Highlander Endgame (2000)
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
© 2002 
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