Highlander Franchise

[marillion]

Well, at technically speaking, when it comes to Highlander II, that's the way it starts.. McLeod is the last immortal... The only thing Ziest really did was pave a VERY hamhanded way for immortals to return to earth... Honestly, had it not been a big budget money grab, some, SOME of that concept actually has merit... The "Renegade" version of H2 removes the laughable element of Ziest, but little else to improve the overall movie...

I just wish Highlander the Series would have been about Connor's days before the final battle... Would have made things so much easier..

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ I heard that they wanted Christopher Lambert for the series, but he didn't want to do television.

 

[Forbin]

Oh, I'm glad - Adrian Paul was an amazing martial artist to watch, I'd have hated to miss that.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

^ I heard that they wanted Christopher Lambert for the series, but he didn't want to do television.

Oh, I'm glad - Adrian Paul was an amazing martial artist to watch, I'd have hated to miss that.

I read somewhere that they were originally going to cast Adrian Paul as Connor MacLeod, but Paul wanted his own character or something and thats how they came up with Duncan

 

[Skywalker]

Oh, I'm glad - Adrian Paul was an amazing martial artist to watch, I'd have hated to miss that.

I read somewhere that they were originally going to cast Adrian Paul as Connor MacLeod, but Paul wanted his own character or something and thats how they came up with Duncan

I'm glad they made him a different character, because Paul and Lambert were great together. I wish they'd had Connor show up for more than just the pilot, but that one episode might have been all that Lambert wanted to do (or their schedules just might never have lined up).

 

[Davros]

I deny the existence of Highlander sequels.

 

[Mike Farley]

In my head I always justified the TV show by assuming it took place BEFORE the first movie. Then the fourth movie messed that up.

(The series itself might have messed that up, but I didn't watch enough of it to see)

 

[ManOnTheWave]

^ I heard that they wanted Christopher Lambert for the series, but he didn't want to do television.

All the publicity I read when the show was on the air told the opposite story. Lambert wanted to do it, and the people putting the show together wanted "a different direction."

I always thought it was rather classy of Lambert to appear in the pilot considering.

 

[Skywalker]

In my head I always justified the TV show by assuming it took place BEFORE the first movie. Then the fourth movie messed that up.

(The series itself might have messed that up, but I didn't watch enough of it to see)

The series takes place after the first movie, but in the series' timeline, there was no Gathering in New York City in 1985. Connor and the Kurgan weren't the last of the Immortals, and Connor didn't win the Prize.

 

[Davros]

In my head I always justified the TV show by assuming it took place BEFORE the first movie. Then the fourth movie messed that up.

(The series itself might have messed that up, but I didn't watch enough of it to see)

The series takes place after the first movie, but in the series' timeline, there was no Gathering in New York City in 1985. Connor and the Kurgan weren't the last of the Immortals, and Connor didn't win the Prize.

But the end of the movie made it pretty clear that he did win the prize.

 

[hyzmarca]

In my head I always justified the TV show by assuming it took place BEFORE the first movie. Then the fourth movie messed that up.

(The series itself might have messed that up, but I didn't watch enough of it to see)

The series takes place after the first movie, but in the series' timeline, there was no Gathering in New York City in 1985. Connor and the Kurgan weren't the last of the Immortals, and Connor didn't win the Prize.

But the end of the movie made it pretty clear that he did win the prize.

Yeah. The Series intentionally ignores that part.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I read somewhere that they were originally going to cast Adrian Paul as Connor MacLeod, but Paul wanted his own character or something and thats how they came up with Duncan

I wish they'd had Connor show up for more than just the pilot, but that one episode might have been all that Lambert wanted to do (or their schedules just might never have lined up).

All the publicity I read when the show was on the air told the opposite story. Lambert wanted to do it, and the people putting the show together wanted "a different direction."

I found the following on Wikipedia...

Christopher Lambert did not wish to do television, though he agreed that there should be a series, and originally Connor MacLeod was to be the protagonist. After Lambert declined, and because there were still films being made with the Connor character, it was decided at Adrian Paul's request to have the series focus on another MacLeod. Lambert agreed to appear in the pilot and pass the torch. They were only able to afford him for three days of filming. Lambert declined to do any future episodes.

 

[Skywalker]

The series takes place after the first movie, but in the series' timeline, there was no Gathering in New York City in 1985. Connor and the Kurgan weren't the last of the Immortals, and Connor didn't win the Prize.

But the end of the movie made it pretty clear that he did win the prize.

Yeah. The Series intentionally ignores that part.

Right. It's like an alternate reality, like in the Abrams Trek movies but without any time travel hijinks.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always assumed that there's not one coherent universe among the lot of them. All four films are their own universe, as are both TV series (the live action and the cartoon). All reboots, as it were.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I remember reading in an old Starlog that who Adrian Paul was going to be, was contingent on Chris Lambert reprising the role. Had Lambert declined to guest in the pilot, then Adrian would have played Connor Macleod. Ironically, that could have solved a LOT of our continuity whining by firmly establishing the TV series in another universe and have people not trying to rationalize it with the movie(s).

The TV series DOES state that Connor was in New York in 1985, and that he took out the Kurgan (but not before he killed Sunda Kastagir and a misspelled Osta Vazilek as in the movie), in the Watchers' database screen. Fandom generally concludes that the events of the first movie do happen, with the exception of the lines of dialogue that establish THE Gathering as happening in New York in 1985. A mini-gathering of all the immortals left in Manhattan, it seems. :P In any case, the Kurgen in the TV series universe and its spinoff comics is a significantly more developed character:

http://highlander.wikia.com/wiki/The_Kurgan

In similar retconning, the first year of the series establishes that the Gathering has begun, but doesn't really delve into what it means - the movie states that the few immortals who are left would battle to the last, but the series quietly ignores this and basically sticks with There Can Be Only One.

Mark

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I never really thought about how disparate the component parts of this franchise has been. Nothing goes together very well though I think tonally II and III kind of go together.

I actually sought out the pre-Renegade version of Highlander II because that is so gloriously bad it should be appreciated unadulterated. The first movie while cheesy is fun 80s adventure.

Never liked the series though, I can see why people do but I never could get into its tame syndicated form. I remember the cartoon being a very odd French toon barely recognizable from its source, don't really recall if it was good or bad though, I don't think I was open-minded enough at the time to get past its digressions.

 

[Forbin]

In my head I always justified the TV show by assuming it took place BEFORE the first movie. Then the fourth movie messed that up.

(The series itself might have messed that up, but I didn't watch enough of it to see)

The series takes place after the first movie, but in the series' timeline, there was no Gathering in New York City in 1985. Connor and the Kurgan weren't the last of the Immortals, and Connor didn't win the Prize.

But the end of the movie made it pretty clear that he did win the prize.

And MASH the series ignores many events in MASH the movie. And The Crow series reboots the The Crow Movie. Etc, etc...

 

[Merlanthe]

I <3 the first movie its totally awesome!

I also really liked the series and how it expanded and explored the Highlander universe. One of the things i really loved about the series was was seeing how Duncan managed to have friendships with other immortals like Amanda and Fitz and Methos and the flashbacks showing how these friendships developed over the centuries. The writers had the opportunity to explore what it meant to be immortal in more detail than in the films.

Though i did find Duncans mortal girlfriend in the first couple series a tad annoying. Imho when it came to female characters Amanda was a lot better as she could hold her own in a sword fight, she possesed a moral greyness that was refreshing plus her bickering with Duncan was more amusing than his angst with the mortal girlfriend. You could tell that Duncan and Amandas friendship was one that had developed over centuries by how well he knew her and how she was able to annoy him in a way no one else could.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Tessa, Duncan's French girlfriend / fiance from the first season and first four episodes of the second, was not meant to be dropped. The actress was finding it difficult to shoot for six months away from her home (in the Netherlands; it was painfully obvious she didn't speak French natively when she pronounced the Seine river as "de SEEN") and asked to be released, so the writers killed her off. I agree that there wasn't that much to her character and her death really advanced Duncan's. There's only so many damsel in distress stories you can do with one person.

Amanda was a great character and perfect foil to Duncan. Even so, it was a mistake to give her her own series by fundamentally changing her character and trying to make her a heroine when she was, and could only ever be a thief in mind and occupation. It didn't help that she had no chemistry with the male lead (and, I'm told, the actors didn't get along at all).

Mark

 

[Forbin]

Tessa was utterly gorgeous, so I was very disappointed at her leaving.
Luckily Amanda was also utterly gorgeous.
Yes, I'm shallow.

I was surprised when Amanda got her own series, and I was also surprised when she got the ugliest haircut and bleach job on the face of the Earth.

As for her fighting skills - before she got her own series, she lost or ran away from far more fights than she won!