This post is a little take over time. The Movie Whore has kindly given me a user name to have my wicked way with his site, so I am taking him up on his offer.
So with this being a movie site, lets start by talking about music.
Everyone has that one song on an album that just really works for them. For me, it is a song called “Eyes of the South” and it is from an album called NOLA by a band called Down. It was released in 1995, but that one song on there will remain my favorite song for the foreseeable future. This seems to work for movies too.
Some 9 years prior to that album being released, a film was released. The special effects are nothing special, not even at the time it was released. It did not contain a cast full of huge Hollywood names. The film is called Highlander. But what made it so special? What gave it that X Factor that as a 12 year old boy watching it, embedded it in my head forever?
I don’t know.
There are many films with very good storylines. With much better effects (and a LOT with some very bad effects). The two sequels to the film were not a scratch on the original, but why was the original that one film I seem to talk about whenever the subject of films comes up?
With my favorite song, I know why it is. It has the greatest intro to a song I think I will ever hear, so from the very beginning you know it is something special. It has a catchy chorus, and some great guitar work on it. What about my favorite film? Highlander has a partially blind Frenchman playing a sword fighting immortal Scotsman.
I can take a guess, but it is indeed a guess as I could say some of the following about other films.
The film is magical. The storyline is original in as much of it being a game of sorts, while not being a game. Immortals make friends with each other. Should they not be chopping each others heads off to get “The prize”? At the end of the film when he gets the prize, you never get to see him actually use it. Infact in the following 2 films, you also dont really get to see it.
It has a baddie who is frankly insane, and is almost believable. The actor didn’t overact the part. He seemed to have a natural insanity about him. (something I can relate to!) Clancy Brown who played him has recently done voice acting for Spongebob Squarepants. In fact, he has done a lot as his bio shows HERE. But I don’t think I would recognize him in any other film.
The female interest in the film was not overdone and focused on as in so many other films.
Why didn’t they all gang up on the Kurgen (the bad guy) who was the strongest of all immortals and take him out of the picture and carry on being immortal forever as the friends they are?
I really don’t think any of that matters. It just has something about it. But the one thing that does not make any sense about this, and that it is without doubt my favorite film ever?
I have it on DVD. I have had it on DVD for many years. It is still in the selophane wrapper. Never watched.