Fantasy Highlander Remake

[DarkKnight]

Let's go! I'm looking forward to this and hope they give us something amazing!

As far as the Ramirez casting talk..... I'm sure I'll get flamed for it, but I'd be thrilled to see Christopher Lambert take over that role for this film. It could also serve as "the passing of the torch" moment. If Christopher is not available or not interested.... Adrian Paul would be cool too. A cameo of either or both would be fun to see as another option if not as Rameriz. Is this too on the nose for some folks? Yeah, I'm sure it is, but as a fanboy of Highlander, I'd personally love that. I of course don't expect it, but it would be fun.

 

[TheVileOne]

I dunno. Lionsgate doing this one makes me less optimistic.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Let’s hope we get a decent remake out of this. The original was great back in the day but hasn’t aged particularly well.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

I loved the TV show more than any of the movies because it truly delved into the complexities of the life of immortals (like one of the villain immortals McCloud had to deal with was a child who was 800 years old and had to survive by tricking other immortals and being a little ****), and expanded the world with things like The Watchers. To be honest, I would rather have another TV show or better yet a video game, instead of a movie produced by Lionsgate.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

I was hoping that another actor would be approached for the lead, but it is what it is. Still excited for the project, as I'm a fan of the IP (mostly based off my experience with the TV series).

 

[Pennywise]

SO who's gunna give us our new covers of "Princes of the Universe" & "Who wants to live forever"???

Good question!

'Highlander' Remake Will Use Queen Songs From the Original Movie, Director Chad Stahelski Says (Exclusive)

Chad Stahelski, director of the upcoming Highlander remake starring Henry Cavill, says that he will use Queen's songs from the original film.

www.thewrap.com

 

[Breogan]

SO who's gunna give us our new covers of "Princes of the Universe" & "Who wants to live forever"???

Shudder the thought

Still

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Even the TV series used Princes Of The Universe for its opening and end credits, so its certainly a must have.

 

[TheVileOne]

Let’s hope we get a decent remake out of this. The original was great back in the day but hasn’t aged particularly well.

I actually do think it's aged fairly well. A lot of the techniques that were cutting edge when this was made are copied now to this day. The Highlander pioneered a lot of cinematic and editing devices.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I actually do think it's aged fairly well. A lot of the techniques that were cutting edge when this was made are copied now to this day. The Highlander pioneered a lot of cinematic and editing devices.

The sword fights look pretty poor by today's standards though which is what this franchise is known for. The accents and some of the acting don't help either.

I certainly think the story can be updated in a good way if done right.

 

[Sithborg]

Wait, is Cavill going to try a scottish accent? Oh dear...

 

[elgaz]

Wait, is Cavill going to try a scottish accent? Oh dear...

His middle name - Dalgliesh - is taken from his mothers side, which has Scottish roots, so who knows, might find some inspiration there.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Wait, is Cavill going to try a scottish accent? Oh dear...

Would it be any worse than Christopher Lambert's or Adrian Paul's?

 

[TheVileOne]

The sword fights look pretty poor by today's standards though which is what this franchise is known for. The accents and some of the acting don't help either.

I certainly think the story can be updated in a good way if done right.

I dunno, I think the sword fights look great by today's standards. They aren't over-edited and they are done mostly with practical effects. The accents are goofy, but so what? That's part of the movie's charms. I've seen no shortage of big movies, even prestigious ones, with characters and good actors who have HORRIBLE accents. It's not exactly something that's gone away in the last several decades.



I mean here's the first fight scene from the first movie. I still think it looks great. To me, it's like saying the effects in Ghostbusters look dated and don't look great anymore. Think about this, all the effects work done in that scene was done practically on set and in camera. Yeah there's lots of sparks, but these guys are thousands of years old. They are immortal beings. They have the quickening running through them. It's like their powers are clashing and exploding.

I like that you can see all the sword strikes, but there are still dynamic flourishes. After Fasil get his sunglasses knocked off, you can see Conor's reflection in his glasses. I also like that the director doesn't cut around the sword strikes.

Case in point, a modern movie with lots of sword play like Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins looked awful, was overly edited, poorly shot, and made me want to vomit. None of the sword fights or action in general in that film looked cool.

 

[TheVileOne]

Would it be any worse than Christopher Lambert's or Adrian Paul's?

For all the complaining about Christopher Lambert's accent, here we are, almost 40 years later, still talking about the film and a possible cinematic reboot. Are we supposed to not view the film as a classic because Lambert is a Frenchman playing a native Scotsman?

 

[elgaz]

I think it's all tongue in cheek. I love Highlander, always have, but can fully appreciate the ridiculous Hollywood casting scenario where they ignored all the Scottish actors or even international actors who can pull off a plausible Scottish accent, and cast a man who sounds very French-Scots. And then cast a Scottish man as an Egyptian. But hey, these people travel all over the world for many lifetimes, so who knows what accents they may pick up.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I dunno, I think the sword fights look great by today's standards. They aren't over-edited and they are done mostly with practical effects. The accents are goofy, but so what? That's part of the movie's charms. I've seen no shortage of big movies, even prestigious ones, with characters and good actors who have HORRIBLE accents. It's not exactly something that's gone away in the last several decades.



I mean here's the first fight scene from the first movie. I still think it looks great. To me, it's like saying the effects in Ghostbusters look dated and don't look great anymore. Think about this, all the effects work done in that scene was done practically on set and in camera. Yeah there's lots of sparks, but these guys are thousands of years old. They are immortal beings. They have the quickening running through them. It's like their powers are clashing and exploding.

I like that you can see all the sword strikes, but there are still dynamic flourishes. After Fasil get his sunglasses knocked off, you can see Conor's reflection in his glasses. I also like that the director doesn't cut around the sword strikes.

Case in point, a modern movie with lots of sword play like Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins looked awful, was overly edited, poorly shot, and made me want to vomit. None of the sword fights or action in general in that film looked cool.

It was stylish for the time don't me wrong and I appreciate no quick cuts or any of today's modern ADD editing techniques but look at what Henry pulls off in the Witcher compared to the original movie.

I also think a modern re-telling could go deeper into some themes the original barely touched on. It's a remake I am actually looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

 

[TheVileOne]

It was stylish for the time don't me wrong and I appreciate no quick cuts or any of today's modern ADD editing techniques but look at what Henry pulls off in the Witcher compared to the original movie.

I also think a modern re-telling could go deeper into some themes the original barely touched on. It's a remake I am actually looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

The Witcher had good fight scenes, but I truthfully don't even think they were significantly better than what was shown in The Highlander in 1985. And yeah, just my humble opinion, I still think the movie has aged better over the years. Just like say The Exorcist vs. The Exorcist: Believer.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I dunno, I think the sword fights look great by today's standards. They aren't over-edited and they are done mostly with practical effects. The accents are goofy, but so what? That's part of the movie's charms. I've seen no shortage of big movies, even prestigious ones, with characters and good actors who have HORRIBLE accents. It's not exactly something that's gone away in the last several decades.



I mean here's the first fight scene from the first movie. I still think it looks great. To me, it's like saying the effects in Ghostbusters look dated and don't look great anymore. Think about this, all the effects work done in that scene was done practically on set and in camera. Yeah there's lots of sparks, but these guys are thousands of years old. They are immortal beings. They have the quickening running through them. It's like their powers are clashing and exploding.

I like that you can see all the sword strikes, but there are still dynamic flourishes. After Fasil get his sunglasses knocked off, you can see Conor's reflection in his glasses. I also like that the director doesn't cut around the sword strikes.

Case in point, a modern movie with lots of sword play like Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins looked awful, was overly edited, poorly shot, and made me want to vomit. None of the sword fights or action in general in that film looked cool.

I still have love for the original Highlander but I can't really agree that the fighting looks that good, I think it's mostly fine enough that I can enjoy it for what it is. Even looking past the weird flipping and other non-fencing choreography the sword strikes don't look like ones from trained swordsmen to me. There are many big swings that look really slow and clumsy and at times you can clearly see that the strikes are just aimed to hit the opponents sword to make it look like he blocked. I'm not so sure I'd like the film much if I didn't grow up with it though.

I can't say anything about Snake Eyes since I haven't seen that (not surprised that people can still make crap though), but the example given of The Witcher works in my view since Cavill looks far more comfortable with a sword, and while it certainly has exaggerated film fighting moves the strikes are generally more thought through from a proper technique perspective, pretty much all are aimed at an opponent's body so it looks like they are really fighting, and it's all executed with much better speed, power and technique. In this particular regard I think The Witcher looks better than most things, especially if we don't count east Asian cinema, so I'm pretty hopeful for the sword fighting in the remake.

 

[TheVileOne]

I still have love for the original Highlander but I can't really agree that the fighting looks that good, I think it's mostly fine enough that I can enjoy it for what it is. Even looking past the weird flipping and other non-fencing choreography the sword strikes don't look like ones from trained swordsmen to me. There are many big swings that look really slow and clumsy and at times you can clearly see that the strikes are just aimed to hit the opponents sword to make it look like he blocked. I'm not so sure I'd like the film much if I didn't grow up with it though.

I can't say anything about Snake Eyes since I haven't seen that (not surprised that people can still make crap though), but the example given of The Witcher works in my view since Cavill looks far more comfortable with a sword, and while it certainly has exaggerated film fighting moves the strikes are generally more thought through from a proper technique perspective, pretty much all are aimed at an opponent's body so it looks like they are really fighting, and it's all executed with much better speed, power and technique. In this particular regard I think The Witcher looks better than most things, especially if we don't count east Asian cinema, so I'm pretty hopeful for the sword fighting in the remake.

I love the 80s kitsch in the sword fights for Highlander.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

I love the 80s kitsch in the sword fights for Highlander.

That's understandable but I don't think it's something they can replicate for a remake so I think they need to try to go for a higher level of skill and make it look more real. I'd prefer an even higher level of that than The Witcher, using even more real techniques, but it's not something I'll be expecting.

 

[TheVileOne]

That's understandable but I don't think it's something they can replicate for a remake so I think they need to try to go for a higher level of skill and make it look more real. I'd prefer an even higher level of that than The Witcher, using even more real techniques, but it's not something I'll be expecting.

Well the thing is in terms of realism, these Highlanders are immortal beings. They've lived for thousands of years, and they've survived through constant battle and strife, and they have honed and learned combat through probably multiple eras and continents. Also, The Quickening itself is a supernatural power.

 

[elgaz]

Maybe I’m wrong but did they ever really explore if the characters get stronger/faster/etc as they kill each immortal and their numbers become less - do they absorb the power of those killed? I thought I read that somewhere once but can’t remember for sure. It would be a bit like that Jet Li movie The One

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Well the thing is in terms of realism, these Highlanders are immortal beings. They've lived for thousands of years, and they've survived through constant battle and strife, and they have honed and learned combat through probably multiple eras and continents. Also, The Quickening itself is a supernatural power.

I perhaps wasn't being clear enough about that part, but when I talked about realism I rather meant it in a way where what they do on screen looks more believable, meaning that they look trained, use more proper techniques, have more athletic movement, etc, rather than the actors looking a bit clumsy, using less proper technique, and more clearly aren't actually attacking each other (which I overlook when I watch it, I'm just picking it apart for the argument).

As I stated The Witcher does certainly have exaggerated film fighting, particularly for Geralt who is somewhat superhuman, so the point isn't to avoid that. Having the sword fighting be cool is definitely an important part. It's just that The Witcher executes it better than most so the moves look strong, fast and technical, which makes a character look believable as a highly trained fighter.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I still have love for the original Highlander but I can't really agree that the fighting looks that good, I think it's mostly fine enough that I can enjoy it for what it is. Even looking past the weird flipping and other non-fencing choreography the sword strikes don't look like ones from trained swordsmen to me. There are many big swings that look really slow and clumsy and at times you can clearly see that the strikes are just aimed to hit the opponents sword to make it look like he blocked. I'm not so sure I'd like the film much if I didn't grow up with it though.

I can't say anything about Snake Eyes since I haven't seen that (not surprised that people can still make crap though), but the example given of The Witcher works in my view since Cavill looks far more comfortable with a sword, and while it certainly has exaggerated film fighting moves the strikes are generally more thought through from a proper technique perspective, pretty much all are aimed at an opponent's body so it looks like they are really fighting, and it's all executed with much better speed, power and technique. In this particular regard I think The Witcher looks better than most things, especially if we don't count east Asian cinema, so I'm pretty hopeful for the sword fighting in the remake.

Exactly this. These guys are meant to be hundreds of years old with a lot of fighting experience and yet they looked like in the original movie they had just picked up a sword that day.

Cavill and his team made the sword fighting quite impressive in The Witcher considering Geralt is a couple a hundred years old, so I really hope he can bring that to this remake and with Chad directing it could be quite something to behold.