Highlander 2: The Quickening [1991]

[Cross-posted on the Bad Movie Night Facebook page.]

On first glance at the special edition DVD cover for this film that Sarah purchased at the Book Barn, we almost thought that perhaps it might not be the movie that is often hailed as one of the worst of all time. That movie has the distinctly memorable title of "Highlander 2: The Quickening" while this one merely says "Highlander 2." Don't worry; it was the same movie and the first few minutes made that clear as we stepped into a world of awful. Apparently there cannot be only one "Highlander" film but oh, there should have been.

All of us had seen the original "Highlander" but none of us could really remember it. Fortunately, this movie had absolutely nothing to do with the original and mostly retconed it out of existence. In a world ripped off from "Blade Runner", it's 2025 and McLeod the immortal is an old man at the opera reflecting on how he was sent to Earth from his home planet after he and his teacher, Sean Connery, tried to fight against the stupidly named General Katana. Then he leaves the opera and gets attacked by cyberpunk birdmen and absorbs their power to become young and promptly has sex with an environmentalist who hates him in a dirty alleyway. Somehow this also leads to Sean Connery getting resurrected in Scotland so he buys a suit and travels to meet McLeod in New York (or wherever the movie takes place). But soon Katana comes to Earth (it's where the party's at, apparently) in order to kill them. Not sure why, exactly. To absorb their power? That's mostly what immortals do in these films. There's also this plot about a shield protecting the Earth that is run by an evil corporation and McLeod has to stop it. For the reference, a lot of this movie is told in flashback so it's pretty hard to follow but it tries hard to distract you from the insanity of the plot with pretty but nonsensical sets, confusing, and at one point hypnotic, camera work, and a soulful bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace." There's also some comedy in the hammy facial expressions of the actors, the often incongruous or just plain 80s-style music, and the fact that all the main characters look like hair metal band rejects.

Quotes:
[after having Katana smash up his cab so he can't go anywhere] "I should have stayed in school."
"She died an old woman . . . I still loved her."
"Everybody's gotta be someplace."

Adam's Grandma's Review: "I don't know what to think."