Movie & Music

I recently bought "Highlander" on VHS. This gives me each of the first three films in the series on that format. I bought them in spite of feeling rather let down by the first film (which is still the only one of them that I have watched) when I first watched it years ago. I think that the film's reputation led me to enter with high expectations, and it was unable to live up to them. I watched the tape recently, and I decided that I really liked it. Each viewing (and there have been several) has led me to raise my opinion of it.

The film, of course, tells the story of immortals enduring through history as they battle each other to live out some foretold chain of events and win some new level of enlightenment. It's cheap and cheesy with some oddball decisions and weak acting. It's also got great music from Queen, some really fun stuff and a certain charm. In the end I love it, as much for its weaknesses as its strengths. I wouldn't have found that out if I hadn't liked it enough for repeated viewings.

Queen was originally going to do some music, and they later were inspired to contribute more. They must have enjoyed writing music for films quite a bit, having done it also for "Flash Gordon". In any case, for this one there are some stellar tracks, including the great "Princes Of The Universe" and some other less known songs, most of which ended up on the album "A Kind Of Magic", which is a dynamite album.

I just love "Gimme The Prize", which appears in the film as the villain's theme and which is on that album. It has become the latest song that I have to listen to over and over again. Even if I get the idea that I want to listen to something else, I can't. It's the only thing I want to hear. Going to bed saddens me because I have to stop listening to it, and getting up excites me on account of the prospect of listening to it again.

In short, I endorse "Highlander" (if not its sequels and TV show that I have not seen) and the lovely music made for it. Neither is for everybody, and maybe I like both more for the fact that they are borne from choices strong enough that some must hate it just as others love it. Very little is universally liked, and most things that get the same reaction from anyone get a very bland reaction. I'm glad to be someone who elicits strong reactions (I hope), and to both take in and put out things that are the same.