Highlander The Source/Highlander The Comics

I'd like to sit and watch all of the TV series boxsets, but it would cost hundreds of dollars to get them all. I wonder if you can rent boxsets at Blockbusters?

 

Nope. Highlander, like a lot of shows, can't be rented from Blockbusters. You could try at your local library. I know that season four is at mine. I think they're going to be producing a boxset of the entire series, like there is for Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

 

The main thing I remember about the show and movies is just how original it seems to me. Elements have been done before, naturally, but to combine it all into that synthesis was just... whoa.

 

To me, there's only the original Highlander.
The rest are just fan-fict
mmm... Christopher Lambert.........

 

New update about the film's synopsis and comments from Adrian Paul and David Abramowitz, the final writer on the new film.

On December 8, 2005, principal photography on Highlander: The Source was completed in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In a not-too-distant future ruled by chaos and doubt, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod ? The Highlander ? has lost all hope. But something is coming, and that something has awakened a great evil that could plunge the world even deeper into darkness. MacLeod reluctantly joins his old friends Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes) and Methos (Peter Wingfield) on a dangerous quest that will force him to decide just who Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod truly is.

"I think that Duncan MacLeod has always believed, except for short periods of time, that light will always prevail," says David Abramowitz, who headed the writing staff for Highlander: The Series and wrote the final draft of The Source. "In his heart, he wants to believe that. But when this movie opens, the state of the world is such that he is not so sure about that anymore. And it brings into question not just what he believes, but who he is."

As for Adrian's ability to convey that onscreen, David isn't worried. "I think Adrian is more Duncan MacLeod now than he has ever been. He looks great. He's wiser now than he's ever been, and he bears the pain of battles won and lost. And I think the character did that. He lives the character and he gets the character. Between the two of us, we really know who Duncan MacLeod is. We know what his rules are. We know what his ethics are. We know what his values are. We know what lines he won't cross, and what lines he will. Adrian is going to own this movie."

Other cast members include Thekla Reuten as Anna, Cristian Solimeno as the Guardian, and Stephen Rahman-Hughes, Thom Fell, and Stephen Wight as Immortals Zai, Giovanni, and Reggie, respectively. Director Brett Leonard, who brings his legendary work ethic and trademark visual sensibilities to the project, shot the film digitally with the latest HiDef technology.

In addition to his starring role, Adrian will also act as Executive Producer. "David wrote a Highlander film that combines the heart of the original movie with the essence of the television series," he explains. "This is the kind of Highlander movie I always promised to make, and I can't wait for you to see it."

Highlander: The Source will be released in 2006 by Lions Gate Entertainment. No details about the nature of the release or the release date itself are known at this time, but as soon as we get that information, you'll be the first to know.

 

Changed the title to let everyone know about the latest on the new film.

 

I'm going to go with this Summer or Fall sometime. Leaning more towards the Summer, cause it seems no Production company wants me to work or leave the theaters this summer.

~PK~

 

I watched the original again two nights ago. Clancy Brown is so damn good as the Kurgan. Does anyone now if his voice was altered after Ramirez cut his throat? In the church he sounds over the top coarse. I'd forgotten how terrible Lambert's accent was in the movie. It still stands though. It should be touched up, and released as a cllectors edition. The audio especially and some visual effects could use a makeover.

 

As far as I know, Clancy Brown's voice was unaltered for the scenes where his throat was sliced and post slice. I'll have to ask one of the more knowledgeable Highlander fans. As to the film itself, it was touched up a couple of years ago as part of "The Immortal Edition". This featured a much better DVD transfer, clearer picture and a new audio mix. For the most part the DVD is based off the 1996 Director's Cut, which was remastered. While HL2 got a total makeover in 2004, there is no talk yet of doing something like that for the first film. This being the 20th anniversary of it's release and all. Some fans wouldn't mind seeing a two disc edition. Disc one contains the Director's Cut as is and the other disc would be a special edition. One that contained a re-edit to fit the series timeline. Adding in lightning for the Quickenings, adding the date and location for each flashback and an alteration of certain bits of dialogue. Removing much of the references to the Immortals being dead and a full change from Connor's final voice over, which makes it clear that the Game is still going on.

Lambert's accent was a big thing, but for the first film they attempted to have him sounding distinctly European. This would make him sound like he's travelled the globe for many years. But it didn't quite work, so it's less noticable as the film goes on. For the rest of Connor's adventures and Lambert's work in general, he just uses the raspy voice to kill most of his accent.

 

I wonder if I've seen that version? I'm fairly certain the version I saw a few days ago was the original release. I'll have to look around for the Immortal Edition. Either way, the movie deserves to be buffed up completely. The small changes you listed above would make a very positive impact on the movie. The final quickening after Connor takes Kurgan's head could use a good makeover. They did a shabby job trying to hide the cables attached to Lambert with that lightning. It drew more attention to them if anything.

I don't quite understand why they went with Lambert. I mean appart from Greystroke, he wasn't a big name, so I don't see what the appeal could have been. I love the guy, don't get me wrong, he is Connor MacLeod, but still, from a casting point of view, he was an odd choice at the time. Not as odd as casting Connery alongside of him though, as an obviously Scottish sounding psuedo-Spanish Egyptian no less.

 

You mean there's a version that actually fits into the TV series time-line?

 

The Director's Cut as it stands from 1996 on.

-When the opening text is shown and Connery narrates, a small bit of the score with Freddy Mercury's vocals are absent. This is heard when Connor goes to fight Kurgan at the end.

-While Connor is watching the wrestling, he closes his eyes and starts to remember what a real fight was like. We see bits and pieces of the 1536 flashback, intercutting with the present.

-When Connor steps on the Coke can, we hear the buzz of an Immortal approach from the series, circa season four on.

-Towards the end of the fight, Iman Fasil does several backflips, while Connor is running. Fasil does this again as Connor ducks between cars and looks up over the hood of one. Fasil was trying to find Connor by doing this. The quickest way to look under every car.

-After Connor, Dugal and Angus talk about their first times going into battle, the scene continues. We see a cross burning atop a church. This was common amongest the Scots during this period. It was a way of calling them to battle. Anyway, we see Kate come up to Connor and give him something for luck and tells him that God fights with him. She then tells Dugal to bring Connor back in one piece. This is the girl who calls Connor a devil, shortly before he's hit over the head and was frantic about burning him. The novelization reveals that they had slept together previously and she was afraid that she was impregenated with a demon spawn.

-Connor is head butted three times, before Angus stops the assault on Connor.

-When we first see Kurgan, Queen's "Gimme The Prize" is not playing yet. It doesn't start until after he has stuck the tape in the player. Thus imitating an actual tape being played.

-When Connor ducks around the corner when Brenda follows him, we hear the Immortal buzz once again. Season two version.

-We hear the buzz when Heather pours Ramirez another glass of wine, right before he looks up at the birds and realizes that an evil Immortal's coming. Season three version.

-When Connor is preparing to have dinner with Brenda, Rachel is talking to him about what he will do if she asks for the truth. Connor makes the comment that he will tell her that he's Immortal. This then segues into a flashback to 1943 Poland, where we see Connor finding Rachel when she was nine. Thus revealing that she's his adopted daughter. She learns about his Immortality when he's shot by a Nazi. We return to the present as they're going to the front door. The Nazi tells Connor that he will have to shoot him first, in response to being ordered to move. That's why Connor laughs at him, because he knows that only one of them will get back up from a bullet. Hence the master race quip.

-The scene where Bedsoe spills coffee on his lap, when Connor looks out the window is cut.

-At the end of the 1783 flashback, we see that Hotchkiss has run up with two pistols and tries to get Basset to shoot Connor in the back, as he's stumbling away. Basset is so upset that he takes one pistol and has a sinister look come on his face. Hotchkiss realizes he's in trouble and runs for it, before being shot, apparently in the butt or back. Connor only insulted Basset's wife because she tried to throw herself at him and Connor had enough.

-During the Quickening following Kastagir's death, you can hear the buzz play out repeatedly.

-Kurgan licks the back of the preist's hand, when he gets up. Kurgan was originally going to have an orange mowhawk.

-After sleeping with Brenda, we cut to a couple days later when they go to the zoo. Connor tells Brenda that it's not going to work and she tells him to don't lose his head. In the background we see Kurgan watching them. As he walks away, Connor whips around. We hear the buzz again. Cuts to when Brenda's coming home and Kurgan is waiting.

-During the rooftop fight, we see an extended scene. Connor has dov

 

Interesting, I did see the Director's cut in that case. Not having the negatives for a lot of shots isn't much of an issue anymore these days. They transfer everything digitally and alter entire backgrounds with the use of computer generated imagery. I'd heard about the plans for having a dragon-like beast come out of the Kurgan's neck at the end, thank God the limited technology and budget took care of that idea.

I'm pretty sure Adrian Paul was born in England, by the way. I remember reading somewhere that he's half Italian, but born and raised in London. He certainly doesn't strike me as an American.

How much do the timelines of the movies and the series differ? Duncan was killed in battle 50/60 years after Connor was killed and banished from Glenfinnan, right? Why did they opt to practically duplicate the character rather than simply have Adrian Paul assume the role of Connor MacLeod anyway?

 

The timelines between the movies and the series are pretty accurate. Gillian Horvath and Donna Lettow are the authors of the Watcher's Chronicles CD discs and for the series DVD timelines. They've compiled everything and sort it out. Now, the Endgame DVD timeline does have a couple of facts messed up. Namely when Connor and Duncan met in the first epsiode. Using 1993 instead of 1992. And the facts about how and when Duncan became Immortal. This is due to the folks who worked on that, also worked on the Endgame website timeline and they messed up. But the series timeline DVD's are 100% accurate.

Connor was born in 1518.
Connor had his Immortality triggered in 1536.
Connor met Heather and her father in Glencoe, not long after being banished.
Connor and Heather married in 1539, following the death of her father.
Connor met Ramirez in 1541.
Ramirez was killed by Kurgan in 1542.
Connor went back to Glenfinnian in 1555.
Heather died in 1590 and Connor left Glencoe.
Duncan was born in 1592.
Duncan became Immortal in 1622, following an ambush by Debra Campbell's father.
Connor and Duncan met in 1625, at the Battle of Glen Fruin. Though history says that that battle took place years earlier. For the Highlanderverse, a second battle occurred.
Connor and Duncan parted ways as teacher/student in 1632.

As in the first episode, Connor and Duncan joke that there is about eighty years difference. The reason Duncan's life is so similar, is due to the fact that Connor was to be the main character. To keep a sense of familiarity, portions of Duncan's life is mirrored from Connor's. Thus justifying calling the series Highlander, when the original himself is only in one episode. But there are many differences as well. The idea to separate the two came because the third film was on it's way to being made, but the series was going to be on at the same time. Whereas X-Files could get away with having the same characters and story, Highlander had two separate stories going on and thus the split.

 

I agree with Juliet on this issue.

I loved the original Highlander and was reasonably disappointed in the follow-up films. I did enjoy the series due to the creativity and strength of the characters. I'm hoping this next film is a good quality one and not just something to please the fans. I'd rather have something top-notch than something I'm going to cringe at while watching.

 

Big fan of the original picture - I saw it several times when it first came out in theaters.

I didn't know that there was going to be another movie. I saw and didn't care for the second movie, saw and enjoyed the third, and unfortunately never saw Endgame completely, or at all in fact until a couple of weeks ago when I visited my brother-in-law in a hospital. It looked pretty good. I watched the series as much as I could, but started to lose track of the characters & events after a while.

The explanations of the timeline & inconsistencies earlier in the thread are helpful, but I'm still not clear if the movies starting with #3 and beyond (and the series) adhered to the "they're actually aliens" concept or not. Is the intention of the Highlander continuity pretty much that this aspect of #2 is to be discarded?


I can also accept that the game isn't over after the original movie - except for the dialogue between Connor & Ramirez, and frankly that display after Kurgan's death is pretty spectacular, and I don't think any death thus far has been quite as dramatic. If the Kurgan wasn't the last, is there an explanation as to why his death produced such a fantastic result?

 

My guess would have to be that like the character from Endgame, the Kurgen killed enough powerful immortals to pack one heck of a Quickening.

 

Yeah, the quickening Duncan received after taking Kell's head was pretty spectacular as well. The Kurgan was about 3000 years old if I'm not mistaken, he undoubtedly killed at least as many as Kell did in his lifetime. As with most of the Highlander Universe you have to make a stretch, much like with Star Wars canon/EU. I look at it as a Connor MacLeod Universe and a Duncan MacLeod Universe, sometimes they mix and match, but they stand alone for the most part. I don't let anything post Highlander affect the storyline where Connor wins the Prize, and at the same time I can ignore it and embrace everything that happened afterwards.

 

While Kurgan killed a number of Immortals, it's hard to determine how many he killed. His file as seen in season two's "The Watchers" indicate that they lost track of him some time in the 1750's. It wouldn't be until he resurfaced in the early 80's that the Watchers sent James Horton to be his Watcher. One of his previous assignments was John Cage, who appeared in the episode "Blind Faith". It would be Kurgan that drove Horton to form his band of rogue Hunters and go after Immortals.

In the series timeline, the Kurgan's Quickening was considered to be a strong Quickening. In both HL1 & HL3's timeline and in the series/Endgame/Source timeline, Immortals are not aliens. HL2 is classified as a film that features the characters from HL1, but they are spun off into a separate adventure.

 

John Bierly, who is in charge of Adrian Paul's website has given us a brief update about what to expect in an update, come March.


Hey, Everybody,

Yesterday I interviewed Vernon Rieta, the martial arts and sword choreographer for "Highlander: The Source." He has been Adrian's personal martial arts teacher for many years.

The interview will appear on Adrian's website in March, but here's a teaser:

Vernon said that Peter Wingfield has a background in gymnastics, so, when it came time to create the fights for Methos, Vernon used Peter's gymnastics skills as a starting point. Vernon said that Peter does one particular gymnastic-inspired movement during a Methos fight in "The Source" that is so good that people won't believe it's really Peter doing the maneuver. He also says that we'll get to see Adrian fight not only with his famous katana but also with a pair of small butterfly swords. He talked about how fighting with two smaller swords requires a different set of body movements, and it's really cool to hear him explain the mechanics of where the power comes from with two small swords as opposed to one longer sword.

I'll announce in March when it has been posted on Adrian's website.

All the best,

John Bierly

Vernon appeared in "Endgame" as Manny, one of Jacob Kell's Immortal stooges and as a bodyguard in the episode "Revenge Of The Sword". He has also doing the sword fights for "The Source". So for fans of Methos, they will get to see him in a bad*** fight just as Peter Briggs had promised when he was writing the script.

 

Does he do it nekkid? *hopes*

 

$20 says Methos and Joe die in this trilogy. Methos definitely.

 

Probably not. It wouldn't be wise to be buck nekkid fighting with an object that can turn him into a woman real quickly. Translation, he could get little Methos chopped off.

 

gabe u r baiting me.

Well, he could wear a cup or something. *still hopes*