Highlander Sean Connery

directed by Russell Mulcahy
USA / UK 1986

The good versus evil theme must be the most overdone theme in movies besides maybe love conquers all. The best you can hope for in a movie that uses one of these themes is for the presentation to be original. Highlander's plot is one of the most original ever filmed.

It tells the story of a group of immortals battling to the death, until there is only one left alive. This one will win 'the prize'. The prize being the power of all the other immortals combined.

Excerpt from Three Movie Buffs located HERE

***

Narrative coherence is not a quality which director Mulcahy brings to this mondial of machismo, about a bizarre (and shrinking) band of immortals engaged in mortal combat down the ages. Highlander hops to and fro, from the Scottish highlands in the middle ages to contemporary America, allowing Lambert to don a variety of kits to match the perpetually pained expression in his eyes, and Connery, as his mentor, to make tosh dialogue sound like it was written by Noël Coward. It has lots of energy, a frenzied pace, and a villain who sings Tom Waits while mowing down innocent pedestrians. It's a lot of utterly preposterous fun, even if it doesn't quite hang together. Scotch missed.

Excerpt from Time Out Film Guide located HERE.

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 7th, 1986

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DVD Comparison:

Anchor Bay - Region 1- NTSC vs. Kinowelt (2 Disc 'Steelbook' Special Edition) - Region 2,8 - PAL

(Anchor Bay - Region 1- NTSC LEFT vs. Kinowelt (2 Disc 'Steelbook' Special Edition) - Region 2,8 - PAL RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	Anchor Bay Region 1 - NTSC	Kinowelt (2 Disc 'Steelbook' Special Edition) - Region 2,8 - PAL
Runtime	1:56:24	1:51:24 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.62 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.96 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate : Anchor Bay
Bitrate: Kinowelt
Audio	English (5.1 EX), English (Dolby 2.0) DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUB German (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	None	German, Turkish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by Director Russell Mulcahy, Producers Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer • Trailer Talent bios DVD Release Date: April 16th, 2002 Keep case Chapters 28	Release Information: Studio: Kinowelt Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Trailers for 9 other films 2nd disc • Making of Featurettes - English with German subs • Chris Lambert interview (in German with German subs only) DVD Release Date: January 19th, 2007 Steel-lined Keep Case with dual overlapping spindles Chapters 24

Comments:

Firstly we realize that there is an 'Immortal Edition' in region 1 with a 2nd disc of extras and it is housed in a metal slipcase - it is also by Anchor Bay but we have no real plans for comparing it. We understand the transfer is the same on this NTSC edition. From Amazon - "Highlander was originally thrown onto the marketplace in a Republic DVD release that was one of the worst DVDs ever released. A restored director's cut version was later produced which added about ten minutes of footage to the film, and then came an improved re-mastered version. Previous (to 2002) Anchor Bay releases have been discontinued. This new edition features an Anamorphic widescreen presentation which is superior to former editions." There are some huge fans of this film and I won't pretend to be one of them - hence I hope our comparison doesn't miss any salient points.

There are pluses and minuses to both here in regards to image quality - the Kinowelt transfer is marginally better with less artifacts, slightly smoother, possibly a bit sharper and brighter with no visible manipulations. The Anchor Bay appears to have had some black boosting and although slightly darker I don't see a huge difference in colors between the two. The Anchor Bay has a shade more information in the frame - notably on both side edges. The Kinowelt might display a few more speckles and the PAL edition has a black border circumventing the frame slightly limiting horizontal resolution. Bottom line is you would have to be very keen on the film to be put off but in my opinion the Kinowelt looks a bit superior. Frankly, the film was not on a gigantic budget and although neither image is pristine - it may be as good as it can look.

Audio-wise the Anchor Bay sports a 5.1 EX track with options for 2.0 English or a French DUB. The Kinowelt has a solid 5.1 and a German DUB. The Anchor Bay has no subtitles but the Kinowelt offers German or Turkish. I can't say too much about the audio - they both sounded fairly good to my ear but possibly the Kinowelt was a bit more dynamic and consistent. I found it another 6 of one - half dozen of the other but admittedly audio reviewing is not my strong suit.

Where the Anchor Bay vaults ahead is with the supplemental commentary by Director Russell Mulcahy, Producers Peter S. Davis and William N. Panzer. It is certainly not the best commentary I have ever heard as it is fairly off the cuff but directly from the horses mouth - so to speak. I had the feeling that they could have related a lot more - had they the time or inclination. The Kinowelt has about 2 hours of 'Making Off...' that is very good - highly informative about the production process - hurdles and how obstacles were resolved. I did gain a modicum of respect for this film - that hadn't really occurred to me before. There is a Christopher Lambert interview on the PAL disc but it is only in French (with optional German subs).

Bottom line - unless the image quality becomes a huge concern - for instance if you are projecting on a large home theatre screen - I might say just to purchase the edition that is easiest for you to obtain. The metal case of the Kinowelt is very nice and if that is a selling point you may wish to lean in that direction. The PAL edition seems much more professionally and competently produced.

Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(Anchor Bay - Region 1- NTSC LEFT vs. Kinowelt (2 Disc 'Steelbook' Special Edition) - Region 2,8 - PAL RIGHT)

Disc 2 - Kinowelt (2 Disc 'Steelbook' Special Edition) - Region 2,8 - PAL

Screen Captures