Highlander

Highlander (1986) is about a war among immortals. A man in sixteenth century Scotland fails to die of a wound that should kill him, is driven out of his village, and spends centuries fighting others like him with swords. There is one rule: they can only be killed by beheading, and in the end one will remain. The casting is a strange inversion. The Scottish highlander Connor MacLeod is played by the French actor Christopher Lambert. The man who teaches him, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, is an Egyptian immortal who has lived in Japan and Spain, and he is played by the Scot Sean Connery. The music is Queen's. A Kind of Magic, Princes of the Universe and Who Wants to Live Forever are all here. Brian May wrote the last after watching the love scenes between Connor and Heather. The songs also appeared on the band's 1986 album A Kind of Magic. Russell Mulcahy came from music video and brought the style with him; the fast cutting and the music driven pacing come from there. It failed in cinemas, taking 12.8 million dollars worldwide against a 19 million budget. Its cult standing was built on video and television, after which came sequels and series. It runs 116 minutes. Good for: eighties fantasy, Queen, and swordfighting. Less good for: the storytelling is scattered and the jumps in time are confusing. The film explains nothing about the accents. The sequels broke the first film's own rules, so stopping here is the best plan.