WTF Happened to Highlander 2?
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- When the original Highlander became a sleeper hit on home video it was only a matter of time before a sequel was made. Even though Connor had won the Gathering and had once again become mortal surely there was a way to get him to pick up the sword once again. Christopher Lambert was game to reprise the character again so why not move forward with another film?
Well if you've seen Highlander II: The Quickening, then you know why they should have thought better about going back to the Highlander well. In an experience that many would describe as frustrating maddening and downright awful Highlander II would set out to fundamentally destroy the first film. The director tried to have his name taken off of it. The lead of the film wanted to drop out. Let's find out exactly WTF Happened To This Film.
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It’s so weird to think that Highlander 2 isn’t even the worst movie in the franchise anymore. Highlander 5: The Source is so much worst. I’m jealous of people who still think Highlander 2 is the worst cause I know they’ve never heard of part 5. Which makes sense since part 5 was a SyFy original straight to video sequel.
@@Armintanzarian1I’d rather watch 2 twice in a row than sit through 5 again
I accepted a long time ago that you have to approach this franchise like Zelda or Final Fantasy. Each one is its own thing, just with similar things.
The source is absolutely awful.
Don't care what anyone says The Highlander Franchise Rulez✊🏻!
Yeah.. comparing to Highlander 5, Highlander 2 looks like an academy award worthy movie….
Highlander 2 is my guilty pleasure. It is so outrageous, that I can't help but like it. At the heart of it is a pretty good idea for a science fiction movie - just not a Highlander movie.
Same.
I even still prefer the Theatrical Version, and wish it had a widescreen home video release in better than laserdisc quality (there's a 2015 DVD release, but it's the laserdisc transfer).
The stuff with Zeist was a brilliant idea (poorly executed) as a way to write themselves out of the corner they put themselves into with the first film. Changing this part of the lore to "in the past" is nonsensical and distracting, even though the effects and presentation on hold video is so much improved with the Renegade Version.
And I've also never liked the other sequels or the TV series. Those spit in the face of the ending of Highlander 1 even worse. I can't even remember how the TV series handled The Prize. Did they eventually just retcon it that Connor never actually won The Prize and Duncan actually did? 🤔
Being a huge fan of Verhoven (robocop, total recall ) at that time, i thought that Highlander 2 was somewhat awesome, I think i've watched it almost as many times as the first one.
It was completely insane and i loved it.
but ok - in the 90'ies with VHS there wasnt much else to watch :D
it's fundamentally ironic that in a film series about a once immortal being, they decided to set the sequel in the future rather than at some point in the time between Ramerez's death and the first film.
my thoughts too!
The technology to create what would eventually become known as "the prequel" had not yet been invented. There were early attempts but they often resulted in many casualties among the cast and crew, and irreparable harm to the space time continuum. It wouldn't be until 1999's "The Phantom Menace" where George Lucas harnessed the growing power of computers to make it possible to safely produce these kinds of movies.
Right? Highlander films after the original would’ve been much better if they took place before the first movie rather than after.
@@RaddSpencer Prequels have nothing to do with technology, only chronology. There were plenty of prequels that existed before Phantom Menace
@@edwardelric603 I bet people think you're a lot of fun at parties.
Skipped school in Juinor year to see this with my best friend when it initially came out. Right after "Zeist" was mentioned, myself, my friend and the WHOLE audience just started vocally making fun of the film. THAT was an experience. And yeah, we all made fun of it loudly until it was over. LOL
yeah the only redeeming quality is that its so bad you can laugh at it.
This was a confusing mess, but there were some good things about it. Corda and Reno were cool. Michael Ironside's "I don't care. Let's ham it up" performance as Katana was awesome. Sean Connery was fun.
Also John C. McGinley was fun in a supporting role, years before Scrubs made him famous. I actually remember noticing him in this, and thinking he seemed like he had more talent than the movie deserved.
It was a confusing mess, but one thing Highlander 2 has got good in its defense…it’s not a boring movie.
Hearing Ironsides thought it'd blow but decided to have fun with it is the most obvious thing said here. That man is enjoying chewing ALL of the scenery and it's great.
This movie is totally worth seeing for the fever dream kind of bad that it is.
He's especially fun to watch in the scenes with John C McGinley who wasn't mentioned.
What made it so bad was that I saw the sequel in the theater before I watched the original. I was like, this is kind of a cool sci-fi flick. A few days later, I decided to watch the first one and was like wtf...
That quote from Michael Ironside is gold 😆
It’s so great … he doesn’t sugar coat things 😂
I'm pretty sure Sean Connery listened to every word and remembered it when he was the villain in The Avengers (1998).
As a massive fan of the Highlander franchise since a kid, I can definitely confirm that the second film completely and needlessly changed the fundamental structure and law that was established in the original film, now making Connor Macleod an alien from a planet that heavily resembles "Dune" for some reason? And removing much of what made the first film great. But the second film isn't the worst, that title goes to - "Highlander 5" that is truly bad with utterly terrible special affects, performances, and storyline, it makes the second film look like a masterpiece by comparison. The Highlander TV series, Highlander 3 and Highlander Endgame are the best sequels that came closest to capturing the greatness of the original film.⚡
Highlander 5?! FIVE?!?! I didn't even know there was a 4! I saw the third one in a theatre when I was a teenager, and even then I felt it was nonsense. I actually prefer the second one to the third.
Each to their own, the third film is more in line with the original film's tone with no mention of Connor being an alien from a different planet, hence me preferring it to the second film. but we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. At the end of the day I like all of them...apart from the Highlander 5. As I said before it makes the second film look like a masterpiece by comparison.
@@danilom3166 it is called the source and duncan and a few friends is on the hunt for the source of immortality so it is almost as stupid as the alien thing
@@johansvensson833 the Russian cut is even worse as it includes all the cit scenes and original edits, the most notorious of all being Anna spinning around as she lifts up in the air when the planets align really close to Earth.
Shoulda took the Kurgan’s advice. It’s better to burn out than to fade away.
That was a quote from a def Leppard song. I guess he likes that kind of music?
Well, yes and no... Highlander 3 was better and more entertaining. Also it was a real sequel without time-traveling or dimension-hopping or whatever was going on in Highlander 2!
I enjoyed all three of them, probably because i saw them in the mid 90s when i was about 10 =D The real crap started with the other ones... Was there two or three more sequels? I don't remember.
@@bobjohnson1633I think it was Neil Young first
Michael Ironside is always a blast to watch!
My dad loved the first Highlander movie. I would dare say it was one of if not his favorite movie. So he was quick to rent Highlander 2 when it was first released on home video. I never saw such disappointment in my life. The man was ruined.
Speaking of Christopher Lambert, how about a WTH Happened to Greystoke? There’s a lot of stories about what happened behind the scenes as it was originally going to be made by Robert Towne
I saw HIGHLANDER 2 before I saw its predecessor, and with all of its rocket-pack action, not to mention a flying skateboard, laser guns, sword fights, and a sky shield, I loved it! Then I saw the first movie and realised why so many people hated the sequel! Viewing it without any preconceptions allowed me to enjoy it, and I still do. Totally unrelated to the other films though! 😆
Honourable mention for Stewart Copeland's soundtrack. If you manage to find the CD, buy it! ⚔️ ⚔️ ⚔️
i initially loved the sountrack however , i began to realize that Copeland never uses any leitmotives. it is kind free for all scene to scene. its consistently disjointed and comletely through composed. with a few returning themes it could have helped add some cohesiveness to the whole film. hats off to him for producing some great music to such a piece of junk movie though.
Producer to the writer: Did you actually SEE the first movie?
Writer: There was another movie?
Okay, maybe that wasn't what actually happened, but would you be surprised?
The last cut of Highlander 2 I would consider firmly fits real well with the first three films when it comes to the TV series and the films that are connected,I look at that as a whole different universe
I watched this movie tons of times to try to understand it
But then I found out that nothing made sense
But it was intriguing the approach on science fiction. So much that they made a cartoon series and an anime with a sci-fi setting
Try finding sense with "The Source." You won't find any.
The only Highlander sequel I'll ever watch again sober is "The Search for Vengeance".
My high-school tv productions class teacher was on set crew for this movie.
He didn't tell us he was in it, he had a poster of the movie on the wall in the classroom portable and I was the one in the group who asked him why that poster was up. Then, by rehearsed remorse, he took a breathe and gave us his story.
I had fun in high school lol
Highlander was the first movie I saw on VHS. I had a blast playing with the fastforward and rewind buttons.
Clancey didn’t say he didn’t get paid for the first one, it’s that he got paid shit. He makes more attending Highlander reunions than he got paid for the original filming.
Who is Clancey
@@marinothegreatsan He played the Kurgan in the first film
The first time I saw this was on VHS. I remember thinking two things. The first was, WTF is this? The second was, what am I missing? I wasn't a rabid fan, so I figured there was some back story I hadn't read about.
I remember the only way I could rationalize it was by thinking of it as a reinvention and not a sequel. But even then the self-contained story makes no sense.
I'm from Argentina! the ending battle of the film was shot like 10 mins walk away from mine. Those massive empty warehouses are still there x)
Me acuerdo de ver cómo filmaban en lo que ahora es puerto madero, en ese momento estaba todo abandonado y nos parecía una locura que alguien esté ahi
@@victorfortunato jajaja es cierto! de hecho en un momento se veia el nombre de la calle. La pelea final se filmo por Av Marquez, lo veia siempre que iba para lo de mi abuela x) y todavia lo veo cuando arranco para el oeste
I used to talk to a little hottie 💃 from Argentina 🇦🇷...Ever since, I've always wanted to visit. She moved to Chile 🇨🇱 later for work. So I now I want to visit both places 😂 If I had some money & spoke Spanish. I think I'd like to live down there for a change of pace.
@@michaelbrinks8089 Plenty of more fish around here! Do drop me a message if you ever visit x) Argieland and Chile are both beautiful places. I've lived in London for almost 10 years. Where are you from?
@@pituparanoico I'm from USA 🇺🇸 but sadly haven't ever traveled outside of USA....I used to watch a Canadian 🍁 bike packer 🚲. Who would ride/travel through remote areas of Argentina 🇦🇷 & Chile 🇨🇱 and camp outside.
I've walked out of the theater mid-moive exactly two times in my life. Highlander two was one of those times.
what was the other? had i seen in theatres i would have too! alas it was on vhs so i gutted my way thru....
The Conan the Barbarian remake with Jason Mamoa was my theatrical exit.
right? i was so pissed myself. bay watched killed that possible franchise lol@@bigd7696
There is only one Highlander film. The rest are Highlander money grabs.
How can one not love Michael Ironside.. The man is hilarious
Katana crushing David Blakes' Dr. Cox was a gruesome moment.
*Michael Ironside:* The most honest man in showbusiness.
He is a joy to watch in most every film he's been in.
The line from the 3rd film springs to mind!
"There can be only one!"
"Yes! And it won't be you!"
🤔
the first highlander movie i ever saw was Highlander 2 when i was a teenager. I remember being so mesmerized by how confusing the movie was, there was just something about it that made me keep coming back to it to try to figure out the plot. Then i decided to rent highlander 1, i figured maybe it was so confusing because i didn't watch the first one, but nope, it didn't help me in the least, then i ended up renting all of the highlander movies, and just became a hardcore highlander fan
Connery passed on playing Gandalf because he didn't understand the story.
he was in Highlander and still took the role in 2 anyway? he able to understand
that script that yet he couldn't get LOTR?
Highlander II is quite possibly one of the movies that motivated him to distrust scripts that he didn't understand...
$14.98 is an absurdly high price for a VHS tape in the 80s. Yikes!
Forget anything that came afterwards...Highlander is the only Highlander...
HIGHLANDER II is one of my guilty pleasures. We know about the various problems and inconsistencies in this sequence, but I can see some positive points.
The film has a dystopian science fiction atmosphere that I think is fantastic. The whole issue of the destruction of the ozone layer, the creation of that protective shield for the planet and the decadent, stagnant society, living in terrible conditions under that red "sky"... I think it's very good!
The problem was that they mixed this great plot with all the fantasy of immortal warriors! And on top of that presenting them as aliens! The plot could follow in a similar way, with an eco-terrorist group contacting one of the scientists who created the shield.
And they discovered that the ozone layer had already been restored. And so, organizing an attack on the corporation that controlled the shield.
I still regard it as the sequel with the most merit. It's a film that's too bold in its attempts to be its own story, but at least it's not a lazy carbon copy of the original. (See the third movie for that.) And the elaborate production design makes it look far more impressive than the cheap fourth and fifth entries. That being said, they really should've settled on one of their two big ideas: either set it in the future with Connor solving an environmental crisis, or set it in the present with Connor learning the secret origin of the immortals. Don't do both at once.
Yeah, except the secret origin of the immortals was mythological or even perhaps a religious/mystical origin. Not this steaming pile of dung.
If it was set in the far future where they were sent to the past to fight and The One who survives can return to the future just by living long enough, that would have made more sense than being from the far past.
I put the canon on hold mentally and enjoyed watching it. Connery in the clothes shop is hilarious, and when the bagpipes start playing as he's about to die sacrificially, it's golden. Ironsides was hilarious and scary.
I’ve only ever seen the first one
There's something about taking an action movie and making a batshit sequel set in the near future that I love so much.
There was a Hilander kids cartoon in the 90s that was set in a Dystopia future!!!
That was really good!!
“There can only be one”. Says it right in the movie. No sequels
A very, _very_ appropriate title for the video 😅
Michael Ironsides give a Raul Julia "Street Fighter" performance in this movie.
I saw 'Highlander' at the cinema when I was a teen, and loved it. Swords, check, Queen soundtrack, check. So how excited was I when there was a sequel? Well, excited until the planet 'Zeist' was mentioned,.... I remember us walking out of the cinema after, ... we were quiet for a bit, then my girlfriend said 'But in the first one,....' and yeah, we unpicked the inconsistencies. I never knew there was a 'fixed' version, I'll have to check that out.
The flight safety video is an under appreciated strike of genius
Possibly the worst sequel ever made, and yet it has a few bright spots. The cast is phenomenal, and Ramirez' reincarnation is just epic every time we see him. Also, Michael Ironside absolutely killed it with his over the top performance.
I don't even think it's the worst Highlander sequel ever made, but it's probably one of the most baffling high-profile theatrical sequels of all time, comparable to Exorcist II.
"Ashes to ashes , dust to dust.. if you don't take it out and use it, it's going to rust."
ironside is a legend who never got the limelight he deserves.
Honestly if Highlander 2 was a stand alone sci-fi movie, there were a lot of elements in it that worked. (I loved the future tech) but the fact that it was a sequel to a movie that was based upon a more religious/mystical origin and choose to ignore it, killed it. (Note: I'm not saying it would have been good, as is, as a standalone film, but the basic concept, guy invents technology that at the end of his life he realizes is bad and must destroy, and then throw in the bad guys trying to stop him from doing that, and add in a bit of sci-fi superpowers and it's a decent B-rated movie)
I saw Highlander in theaters. I loved it enough to see it several times.
so I thought I understood it. then 2 came out. I was confused and really
disappointed. effing flying bird aliens? wtf?
I had not ever heard to the re-edited versions of Highlander 2 until this video, i haven't seen the movie for decades as it was so pants but was thinking i should rewatch it at some point out of nostaligia and to see if it really was so bad, but i think i'll need to find the Renegade version.
Thanks JoBlo.
The thumbnail and knowledge of the debacle that is the second installment in the Highlander series made me laugh satisfyingly.
I’ll tell you what happened: we were well on our way to forgetting it, and letting it fade into obscurity. Then you dredged it up and threw it back into our faces. Thanks for that.
Is so bad that is good, it was my first solo movie on a Cinema that doesn’t exists anymore.Great video!
I was so scarred from this movie that I remember where I was (closing up a grocery store - locking the automatic doors) when a customer said they just saw it and it was HORRIBLE. I was so excited to see the sequel until then. Thankfully the first movie is still what matters and what people reference because there can only be one.
Fun fact; this was one of the first films ever to be retconned out of existence.
I don’t know how accurate it is. Back in the early 90s I had a conversation with someone who is licensed to produce official merchandise for Highlander.
He stated that what he had been told by the producers was that they requested scripts and one of the requirements was no Sean Connery. He had gotten a lot more famous, and they could not afford him.
When they were approaching the deadline to have an approved script, they got word that they would be approved for a certain amount of distribution time in Asian markets if the movie had Sean Connery. Since you get paid for the amount of time, your movies in the theater, not part of the ticket sales the amount of money was going to be enough to pay for Sean Connery.
In a panic, they dug through their scripts for one that, despite the requirements, had to Sean Connery. Thus the Highlander to script was chosen.
Since other financial backing involved, staying relatively close to the approved script, they were stuck.
The most absurdly, frustrating thing is that if you consider the timeline of the movie, the first one, Ramirez was already dead when the movie starts. Everything he is in is a flashback.
They could’ve easily, as they often did with the TV show, made it a period piece. Connor is supposedly been running around New York City changing his identity for decades. You see incredibly cool, memorabilia from his life.
All they had to do was pick some phenomenal or interesting historical event, such as World War II. Have it turned out that one of Mr. bad Guy, who RUclips does not like mentioning’s generals, was an immortal. We know Connor was there, he rescued Rachel. So he’s trying to take this guy out because he’s advising Mr. bad Guy and Connor knows he’s a really brilliant strategist.
Have him rescue Rachel on the way out and everybody’s happy. Then you can also just include flashbacks with Connery. He remembers his training. He remembers lessons that Ramirez gave him about fitting in. Maybe even talking about this guy in that time.
In fact, come to think of it with the relative, closeness, in time to the Spanish expelling, the Jews, you could’ve worked that into the story.
Connor knows about this guy because Ramirez told him about the reason he was able to leave Spain and travel so freely.
His identity being made up, left enough holes in his background that this particular bad guy was suspicious of him being a secret Jew.
He is basically on the outs at court because he can’t prove he is who he says he is because he is not who he says he is.
That would be the reason the bad Guy come out who is anti-somatic, I was being talked about at the time and might be where Mr. World War II bad guy got a bunch of his ideas.
Interestingly enough, I just came up with a much better script idea in about an hour of listening to these videos while driving.
I remember going to the cinema to see this,me and the whole audience stumbled out at the end dazed and confused.....
So...I was a kid when Highlander 2 released and aside from the critics I don't remember anyone saying it was bad. They did say it was odd and it really doesn't fit well with the first film but overall they liked it. I thought it was okay....I haven't seen it in over 20 years. Although I have never been a huge Highlander fan either. Hmmm...maybe I saw the Renegade Cut???
I have NEVER been so disappointed in a movie. I waited six years for this sequel to come out. When I heard about the sequel I was actually excited. The more I heard about it the more excited I got. Same actors, Same writer, same director. Sean Connery? Fine. Maybe he would be in flashbacks. No queen soundtrack. Fine. What are you going to do. That was lightning in a bottle. And it was absolute garbage. I saw it opening day in the theatre and I was aghast at the story, the inclusion of Sean Connery, space aliens, the acting, the directing, the special effects. Aghast. Complete garbage.
"Highlander 2 is the worst Highlander movie and possibly the worst sequel of all time."
Highlander The Source: "Hold my broken katana."
Yup 😫
I remember when they were filming it, Christopher Lambert appeared on all the television channels giving interviews and every night he was in a different nightclub, with a different Argentine model every night, that also delayed the filming dates.
If they really do reboot this, I hope they either drop the "There can only be one" or make it a strait trilogy and then let it go.
The basic premise of the movie DOES NOT leave anything open for making it a franchise.
It's weird.
Should had made a midquel.
That or make a mortal man who resolves problems with his knowledge as a sequel.
I love how candid the actors are. And there's no shame in doing a job to earn money.
It's as if the makers of Highlander II never saw the original and they were told the plot by someone while that person was drunk. Then they wrote the script for Highlander II.
The truth is that it's the same director, same producers, and--most surprisingly--same co-screenwriter (one of the original three writers). The one new voice was the guy who came up with the whole alien plot: Brian Clemens, who was best known for writing classic episodes of the spy show The Avengers and for writing/directing the Hammer action-horror film Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. It's a testament to how even talented people with a history of competent storytelling can totally botch something.
Oh!!!! So the Renegade Cut is actually much better and cuts out the alien crap? I had NO IDEA. Thank you for informing me. Now I can watch that instead of the original.
All a sequel had to be was a story about how the birth of immortals is cyclic.
Once one cycle is complete it starts again.
Put in some gumpf about Mcloud putting himself in suspended animation until the next time Ramirez is born and then teaching Ramirez about the quickening.
Connery could have done a brief cameo at the end with a younger man playing young Ramirez.
But nooo, they went with Aliens.
I watched this movie way too many times because i thought the premise, costumes, set design, and characters were cool, and wanted to figure out why I didnt "get it".
I realized that it was because it was bad. Both original and renegade version. But I still like the set pieces.
Design by committee? What could possibly go wrong? 🤔
While it makes zero sense in continuity with the other entries, I don't think the second movie works as its own movie without the Zeist references.
I'm pretty sure I recall reading Starlog and Cinemafantastique magazines at the time of release in the 80's where Mulcahy, Lambert and others proudly announced the 'space aliens' angle to the film. I do not think that plot point came from 'the bankers doing the editing'. The corporate editors-in-charge worked on spec to cut down scenes and combine fights so that there would be a higher percentage of Connery in the film. This was to satisfy the bonding (bankers') conditions for refinancing the movie under the volatile Argentina economy.
But, the 'alien angle' and the shield were always the main plot mechanisms to 'bring back the immortals'. And it shows that Zeist was always part of the plan, because that's the one thing that's far WORSE in the Renegade Version: When Mulcahy tried to make it that those scenes were 'in the past'. That's still so completely stupid: Why would advanced rulers (the Priests, presumably) send guys into the future as punishment, where they could obviously really muck-up anything to come, or even STAY in the future and rule with The Prize?🤔
Love/loved the original. Saw 2 and basically swore off watching anything with Highlander "X" after it.
2 absolutely triggered me - aliens that become immortal when on Earth? And becoming immortal is a punishment for being a rebel? (if so, sign me up)
Ramirez and Connor knew each other - but when transported/exiled together end up centuries apart and no memory?
Katana - stays on own planet so not immortal - and Connor has spent centuries on Earth - yet still alive and knows Connor won and shows up not centuries old? (And has memory intact)
Original Quickening makes you stronger - but now restores youth plus allows you to resurrect someone?
Calling it a steaming pile demeans steaming piles.
Heard about the Series with Connors' cousin and went NOPE, I'm out.
May have accidentally caught 3 as a late movie on TV - hated it.
Didn't even know about 4 or 5 until it was mentioned in the chat.
As far as I'm concerned, there was only ever 1 Highlander movie.
As bad as it is, it's always fun. It would be really awesome if some label would put out every single version of this movie existing on blu ray. I don't think that changing the Zeist plot back to the past or changing the shield from red to blue really helped but anyway. Let's celebrate this movie for what it is - a silly load of fun!
I love Highlander 2. It so epicly disconected with first one, the story makes little to no sense (main villain is an absolute idiot), but it is a lot fun to watch. Easily my second most favorite Highlander movie, every scene with Connery is a pure treasure. The third is too much copy of the orginal minus Connery which is always a minus. I never saw the rest of the franchise, but from what I heard I didnt miss much.
Agreed. I've enjoyed this movie many times. It's just a fun romp with beloved characters.
It makes no sense but is fun.
In my head cannon this is a fever dream that Macleod has while he is in sanctuary in endgame.
I stand by Highlander 2 both versions story wise. But main strength is Production Designer, Cinematography, Practical Effects, The Location Scout.
Really? One of the worst movies ever made. Makes a lot of top ten lists.
Ive always enjoyed this film as a guilty pleasure and plan to do a video about it soon! 👍😬
I also saw it the day it came out and the whole audience stood up as the credits started and said all as 1 there should have been only one.
Still never seen it, nor any of the subsequent sequels. Loved the TV show, save for the last season.
Watching this movie now. What a disaster. They even rewrote the way McLeod and Ramirez learned about the quickening.
I hope Chad Stahelski gets to direct the reboot
As a fan of Highlander and the show im amazed i had no idea there was a #2....
I remember when they came to film this movie to Argentina when i was a kid.
They should’ve made highland 2 a prequel, set before the kurgan and his early journeys/engagements in New York.
Then end it with a scene of an old Macleod enjoying being mortal.
I saw this before the first film. I was like WTF?
The mad thing about Highlander is while a sequel could be made, it couldn't be the same genre. The film does however set up a world with a lot of prequel potential. Conner was wandering around the planet for 500 years and we only really see a couple of snippets from the beginning of his adulthood and then the final showdown in the 1980s. If you did insist on a sequel instead of a prequel it could be super interesting, a realistic and grounded story about the world being introduced to a telepathic man who has been around for hundreds of years and seen exactly where things go wrong. Naturally though it's a prequel bait, since it concludes an epic story which it also only just touches upon.
Highlander 2 is so silly it betrays that it was an accidental success. It was a basic story written on a basic premise with very straightforward archetypes. It seems too sincere to be a deliberate attempt to sabotage the first film, it seems more like the writers didn't really know what they had.
They managed to totally lose any sort of grounding too. It reminds me of that shift between Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. One set in the real world with just one key detail changed, the other set in a complete fantasy world with no relation to reality.
I was like 10 when Highlander 2 came out and I thought it was freakin awesome at the time😂
And the depressing thing is that Highlander 2: The Quickening is not even the worst Sequel in the Franchise.
Highlander: The Source is far WORSE. It was so awful that it killed the Franchise.
I remember being excited for this sequel then saw it and was like what is this alien stuff. Agree as a separate movie would work as a sequel bad. Renegade version helped.
I have no idea why they changed the shield in the fixit versions, the red grid was threatening and menacing, an evil cage around the planet. The blue is every sci-fi shield ever.
Just when you think that Highlander 2 can't get any worse, you finish reading the Dune series and see exactly what they did here...
No wonder they named the protagonist "Duncan" in the TV show.
I have to say when I first saw Highlander 2 I also said WTF!
Ok I may try to find the directors cut as it sounds a lot more sane than the first version.
They retconned the first movie for no reason. If they wanted to make another, they should gave done a prequel. Maybe all the mythological heroes like Hercules, Gilgamesh, etc could have been immortals.
And thus Highlander 2 gave birth to the most ridiculous Highlander property: the animated series
I remember seeing Highlander 2 in the theater. It was the first movie I was truly angry about. I was angry that the people actually thought this movie was worth making. Aside from the wires being easily seen during the "flying scenes", the fact that Sean Connery came back to life only to be killed off one scene later. As the credits rolled, I stated to my friend - "This has got to be the worst movie of the year." If I remember correctly both Siskel and Ebert agreed with my assessment.
The whole world being "shielded" by a greedy corporation even when it's no longer necessary sounds like a premise more fit for a RoboCop film
I enjoyed Highlander 2 as a film on it's own but a sequel to the original movie, wtf was they thinking ??? Wait, there are alternative versions of this movie, wasn't aware of this. Gotta look into that, hmmmm
They wasted Michael Ironside 🤦
I had no idea there was a directors cut. I will give it a try, but I doubt it will save it for me.
But no aliens is def a step in the right direction.
We dont talk about Highlander 2.
Ashes to Ashes Dust To Dust if you dont getout and use it, its going to rust...