Review of Highlander: The Source (2007) by Renee P — 22 Oct 2008

Well to start off here I watched this movie not because I had a huge desire to see it but just because I seen the other films in the series so I thought I would at least take a look and believe me when I say that Highlander: The Source is pure crap on every level. It's not even bad on a campy or kitsch level of enjoyment. It is actually grating and painful to watch.

Set in a dystopian future, the planets are about to allign, and the last remaining immortals believe this will lead them to the Source of their immortality. Problem is, the Source's "Guardian" a superfast immortal, has awoken and hunts them down.

Put that way, the plot sounds decent enough. The problem comes with how it is executed. The movie looks and sounds dirt cheap, with bargain-basement special effects. Even the opening narration sounds like someone recorded it on youtube. The director wraps the whole thing up in a painfully amateur-looking MTV music video style, complete with choppy and incoherent fight scenes.

The story is utterly incoherent, inconsistent, and virtually non-existent. Perhaps ( so I've heard anyway) it is because the producers butchered the original script by Peter Briggs, apparently throwing out every decent idea they could find. One of the worst affected elements is the Source itself, which is literally reduced to a magical sandpit.

The movie is also peppered with "action" sequences that honestly would not look out of place in a "naked gun" movie. They are (unintentially) comical, yet boring and irritating at the same time. The worst offender of all is the fast-motion fight at the end.

The characters are also awful. The "Guardian" himself apparently has the mentality of a five year old. The guy is a complete idiot, and poorly acted. Our merry band of immortals include a stereotypical "Cockney Geezer", a priest who looks like "Max Headroom", and the rest seem embarrassed and bored to be in the movie. I'm not a fan of Adrian Paul and I even felt sorry for him having to be in this piece of trash.

They also managed to butcher Queen's "Princes of the Universe" with a emo cover version. And I believe the Guardian actually sang it at one point.

Let's put it this way. Watch if your a diehard and I mean diehard Highlander fan otherwise avoid.