I was an extra in this film. We called ourselves the feisty Zeistys. We left town at 3 AM and didn't get the first shot in until after noon. Weird time, and hot as an oven on the desert, but I had a lot of fun.

Such a guilty pleasure movie, I keep telling myself it's a dream or a book that Connor's writing while living in that super-expensive apartment in New York City, lol.

My favorite Highlander sequel is Endgame. Purely because Connor and Duncan share the screen once again.

Highlander, the movie about a Frenchman (raised in Switzerland, moved back to France as a teen) cast as a Scotsman who was trained by a Spaniard who was an actual Scotsman... Someone in the casting missed a memo ^_^

Highlander II is a freaking masterpiece compared to The Source.

I live in the Caribbean and we still remember Highlander, El Inmortal. Was very epic.

This film is a mess, and a huge betrayal of everything that the first one established. That said, I do find it a fun watch

British Cut: "I have to go now - my planet needs me. But hey, come with?"

I will admit that Highlander 2 was a big mess of a film. However, the atmosphere looks pretty cool, anytime you see Sean Connery hamming it up on screen is a plus, the dreadlock Twins were comical, and Michael Ironside is damn awesome in this film.

So many different versions. The perfect example of bigger is not always better.

“Meanwhile, on Zeist . . .”

I remember watching the original once released on VHS and thought it was almost the Star Wars of the 80's. (I was very impressionable). I couldn't wait to see it's sequel in '91. I should have.

"Free men of the planet Zeist, hear me!" "Free men of the planet Hirmy!"

I still want a Renegade Zeist cut. I want a version with the missing footage plus the Zeist stuff, including the return to Zeist ending. I mean, the movie doesn't work as a Highlander sequel at all, but as an Elseworlds "What if?" Story featuring the cast of Highlander... it looks kinda cool and has some fun moments from Dr. Cox and Michael Ironsides. But, it doesn't really work without the Zeist stuff.

Its sad to see how much the studio meddled with this movie. To the point that the theatrical cut and the director's cut are two different films.

Wow. Great analysis! Highlander 2 has always held a special place in my heart ever since I first saw it at age 13 and couldn’t over how bizarre it was. I just couldn’t understand how someone thought this would be mainstream. A couple of notes though. There was another version you didn’t mention that circulated on American TV in the 90s. It was the American version, but with the British ending tacked on. I saw that on some UHF station. It was definitely not the British version. The two sword fights were combined into one and they didn’t go above the shield. Also, the version you refer to as the special effects version has a gun battle scene missing that was present in the renegade version. Also of note, the film’s story is co-credited to Brian Clemens of The Avengers TV show and Capt. Cronos Vampire Hunter. Thanks again for the review!

I got the US Cut and the first Renegade Cut. The film a guilty pleasure. I think I'd sooner watch it over the later sequels.

I outright love this film. Not ironically, not even as a guilty pleasure cause I have no guilt. It's just so much fun from start to finish.

I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for motivating me to give this train wreck of a movie one more go, otherwise I never would have seen that amazing subway scene. It's a scene of such horrific comic absurdity that manages to capture the entire essence of what that film is, both literally and metaphorically; it just may be one of my new all time favorite movie moments...

I saw this many times as a kid. For some reason Hungarian TV played it a lot. I always liked it, especially the sky aspect. Still, the TV series was the best. Why I went to Scotland in 2010.

Nice video...even though there's another cut of the movie - the European cut (as in "the movie that was released in Continental Europe"), which is essentially a mix of the US and UK versions. It starts like the American edition and mostly sticks to it (as far as I remember - I still have it on tape, but I haven't watched it in ages), but has some stuff from the UK edition, including that weird "walking through the stars" ending.

The "Rise of Skywalker" of the 90's.

I never complain when it comes any review from you, good sir. Horror or genre based, I enjoy your witty videos.

I've only ever seen the first Highlander and the TV series so I thoroughly enjoyed this. Especially after hearing so much about the sequel. Need a WTF happened on the 3rd movie now!!

I was so young when Highlander 2 came out I was able to just accept, OK they're from space now. Because of that I've always loved this movie. It's beautifully shot and even the theatrical cut is rad.

I saw Highlander 2 first and thought it was cool. Then I saw the original and was like, how t.f did they come up with 2?!

Loved this video! I’ve been a huge Highlander fan since the show, but grew to love the films even more. You should do other the Highlander films. After hearing the second one was the last big budget film it got me curious about the rest. The third may have had a smaller budget, but is much more in line with the original. Then it really starts going off the rails with Endgame. You should do a WTF on that. And the last film also tries to shove a bunch of sci-fi down your throat like the second. Though, It isn’t the worst film in the series, but it may actually be the most WTF.

I remember seeing this when it came out and going "wtf?" as soon as someone said the word "Zeist". However the striking look of the film, a few of the action set pieces and Michael Ironside's outsized performance as the villain carried it along, at least enough for my 12-year-old brain to not get too bored or confused. Having seen the Renegade Cut a few years ago, it's hard to say whether it's actually an improvement; the desperate leaps of logic, ret-conned character stories and corny dialogue remain, the sword fights are mostly unspectacular and the whole "we must destroy the energy-shield" plot strand still adds up to nothing.

I just found u guys. Awesome BTS and great way to find films, i love these eighties and nineties movies.

It felt like a SciFi film that had the Highlander brand crowbarred in just to sell it. Its weird to think that it was always designed as a Highlander sequel.

What about "One Dream" by Lou Gramm during the end credits? Great song!

The opening rant probably earned him an audit that year. The IRS doesn’t fuck around

Then there also was an animated Highlander movie Highlander the adventure begins. There also was the live action Highlander tv series which takes place in an alternate time line continuity wise the takes place after the ending of the first movie. It had an insanely long run before it ended. 119 episodes over 6 seasons aired over a 5 to 7 year period it started in 1992 and the finale 6th thirteen episode season began and end midway through 97 our 99.

I've got DVDs of the Theatrical, Renegade and Producers (what you named the effects) cut. All so different and just cheesy good fun

You need to watch "The Renegade Cut" of Highlander 2, A MUCH better cut of the movie. PS: Glad you added that, everyone forgets about that version.

This looks so much like the whole Justice League drama. I mean, even the shots that were dark with some blue lights on it got turned into red (with an akward result)

JoBlo Horror Videos I think I need to correct you on something: the effects cut did not make it's first appearance on the 2013 blu ray, it actually first appeared on the 2004 special edition Lionsgate/Republic 2 disc DVD set which I do own and that 2013 blu ray isn't Highlander 2's first blu ray release since Lionsgate released an older blu ray version before Olive Films got the rights but both blu rays(including the 2004 DVD) are OOP now. This movie is a bit hard to get now.

1989: Dragon Ball Z comes out and reveals that the franchise's magical protagonist is actually an extraterrestrial from a planet with a silly name. No one bats an eye. 1991: Highlander II comes out and reveals that the franchise's magical protagonist is actually an extraterrestrial from a planet with a silly name. Everyone loses their minds. I have to wonder if Highlander II would've escaped the extreme backlash if they had dropped the futuristic setting and focused on the alien plot exclusively (or vice versa, for that matter).

Along with the Rogue cut the documentary is very good. You have to applaud what Mulcahy managed to do...but, It does make you wonder if any of this will be incorporated into the proposed remake?! Unfortunately, the question around immortals will always come up. Hopefully they address this.

Remember seeing this in the Odeon Leicester Square, London with a load of mates from design college - we were all studying model making and film FX at the time and had all loved the first Highlander. We left the cinema in near silence and walked over to a nearby pub. All sat with pints in silence until one of us said 'What the fuck was that?!'

went to see this when it came out, very strange to watch it but it wasn't boring, fast paced with lots of action and fun from the lead actors(Lambert, Connery and Ironside). For another Lambert classic if you haven't already check out FORTRESS which was made here in Australia

Gotta give 'em credit for one thing; the costumes are still pretty cool.

Hey, any time I see anyone tearing into this flick, I'm down! And this movie fits the patter anyway. I mean it's horror(ble). What can I say about Highlander 2? The theatrical cut sucked. The Renegade cut wasn't special enough to make me change my mind about it. And an Effects Cut is just polishing a turd. I mean, the entire movie isn't dreck. But, Zeist was stupid. I mean, it makes me even more befuddled thinking the creators of the original came up with that crap. I mean, you could say they were aliens. But the whole fact they knew each other and were just battling for eternity on a prison world. It's been done....Better. Nordic mythology, anyone? The rest of the Renegade cut really isn't terrible. Except for one major problem to me. Michael Ironside running around in basically the same outfit and hair style as Lambert makes the scenes they're in fighting just look like a bunch of coats flashing around. Someone should have seen that and either got rid of the coats, lit it better, or make one character different enough from the other that there was no doubt who was who. Honestly, yes, there should have been only one.

Please do the rest of the highlander films aswell

The part where Connery is getting a new suit, reminds me of The Rock movie.

good work

Yeah, rewatched it just for the McGinley, a glorious Euorgy.

This is one of those movies that was hyped up to me as such a huge steaming pile that when I finally watched it I had a lot of fun with it. (Renegade cut, that is - the US Theatrical cut would have met those expectations had I seen it first) I was such a huge Highlander mark as a kid though, I would have taken anything.

According to the director: "I don’t really blame the writers. It’s just that the whole script was never completely filmed because of the financial problems. A lot of the ideas and stories were never shot, so the film is a bit of a patchwork. The bond company shut us down and brought in a butcher editor, and the film that was released just wasn’t finished. The first one I’m very proud of, but the second one I’m not, although it’s got some good moments.”

Fascinating&highly clarifying vid. THANKS JoBlo for giving me ultimate insight into a,as a movie buff AND HIGHLANDER hardcore fan,sad compromising story for ME to endure through the last three decades...😓 Back in the day,when practically no information was available,I defended this poor excuse of a Film based on articles in European movie mags such as Empire&Premiere, snapshots taken from the shooting AND my own sense&sensibility. &I've always affirmed vehemently that that was NOT the movie as it was intended to be,that there was a better version concocted by SENSEI MULCAHY somewhere. A friend of mine came back from Germany in 1992 confirming there was an European version which was far better than the US crap incomprehensible cut (screened here in Brasil in 1991). I kept hoping for the ultimate version. NOW,almost THIRTY YEARS after the release of "HIGHLANDER II"& 4 versions later (which I've seen&own),I must sad& definitely state that the sequel is a mountain size pile of SHIT.💩 Failed script,lousy direction,terrible mis-en-scene&deeply embarrassing acting.🤢🤮 HIGHLANDER =1of the ALL TIME TEN MOVIES of my LIFE.✊🤘🤘🖤 THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE indeed.🔥

THE EFFECTS CUT was essentially THE SNYDER CUT Changing the red sky for blue sky

Side note, Virginia madsen is smokin in this 🤘🏽. I had forgotten, what a babe.

Its one of the most bizarre sequels ever only second to rocky horror shows sequel (Its an utter disrespect of anything of the first) . Its just a weird weird sequel, confused and just bare relatable. I've seen it twice literally and that's twice to many.

I always felt that Highlander II (especially the Renegade Cut) seems to try and ape Tim Burton’s “Batman” stylistically.

I remember watching this movie, not having a clue what was going on but I didn't care and enjoyed it all the same.

The horror in this film is in, as you're only a few minutes into it, realizing that you can't figure out what the hell is going on. Your fellow KZfaq movie reviewer @JasonBrant and his "So Bad It's Good" crew learned that the hard way.😅

Considering what this movie did to the Highlander franchise, I would say calling it a horror seems appropriate :)

Anyone else thinking Justice League??

I can’t believe they made this movie.

Ah... the movie with an Egyptian acting like a Spaniard with a Scottish accent...

Do Highlander The Source, the true horror!

I think Highlander 2 is definitely in the category of 'sequels we and the series itself goes on to just ignore'. Highlander 3 is Highlander 1 re-done, but makes a point of erasing 2. As a sequel to Highlander is absolutely ridiculously stupid, but as I grow older, I must admit....there feels like there was a cool potential idea in here. Only issue is, it goes against the ending of the 1st. Had the Prize never been 'can grow old', the idea that Connor grew old enough to see a dystopian future would have been interesting. But 1 wrapped itself up so well a sequel was just never needed.

It’s funny how Highlander the series retcons the entire movie franchise all the way through endgame which I enjoyed. We won’t mention Highlander the source

This makes me wanna see you do one on the Justice League

I was so excited about this sequel I remember. And totally dissapointed when it managed to focus on all the wrong things. They could just have made an andventure from his past insted of ripping the ending from the first movie apart.

Thanks

The thing I could I could never understand about Highlander is why that actor played Highlander in the first place?

You've played modded Doom but the picture shows modded Quake. Am i missing something here?

Huge fan of the original and we went to see this one on opening night... we were so sad. One of the only movies I've ever walked out on.

I get it now! "The Quickening" was in reference to how quickly together the insurance company threw together the theatrical release

Awesome

I think Highlander 2 was not as bad as people think. Yes it has retcon that makes you feel cognitive dissonance when you try to connect what you know from 1st movie and the fact they are aliens now and there are still immortals around. But if you will forget 1st movie for a minute, you will find out that highlander 2 is actually much better in almost every aspect and its quite interesting futuristic sci-fi movie. If only this movie could be re-dubbed and redited that way that it wouldn't retcon first movie with aliens, and would turn enemies to, let's say, some parallel reality immortals that traveling between alternate earthes and killing other immortals to gain their power and knowledge, because in infinity of alternative earthes there can be not only one, but infinity, and also try to explain how Connor knows enemy by saying that Connor from that universe somehow channeled his knowledge and power to Connor from original universe, which also made him immortal but made him forget his alternate past , and then made him remember it once he regained immortality from parallel universe immortals, and also if you will change enemy motivation to go to this earth Connor because he finds out that on this earth Connor is the only one remaining immortal who has power and knowledge of every other one, including those killed by Connor in alt universe, which makes him one of the most tasty and empowered immortals to take his soul, and also if it will be explained that enemy known what prize is abs keeps bunch of loyal immortals around while killing rest in parallel universes to cheat the system and gain more power and knowledge while remaining immortal (yeah this adds some mortal Kombat and sliders and BioShock infinite and Fringe vibes) ruler of all parallel universes he conquered - this would fix entire continuity and will retcon the retcon and will be respectful and logical sequel to first movie. We have ai that can learn and imitate any voice so its actually possible to re-dub some scenes with original voices imitated by ai , and some re-editing of all existing edits to make this new origin story fit well will make highlander 2 as good sequel as terminator 2 was to terminator 1. Also such explanation could fix and fit tv series continuity as another parallel universe Connor. Maybe a simple line that his next target is Duncan in another universe where he killed Connor - would make better connection between everything. Even animated series (which was great by the way, its opening tune was amazing) would fit into this concept.

Argentina very close to bolivia their snow is gloriously powdery

I like one, 3, and 4. But if i had to choose... the original Highlander and that's that🤷🏾‍♂️

I saw the original version many times. It was bad, yet somehow still entertaining. The Renegade version fixed a lot but didnt really make it a better film.

Highlander 2: There Should Have Been Only One

ooooh! @11:13 he's got a nose like from nothing but trouble with Dan akroyd

10:02 I mean cmon... who can say no to that

This music omg

At least it's a fun movie...not good but at least not boring .Highlander is like Terminator a self contained high budgeted b movie and the story cannot be expanded easily unless if you're a genius like James Cameron.They should've gone the T2 route if they can bring back Ramirez why not the Kurgan for a rematch ?Maybe this time Kurgan after some initial fight becomes an ally to fight other more sinister immortals or maybe an Army of Immortals(not a 300 reference) , it would've been an epic twist...Ramirez was unnecessary it should've been just a brief cameo in the end and I would bring back the Kurgan instead but as an ally this time T2 style and have him beaten by Michael Ironside half way through ,this would raise the stakes for Highlander I think ...

Best movie to date bar none 👍

"fun" is not an argument that makes a film watchable.

I’m probably the only person that’s only seen Highlander 2 and never Highlander 1.

Love the film, love the recut film. It makes no sense but I don’t care, it’s a guilty pleasure. A greasy pizza topped with ingredients you shouldn’t think too much about, but it tastes so good.

ZEIST LIVES!

well it was a mess but It could have been good should they have changed a few things. - Bad guy purpose. Really all they had to do was have the rebels win the second uprising so the bad guys used the transport as a means to escape his fate. The main bad guy should have killed Remirez. Katana Ultimate resolve should have been getting the quickening to rule the place since he is now stock on earth. - I mean all Remirez had to do was run to the door. durp.... - The biggest yikes is Zeist retconning the original. An alternative using the same premises would be a soul merge. Basically have a counter part on earth that the ones on Zeist join souls with. This way the event of the counter part on earth don't really change. Their first death is the point of the merge. These 3 key things would make the movie coherent.

Wait the minute, at 1:43 is that mr krab?

So I saw the UK-Version back then, well I didn't know that. Anyway since it is such a 'horrific' bad movie it dose fit on 'JoBlo Horror' ;-)

I once told my son that he was not allowed to watch Highlander to until he was 21. Not because it was raunchy but because the only way you can view that movie is through bottle of whiskey.

By 1991, the overdose of the 80's cocaine binge was setting in. That's what happened to this movie. 😁

Does anybody know where I can find the renegade version

I like the renegade cut

modded doom on the PC but shows picture of a Quake mod? as far as i can remember the ability to import real 3d objects came much later with some more recent source ports wtf

I don’t think anything short of a miracle could have put enough polish on that turd.

Sorry, but I'm British and I saw the British cut in a British cinema and on VHS, but I have never seen those scenes

12:37 Free men of the planet Xyst hear me Free men of the planet hear me. 😂😂😂😂

So time travel makes more sense than being from another planet? I prefer the Zeist version over the time travelling version any day

nothing happened to it.. it's still in my DVD collection.

This franchise for me needs rebooting. So much potential in highlander that was wasted. Even the tv show didn't know how good their concept was and missed a real opportunity to make it great. Hollywood remakes films that don't need to, and have been dredging through 80s movie for a while now. Its only a matter of time i suppose. An r18 reboot would be cool.

Might not be a horror in the typical sense but it was a horror of a movie and production