Highlander (1986)

[Evildrider]

There is no shame in liking Queen!   

[WayAbvPar]

In addition to its other sins, Highlander almost certainly helped maintain (if not start) the Cult of the Katana.   It's just a sword, people.

 

TNMNT, whose first comic came out 2 years before Highlander, has much more to do with the cult of the katana than Highlander, but it did contribute.

Tack on it's foreign mystique (almost nothing European is 'foreign' to the US.) the legends surrounding those who wore them, the forbidden aspect and that, damnit, it's a sword, and the set-up is complete.

1985. So I was hip to katanas well before I saw Highlander 

[Reg]

Was that the one with Bohemian Rhapsody?  That was my first Queen song back when me and a high school buddy had part time jobs at a local department store. He was lucky and got the cool job in the stereo section and he played that song very loudly every night we were working.

But really though I think Queen did better work on the Flash Gordon movie.

edit: missing words

[WayAbvPar]

Princes Of The Universe was the big 'hit'.

[Evildrider]

I think Samurai movies made the katana more popular than Highlander ever did.  Even movies like Shogun, which came out 5-6 years before Highlander.

[Evildrider]

Princes Of The Universe was the big 'hit'.

A Kind of Magic is from the same soundtrack and probably the bigger hit.

[IainC]

Hey, and don't forget it had a pretty solid soundtrack.

I'm a huge Queen fan - the very first concert I ever went to was to see them at Knebworth which was recorded for the Live Magic album. But goddamn that is not a good song. It goes all over the place like it's actually four or five songs mashed together and can't decide what to do with itself. Also in that video everyone except Freddy looks super self-conscious.

[Selby]

But goddamn that is not a good song. It goes all over the place like it's actually four or five songs mashed together and can't decide what to do with itself. Also in that video everyone except Freddy looks super self-conscious.

I like the song, but do agree that it does seem like 3 or 4 different major song sections merged into one song.  Freddie was the showman of the group, everyone else actually didn't really enjoy making the videos like he did.  That timeframe wasn't exactly their best either, they had stopped touring and weren't exactly getting along so great in those days.

[Chimpy]

Who Wants to Live Forever is probably the best ballad ever.

[Llyse]

Who Wants to Live Forever is probably the best ballad ever.

+1, Will watch Highlander this weekend to see what all the fuss is about... 

[Evildrider]

I feel like I'm in Highlander.

[Morat20]

It's a solid B-movie. :)

I admit I was hooked on the TV show from the pilot. Not because of the acting. Not because of the lead. But because the big bad guy of the first episode was...Bull from Night Court!

Yeah, I'll watch that. :)

I kinda blame Highlander Immortal Wangsting for, well, every whiny ass Immortal afterwards though. That's hard to forgive. :)

[Venkman]

Loved the first movie. Will always watch when it's on. Soundtrack was perfect 80s pop. So many good sequences. And it stands up well if you keep watching it through an 80s lens.

Not every movie requires that last condition, but almost no movie like this is worth neckbearding in the first place   

[Furiously]

The cuts and camera work were amazing for the time.