Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Highlander Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 21, 2016

Russell Mulcahy's "Highlander" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include an original restored trailer for the film; exclusive new video interviews with director Russell Mulcahy and actor Christopher Lambert; audio commentary with director Russell Mulcahy; documentary film; deleted scenes; and more. In English, with optional English SDH and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Connor MacLeod

The last of the immortals are preparing for The Gathering. As their numbers dwindle, they begin to sense their presence. In the end, there can be only one, so when they occasionally meet, someone always dies.

Medieval Scotland. Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert, Subway) does not know yet that he is immortal. While fighting his clan’s arch rivals, led by the evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown, The Shawshank Redemption, also an immortal, MacLeod is fatally wounded. Instead of dying, however, he quickly recuperates. Convinced that the Devil has taken over his body, his clansmen banish him.

Egyptian nobleman Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (Sean Connery, Never Say Never Again), a skillful swordsman, befriends MacLeod and teaches him how to defend himself. He also reveals to him that he is immortal and that the only way he would die is if his head is decapitated. Ramirez warns MacLeod that one day he will have to fight Kurgan, the strongest of the immortals, who wants to rule the Earth. Shortly after, Kurgan kills Ramirez.

New York City, 1985. MacLeod has met a beautiful woman, Brenda (Roxanne Hart, Pulse), and fallen in love with her. For a while they live in peace, but then Kurgan reappears and challenges MacLeod to a duel that will settle a centuries-old feud.

During the mid-'80s, Highlander was a lot of people’s favorite film. It was an impressive flop at the box office but a shocking success on video. It was one of those films that the more the critics dismissed, the more people liked. Unsurprisingly, several copycats appeared -- Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994), Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Highlander: The Source (2007), all terrible films having little in common with the original.

However, despite its numerous flaws -- problematic script, unimpressive editing, and technical gaffes to name a few -- Highlander maintains a type of atmosphere one cannot easily dismiss. For example, the marvelous soundtrack, courtesy of British rockers Queen, effectively negates many of the issues in the film. One of the most memorable scenes in Highlander is past the hour mark where we see MacLeod’s aging wife uttering “I wanted to have your children” and dying in his hands. Without the music, the scene would have hardly been as effective as it is.

Still, many of the time travel sequences are quite problematic. For example, early in the film, there is a scene -- which was suspiciously missing from North American releases of Highlander for a number of years -- where MacLeod saves a little girl from a Nazi officer. To this day, I remain unsure why it was kept in the film's final version.

The cast is not as poor as many critics have claimed it is. Admittedly, a lot of the lines in Highlander are too rough, but the chemistry between the leads is still very good. For example, Lambert and Connery’s time together in front of the camera is one of the high points of the film. Brown is also very entertaining, though back in the days a lot of people were unhappy with his nun-mocking.

Highlander Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Russell Mulcahy's Highlander arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration of the film that is very impressive. I did some direct comparisons with the first release of the film and can confirm that there are massive improvements in terms of depth, clarity, and fluidity. These improvements become immediately apparent during the daylight footage, but there are huge improvements in terms of image fluidity (with shadow definition being particularly impressive) during the darker/nighttime footage as well. On the old release, there are some obvious traces of digital adjustments that sporadically overwhelm the grain and cause some anomalies that can be rather easy to spot on large screens, but on the new transfer, the visuals have much stronger organic qualities. Also, this time there are no traces of compromising sharpening adjustments. Colors are richer, with wider nuances, and much better balanced. Stability is excellent and this time debris, specks, scratches, and other age-related imperfections have been fully removed. The only weakness of the presentation is the presence of some sporadic compression artifacts that emerge in random close-ups (you can see an example in the lower left corner of screencapture #8). (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Highlander Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH and German subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the film with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. If it was recently remastered it is difficult to tell because balance (especially during the action scenes) and fidelity are virtually identical to those of the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 from the previous release. I also tested various segments where the music becomes prominent and again balance and dynamic intensity appear identical. The dialog is very crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow.

Highlander Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original restored theatrical trailer for Highlander. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Audio Commentary with Director Russell Mulcahy - this audio commentary with director Russell Mulcahy was included on the old Blu-ray release from Optimum Home Entertainment/StudioCanal. It is a good one, but I prefer the older audio commentary with Peter Davis and William Panzer.

• Interview with Director Russell Mulcahy - in this brand new video interview, Russell Mulcahy recalls how he entered the film business and discusses the production history of Highlander. The director also recalls his interactions with the stars of the film. The interview was conducted exclusively for StudioCanal. In English, with optional German subtitles. (23 min).

• Interview with Christopher Lambert - in this brand new video, actor Christopher Lambert (Connor MacLeod) discusses his initial impression of the script for Highlander, the sensitive side of the film and how it touched him, some of the dangerous stunts he did, the film's visual styles, Queen's soundtrack for the film, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for StudioCanal. In English, with optional German subtitles. (20 min).

• The Making of Highlander - this outstanding archival documentary focuses on the production history of Highlander. Included in it are clips from various archival interviews with cast and crew members. It was produced by the defunct Kinowelt Home Entertainment, now part of the StudioCanal family, and Fiction Factory. In English, with optional German subtitles. (116 min).
  
  1. A Legend is Born
  2. The Visual Style
  3. A Strong Woman
  4. The Producer's Point of View

• Deleted Scenes - while creating the HD master, the folks at StudioCanal noticed that five scenes were either longer or had been edited differently to the scenes in the final Highlander version. As they did not have the audio for these scenes, they could not include them in the film. These scenes are presented here with musical accompaniment. (7 min).

• Archival Interview with Christopher Lambert - in this archival interview, actor Christopher Lambert talks about his character and what it meant to him to be part of Highlander. In French, with optional English and German subtitles.

Highlander Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The new 4K restoration of Russell Mulcahy's Highlander is fantastic, but StudioCanal's technical presentation of the restoration could have been even more impressive. Still, this is the best presentation of the film that I have seen to date. The Blu-ray release also comes with two very good new and exclusive video interviews with director Russell Mulcahy and actor Christopher Lambert. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (In the United States, Lionsgate Films will release the new 4K restoration on Blu-ray on September 27. You can see our listing of this upcoming release here).