Thursday, June 5, 2014

Why "Highlander" Should be Remade

The other day I came across a website talking about older movies which could someday see a remake.

One on the list was the 1986 Classic Highlander starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery.

I have been an advocate for a remake of this movie for several years now especially with the advent of computer generated special effects.

And my call for a remake has nothing to do with my love for the original.

There are so many great things about Highlander not the least of which comes from director Russell Mulcahy.

His blended dissolves from one time period to the next were amazing and the opening shot in Madison Square Garden should be taught in every film class.

FYI, Mulcahy was also the director of several classic Duran Duran videos which were some of the most amazing.

The story itself is amazing: a group of immortals fighting each other to eventually win some unknown prize!

Fantastic!

And, while controversial, I do enjoy the music from Queen.

I especially loved the song "Who Wants to Live Forever", and the scene where Heather comes over the hill having aged while Connor stayed young.

But the casting left a lot to be desired such as Lambert with his French accent playing the Highlander while Sean Connery who is actually from Scotland played a Spanish Egyptian.

Also, the ending was kind of a downer.

He gets to be mortal and can read everyone's thoughts?

Sounds a bit boring to me.

It's probably a good thing the Kurgan didn't win in the end, because I don't think he would have been happy with that prize at all.

He probably would have been even more of a douchebag than normal.

A better ending would have been MacLeod becoming more of like a benevolent all-powerful watcher over the earth like the Dave Bowman baby at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

And again there are the special effects.

While great for the time, in retrospect they're obviously just cartoons.

Can you imagine what the quickening could look like with today's movie magic?

So again Highlander was a great film, but I think it's time to bring it into the 21st century.

And NO SEQUELS!

So what old movies do you think should be remade? Let me know in the comments!

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