Category: Written Reviews

Highlander was a cult hit in 1986 and seemingly ended with no room open for a sequel… but in 1991, out came Highlander II: The Quickening, a film that would end up being somewhat reviled due to its controversial changes to the lore of the first film. It came such a running joke that the producers would eventually put together a “Renegade Edition” that some saw as damage control, but clearly the only to control this kind of damage would have been to not release the film in the first place.

On a personal note, Highlander II would actually be my first exposure to the franchise and… yeah, listen. Only having fleeting knowledge about the Highlander lore and then discovering that all these Immortal beings are actually aliens from another planet is kind of a hard pill to swallow. I could only imagine those who had seen and adored that first film would have felt at the sequel’s utter dissection of its predecessor’s lore. The later Renegade version would remove all references to planet Zeist or outer space, retooling these immortal beings as being sent from Earth’s distant past… a distant past of an unrecorded period where we had time travel technology and laser-based weaponry. Honestly, trying to fit this in within any context of Highlander lore is an exercise in futility and having this be ignored by other films and television series that would come along afterwards is probably for the best.

With all that having been said… I don’t dislike Highlander II as much as others do. As a part of the larger Highlander universe, it’s an odd piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fit… but taken as its own thing, this is one of those films that you know is pretty bad, but you can help but admire the absurdity of the whole thing. And I’d be lying if I said that there weren’t things to like about this film.

Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery reprise their roles from the previous film and pretty much continue where that relationship left off being Ramirez lost his head. Michael Ironside’s General Katana is pure ham and is absolutely beautiful. Not quite as imposing as the Kurgan, but the glee in the misery he brings is absolutely infectious. The few sword fights and action sequences are actually quite well done and I can almost admire the grander setpieces that the film attempts to depict, even if most of it takes place in perpetual darkness. And of course, there’s the bombastic orchestral soundtrack by the great Stewart Copeland, which sounds great even if it’s saddled with a largely bad movie that’s taken down by a largely terrible script that the cast tried as best as they could to make the most of what they were given.

If you’re going to watch Highlander II, get the Renegade Version. It changes a few plot details here and there, but also the editing is a bit tighter and some things are moved around here and there so that the whole thing simply make more sense. It’s still not a good movie and ultimately a completely superfluous entry in the Highlander legacy, but if you just want a bad movie to take the piss out of on a late night, you could do far worse than this.

1986 saw the release of Highlander, a film that not many people saw domestically but was a hit overseas and has since become something of a cult classic that has spawned several films and series that fail to live up to the standards that made the initial film great. And while it may seem rather dated by today’s standards (the 1980s-style soundtrack and special effects, as good as they are for the time, doesn’t help matters here), it does hold up rather well in terms of its story and action.

For the most part, I enjoyed the sword fights tremendously, with each battle becoming more intense as the stakes become higher. The non-linear aspect of the story – alternating between the present day and flashbacks of the past – was almost baffling, but never gets confusing and the two compliment each other rather well.

Highlander also offered an interesting view of immortality; its high points and its tragedies. Whereas we would always wish to be able to live forever, these immortals do live on, carrying the burden of watching friends and family die, as well as having to deal with being an outcast to the mortal world. It’s something that reflects greatly on Connor and something that is sadly lost in later entries.

Overall, Highlander is a perfect starting point (dare I say the only thing worth watching in the franchise) for those who are interesting in checking it out. If you can get past the eighties-ness of the whole deal, you’ll find a surprisingly deep and rather enjoyable film. Recommended.

For those who felt that the live-action Street Fighter movie was too much of a Van Damme movie and not enough of a proper Street Fighter movie, then perhaps Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie may be more to your liking.

When I first bought a VHS copy of this film, I bought it mainly for two reasons. It’s based on the popular video game of which I’ve played many times and I’ve always wanted to kick off my own collection of anime films… a goal that has fallen off the waysides as of late. I wasn’t expecting much – the Van Damme version wasn’t all that great of a film, although I’ll happily admit here that I do enjoy some of the cheese it provides… maybe I should’ve added that bit to the imdb review.

Turns out that the people behind the animated movie knew what they were doing and were more than willing to keep the movie faithful to the video game source it was based upon rather than try to craft their own narrative with all the players they were given. All sixteen fighters from Super Street Fighter II Turbo are represented – hell, they even snuck in a cameo by then-secret fighter Akuma as a background bit – and they’re all portrayed as close to as they should be. The fight sequences are also well-done and are a highlight of the film… as they should be in a movie called Street Fighter.

There were two localized versions of the film released: an unedited version (which is the version I saw) and a version edited for general audiences, which I assume mostly involves editing some choice words and some shots here and there. Neither version retains the few seconds of the Chun-Li Shower Scene where she bares all, which may disappoint all the perverts out there. But for the rest of you, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie does the games justice and is just a solid film in its own right. Well worth the watch.

I had seen this film back when it first aired on A&E channel a year or so back and when I saw the VHS tape available for sale and had the money for it, I snapped at the opportunity to pick this up.

What started as a simple documentary about wrestling became a compelling drama, which pits the hero Bret Hart against the manipulative Vince McMahon. What results of this confrontation is one of the biggest controversies in wrestling history. And you know something? That wasn’t in the script.

What’s wrong with this film? It features real people doing real things, real backstage politics, and yet there is something about this film that makes it so dramatic… so exciting that it seems like it’s scripted. But any wrestling insider will tell that it’s no work… no storyline concocted… this is very real.

There’s an additional bonus on the VHS version; an additional interview with Bret Hart and filmmaker Paul Jay reflecting on the film and the events that have transpired since the events of Montreal and the film’s subsequent release. It provides a nice bit of depth and despair to the existing story.

This isn’t exactly the greatest wrestling documentary ever made (although some people will disagree), but it is one of the few which holds nothing back except what happens behind the curtain. A good drama in my view.