Film

Highlander

Name: Highlander
Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Released: 1986
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown, Sean Connery, Beatie Edney

Other titles called Highlander: the 1992 series (Syndication).

A time-hopping fantasy action film where an immortal Scottish swordsman hidden in 1980s New York must face off against rival immortals across centuries. It's unabashedly pulpy—genuinely weird tonal shifts, Sean Connery doing a Spanish accent, synth-heavy—but commits completely to its absurd premise. For anyone who loves cult adventure films that don't apologize for being exactly what they are.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love a myth-soaked duel story told with swagger, where flashbacks through centuries carry as much weight as the swordplay and an 80s rock score pushes every clash forward.

Skip it if you want restrained, grounded drama; the plot leans on exposition and dialogue delivered with more bravado than subtlety, and the rules of its immortal world arrive in clumps.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours of alternating timelines, with the present-day sections moving briskly and the past sections lingering, so you need patience for the back-and-forth.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Terminator1984

Relentless, propulsive action built on a single high-concept idea executed with perfect economy. Arnold Schwarzenegger is terrifying in a way that elevates the whole film.

But Eighties production design and some effects work have visibly aged. It's shorter and leaner than modern action, which some find unsatisfying.

Conan the Barbarian1982

Arnold Schwarzenegger commands a fantasy epic with genuine scope and darkness. Milius directs with operatic brutality; the world feels lived-in and dangerous.

But The pacing is deliberate, sometimes glacial. If you need constant action beats, long stretches will feel slow.

Excalibur1981

John Boorman's Arthurian legend is visually sumptuous and dramatically sweeping—operatic swordplay, real romance, genuine myth-weight. Patrick Stewart and Nicol Williamson are superb.

But The theatrical delivery takes getting used to. Some plot threads feel rushed; others drag. It's messy in a way modern films avoid.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Highlander

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Highlander1992

It's the direct continuation—same character, same immortal-duel rules—but the TV show actually explores what the film only gestures at: the loneliness and moral weight of living forever.

A television show that builds a universe out of the film's premise with far more depth and patience. Adrian Paul carries the show with genuine charisma; the writing finds real emotion in immortality as curse.

But Six seasons is a commitment. Quality is uneven, especially in later years. Some episodes are genuinely terrible.

Commando1985

Pure action cinema without self-consciousness. Arnold Schwarzenegger single-handedly fighting an army is the entire premise, and it never pretends to be anything else. Enormously fun.

But There is no plot beyond the setup. The dialogue is terrible. If you need character or story, you'll be frustrated.

Red Sonja1985

Brigitte Nielsen is a commanding presence in a sword-and-sorcery adventure that swings for the fences. Genuinely weird, visually inventive, uninterested in irony.

But Wildly uneven. The tone whipsaws; some scenes work brilliantly and others fall completely flat. Arnold Schwarzenegger is oddly sidelined.

Dragonslayer1981

A grounded fantasy film that treats its magic system seriously and its characters with real respect. Peter MacNicol is vulnerable and earnest; the dragon is genuinely threatening.

But It's slower and less action-heavy than the title promises. The romance subplot will feel dated to modern eyes.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988

Terry Gilliam's visionary fairy tale is audaciously weird—impossible landscapes, time-hopping narrative, genuine wonder. Jeff Jones and Jonathan Pryce are perfect.

But Narratively sprawling and sometimes incoherent. The tonal shifts are extreme. Expensive production meant it was commercially trashed.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen poster

The NeverEnding Story1984

A fantasy adventure that respects its audience's intelligence while embracing genuine weirdness and visual invention. It's a story about stories that actually earns that idea.

But Child protagonists and earnest emotional beats will feel saccharine if you're resistant. The dubbed German-English hybrid is odd.

Krull1983

A wildly ambitious sci-fi fantasy hybrid that throws everything at the screen—alien castles, magic weapons, Roy Dotrice monologuing about prophecy. Committed to its own audacity.

But The plot is scattered. Editing is choppy. Effects are uneven. It collapses under its own ambition more often than it soars.

American Ninja1985

Both are '80s action films that swing for absurdist premises with complete seriousness. Both believe in their own weirdness. Both are more fun than films with a hundred times their budget.

A completely sincere action film where Michael Dudikoff discovers he's a ninja and fights an entire private army. It's pure wish-fulfillment with zero irony; the earnestness is infectious.

But Acting is stiff. The plot is nonsense. Production values are cheap and it shows. If you need technical competence, this will frustrate you.

Sorcerer1977

Both center on a protagonist defined by their difference—marked, isolated, set apart by something fundamental. Both understand that immortality or curse is primarily a story about loneliness, not power.

Friedkin's existential thriller follows four desperate men driving nitroglycerin across a rainforest. It's brutal, methodical, gorgeously shot, and genuinely terrifying in ways modern blockbusters cannot touch.

But There is almost no action for long stretches. It's relentlessly bleak and not particularly interested in heroism. The pacing is deliberate and will test patience.