HIGHLANDER: THE SOURCE
(R)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5)
STARRING
Adrian Paul as DUNCAN MACLEOD
Thekla Reuten as ANNA TESHEMKA
Cristian Solimeno as THE GUARDIAN
Peter Wingfield as METHOS
Jim Byrnes as JOE DAWSON
Stephen Rahmnan Hughes as ZAI JIE
Stephen Wight as REGGIE WELLER
Directed by: Brett Leonard
Studio: Lionsgate
BY KEVIN CARR
When I hear the term “Highlander,” I instantly think of the original film with Christopher Lambert and Clancy Brown. Everything seemed to have gone downhill from there. Of course, I really never watched the television series, and I hear it is quite decent.
The latest installment in the “Highlander” saga is the direct-to-DVD film “Highlander: The Source.” The story follows the mythology from the television show, so it’s changed a bit from the original movie. In this episode, a group of immortals are searching for the Source, which is said to give them answers to all their questions. However, they must first defeat the superhuman Guardian keeping watch over the secrets.
To its credit, “Highlander: The Source” is understandable to those who don’t watch the series. It’s really not heavily complicated, and there’s some narration at the beginning to explain how things work in this little universe. Still, the film is weighted down with its own low budget. While some films just shoot in eastern Europe to cut costs, this movie goes out of its way to explain that it is stuck in Eastern Europe.
I suppose for “Highlander” fans, this film is going to serve a purpose. It does seem to wrap up the story of Duncan MacLeod a bit, but then again, the original film did that… and they made four sequels and a television series after the credits rolled.
“Highlander: The Source” is more of an action flick than straight science fiction or fantasy. It hinges on the fight sequences, and this seems to be where most of the budget was spent. The characters are at least different than what I’ve seen in low-budget sci-fi. Still, the wisecracking ancient Guardian is completely out of place.
In some ways, the special features are more interesting than the DVD itself. There’s a feature-length documentary of the making of the film, which serves more as fly-on-the-wall true behind-the-scenes look at the process rather than a cheesy marketing piece. There’s also some storyboard-to-screen comparisons, a peek at the “Highlander” video game as well as a tribute to Bill Panzer, who spearheaded the original movie and the television show.