Los inmortales: Juego final

My apologies for the awful joke above, but I do feel it was a just one in this case. Especially as this film is very much a bad joke. A poor and disjointed effort. A foul punch-line.

"Highlander" is a superb and woefully underrated fantasy adventure released in 1986. A high-concept swashbuckler, the film followed the notion that throughout history, a race of immortals have slowly risen- their everlasting life often the result of a traumatic original "death." Now undying, these figures have lived among us for centuries. But it comes at a cost- immortals are destined to eternal battle, only able to be killed through decapitation. Once one is slayed, their powers, memories and abilities are absorbed by the victor through a mysterious transfer known as "the quickening." In the end, there can be only one, and the last remaining immortal will be bestowed with "the gift"- an enigmatic ability that goes largely unexplained throughout the series. However, should the gift be bestowed upon one with a treacherous heart, it may very well spell a dark future for the world...

Part of the issue with the "Highlander" universe is that by virtue of the story, it's not a concept that supports the idea of a franchise. It's a one-off adventure. A self-contained tale with a distinct beginning and end. And through trying to endlessly sequalize the franchise with follow- ups, spin-offs and even animated series, it leads to an ever-growing level of contrivance and convolution. And nowhere is that more apparent than in 2000's "Highlander: Endgame."

An attempt to close the gap between the outstanding original film and the admittedly fun television franchise, we follow original movie hero Connor (Christopher Lambert) and television series lead Duncan (Adrian Paul) MacLeod, two immortals born in the Scottish Highlands centuries ago. Connor has grown cold and disconnected, as an evil immortal from his past called Jacob Kell (Bruce Payne) has been following him through the ages, and has began killing off those he holds dearest. Duncan soon learns of this treacherous villain, and of another revelation- an immortal who was once his own wife (Lisa Barbuscia) is one Kell's most devout followers. And so, our two immortal protagonists must band together to try and stop this deadly threat... but at what cost?

To give what little credit is due, there is a bit of fun to be had from time to time. Adrian Paul seems to be having an absolute blast, and there's a handful of entertaining flashback sequences to his adventures with Connor throughout the ages. It is these scenes where Lambert also is able to loosen up, and the two share a nice chemistry. It's also great fun seeing Martial Arts superstar Donnie Yen in one of his earlier American roles as one of Kell's followers. And a few of the new concepts introduced, while half-baked, are intriguing enough for long-time series fans and help expand the universe a bit.

However, any fun to be had stops with these limited and highly infrequent sequences. The script courtesy Joel Soisson is a fundamental mess. As is standard with the film franchise, continuity is thrown right out the window, with the film constantly and consistently contradicting not only previous films, but even elements from the television series. Many scenes feel forced and abrupt, and there's no real sense of pacing to be had. It's both jarring and boring all at once, causing you to check out almost instantly and never look back.

Performances outside of Paul are routinely foul and never connect with the audience. While he is given the occasional light-hearted flashback, Lambert is otherwise settled with dreary material as a man hollow from his loses, and comes off as all too bland. A real shame given how powerful he was earlier in the franchise. Barbuscia is just flat as a pancake, lacking charisma or emotion in what is merely a substandard love interest. And Payne. My god, Payne. The man doesn't chew the scenery... he swallows it whole. Alternatingly shouting and whispering his lines on a whim and over-emphasizing words at random, Payne is just a horrible joy to behold. Seriously, dude. Ease up on the caffeine!

But at least the action is good, right? Nope! Director Doug Aarniokoski seems in over his head, with the entire film imploding around him. He has no sense of style or scope, and his direction lacks basic composition and flow. Shot after piled on shot are all just bland and often uninspired, relying on first-year film-student logic, with little thought or effort. Key moments in the film lack dramatic weight or impact as a result of the haphazard staging. And even the action comes off as boring, with an over-reliance on static wide shots mixed with hilariously misjudged uses of visual effects and slow-motion. I can only assume at least once, the camera crew was confusingly told: "Well if we put the one camera somewhere vaguely over on the one side of the room... and then put another one at the other end of the room facing the opposite direction and maybe with a different lens, we can kinda cut between them and make a scene, I think? That's how directing works, right?"

The really hilarious thing though is two rather amusing side-notes to the film. First, even though it's still a mess, the DVD release has an unfinished workprint available as a special feature, with the intent of showing the audience how much a movie can change during production. And the kicker? The workprint, even in its unfinished state is a significantly better film that the final version! And the second: even the trailer was incompetent, being comprised mostly of fake footage created specifically to sell the film without being in it!

If you have to use fake footage to get people into the theater, you know your film is a mess. And so, "Highlander: Endgame" gets a very bad 3 out of 10.

this movie is good, great story, great background, great acting, great speical effects, great casting and a very good fighting sequences.this is a good movie for all highlander fans thru out the world.

i hope the production put the highlander movie's in video and DVD as well the highlander series too on video and DVD. ( for example : season 1 to 5 or 6 plus the behind-the-scenes footages and bloopers for free ). that will be great idea for christmas presents but also then again it up to the production or company.

if the creator of the highlander series and the movie, he should put Quentin macleod with duncun macleod in " highlander 5 " plus the new show called ( highlander the series : the lost clan ). it's just an idea of mine, i hope this will help the creator of the movies and series if he read this.

it was a pretty dull movie with really poor action sequences, but those scenes involving the one and only Donnie Yen made it worth while to watch. i never did watch the series so i was totally lost with all this "watcher" and "sanctuary" crap.

I have seen all the movies, and every episode of the acclaimed series. I saw it at the theater and have it on DVD. They were able to blend both the series and the movies together pretty well. The ending on the DVD is better than the theater ending. Though I felt they could have went into a bit more detail. A few important scenes were cut, buy or rent the DVD and you'll see what I'm talking about. The plot and story line are well put together, it made me think and question life in general.

Adrian Pual really shines and gets to show his skill. He is a great martial artist and does help with setting up the fight scenes. Donnie Yen is awesome and is a good match for Adrian. Chris Lambert does a good job, he is the original Highlander. You can see his age showing through, like the rest of us he is only mortal, it happens.

If you are a fan of the series you may be a little saddened with the small parts Methos and Joe(Peter Wingfield and Jim Byrnes) got. I would have liked to see Methos come to life, maybe even a fight scene with one of Kells' followers. Joe has some screen time, but more would have added that much more to the story.

All in all, I love this movie. Even with its faults, hey were only mortals!

All you people saying that the Christopher Lambert is too old to play an immortal should realize that he is only 2 years older then Adrian Paul!!! My God, some of you act like Lambert is 20 years Paul's senior! These guys are basically the same age, so if you call Lambert old, then you are calling Paul old. Lambert is 45 years old, and Paul is 43. At the time of this movie's release in 2000, Lambert was 43 and Paul was 41. Some generational gap eh? If Lambert looked sickly, then it's because he is suffering from myopia, a condition he has always had that has been getting worse.

I stated this in a comment I posted on IMDB.com's "Highlander The Series" section and I will state it here. Christopher Lambert is the superior actor to Adrian Paul. Not only that, but I prefer Lambert's Connor MacLeod to Paul's Duncan MacCleod. I found Connor to be an everyman character, while Paul was an over the top, over manly character. Adrian Paul is so over hunky with that muscular body and pony-tail, that he is unintentionally hilarious. Paul looks like one of those male models spoofed in the movie ZOOLANDER. Come on, the guy looks like a male stripper that should be named "Rico" or something. Guys like Adrian Paul, Antonio Banderas and Lorenzo Lamas are so over hunky that they are all unintentionally hilarious. I know the ladies love Paul, but I found I could relate to Lambert/Connor far more then I could ever relate to Paul/Duncan. Connor was an everyman with a sense of humour, and yet at the same time he came across as well cultured and as well traveled as you would expect an immortal man to be. Duncan was an otherworldy and unreal character with little sense of humour. Duncan was too dark, too brooding. And yes I did find it insulting that the focus of the movie series moved to Duncan. To hell with Duncan, Connor is the real Highlander. I like the TV show, it's very well made and has far better writing and stories then Highlander II-IV ever had. But I wish the TV show revolved around Connor instead of Duncan, if it did it would have been more then a cult favorite. If the TV show was about Connor then it would have really been something on the scale of X-Files or Star Trek. Too bad it had to be about the over the top Duncan.

Long live Connor MacLeod!! The TRUE Highlander!!!!