Highlander 2 – Renegade Version
Product Description
Hunted by alien assassins who use the Earth itself as bait, the Highlander and his mentor enter a final battle to save the planet.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: R
Release Date: 23-OCT-2001
Media Type: DVDAmazon.com
Theatrically released in 1991 as Highlander II: The Quickening, this sequel was later reedited and gained a small but loyal following (prompting a spinoff TV series), but at the time of its release critic… More >>
Four stars for this great looking futuristic environmentally theme action movie. And an extra star for the producers and director for having the tenacity to get the movie back to it’s original intent. Of course, along the way they fixed up some of their own errors in judgement, too. Now the movie plays as well with the original.
When Loyds of London, who insured this movie, took over, they assembled the story in chronological order. This was not the intent of the director, who had planned the flash back style used in the first film. This type of story depends on the flashback style.
Some reviewers suggest that the additional 16 minutes are not so important. But I say, that’s one sixth of an entire movie. Movies, such as “High Noon” have been made or broken on a mere 10 minutes of screen time.
The movie is filmed in 2:35 aspect ratio by the cameraman that went on to do “GoldenEye”, and looks beautiful. The dramatic stylized lighting makes Lambert more intense and strikingly handsome than in the original.
He’s an old man for the first 30 minutes of this movie, giving the story a real feeling of mortality vs. immortality. After killing his first attackers he is re-energized and youthened. Now he is able to find out the truth about the ozone protective shield he helped build. He’ll try to get control away from the corrupt businessmen that now exploits the shield and the population of the planet. Very timely.
Lambert does all his own stunts in this movie, including the hover board flying and the ride down the top of an outside elevator. No blue screens or effects in both cases. It’s great to see a large scale beautiful looking movie without the sometimes unrealistic looking CGI effects that are used today.
Sean Connery and Lambert are no longer teacher and student. Now they are equals. Culp and Cosby of the future. There’s lots of humor to enjoy here, especially on Connery’s part. To answer the question about how Connery came back from the dead, “Hey…….It’s a kind of magic.”
All the supporting actors are recognizable faces, with Michael Ironside using twisted humor as he stomps around the world creating havoc. Like taking a subway train on a high speed joy ride, crashing it, killing the passengers, and then announcing to the dead with glee, “Last stop.” It’s just the kind of thing a psychopath immortal would do.
As far as one reviewer complaining about Lambert “walking up to some strange woman and has sex with her up against a stone wall.” She’s the leading lady, they already established contact, went for a ride, and she watched him survive the first battle, and become young, handsome and frisky, and she needed his help to find the truth about the ozone shield. And besides, what two consenting (obviously consenting) adult mortal and immortals do, in the privacy of their own back alley in the future is their business. Plus, they got that over with quick and then could continue with the important talks of immortality, haunting memories of lost loves, and how to save the earth.
I bought all four Highlander features just now and watched them in two days, home alone, as morality tales about immortality should be watched. And for me, “There can be only two.” The original and Highlander 2 “The Renegade version”. I watched #2 twice, just to be sure, and enjoyed it twice.
Soon those who remember the original cut of this film will have their say, new viewers will watch it with unpolluted minds and enjoy this film on it’s own merits. A large scale, quickly paced, fun and funny action tale of the future, with a theme that needs to be heeded more than ever.
Rating: 5 / 5
If you see some explanations about the second Highlander movie, you’ll discover that this story happens in a different dimension. The immortals involved are thrown in a distant future (for the age it was done) in a planet Earth condemned by the absence of the ozone skin.
Highlander 2 is that, a science fiction story. Of course this cannot be considered in the usual mithology, because this is not our reality. It’s more like what happened if Connor, Ramirez and Katana had be thrown in a dimension in witch Connor’s last wife and the rest of the world had died by radiation.
The story is good, a little slow, but flows nice. The science fiction plot is interesting, the atmosphere is a little like Blade Runner. And Ironside here are deliciously sadic and insane, he’s still evil, but funny at the same time.
All in all, a good movie. Not the best of the franchise, but worths watch without been considered as part of the original mithology.
Rating: 3 / 5
I LIKED THE MOVIE WHEN IT FRIST CAME OUT. MAYBE CUZ I WAS LITTLE AN DID’NT REALLY PAY ATTIENTION ANYWAY. BUT I DID RENT IT AN SEE I DID’NT UNDERSTAND IT LIKE THE I UNDERSTOOD THE FRIST ONE.THE FRIST ONE WAS EASY THIS ONE WAS CONFUSING.BUT I DO LIKE THIS DVD OK. BUT I THINK PART 3 GOES BETTER WITH PART 1 THEN THIS ONE DOES. BUT THE PICTURE IS BETTER AN THE SOUND IS GREAT. SO I SAY BUY IT.
Rating: 4 / 5
DVD was entertaining.
DVD arrived in a very timely fashion.
DVD arrived in excellent condition.
Rating: 5 / 5
I received the product in a timely manner and product was in good shape. Good shopping experience
Rating: 5 / 5