the poor saps that saw 'The Quackening' at the theatre. The franchise (well, at that stage two films) fell from the sublime to the ridiculous almost by the end of The Quackening's opening credits.
There can be only one. They lied.
Zeist???
Sounds like a laundry detergent.
Porridge? Nice to see you. Missed your works.
the renegade cut
is actually good
While Highlander 2 is a bad film - and it is bad - it is, to me, the more interesting Highlander sequel. While it’s additions to the mythos (original and revised) devalue it, I can respect the instinct to do something different and make it grander in scale.
Still, surprised you didn’t call your review Highlander 2 The Sickening
Did the writers ever explain why they did the whole planet zeist thing?
Not that I know of, but one of the producers said they were pressured by fans to reveal an origin for the immortals. Why they never used the original writer's idea, I'll never know.
Shitty movie that destroyed the canon but young Virginia Madsen was really hot and Connery's return as Ramirez while nonsensical was at least entertaining. Russell Mulcahy and fans got really shafted by investors and bond company.
It was a shocker.
Left the cinema silent apart from saying 'that was crap'.
I went to the toilet and saw Highlander II come out of my arse!!
I saw Highlander in cinema's in London and loved it. I actually saw H 2 premiered in a special double bill with H 1 in Fulham! Oh my God the disappointment!
this film was absolutely shocking and wrecked the first one but it was cool seeing sean connery's character in the modern world
Best title ever for this movie lol
There can be only one. And it certainly should have stayed that way.
I loved it at the time (and still do) because it went in a radically different direction.
Highlander The Final Dimension retconned this when describing that Brenda died in a car accident. So in my own head canon this abomination doesn't exist.
They only did that so he could bang the new lady.
Zeist? Sounds like the name of a dentist on the Upper East Side.
Even as an 8 year old I thought "they're aliens? but..." It's such a remarkably bad plot twist/"development". The magic of the first movie, the mythological, fairytale aspect all junked.
I think that I fell asleep watching this.
Hang on, what's wrong with Van Helsing? You guys just don't appreciate the taste of well-made cheese.
Never seen H2. It almost sounds worth watching. Maybe if Amazon Prime show it for free. I do remember watching the TV series and lamenting the lack of action.
As a stand alone movie, Highlander II was wonderful. I saw it 3 times in the theater and bought the DVD. Put Michael Ironside in something, it will be entertaining.
I saw this the week it was released. It was on the cheap $2.50 Tuesday night viewing. I've never regretted losing a whopping $2.50 as much as that week. To sum up P.U. that stunk.
Highlander the source makes this look like citizen kane..
At least Highlander 2 was memorable. I know I saw The other two movies but I can’t remember a thing about them
I saw this in the theatre and the renegade cut. Out of the two the cut is better.
They should have only been one... Movie
Highlander II: The Reimagining.
But it does have lots of Michael Ironside
I watched the original on tape, loved it. I remember some kid at school telling me about a sequel, about Quiest and other wank, I didn't believe him, it sounded all so silly. Then I watched the tape....even as a snotface I knew this went beyond then Pale. FFS.
1991! Holy smoke, later than I thought. I watched '3' on tape....still wank. I do wonder how they'll set up inevitable sequels (logically with sense) in the Cavill remake.
Highlander 3 please!
apropos of nothing, I wonder if Luc Besson will ever make Subway II: The Subsequence - set in a post apocalyptic future retro musical space subway system in space, 3000 years in the past, but in space.
... I mean, I ask this as I'd like to complete my movie starring Lambert with-for-some-reason-a-sequel box set of :
Highlander, Highlander II *hirk* The Quickening
Fortress, Fortress II *hirk* Re Entry
Subway,
John C McGinley and Michael Ironside vs a godlessly stupid story and a clearly pissed off Sean Connery. I think he just did this movie for the Macallan 26 crate he had his eye on. This was Zardoz level awful.
The best part of the film was John McGinley's death scene.
I kind of like Highlander 2 - Michael Ironside's General Katana is FUN !! The Source? Only seen half of and could watch anymore.
Do Kickpuncher III: The Final Kickening
Hamlet😉
After having the plot explained to me beat by beat I somehow understand far less about it than before hearing said explanation.
Only marginally better than highlander the source
Back in the early days of the internet, H2 was often placed on people's "worst films of all time" lists. I don't know what it was, but there was a special experience of deep disappointment for all H1 fans like myself. We saw the Highlander idea going from the top of Everest to the bottom of the deepest ocean trench. It was seeing the greatness of the first film being stripped away.
I've seen the renegade cut. It basically changed one of the worst films of all time and turned it into something less hateful, but still uninteresting.
Best solution to highlander 2, never watch it, forget it ever existed, save yourself, it will ruin any love you have for the first film, which is in my top 5 favourite movies ever. In fact forget all the other Highlander movies, any one of them will destroy any love you have for the original. Save yourselves, I beg you!!!😁
For the life of me, I don't know why the Rifftrax guys haven't tackled this one. I love their riff for the first film. The sequel is crying out for it.
You can't make it any more ridiculous that the original film makers did.
Approval costs, most likely. Awful as this is, this isn't some abandoned B&W trash no one remembers or cares about. Whoever has the rights probably wants real money for the chance to riff it all nice and legal-like, and they're right to do so. A Highlander 2 riff would be worth a fortune, and doing it without an okay would get you a lawsuit right quick.
This movie was SO WEIRD, even for a film about immortals engaging in sword fights with the aim of beheading each other until there is only one of them left. Now the immortals are extraterrestrials from another planet...reality...time...whatever who get exiled to Earth for...reasons, MacLeod becomes a scientific genius (because of the Prize maybe?) who designs an energy shield that engulfs the Earth because the ozone layer is ruined, we're now in some odd retro future, Ramirez comes back to life like Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, there's a conspiracy to keep the energy shield up and keep the fact that the ozone layer repaired itself secret, there's hippie eco-terrorists, people dress like they're living in the 1940s instead of the future (the chunky chick in the bar who attacks MacLeod for example)...it's just friggin' WEIRD, man! And there's no Queen on the soundtrack! How can you have Highlander without Queen, I ask?
The whole "retro-future" style became popular in the 80s and 90s after Blade Runner as Stam indicated. There was even a "retro-present" (or retro-recent past) vibe to movies like Streets of Fire which took the violence and urban decay of the later 70's/early 80's, added 50's style clothing and cars, but also had a punk rock band.
@@carlrood4457 Yeah, even Predator 2 had retro-future vibes, as some of the cast is wearing fedoras and very 1940's style clothing. BTW...Streets of Fire is awesome movie with great soundtrack.
The name of the video is a kind of genius
Firstly thanks for this review. 2nd Are you going to review highlander the source please so we can get the full picture. This film aint as bad as Source. I have so many questions about this film
i don't know if i can subject anyone to more highlander movies...