Back in 1986 all the goodies were doe-eyed musclemen. The baddies rippled under black leather. A pumping hard rock soundtrack surrounded them all, and "Highlander" defined the moment.
A truly heroic stomp through time and space, "Highlander" is the tale of clansman Connor MacLeod (Lambert), flamboyant nobleman Ramirez (Connery), and the evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown). All are immortals, and can die only by decapitation. They are cursed to duel down the ages until the mysterious 'Gathering', when the few left will battle for 'The Prize'. Together, Macleod and Ramirez struggle to thwart Kurgan in his attempt to win 'The Prize', and save the world from his random ultra-violence and low-down wickedness.
From the moody, rain-soaked, noir-ish streets of late 20th century America to the wild open spaces of medieval Scotland, Mulcahy plunders movie history to set off his visceral fight scenes with suitably rugged locations. This epic quality makes up for the pretentious shifts in time and space, and drags the viewer into the sheer monstrous drama of it all. Throw in a beautiful, female weapons expert, and a warm-hearted Scottish farm girl, and director Mulcahy could rest assured the boys in the audience will be happy.
What the film loses through ham acting, weak narrative and pompous macho posturing it more than compensates with in sheer fiery bravado, pace and larger than life action.
Stylistically "Highlander" may have dated as badly as Christopher Lambert's mullet, but so what? For an honest-to-God, boys-own thrash you can't beat it.
Read about "Highlander II: The Quickening".