The Best Movie of the 80s - by Steve Vivona

I remember the 80s very fondly. I loved television, and in years prior I zoned out on a hefty diet of baseball games and sitcoms. Thanks to the advent of cable tv I could now watch “Cannonball Run II” 5 times a week!

I got my first VCR in 1984 and starting taping my favorites. In 1986 I received my second VCR after haranguing my parents endlessly so I could have one in my room (many thanks to my friend Ray who sped up the process by crashing into me on my bike thereby netting me a sympathy gift!)

I started renting new releases at the video store, copying them and gorging myself on multiple viewings.

Big titles for me then included “Lethal Weapon,” “Running Scared,” any “Rocky” film, “Robocop,” "Predator," “Commando," etc. But there was one that stood above them by leaps and bounds.

A friend of mine saw a commercial for “Highlander,” and thought it “looked cool.” That meant we should see it. The film received such limited distribution that my father had to drive us about 15 miles to the nearest theater to see it.

“Highlander” told the story of a Scotsman born in the 16th century who learned the hard way that he was part of a select group of Immortals, men fated to battle each other to the death throughout eternity until only one remained.

Immortals could only die when decapitated which meant lots of cool sword fights. To the victor went “the Prize,” a nebulous gift that the most evil among them assumed would grant them dominion over humanity.

Christopher Lambert (whose claim to fame to that point was as Tarzan in “Greystoke”) played Connor MacLeod, the brash Scotsman who learned to live down through the centuries, leading many secret lives, until the time of the Gathering. I stole that from Sean Connery’s introductory narration which sums it up better than I could!

Lambert clearly relished the role and managed to craft a sympathetic performance, successfully portraying the emotions of a man fated to see all his loved ones die, effectively forced to exist outside the daily world, not able to attach himself to anyone or anything. He managed a world-weary quality and sprinkled it with brash humor and quiet heroism.

Another critical ingredient to “Highlander’s” coolness was the presence of Sean Connery as fellow Immortal, Juan Sanchez Villalobos Ramirez, who serves as Connor’s mentor and the man who unlocks the secret of his heritage.

Connery had been maintaining a low profile to that point and had not done a film in three years. This was his first “character part,” and although he has barely 20 minutes of screen time he steals the film with a combination of wit, panache and swordplay. Ramirez provides Connor with the tools he will need to survive down through the ages and gives the film a credibility it might never have had without his presence.

And lest we forget Clancy Brown who embodied true evil as the ruthless Kurgen, the strongest of all the Immortals, a man devoted to securing The Prize for himself and plunging humanity into “an eternity of darkness.” Brown was deliciously over the top but the role was never a parody. He straddled the line but never crossed it, delivering a fearsome, psychotic performance that rates him among the finest screen villains in my book.

To say the film was not successful upon its initial release is an understatement. Distributor Fox dumped it into a scant number of theatres with minimal promotion. If I recall correctly, the commercial my friend and I saw was aired on MTV with the attendant Queen music, which was much more successful than the film itself. Critics lambasted it and tops on their list of complaints was the style in which it was edited.

Director Russell Mulcahy, himself a veteran of some of the most successful music videos of the early 80s, told the story in a non-linear style cross-cutting between the present, Connor’s beginnings in Scotland and his subsequent journey though history. It was a jarring way to tell a story but extremely innovative and predated Quentin Tarantino’s even more daring use of non-linear storytelling in films like “Reservoir Dogs,” and “Pulp Fiction.” Mulcahy’s camera was never static and he staged his fight scenes brilliantly bringing the audience right into the middle of the combat.

Critics slammed the mythology created by storyteller Gregory Widen, an imaginative screenwriter who also penned the equally ambitious (and doomed to fail) “Prophecy.” The story of the immortals was again some of the most interesting and unique fables ever crafted for a film at this time. It was rooted in mystery (something ruined by the sequels but saved by the television series) and gave the Immortals a framework they were forced to live their lives within. As with all such mythologies (The Force anyone?) the less you reveal, the better!

“Highlander” fizzled quickly but its salvation lie in the nascent markets of home video and cable television. I spread the word among my friends that the film needed to be seen and singlehandedly created the groundswell of excitement for the film that exists today. OK maybe not, but I am the only person I know who saw the film in theatres, a fact I endlessly repeat to whoever will listen.

As I entered my college years “Highlander” became the “cool film,” to see, and its popularity could be gauged by how many people who knew who could quote lines, much like “Evil Dead 2,” “They Live,” or “Big Trouble in Little China.” If you dislike any of these films just get out of my sight right now. A big highlight for me was procuring the extended European version from a college friend!

“Highlander” was also a major hit overseas where the audiences embraced its quirky method of storytelling and where star Christopher Lambert was much more popular. These factors combined to ensure that “Highlander” would continue. I was never more excited than that day in 1991 when “Highlander 2,” was released and probably never more disappointed either. It was a devastating misstep that ruined Widen’s mythology and introduced some awful new supporting characters. Even Connery couldn’t save it.

Undeterred, the owners of the franchise soldiered on with another crappy sequel that ripped off the original badly, but I so loved the original I entered the theater on opening night eternally hopeful. They recovered with a long-running television series (which I did not watch, a mistake I intend to rectify someday) that built nicely upon the mythology of the first film and made great use of historical events in which to dump Connor’s cousin, Duncan (Adrien Paul.)

The first film decent sequel arrived in 2000, and teamed Lambert and Paul in a battle against yet another lame villain who couldn’t grasp the fine subtleties of Clancy Brown’s performance. However, Lambert and Paul had nice chemistry and Lambert captured some of the elements that made his initial performance so memorable. Like the best “Highlander” stories it wove past and present events together effectively.

A fifth “Highlander” film with Paul was released straight to the SyFy Channel and it was awful. The TV series lasted for six years and was one of the most popular syndicated shows of its day.

The fact that this franchise has endured is a testament to an audience’s ability to embrace a mythology panned or simply written off by mainstream critics and demand more stories in that universe. I point to the rabid fanbase of the sci-fi western “Firefly,” as further proof of that theory - the most obvious one being a certain low-rated sci-fi series that bombed after three years on NBC in the 60s.

“Highlander” is the coolest movie of the 80s because it hit all the right chords – well-rounded memorable characters, innovative storytelling, gorgeous locations, thrilling battles and the perfect combination of wit, pathos and swashbuckling.

You can thank me later.

(Be on the lookout for the Highlander Geek Commentary coming soon from the GFR team!) ..