Highlander: Endgame

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Highlander: Endgame
Directed by Douglas Aarniokoski
Produced by Bob Weinstein
Peter S. Davis
Harvey Weinstein
William N. Panzer
Cary Granat
Written by Characters:
Gregory Widen
Story:
Eric Bernt
Gillian Horvath
William N. Panzer
Screenplay:
Joel Soisson
Starring Adrian Paul
Christopher Lambert
Bruce Payne
Music by Nick Glennie-Smith
Stephen Graziano
Cinematography Douglas Milsome
Editing by Chris Blunden
Rod Dean
Robert A. Ferretti
Tracy Granger
Michael N. Knue
Donald Paonessa
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release date(s) Flag of the United States September 1, 2000
Running time Theatrical Cut:
87 min.
Producer's Cut:
101 min.
Australia Cut:
88 min.
Language English
Budget $15,000,000 USD
Preceded by Release: Highlander III
Story:
Highlander: The Series
Followed by Highlander: The Source
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Highlander: Endgame is a fantasy film originally released on September 1, 2000. While this is the fourth theatrical release in the Highlander film series, it ignores the previous two films. Rather, it is instead a continuation of the Highlander television series, itself a spin-off from the first film.

The TV show's main star Duncan MacLeod, played by Adrian Paul, is the lead character with Connor MacLeod playing a supporting role, and passing the torch to Duncan.

Contents

[edit] Plot

In 1555 AD, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) returns to his former home in Glenfinnan, Scotland, to save his mother from his former friend and village priest Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne). Kell executes Connor's mother for witchcraft. Connor kills both Kell and his adopted father, Father Rainey, and sets Glenfinnan ablaze. Jacob Kell is reborn as an Immortal, and vows vengeance against Connor for Rainey's death. He spends the next four centuries killing people Connor cares about. Kell amasses great power by ignoring the rules of The Game; he recruits several lesser Immortals as disciples, who overpower other Immortals so Kell can take their heads. By the turn of the century, Kell has 661 Immortal kills (compared to 262 for Connor MacLeod, and 174 for Duncan), making him one of the most powerful Immortals ever.

Ten years before the present-day events of the film, Kell orchestrates the death of Connor's adopted daughter Rachel Ellenstein. Heartbroken, Connor departs for The Sanctuary, where Immortals are under surveillance by a subgroup of Watchers to prevent The Prize from being won.

Bruce Payne as Jacob Kell
Bruce Payne as Jacob Kell

A decade later, Kell and his disciples attack the Sanctuary, and Connor is believed to be beheaded along with the other Immortals there. Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), compelled by a vision, begins to investigate and nearly dies at the hands of Kell and his minions. Later, he discovers Connor was spared by Kell, so as to allow the evil Immortal to make his life even more miserable. Kell wants to kill Duncan in order to torture Connor, and given the number of Quickenings he has received, this seems quite likely to occur. Additionally, Connor is too guilt-ridden by the deaths of all his loved ones to resist Kell himself. Therefore, Connor forces Duncan to kill him, allowing Duncan to absorb all of Connor's power in order to defeat Kell.

Amongst Kell's followers is Duncan's Immortal wife Kate, a woman whom he wedded in 1713 and "killed" on their wedding night in order for her to become Immortal. This has driven her into the arms of Kell, and he must earn her forgiveness, or face her as an embittered part of Kell's faction.

Ultimately, after Kell executes his group in a mock Last Supper to gain their powers, Duncan and Kell have a final battle. At first Kell easily overpowers Duncan even when Duncan attempts a supposedly unbeatable move that Connor taught him. At the last moment, Connor seems to take control of Duncan's body and kills Kell by jumping over him and decapitating him as he turns around and is too slow to avoid the strike. Duncan absorbs all of Kell's massive power. He then goes to Glenfinnan, Scotland to bury Connor with his wife Heather. The Producers' Cut ends with the revelation that Kate is still alive.

[edit] Alternate versions

  • The 87-minute theatrical version has the fastest pace and includes a line that was removed from later cuts due to negative fan response: Methos refers to the Sanctuary as Holy Ground.
  • The home video release was expanded into a 101-minute Producers' Cut. With an improved sound mix and soundtrack, better color-timing and tweaked visual effects, this film was typically considered a more satisfying cut by fans. It includes the "Kate lives" ending, as well as several expanded and/or re-edited scenes.
  • The USA and Canadian DVD release also contains a rough cut of the film in cropped widescreen including production counters, with a subplot involving Connor MacLeod giving a Christmas tree to an orphanage every Christmas, an activity picked up by Duncan after Connor's death. Kate does not appear in this version of the film at its conclusion, unlike the other cut included on the DVD. A similar workprint cut had previously leaked onto the Internet.
  • There was a fan edit called the Connor Lives Version, made for fans of the original movie. Here Connor snaps out of his depression and confronts Kell for a final duel to the death. A surprised and enraged Kell loses his head to the newly invigorated Connor Macleod, as an injured Duncan observes. In this version, the time line was restructured so the present day of Endgame can occur before the present day events of the first Highlander movie. Clips of New York City were added to show how it appeared in the early 80's compared to the cleaner, modern version of 2000. As the film closes, Connor warns Duncan to watch his back as the time of The Gathering approaches. A shot of Duncan fades to black as his ultimate fate remained unknown.

[edit] Date change

The title card at the beginning of the film reads, "Present Day," which would suggest the year 2000 (the date of the film's release). The official Endgame website listed the date as 2000. However, this would set the "10 Years Ago" flashback in 1990, which causes continuity problems with Connor's appearance in the television series pilot (set in 1992).

On the DVD audio commentary, producer William N. Panzer noted, "We sorta like to think that the movie takes place in 2002. Connor and Duncan were together in 1992, as opposed to 1990." Also, the supplementary DVD-ROM timeline uses the 1992/2002 dates.

The issue of the revised dates has been brought into question, since the new dates were listed only in the DVD supplements, and not in the film itself. It has been pointed out that the flashback occurs in December, yet Duncan MacLeod did not live in Paris in December, 1992 (Duncan tells Connor in the flashback, "You called me up in Paris...").

Additionally, the Highlander comic book series, overseen by the film and TV series producers, recently referenced the events of Highlander: The Final Dimension (itself set in 1994) in a storyline, which seems to push the dating of Endgame upwards to at least ten years past the third movie. [1]

Even so, a consensus on the "true" dating of the film has not yet been reached, due to the speculative nature of the criticisms.

[edit] Theatrical trailer

The trailers for the film feature several shots showing Kell using mystical abilities (such as stopping a sword in midair with some sort of force field, cloning himself and holding an orb with Connor's screaming head inside of it). Also, Connor and Duncan are shown emerging from some sort of portal.

None of this footage made it into any released version of the film, and the footage is only seen in the trailer. No explanation for the nature of these scenes has ever been willingly released by the producers or film studio, although it has since been revealed that these shots were never intended for inclusion in any finished cut of the movie — they were shot exclusively for its trailer, instead. No mention of Kell's magical abilities exists in the online version of an early screenplay.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • During the fight Connor and Duncan have with the brigands, one of the men (Lachlan) picks up a rock as a weapon. As the MacLeods go on the defensive, Duncan says to Lachlan: "Looks like you've lost your edge, lad." This is a reference to Adam Copeland's (Lachlan) "stage" name of Edge in World Wrestling Entertainment.
  • The original title was Highlander IV: The Immortals (the first drafts worked on by creator Gregory Widen). Later official titles included Highlander: The Search for Connor and Highlander: World Without End.
  • There are four shots in this film from the original Highlander (1986). The first is a computer-altered and enhanced shot of Glenfinnan, which was originally the shot of Connor walking away from his village. The second is a shot of the Silvercup sign, pulled from the scene of the Kurgan taking Brenda to the building. And in the rooftop Quickening, two shots of Connor and Heather together are also taken from the original.

[edit] Sources

  • Scotland: The Movie Location Guide [1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brandon Jerwa, Highlander comic book series (2007), Dynamite Entertainment, Issue #5, p. 21. Connor MacLeod mentions Sarah Barrington from Highlander: The Final Dimension during a scene involving Duncan MacLeod.

[edit] External links

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