Highlander - Es kann nur einen geben

Zwei Schauspielstars, die Musik von Queen und die schöne schottische Natur reichen für ein Abenteuer, das heutzutage veraltet, aber immer noch sympathisch ist. Veraltet ist der Film vor allem wegen des Trash-Drehbuchs, das im Grunde genommen nur Andeutungen und Symbole nutzt. Der potenziellen Tiefe des Themas hat es sich aber nicht einmal angenähert. Für den damaligen Mainstream-Zuschauer war der Film ein sehr attraktiv gemischter Quatsch. (12.10.2009)

This film has one great thing: the beautiful Scottish landscape and the mysticism of the flashbacks. The story taking place in the present is predicable and boring, and it’s not even helped by the B-movie like performances, which in this case I found incredibly annoying. To be fair, though, I’ve never liked fantasy in any form, not only in film. (10.04.2009)

To be honest, 2 stars are perhaps too luxurious a gift for a B-movie with a terrible screenplay and clumsy acting performances, but I will be accommodating today and will appreciate primarily the atmospheric music of my favorite Queen, led by Mercury, and a few impressive flashbacks to medieval Scotland. Nothing else holds up today, even though it is evident that this title greatly elevates the nostalgia of older users and the conformism of younger ones. Overall impression: 40%. (15.08.2015)

Ein schöner Anfang einer noch besseren Fangemeinde. Inzwischen ein alter Hit, den ich mir regelmäßig anschaue, obwohl er mir nach 2000 fast nicht mehr zum Anschauen vorkam. Es macht keinen Sinn, darüber zu sprechen, welche formalen Aspekte gealtert sind und welche nicht, oder dass das perfekte Happy End die Möglichkeit einer Fortsetzung praktisch ausgeschlossen hat. Es gibt Fortsetzungen, und nicht alle Ideen sind schlecht. Auch der großartige Soundtrack von Queen hat viel dazu beigetragen, und natürlich die Besetzung. "In the end, there can be only one." (16.02.2009)

An interesting and original plot plus solid technical execution, those are the main strengths of Highlander. The story is well presented and full of mystery, the flashbacks to the past are very intriguing, the music is captivating and, oddly enough, Queen's famous song fit perfectly here. And that's what the viewer needs and expects from a film of this type. At least that's how it was for me. It's also worth mentioning Sean Connery and the demonic Kurgan portrayed by Clancy Brown. (21.12.2005)

Der Film hat ein paar gute Momente. Das gilt aber nicht für die Gegenwart. Schottland ist absolut ideal – dort ist es den Filmemachern gelungen, einen Kompromiss zwischen Abenteuerstimmung, emotionaler Romantik, Action und Humor zu finden. Auch die kurze Einlage mit dem Boston-Kampf ist perfekt. Sie hat mich unerwartet zum Lachen gebracht (ganz im Gegensatz zu der Szene aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, bei der ich nicht verstanden habe, ob ihr Ende lustig sein sollte oder nicht). Aber der Rest… Die Gegenwart ist sehr schwach. Wenn nicht gerade die Musik von Queen erklingt (der Soundtrack ist im Grunde genommen das Album "A Kind of Magic"), sehen viele Szenen wie aus einem B-Movie aus (d. h. peinlich, lächerlich, billig). Und der langwierige Kampf am Ende… Das ist wirklich ein "Höhepunkt“. Zweieinhalb. (05.11.2013)

A classic mainstream adventure with a perfect cast, impressive production design and a great premise, which, however, also became a stumbling block. It’s one thing to play with ideas of immortality and jump from the 16th century to the present day with a snap of the fingers, and something else is to tell a story detached from emotions, with clumsy effects and highlights in the form of static sword fights. Lambert is excellent in one of his few major roles, the music of Queen is fantastic and Connery is downright iconic. With a more elaborate and imaginative script, a remake should be a safe bet. 3.5* (29.07.2013)

The band Queen playing in the background tells you everything you need to know about this movie. Highlander is the cinematic equivalent of 80s stadium rock, where monumentality is the alpha and effect is the omega. Almost all of the scenes here are subservient to that mindset and therefore for the most part make no sense, are ridiculously bloated, but impossible to take your eyes off of. Mulcahy's visual creativity here is incredible; indeed, some of the special effects and camerawork in Highlander were even patented. The cinematographer probably only took the steadycam off when he went to bed at night, yet he couldn't be allowed much in the way of freedom of movement due to the harsh close-up lighting of so many of the scenes. Mulcahy's magnum opus deceives you from the beginning with its focus and presentation of cinematic mythology, which creates the illusion of an elaborate inner world. But the second half thankfully makes clear why it was filmed in the first place – so a sleazy biker with a folding sword and a neck sewn up with safety pins can roam New York City while the hero sits in an abandoned bar with such harsh light coming through the blinds that there must have been at minimum a nuclear explosion outside. After that, the most surprising thing about the defining cult film of the 80s was how much of a showcase camp it was. With a group of people with beers in hand, you're in for a truly amazingly awful experience, which still doesn’t stop you from genuinely enjoying the film. Every, truly every scene contains some element that has you out of your seat laughing at it. Good-naturedly and enthusiastically. Everyone gets to pick their favorite. My favorite is unquestionably the one where one of the characters invites the protagonist home, tells him to tend bar for the time being, and he expertly opens a bottle of 1783 Hennessy for her. Lmao. (09.11.2020)

Well, about that... What did I used to like about this? I remembered that Lambert and Connery were in it and it seemed really cool how they were cutting off heads and then gaining energy, but that's really all that's interesting about this movie... So 50% is more out of nostalgia, because it definitely wouldn't appeal to me now. (05.12.2015)