Comments on: John Seavey's Storytelling Engines: Highlander

By: Debbie

Debbie — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:20:06 +0000

I liked the first Highlander movie and loved the TV series.

I am a history buff and always loved the old swashbuckling movies like Captain Blood when I was a kid, so the show appealed to me on several levels. The characters had great depth and the stories dealt with all sorts of moral issues. It was not your typical adventure show with a one demensional hero. Yes there were flaws in the continuity of the story at times, but many of the individual episodes were great.. I think Adrian Paul was great in the way that he seemed to carry his 400 years and yet be a totally modern man.

I agree that Adrian Paul and Christopher Lambert had a great chemisty together. That first episode when they were together is one of my favorites. That swordfight between the two of them is the best. I still watch my tapes of the show and wish it hadn't ended.

By: Luis Dantas

Luis Dantas — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:50:37 +0000

I always thought that it was a matter of not being able of avoiding the more aggressive immortals. From what we've seen it looks like the good highlanders mainly tried to avoid conflict or to protect others and themselves.

Of course, several episodes dwell on how easy it is to fall into the slippery slope.

By: Matt-L

Matt-L — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:06:42 +0000

I really liked the first movie as well as a lot of things about the series. In some respects I prefer the movie's story while I like the TV series characters more. The way Richie was written out was beyond stupid, though.

There is one question though that I don't think any incarnation of Highlander I am familiar with has addressed in a satisfactory way.

To some degree there is a bit of blind acceptance of this war among the Immortals. Yet it seems a bit at odds with the compassionate nature of the Highlander protagonists to do so. If it comes down to you and your best friend or even a lover, then rules of the game pretty much require that you have to kill them or they have to kill you. Wouldn't it make some degree of sense for an Immortal to want to defy the game and instead try to find out how the game started and perhaps how to stop it.

Now, perhaps the last movie (which I haven't seen) or the comic (which I haven't read) deals with this.

Or at the very least throw the audience some sort of bone as to why The Game MUST be played at all. Obviously it's good vs. evil but what being or force created this whole thing to decide which would rule? Or do fans feel that such a thing would basically break the engine entirely?

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:43:05 +0000

Come on Jack, tell us how you REALLY feel! LOL!
I happen to have LOVED the Highlander movies and especially the series, which I have watched over & over. The first movie makes me cry every time when Connor's first wife Heather dies!
So, Elijah, you are not the "only one."

By: Bat2supe

Bat2supe — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:55:00 +0000

I loved the movie & the serie when I was younger & still have a soft spot for it watching rerun when I find one.

I agrre with William, the first season were good, before they fall in the redundancy of the concept.
I especially digged the Canada episodes.

By: Jack Norris

Jack Norris — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:02:38 +0000

God, I loathe and despise Highlander in all its incarnations. Of all geek-cult franchises, it's the one for which I have not even the slightest particle of positive feeling. Hate, hate, hate every aspect of it, from the core idea to every pointless attempt to extend and modify it.

By: William O'Brien

William O'Brien — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:39:12 +0000

The show, especially in seasons 2-5, was pretty good. Lots of great characters and ideas, some pretty compelling plot lines, and a great core concept. It wasn't perfect, but it was good.

By: Elijah

Elijah — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:34:20 +0000

Oh man, sometimes I think I'm the only fan of that show. Good to see someone else writing about it.

I always love how, in the first season or so, they still talk about The Gathering "being here" in some vague sense, and then slowly, unofficially, just... phase it out.

By: Jeff Ryan

Jeff Ryan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Not enough Highlader 2 bashing for me. Maybe that's why Lambert always looks like, three seconds before any given take, someone hit him full-on in the face with a shovel.