Highlander 2 = Shadowrun, visually? Options

[Wounded Ronin]

So, last night, I watched Highlander 2. It was painful.

However, I thought that visually it must be very similar to what the original authors of Shadowrun had in mind. This is because while the sets in Highlander 2 are very derivative (i.e. obvious Blade Runner ripoffs, cliche 1980s style ecological concerns ZOMG OZONE LAYER TEE HEE) at the same time they manage to be so perfectly derivative and period-generic that they end up being a perfect textbook example of the time period.

Add to this the fact that near the beginning of the film you have the Cobalt members conduct a Shadowrun-style datasteal on a guarded facility with stormtroopers I almost convulsively grasped my D6s and started flinging them hard across the room.

Here are a few images from someone's review here: http://www.jabootu.com/highlander2.htm

http://www.jabootu.com/images/h2henchmen.jpg

http://www.jabootu.com/images/h2normal.jpg

http://www.jabootu.com/images/h2makeup.jpg

http://www.jabootu.com/images/h2fly.jpg

http://www.jabootu.com/images/h2fanclub.jpg

http://www.jabootu.com/images/h2ironside.jpg

[Squinky]

Gawd, that movie was horrible...

[MYST1C]

So, last night, I watched Highlander 2. It was painful.

What is this "Highlander 2" you are talking about? I only know the 1986 movie "Highlander"* but I've never heard of any sequels... What are you gonna claim next, a derived TV series?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

* And there're the unrelated German amateur-produced Starship Highlander movies which are basically Star Trek parodies.

[hyzmarca]

At one time, I believed that Highlander 2 was one of the worst movies ever made.

Then I came to the conclusion that if you totally ignore the rest of the Highlander continuity while watching it and you shut off your brain for a while, it is actually a fun romp. It's got swords fights, gun fights, jetpacks, and explosions, pretty much everything that a movie needs.

[Zhan Shi]

"There should have been only one."

[BookWyrm]

Agreed, there should have been only one......movie. But the TV series was at least watchable.

[Wounded Ronin]

You know what I think the issue was with Highlander 2 as a film? The people who did the writing/directing/whatever were serious about their 80s environmental message, and they would have been fine if they'd just made a movie about the environment, but the problem was they inexplicably decided to ram their Highlander characters into that environmental film. That just confused the whole thing and made it a mess.

[Zhan Shi]

That, and the whole "Planet Zeist" crap. BTW, there's another Highlander film, a straight-to-dvd release: Highlander: The Source. Never saw it, but supposedly they answer the question about where immortals come from, what the "Prize" is, all that junk. It has Adrian Paul, don't know about Christopher Lambert.

[hyzmarca]

That, and the whole "Planet Zeist" crap. BTW, there's another Highlander film, a straight-to-dvd release: Highlander: The Source. Never saw it, but supposedly they answer the question about where immortals come from, what the "Prize" is, all that junk. It has Adrian Paul, don't know about Christopher Lambert.

I've seen The Source. Let me put it as best as I can, Highlander: The Source makes Highlander 2: The Quickening look good. It makes Highlander 2 look like Citizen Fucking Kane. It makes you want to nominate Highlander 2 for an Academy Award. It's just that awful.

And it doesn't actually answer any questions.

And Christopher Lambert isn't in it. (Connor died in Highlander:Endgame, which was excellent).


Compared to the crap about The Source in The Source, the crap about Zeist in Highlander 2 actually made sense.


There is a film about the making of Highlander 2 which basically states that they ran so far over-budget and behind schedule while filming in Argentina that the bonding company which guaranteed the film essentially took over production entirely. They were forced to hand creative control over to glorified insurance agents whose job was to rush things through as quickly and as cheaply as possible without regard to story or consistency. At one point Christopher Lambert tried to leave, but doing so would have cost him a great deal of money due to the terms of his contract.

[Zhan Shi]

That sounds like it might be interesting to watch. What is this "making of" film called? Is it available for purchase on dvd (or vhs)?

[hyzmarca]

Highlander II: Seduced by Argentina. Its part of the special features on the most recent Highlander 2 Renegade Special Edition DVD.

[Voran]

What is most distressing is that I always felt Highlander 2 was the worst Highlander movie. Until I saw Highlander: The Source.

[darthmord]

The Source was about as painful to watch as H2 was. I sighed a lot. Wished I could have those two hours of my life back (watched it on Sci-fi).