Highlander Endgame (2000) Douglas Aarniokoski   While admittedly devoid of the rich absurdities which made the original Highlander so entertaining, Highlander: Endgame does score slightly better than the previous sequels, largely due to the pairing of Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert, star of the Highlander movies) with Ducan MacLeod (Adrian Paul, star of the Highlander TV series). This film definitely belongs more to Paul than to Lambert, however, who is almost a supporting player. The story also sheds more light on the idenitiy of Ducan and the hisory of his friendship with Connor. Highlander: Endgame has all the requisite ingredient one has come to expect from a Highlander film-specacular swordplay, exotic locales, over-the-top villains, and an extraordinarily convoluter plot. But familiarity with previous Highlander films is actually more of a hindrance than a help, as this film carries on the tradition of redefining (and even conradicting) the established parameters of who and what the Immortal are, and why they are here. The film is most successful when concentrating on the relationship between Connor and Duncan. Unfortunately, there are too many supporting character and random events, all of which make the plot confusing. Add to that the unrelentingly grim tone of the film and it becomes almost unwatchable. (The original Highlander had an appealing, lighthearted silliness which made it fun to watch, but there is no such respite in Highlander: Endgame, which is smothered in its own seriousness.) The DVD comes packed with generous extras: a producer/director commentary track, a "making of" featurette, some deleted scenes (none of which help to clarify the story), and even a video game. But most striking is the inclusion of a full-length, early cut of the film. The image quality is not very good and the frames tend to switch between widescreen and full-screen, but what is saddening is that in this early cut, the story actually unfolds with far more clarity than in the final version. In any case, the video release of Highlander:Endgame is a wonderful example of the possibilities of DVD, but not particularly worthy film. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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