I cannot believe I am two films away from being onto my final section which is the countdown from 50 to my favourite film. I genuinely nearly gave it that away then!! Good job I didn't. Stepping up one percentage point we are now in the 88 percenters. Although other critics disagreed with IMDb giving it 7.1 out of 10, whilst Rotten Tomatoes gave it slightly less with 69%. Directed by Russell Mulcahy and produced by Peter S. Davis & William N. Panzer. The screenplay credits went to Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood and Larry Ferguson. It stars Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown and Sean Connery and was another film that bombed at the box office but made traction after in the video world becoming a cult classic. It’s on the back of that at least two sequels followed along with a spin off based on some TV series that were also made of the back of its success. A success not shown in a budget spend of $19m on a box office return of just £12.9m. Just like me many others found this movie in the video market and loved it.
As a sci-fi movie the background to this story is that there are immortals living on earth. They are seeking the prize of being the last one alive to be given sight beyond sight and feeling beyond feelings. To win this prize they have to be the last immortal alive on earth and the only way to be killed off is by having your head removed from the rest of the body. There are certain other rules they have to abide by such as no fighting on sacred land so go hide in a church and let the rest duke it out. After ruining the story already this film follows the story of one such immortal born in 1536 in the highlands of Scotland, he grows up within the MacLeod Clan and he is off to fight in his first battle against the Frasers. In the Frasers ranks they have recruited a Kurgan, the last of the Kurgan tribes who has agreed to fight with them as long as he gets to kill Connor MacLeod (as hero of the movie). Connor is mortally wounded and taken back to the village to die with honour. Being immortal (but not knowing it) he survives and gets better. Meaning the rest of the clan believe he is a witch and should be killed. He is banished and finds a new life alone on the highlands until he falls in love with a local villager. He is befriended by an Egyptian who has just arrived from Spain. He was tracking his old foe the Kurgan and leads him to Connor. He decides to explain to Connor, who he is and then teaches him how-to weald a sword because he was very clumsy and off balanced before. So, he is prepared should the Kurgan returns or anyone else for that matter.
That is enough to get you going on this one. I have to begin with the soundtrack as this is a movie that used the services of a band called Queen for the soundtrack of this movie. If you have heard the album ‘it’s a kind of magic’ then you have heard the soundtrack for this movie. Bar one song which was a cover of New York New York which was used in the film but cannot be found anywhere else as it was not released anywhere. Whether they have the right to release it, but you get a snippet in this movie. This movie is great for showing the cables or the clips that you shouldn’t be seeing. There are these types of errors all the way through this movie, but it doesn’t lessen my love in fact like a little sad puppy it just makes me love it more. This movie works on so many levels its very clever the way it weaves the stories from ancient Scotland to modern New York is well done. The way the police work out who he is a bit sketchy but it all still works, and the soundtrack just tops that cherry on the top. This is another 80’s great movie and this decade is really dominating my list but that is just how it goes.
Next up is the final movie in this section and is a Stephen King classic so expect some truly gruesome moments but there are lots more nice moments in between those scenes…
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