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annavereOn a whim, I looked it up and someone uploaded it to YouTube since the last time I checked, so I triaged accordingly and let it jump the queue in case it gets yanked. I keep stumbling over fanfic utilizing Connor, so on the plus side, I now have a stronger basis for understanding those works, which will doubtless be a treat.
Okay, so the fact that I tuned in and perked up over the theme song and then did a deflated double take at WRESTLING is kind of a perfect capsule reaction to this entire film. If ever there was lead to gold, it was making this into one of my favorite television shows. So, read on if you want my deeply lukewarm opinions!
I'll start with the positives, which were mostly down to potential. I didn't mind the bits of contradictory lore like Connor breathing underwater - Immortals can occasionally do weird things, and it's easy to headcanon this as Connor's particular gift. Ramirez with the stag put me in mind of Cassandra with the wolf. Is there a connection? That would be cool. There should be fic.
The total lack of temporary deaths was harder to handwave. It's difficult to understand from this film how Immortals could possibly stay secret, considering how they act when in mixed company.
Connor, apart from the tennis shoes (which I found deeply distracting and kept staring at aghast whenever they wandered into frame), was an interesting guy. He had a lot more edge than his younger cousin, lacking Duncan's ability to deal peaceably with cops or sweet talk women. They have such different personalities, I am left with more questions than I ever had before about their relationship. Also, unlike in the show, where Connor appeared every bit as much of a wanderer as Duncan, here it's made clear that he's a homebody who does several things Duncan never does: Raise a child, live with a woman until her death of old age (the Who Wants to Live Forever sequence was the best portion of this movie), use an alias.
Connor is also where Duncan got his idea of the "traumatize your girlfriend by forcing her to murder you" approach to explaining Immortality. Dudes. You suck.
I had a very good time spotting ingredients later utilized more expressively on the show. For example, Ramirez's romantic entanglements were rolled into Fitzcairn; the Kurgan's slashed throat was given to Kalas; the banishment from the clan and gift of the katana became Duncan's backstory. Note in all of these cases, the show stories were far richer and deeper. This is an ideal example of refining and not giving up on an idea just because it doesn't work the first time.
The training montage with Ramirez was entertaining, and I swear their cozy living situation was straight out of fic. Heather (wrong era name alert!) knew about Immortality, and Connor somehow ended up playing house with her before meeting any other Immortals, and then Ramirez moved in with them for an uncertain length of time, becoming Connor's mentor and regaling Heather with flirtatious stories of his conquests while Connor was away. His last act was lying to protect her and Connor. The subtext amused me enough that I did a quick check of the Archive, and there's nothing for these three. Obscure ships: I can always pick 'em.
I liked Heather from what little there was to go on with her. Brenda was given a lot more play, and the intrepid investigator angle worked in theory, but because of pacing issues it was difficult for me to believe the speed dating romance I was being sold here. My favorite scene with her was when Connor came over and cheerfully searched her flat, finding her revolver and tape recorder and saying "I like your place, Brenda." That had potential (and I think they rolled that concept into the far superior Duncan/Renee meet cute).
I perked up when Sunda Kastigir appeared. I read a really excellent Burn Notice crossover where he was featured, and was expecting him to get a more substantial role based on that, but he was only in one short scene and got whacked afterward. Darn.
The location footage was incredible but the swordfighting was not actually that good for the most part, which was not what I expected. A lot of the budget was spent trashing every set they had, sometimes to ridiculous levels (Kurgan and Ramirez in the incredible disintegrating castle) and this is where I run out of nice things to say. The editing was psychotic - it felt like a three hour feature hack-and-slashed down to two, jumping around frenetically, making it difficult to keep track of who was where in the action scenes. The same headlong pace damaged any characterization - I checked, and by twenty minutes into the movie, there had been no meaningful dialogue whatsoever. Dramatic hooks, like Connor saving Rachel, were almost completely buried. Skip the love interest, that could have been half the film right there and instead it couldn't even be termed a subplot.
As this movie was free from television censorship, there was a lot of violence along with near-endless skeevy dialogue from the Kurgan. The Kurgan was bar-none the worst part of this film. He had the 80s fantasy villain aesthetic with accompanying cartoonish acting and trash dialogue, threatening every woman with rape, et cetera. He also had a sword which could be disassembled like a sniper rifle, because nobody involved in this production cared about swordfighting - that came later. I never thought I'd prefer Slan Quince to any Immortal, but at least I could laugh at Slan. The Kurgan was disgusting.
I guess I should mention the Gathering portion, which was Not Convincing. At least I finally know what the winner was supposed to get - telepathy and old age! I mean, an evil Immortal could mess things up for a while with the former, so maybe the latter was a higher being's failsafe? But no matter how nice a guy Connor is, mind reading is creepy to me. Honestly, Immortals work better without resolution (hence why the show quietly dropped all talk of the Gathering). I've always thought the best explanation is that it's a form of Millinarianism.
So, while I would not rate this highly as a cinematic experience, I can now proceed to read more widely in a fandom I love. Worth it.
Okay, so the fact that I tuned in and perked up over the theme song and then did a deflated double take at WRESTLING is kind of a perfect capsule reaction to this entire film. If ever there was lead to gold, it was making this into one of my favorite television shows. So, read on if you want my deeply lukewarm opinions!
I'll start with the positives, which were mostly down to potential. I didn't mind the bits of contradictory lore like Connor breathing underwater - Immortals can occasionally do weird things, and it's easy to headcanon this as Connor's particular gift. Ramirez with the stag put me in mind of Cassandra with the wolf. Is there a connection? That would be cool. There should be fic.
The total lack of temporary deaths was harder to handwave. It's difficult to understand from this film how Immortals could possibly stay secret, considering how they act when in mixed company.
Connor, apart from the tennis shoes (which I found deeply distracting and kept staring at aghast whenever they wandered into frame), was an interesting guy. He had a lot more edge than his younger cousin, lacking Duncan's ability to deal peaceably with cops or sweet talk women. They have such different personalities, I am left with more questions than I ever had before about their relationship. Also, unlike in the show, where Connor appeared every bit as much of a wanderer as Duncan, here it's made clear that he's a homebody who does several things Duncan never does: Raise a child, live with a woman until her death of old age (the Who Wants to Live Forever sequence was the best portion of this movie), use an alias.
Connor is also where Duncan got his idea of the "traumatize your girlfriend by forcing her to murder you" approach to explaining Immortality. Dudes. You suck.
I had a very good time spotting ingredients later utilized more expressively on the show. For example, Ramirez's romantic entanglements were rolled into Fitzcairn; the Kurgan's slashed throat was given to Kalas; the banishment from the clan and gift of the katana became Duncan's backstory. Note in all of these cases, the show stories were far richer and deeper. This is an ideal example of refining and not giving up on an idea just because it doesn't work the first time.
The training montage with Ramirez was entertaining, and I swear their cozy living situation was straight out of fic. Heather (wrong era name alert!) knew about Immortality, and Connor somehow ended up playing house with her before meeting any other Immortals, and then Ramirez moved in with them for an uncertain length of time, becoming Connor's mentor and regaling Heather with flirtatious stories of his conquests while Connor was away. His last act was lying to protect her and Connor. The subtext amused me enough that I did a quick check of the Archive, and there's nothing for these three. Obscure ships: I can always pick 'em.
I liked Heather from what little there was to go on with her. Brenda was given a lot more play, and the intrepid investigator angle worked in theory, but because of pacing issues it was difficult for me to believe the speed dating romance I was being sold here. My favorite scene with her was when Connor came over and cheerfully searched her flat, finding her revolver and tape recorder and saying "I like your place, Brenda." That had potential (and I think they rolled that concept into the far superior Duncan/Renee meet cute).
I perked up when Sunda Kastigir appeared. I read a really excellent Burn Notice crossover where he was featured, and was expecting him to get a more substantial role based on that, but he was only in one short scene and got whacked afterward. Darn.
The location footage was incredible but the swordfighting was not actually that good for the most part, which was not what I expected. A lot of the budget was spent trashing every set they had, sometimes to ridiculous levels (Kurgan and Ramirez in the incredible disintegrating castle) and this is where I run out of nice things to say. The editing was psychotic - it felt like a three hour feature hack-and-slashed down to two, jumping around frenetically, making it difficult to keep track of who was where in the action scenes. The same headlong pace damaged any characterization - I checked, and by twenty minutes into the movie, there had been no meaningful dialogue whatsoever. Dramatic hooks, like Connor saving Rachel, were almost completely buried. Skip the love interest, that could have been half the film right there and instead it couldn't even be termed a subplot.
As this movie was free from television censorship, there was a lot of violence along with near-endless skeevy dialogue from the Kurgan. The Kurgan was bar-none the worst part of this film. He had the 80s fantasy villain aesthetic with accompanying cartoonish acting and trash dialogue, threatening every woman with rape, et cetera. He also had a sword which could be disassembled like a sniper rifle, because nobody involved in this production cared about swordfighting - that came later. I never thought I'd prefer Slan Quince to any Immortal, but at least I could laugh at Slan. The Kurgan was disgusting.
I guess I should mention the Gathering portion, which was Not Convincing. At least I finally know what the winner was supposed to get - telepathy and old age! I mean, an evil Immortal could mess things up for a while with the former, so maybe the latter was a higher being's failsafe? But no matter how nice a guy Connor is, mind reading is creepy to me. Honestly, Immortals work better without resolution (hence why the show quietly dropped all talk of the Gathering). I've always thought the best explanation is that it's a form of Millinarianism.
So, while I would not rate this highly as a cinematic experience, I can now proceed to read more widely in a fandom I love. Worth it.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-08 07:09 am (UTC)There is! Heart, Faith and Steel is a Cassandra/Ramirez story through the ages.
Re: the movie in general, I did actually watch it first, back when it was released in the cinema, because I had liked Christopher Lambert in Greystoke and was fond of Sean Connery, but was never tempted to watch the sequels because as you say, the tv series took what was good and interesting and made it better, not least of course due to having far more time to develop the concepts.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-09 03:16 am (UTC)I do wonder if I was too harsh on the film, but it's very difficult not to compare it with the tv series, which has such considerable advantages and with which I am so very familiar. Of course, Highlander (as well as Buffy) is therefore a good example of why I try to remain neutral on the topic of reboots.