How truly and utterly fucking amazing is Highlander? Starting with the epic 1986 movie with Sean Connery and then the series from the 90's with Adrian Paul. And the Queen music fucking jams. I've got my little son hooked on it he throws down when it comes on. 

I stumbled upon the whole series free on Tubi, I was a massive fan of this when I was a kid. The thing is it was one of those shows that you never knew what time or channel it came on so I only caught random episodes out of order. 

I seem to remember the show came on the USA Network? 

Then probably a decade ago it was on Netflix, I would always put it on as random background noise but found that maybe the show wasn't as good as I remembered. I never tried to watch it all in order just skipped around and watched random episodes mostly.  



But I started at the beginning here recently and have been watching it in chronological order properly and the show is really fucking amazing. Season 1 started in 1992 and has a very X-Files monster of the week vibe with a sweet revolving door of surprising guest stars playing the monster of the week every week, including that one Native American dude from Last Of The Mohicans and Heat. I really loved the first 6-7 episodes of season one but after that the storyline sees the characters leave Seattle/Vancouver and the whole show goes to Paris France, the last 13-14 episodes are a chore to get through. I read that the show after the 7th episode went through a revolving door of writers and producers and almost died. That makes sense. 

But season 2 is so bad ass. I love the way they flash back through Duncan Mcloud's 400 year past, the sword fights have been top notch(I read that all the sword fights were choreographed by the dude that did Star Wars) and there is actually a running story that I never realized before. I made it up to the 4th episode of season 2 with a major death of one of the main characters and I'm fucking stunned and heartbroken right now. 

This show seriously hitting the spot right now in my house. I'm tempted to get one of those sweet VHS sets that would look dope as fuck on my book shelf. Also Duncan Mcloud and Swayze in Point Break and Road House these were the guys I wanted to be like when I grew up. 

Aww yeah. I loved Highlander. Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod was the man. That intro still gets me hyped. Queen!  :rockin:  

Definitely one of my favorite shows for a few years there. Also had it on my list when UT ran PW's 50 Favorite Show Countdown a few years back. It aired here on our UPN affiliate Channel 54. Had a steady timeslot for a long time. It did get erratic towards the end though iirc. But I was already half checked out by then. Duncan basically pulled a Mulder by only being on like half the episodes while they tried pushing some noobs who weren't getting over with me. Episode that still sticks with me a quarter century later is the Four Horsemen two parter. Want to write about it so bad but also don't want to spoil in case you haven't seen it or don't remember. Part One with the big reveal was peak Highlander for me.

Never could get into the movie though. Rented it once probably not long after discovering the series and the whole time I'm just like "Who is this Connor jabroni and where is Duncan?" Maybe I'd appreciate it more today. Didn't it begin with a wrestling match featuring the Freebirds and one of the Samoans? Or am I getting that confused with Bodyslam starring Dirk Benedict of A Team fame? Anyway, they had a spinoff after Highlander proper ended with a female lead in place of Duncan but that also failed to get over with me. Guess I was just a Duncan purist. After all, there can be only one. Though the spinoff series didn't get over with the masses either given that I don't remember it lasting very long.

But Highlander: The Series with Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod was one of the best things going in the mid 90s. Loved it.

Dude I have no sold this my whole life. The only tidbit I know is that Edge was either a fan or starred in something related? I finally checked this thread out and that video was weird man. It was tugging at the strings. Like is this something special or is it also kinda bad? That ENERGY ya know? I can't explain it. Similar energy I felt to the Broken Verse. Not directly comparing but that it factor. Like in either direction you want that ish down your throat.

Plus hey that's the guy who played Raiden, so it's like connecting with an old friend. Like it's not Raiden's secret origins is it?

Dude I want in on this.

Sept 2, 2022 0:03:44 GMT @ness said:

Dude I have no sold this my whole life. The only tidbit I know is that Edge was either a fan or starred in something related? I finally checked this thread out and that video was weird man. It was tugging at the strings. Like is this something special or is it also kinda bad? That ENERGY ya know? I can't explain it. Similar energy I felt to the Broken Verse. Not directly comparing but that it factor. Like in either direction you want that ish down your throat.

Plus hey that's the guy who played Raiden, so it's like connecting with an old friend. Like it's not Raiden's secret origins is it?

Dude I want in on this.

Yes lets get some of these and start a PW extreme sword fighting league, There Can Be Only One...



The series definitely takes the whole thing to the next level but I always did love the movie. The series is fucking sweet, great storytelling and action, love the stunts and the martial arts vibe and I'm obsessed with the swords and sword fights there are some sweet ones, definitely the series nerded out in that area. Start with the movie, then get into the series it's free on Tubi watch the first 6-7 episodes then just skip to the season finale and hold on tight for season 2, it's superb so far. 

Season 1 episode 11 "Family Tree" was one of the best episodes from the first batch. Richie goes to look into who his parents are and ends up getting worked by a desperate con man that convinces him that he's his father. It flashes back to Duncan's origin story in the highlands of Scotland where his father and his clan abandoned and exiled him after he came back from the dead from the first time when he first discovered he was immortal because they thought he was an abomination. Very strong episode 

The pilot episode is pretty corny, the main heel is like a Wal Mart version of the Kurgan from the movie, played by that one dude from Night Court that seemingly made his rounds on all these shows, I remember him as the Cyclops in Hercules TV show. But it's essential viewing to set up the show and I liked how they used Conor from the movie to out over Duncan. 

Season 1 episode 2 is one of my favorites because it has the legendary Vincent Shiavelli from Ghost and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, as well as Tales From The Crypt, and one of my favorite episodes of X-Files, he was also in the Sega CD game Corpse Killer. Very solid episode with a good story and Shiavelli kills it as always. 

From there the episodes are hit and miss but mostly solid up to Season 1 episode 6 "Deadly Medicine" which has an interesting heel in Joe Pantaliano's crooked doctor character. 

Season 1 episode 7 "Mountain Men" is the one with the guest star of the Native American actor that was in Heat and Last Of The Mohicans, this was such a bad and corny episode that it was good, the main bad guy is Kevin Bacon's brother and he's so goofy it's great. 

Just watched the movie trailer Nobi posted and there were the Freebirds and a Samoan as I remembered. This thread got me hyped to rewatch some Highlander. Wanted to watch the epic Horsemen episode but could only find it in Russian. So rather than taking a crash course in Russian I’m just to watch the pilot episode tomorrow instead.

The original Highlander movie was the shit. The show with Duncan was pretty good as well. Everything else in the franchise was garbage.

First movie was great, the series was pretty damn good. As Metallica says, nothing else matters.

This intro with Joe's narration providing the backstory before Queen gets you hyped is my favorite Highlander opening. 



I found the Horsemen episode in English after all. Going to watch it after this post. Still plan on watching all the episodes I can find for free in chronological order as well, but I've simply had to rewatch the first Horsemen episode ever since Nobi started this thread.
==========
Of course I had the idea of bringing a Highlander character to wrestling. Here is a slightly edited post from 2018 chronicling the history of mid 90s basement USWA star Cyrus MacLeod...

Cyrus MacLeod- Our Highlander gimmick. The name is pretty cool. I'll admit that. Too bad that's where the coolness ends. Again, what are you going to do with a 17th Century Scottish Highlander who happens to be a sword carrying immortal specializing in decapitating other immortals with said sword until there is only one? For starters, USWA was severely lacking in other immortals. Nor was I about to start doing decapitations on a regular basis. This isn't ECW! Sure, there was Bill Dundee assassinating Duke the Dumpster that one time, but that was a dumb idea, and the fact it only happened once is what made it kinda sorta special.

So Cyrus MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod had the same arc as Jason The Argonaut. Big 5 event push. Then quickly phased out when it became obvious this gimmick wasn't going to work. His entire USWA career only lasted 10-15 events. Wonder if he ever made it to Lawlermania? I do hope he did.

Looks like the first movie is on Max, so that's what I'll be doing over the weekend. If I like it I guess I can do the Jericho Pen Click to the rest because you just made the list.

Making my way into the 6th episode of season 2 and the show is starting to run out of whatever magic it had going there for the first 4-5 episodes of the season.

I love the element of season 2 where Duncan buys the martial arts dojo and it becomes a regular fixture/setting through the series. I also like the black guy from the dojo that becomes a recurring character he's like Duncan's martial arts buddy. They did a pretty sweet job of introducing martial arts into the series this way. Gives it even more of that corny 1992-93 action movie vibe that I love. 

Another Immortal that I liked from season 1 that I didn't mention in my other post was Grayson, this seemed like one of the strongest foes Duncan faced, it was season 1 episode 13 "Band Of Brothers" which also introduced Duncan's mentor Darius. I think the story was that Grayson was like 1,000 years older than Duncan which made him much stronger, that was a damn good episode from season 1.

Sept 2, 2022 22:10:51 GMT Baker said:

This intro with Joe's narration providing the backstory before Queen gets you hyped is my favorite Highlander opening. 



I found the Horsemen episode in English after all. Going to watch it after this post. Still plan on watching all the episodes I can find for free in chronological order as well, but I've simply had to rewatch the first Horsemen episode ever since Nobi started this thread.
==========
Of course I had the idea of bringing a Highlander character to wrestling. Here is a slightly edited post from 2018 chronicling the history of mid 90s basement USWA star Cyrus MacLeod...

Cyrus MacLeod- Our Highlander gimmick. The name is pretty cool. I'll admit that. Too bad that's where the coolness ends. Again, what are you going to do with a 17th Century Scottish Highlander who happens to be a sword carrying immortal specializing in decapitating other immortals with said sword until there is only one? For starters, USWA was severely lacking in other immortals. Nor was I about to start doing decapitations on a regular basis. This isn't ECW! Sure, there was Bill Dundee assassinating Duke the Dumpster that one time, but that was a dumb idea, and the fact it only happened once is what made it kinda sorta special.

So Cyrus MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod had the same arc as Jason The Argonaut. Big 5 event push. Then quickly phased out when it became obvious this gimmick wasn't going to work. His entire USWA career only lasted 10-15 events. Wonder if he ever made it to Lawlermania? I do hope he did.

I really dig Joe. Great character. 

Bake there is an app called Tubi with the full series for free(with ads) they also have a shit load of classic straight to video Cannon Films movies and a lot of other forgotten gems like Robot Jox and I Come In Peace, sweet app. 

Also stumbled upon an interesting fan theory on the internet today at lunch, somebody proposed an origin story for the Immortals that they are "Changelings" which is an ancient legend of immortal fairies that would get switched out with babies very interesting read.

Watched the Four Horsemen episode. It's easy to see why this was the one that stuck with me for a quarter century. The swerve was a major shocker at the time and the monologue that followed was tremendous. Wouldn't surprise me if that's the best scene in the entire series. "I was death" is a classic line that also stuck with me for 25 years. Now I'm gonna have to see if Part Two is as big a let down as I remember after all that tremendous build. Neo Zeed needs to hurry up and get to Season 5 Episodes 12 & 13 so I can drop spoilers 

Wanted to see if this was just another quirky Bakerism like being a Watts & Disco fan so I checked some "Best Episode" lists.

-They're the #1 & #3 highest rated episodes on IMDb
-One site has Part Two as their #4 episode
-One fan has them lumped together as their 6th favorite episode
-Another site had them at #1 and a tie for 8th
-One fan broke the Meltzer Scale by rating Part One "5 stars out of 4" while Part Two was "4 stars out of 4. A classic."
-A low voter had them at #12 & #18....out of all 119 episodes. Meaning even the lowest rated episode from the harshest, Horsemen-hating voter is rated above 100+ episodes, meaning it's still upper tier Highlander.
-A Youtube video on Best Highlander Villains in franchise history had The Horsemen collectively at #2 while also admitting "they'd take up half the (Top 10) list if I rated them separately."

OK. I've seen enough. It's not just me this time. The Horsemen episodes are officially good. Even Part Two which disappointed me in real time for spoiler related reasons I won't go into right now receives high marks from other Highlander fans.

Nobi you already turned me on to Tubi with an earlier post in this thread. I checked it out yesterday just to make sure.

Also gonna have to give the movie a second chance now that Brother @ness is in.

So Horsemen Part 2 is next then the movie then Season One. Let's do this...

Sept 3, 2022 1:52:55 GMT Baker said:

Watched the Four Horsemen episode. It's easy to see why this was the one that stuck with me for a quarter century. The swerve was a major shocker at the time and the monologue that followed was tremendous. "I was death" is a classic line that also stuck with me for 25 years. Now I'm gonna have to see if Part Two is as big a let down as I remember after all that tremendous build. Neo Zeed needs to hurry up and get to Season 5 Episodes 12 & 13 so I can drop spoilers  :lol:

Wanted to see if this was just another quirky Bakerism like being a Watts & Disco fan so I checked some "Best Episode" lists.

Part Two is the #1 rated episode and Part One is the 3rd highest rated episode on IMDb
One site has Part Two as their #4 episode
One fan had them lumped together as their 6th favorite episode
Another site had them at #1 & #2

OK. I've seen enough. It's not just me this time. The Horsemen episodes are officially considered good. Even Part Two which disappointed me in real time for spoiler related reasons I won't go into right now.

Nobi you already turned me on to Tubi with an earlier post in this thread. I checked it out yesterday just to make sure.

Also gonna have to give the movie a second chance now that Brother @ness is in.

So Horsemen Part 2 is next then the movie then Season One. Let's do this...

I'm watching the movie now I haven't seen it in so long. Kurgan is such a great heel "I took his head and raped his woman before his blood ran cold"

See I had no idea about the Horsemen two parter and that 's fucking odd that it's rated at the top of the show because EVERYTHING I've read says that season 5 was where the show got really bad and wasn't even worth watching. Sounds fucking awesome though. 

I never realized Highlander was a Cannon Films movie, always so stoked to see that classic logo before a movie, GOAT movie makers Golan Globus productions epic of the cinema 

Sept 3, 2022 2:15:22 GMT Neo Zeed said:

See I had no idea about the Horsemen two parter and that 's fucking odd that it's rated at the top of the show because EVERYTHING I've read says that season 5 was where the show got really bad and wasn't even worth watching. Sounds fucking awesome though. 

One of the Highlander related things I read over the past day or two said the show should have ended with the Horsemen episodes because it was all downhill from there. I'll see if I can find the article once I'm through Part Two of the Four Horsemen Ride Again.

Also the Highlander series seems like something that would have totally had a banging message board scene in the mid 90's internet.

The Queen music definitely gives the whole thing a timeless magic, that had to be the best move the producers of the TV show could have pulled off was getting the rights to that intro and the Who Wants To Live Forever(awesome)

Sept 3, 2022 2:19:58 GMT Baker said:

Sept 3, 2022 2:15:22 GMT Neo Zeed said:

See I had no idea about the Horsemen two parter and that 's fucking odd that it's rated at the top of the show because EVERYTHING I've read says that season 5 was where the show got really bad and wasn't even worth watching. Sounds fucking awesome though. 

One of the Highlander related things I read over the past day or two said the show should have ended with the Horsemen episodes because it was all downhill from there. I'll see if I can find the article once I'm through Part Two of the Four Horsemen Ride Again.

OK so it was actually season 6 was the one I read was bad not season 5, apparently they were just using the show to pitch pilot episodes for a Highlander spin off with the last season and it's not even worth watching from what I've read. 

So how much of the series is worth watching? Where is the "endgame" with the horsemen?

Sept 3, 2022 2:27:13 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Also the Highlander series seems like something that would have totally had a banging message board scene in the mid 90's internet.

The Queen music definitely gives the whole thing a timeless magic

Strong agree with both statements.

Sept 3, 2022 2:36:29 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Sept 3, 2022 2:19:58 GMT Baker said:

One of the Highlander related things I read over the past day or two said the show should have ended with the Horsemen episodes because it was all downhill from there. I'll see if I can find the article once I'm through Part Two of the Four Horsemen Ride Again.

OK so it was actually season 6 was the one I read was bad not season 5, apparently they were just using the show to pitch pilot episodes for a Highlander spin off with the last season and it's not even worth watching from what I've read. 

This jibes with my memory of Duncan being gone half the time while they tried pushing a bunch of noobs down our throats. I will amend an earlier statement about being a Duncan purist though. I totally would have been onboard with a spinoff featuring Methos. Methos ruled.

Sept 3, 2022 2:37:46 GMT @ness said:

So how much of the series is worth watching? Where is the "endgame" with the horsemen?

Not sure about the first question since I didn't watch a single episode for over 20 years. Chances are it's real hit or miss. They had long 20+ episode seasons so I'm sure there are a lot of filler episodes and rough patches.

There really wasn't an endgame with The Horsemen. It was just a really good mid season two parter. That was one of my big issues with it back in the day! I thought they should have got more mileage out of the Four Horsemen storyline. But after just watching Part Two I now think the only way to believably do that would have been to...I don't want to spoil too much. But if Nobi ever gets that far I'm totally writing a novella on those two episodes.

Also wouldn't recommend watching the Horsemen episodes out of context. It largely revolves around one of Duncan's immortal friends and you won't get the full impact without watching the earlier episodes this character appeared in.

Going to try watching the movie over the weekend. Hopefully I'm not too busy.

Rabbit hole: www.highlander-community.com/forum/

Looks like they had to reset the same way this board did around 2017, I dug through there for about an hour last night they got a fan fiction subforum *rubs hands together* 

I think longterm message boards (decade plus) just have that issue. I post on another board and they did the transition a few years ago. From my experience here I told them the reality of the situation (1.1ers and all that) and it was very much the "first time?" meme in real form.

One more post on the matter and then I'll stop beating a dead horse(man)...



Imagine you have these guys on your roster. The Terrors of the Bronze Age riding again after a 3000 year hiatus. Even the most astute observers thought they were a myth. Turns out they're real. Very real. They were the monsters mothers warned their children about. They were the nightmare that kept them awake at night. And now they're back. And, oh yeah, they're immortal. And, oh yeah, the brains of the organization is a character already well known to Highlander fans...a character you could already have made a case for being the greatest living immortal...a character who at the very least held an extremely impressive record...a character who has a lot of onscreen history with Duncan MacLeod...

Imagine having these guys on your roster....and blowing it off in two shows! Who booked this crap?!? Even going full on Russo I'd have got the bare minimum of 3 Lawlermanias out of this storyline. Most likely 5, or even 6. So I can't help thinking about what could have been....

best move the producers of the TV show could have pulled off was getting the rights to that intro and the Who Wants To Live Forever(awesome)

That song playing whenever Duncan was sad never got old. You know what else never gets old? Queen. The *checks notes* 5th greatest music act of all time.

*Bout to fire up the movie. This better be good. 

Going to chime in with thoughts as I watch the movie. Queen intro never fails to get me hyped. I recognized a surprising amount of names in the opening credits. I like how they babyface Connor right away by making him a wrestling fan.

Sept 4, 2022 0:03:04 GMT Baker said:

I like how they babyface Connor right away by making him a wrestling fan.

Or maybe not  :lol:  He had no interest in the match (imagine having no interest in the Freebirds during the mid 80s! smh) and left early.

How's MacLeod get into the Garden with a big ass sword under his trenchcoat? I know security in the 80s isn't what it is today but come on!

Suit in the first fight is a heck of a gymnast

I caught heavy Terminator 1 vibes when I watched it the other night. The 80's were so awesome.

And it got me thinking about the sequel and how fucking rancid bad it is. Has there ever been a more damaging sequel for a movie franchise than Highlander 2? I think the series did good to survive as an underground nerd deal but I look back at that first movie and the whole mythology established and just think what a huge missed opportunity. I feel like the Highlander series could have been fucking massive in the late 80's into the early 90's had they nailed a better sequel movie, instead it went into the straight to VHS market with b-movies. There should have been an epic Highlander trilogy, an NES game, a pen and paper RPG, books and comics that were a bigger deal, that second movie fucking killed it all. Franchise killer

I binge watched season 2 yesterday on a lazy day around the house. It certainly took a nosedive in quality after the big double swerve in the 4th episode. I've read that season 2 was where the show got it's act together after a revolving door of writers and producers passed through in season 1. I have to disagree, I feel like season 1 was better overall.

Season 2 starts off excellent going into the 3rd episode "Turnabout" which was probably my favorite episode so far.

Episode 4 "The Darkness" was another one of the best episodes of the series, at this point the show is at it's peak so far. Strong stuff.

From there though the show really fizzles out for the rest of the season 2. The episodes just don't have the same heart and charm of season 1 with some of the regular characters being MIA. Also feels like they blew their budget on those first 4 episodes since the big action movie stunts kinda fade out after that point. At some point midseason it shifts locations to Paris France the same way it did in season 1. It is awesome how just as in season 1 Duncan is just so rich that he owns a barge to live in and it's parked on the water right in front of Notre Dame.

Season 2 episode 9 "Run For Your Life" was probably the best of the bunch through this stretch. I believe this was before the show went back to Paris about Duncan helping a black slave Immortal escape a lynching in the 1800's and then reuniting with him in modern times. Wasn't anything great really but just a decent stand alone story that stood out from the rest of this season.

Season 2 episode 10 "Epitaph For Tommy" is the one guest starring Roddy Piper. I remember stumbling upon this one a while back and posting about it on PW. Watching it again this time the story is really bad but Piper is golden any time he's on screen, and his sword fighting scenes are awesome. 

The Unholy Alliance two parter(season 2 episodes 14-15) sees two of the more interesting heels from season 1 return. The first part of it was a good episode

Also the Vampire episode was interesting episode 16 interesting heel. One thing the show has done well both seasons is bringing in interesting bad guys from week to week.

I did really love the whole way Richie was revealed to be an immortal, that was so well done and makes you look back on Duncan taking him in in season 1 I'm under the impression that he had to have known Richie was an immortal all along and was mentoring him the same way Ramirez was mentoring Connor in the movie. But Richie is MIA through most of the season only to return in the end. Without Richie and Tessa the whole chemistry of that trio the show kinda loses it's charm. Tessa was a real gem, such a lovely lady, I fucking love her accent.

So that is season 2, it was a grind there at the end. Definitely started to feel very paint by the numbers with every episode just having the same feel. I'm stoked to start season 3 I've read that season 3 and 4 are the peak of the show.

Also am I wrong in assuming that this show was the forerunner to the geeky syndicated/UPN mythology shows like Buffy and Charmed? I'm kinda starting to catch that vibe here with some episodes.