Highlander II

[markpud]

Absolutely horrific sequel to an excellent film, this ought to have killed off the franchise....

The plot centers around Conner McLeod, having won the prize, and opting to grow old and die, after saving the Earth by constructing a device to power an artifical atmosephere as the ozone layer was depleted.

We find that the immortals are aliens banished to Earth from their home planet, and the alien leader learns that McLeod is the last of them, so sends his henchmen to finish him off. When they fail, and revive McLeod's immortal powers, he battles the alien leader himself, with a little help from Ramirez...

Most Highlander fans ignore this film completely when discussing the Highlander "canon", and the 3rd film and the TV series also ignore it.

 

[MythingLink]

There are only two good things that I can say about this movie.

1. Lambert looks fantastic with long hair.

and

2. It was nice to see Ramirez again.

Other than that, I have no idea how the actors could have even said the name of that planet without cracking up. Probably one of the lamest sequels I've ever seen.

Cheers,

 

[markpud]

umm...Ziest...what was Panzer thinking with this one...

The only decent parts were the scenes of Ramirez' arrival during a performance of Hamlet, and his visit to the tailors. Oh, and the scene where McLeod and Ramirez are counting how many times they got shot...

but overall...pants

 

[MythingLink]

Yeah those two scenes are cute, but can't make up for a show filled with so much do-do that it shouldn't even have been made.

We were all excited about the sequel, but when we saw it we all wanted to see if we could get our money back.

Actually I'm a big enough fan of Lambert's that I do have a copy of it, but it very seldom gets seen.

Cheers,

 

[markpud]

ditto. I bought it in the "very cheap cos we want to get rid of it" sale at HMV and watched it once...

The problem is if they bring out a box set, I dont think I'd get it, as I wouldn't want ot pay money for this film again...

 

[Highlander II]

okay - gotta toss in my mini-defense of Highlander II --

1st piece of advice -- go get the Renegade Version of the film - this is the one that the PTB wanted ppl to see - well, sort of - problems w/ the investors and such forced them to do a film that they weren't happy with -- which is why H2 wasn't as good as it could have been --

---- in the Renegade Version - immortals are not from another planet (that was the biggest crock - really hated that part) - they're from the past - which doesn't help much, but it makes a heck of a lot more sense than the other planet thing ---

okay - as a stand alone - this movie isn't all that bad (renegade version here - hate the other one) -- remember that when this movie was done/written - the 'hole in the ozone layer' was a huge concern - it was the only thing anyone talked about for the longest time ---- (it's still a problem, just no one talks about it) --

and true - when they made the 3rd movie, they completely ignored the canon of H2 - ditto w/ the series -- honestly - the series kinda flubbed the canon of the 1st movie -- 1985 - the Gathering - Connor's the last one - thought that was firmly established - but eh - they kinda formed a work-around -well, the fans did -- the PTB didn't seem to care --

but - get the Renegade Version - step back and watch the movie as a movie, not as the sequel to Highlander -- it helps and once you get past the canon flubs - it's not really so bad ----

(okay - this was longer than i'd expected - oh well)

BTW -- Christopher Lambert looks excellent w/ the long hair!!





Later!!
Highlander II
(yes, that really is my online nickname -- i'll explain in another post if anyone wants to know)

 

[markpud]

i dont know what the differences are in the "renegade" version, i dont even know if thats the version i've seen or not... i suspect not though...
Is it available in the UK???

i like the idea you mention if it all being a dream of Conner's... but i think that basically this was a poor follow-up to a great film. Some parts of it i do like though, where Conner has lived a life, grown old and is close to dying... but then another immortal combat session rejuvinates him, and the game continues...

As for the cannon of the series, i dont have too much of a problem with it, they *could* have set it in 1982 or something but it wouldnt have looked good...so they just stretched it a little....

 

[Highlander II]

Originally posted by markpud
i dont know what the differences are in the "renegade" version, i dont even know if thats the version i've seen or not... i suspect not though...
Is it available in the UK???

i like the idea you mention if it all being a dream of Conner's... but i think that basically this was a poor follow-up to a great film. Some parts of it i do like though, where Conner has lived a life, grown old and is close to dying... but then another immortal combat session rejuvinates him, and the game continues...

As for the cannon of the series, i dont have too much of a problem with it, they *could* have set it in 1982 or something but it wouldnt have looked good...so they just stretched it a little....

the way you can tell if you've seen the "renegade version" or not, is if the only version you've seen has them coming from another planet - then that's not it -- the RV says they're from the past -- (still pretty lame, but not as lame as the planet Zeist)

i think the reason that this film was done was b/c the fans wanted to know where immortals came from -- so, the PTB attempted to assuage them - problem was, the PTB ran out of money - or the investors were getting scared, or something - so they had to do a half-@$$ job of putting it together (sorry for the word) -- and it didn't turn out the way they had intended --

oh - i don't mind that they stretched the canon of the movie for the series to fit - but i think that they should have paid attn to the canon of the series when they made H4 --



H2

 

[markpud]

Originally posted by Highlander II

the way you can tell if you've seen the "renegade version" or not, is if the only version you've seen has them coming from another planet - then that's not it -- the RV says they're from the past -- (still pretty lame, but not as lame as the planet Zeist)

H2

in that case i've never seen RV...would like to though, cos i *really* hated the whole Zeist thing....

 

[Highlander II]

yep - the planet Zeist is ridiculous -

if you can find a copy of the RV - do so - and see it - it's not a lot better - but the stupid alien reference is gone -- ugh -

i watched it just to see Chris -- hehehe



H2

 

[markpud]

will definitely keep my eyes peeled, in fact i think i'll pop over to amazon and have a look for it now

 

[Highlander II]

you do that --

it's not really all bad -- just don't really think of it as part of the series --- it does kind help that way -

H2

 

[markpud]

they have the RV at amazon.com, i'm tempted to buy a copy, but i'd prefer to get a box set or something.. the box set of H1 & H2 is out of print..

 

[Highlander II]

Originally posted by markpud
they have the RV at amazon.com, i'm tempted to buy a copy, but i'd prefer to get a box set or something.. the box set of H1 & H2 is out of print..

try the highlander store site --

i think they have a box set that has all 3 --

it's worth a look ----

 

[markpud]

not in DVD they have I, II and IV available there individually...

 

[Highlander II]

really? the catalogue had a box set --

they even had the things on laser disc at one point - i think (not sure on this one)

 

[markpud]

seems like whatever there was is gone now

 

[Highlander II]

keep checking back -- maybe they'll put something up -

they were running specials on all the series box sets too -- but they're NTSC format ---

 

[Diamond9697]

I thought the renegade version was better too. Still not a great movie, but like you H2 I watch it for Chris and Sean and that's about it

 

[Highlander II]

i suppose i more like it b/c no one else does -- it's really not that BAD a movie if you take it out of the highlander context ----


i wouldn't have done it that way -- but then again - i didn't make the movie ---