Highlander (1992–1998) User Reviews

It's not the same "kind of magic" that the feature film had, but definitely a decent TV-show

[t_atzmueller · 7/10 · 16 February 2012]

Your average „Highlander"-fan had a hard time deciding whether a series following two sequels to the original movie: having watched the abominable "Highlander: The Sorcerer" and "Highlander: The Quickening", arguably one of the worst movies ever produced, had left scars and had made the fan suspicious.

And how could one not have watched the pilot, knowing that Christopher Lambert would reprise his role as Connor McLeod, introducing the series leading man, Duncan McLeod (Adrian Paul)? The first seasons were slightly tedious, being too TV-ish and, apparently, produced in auto-mode: a few flashbacks in time, Duncan battling (and eventually beheading, though always TV-compatible; no blood, no gore) another immortal; Duncan's relationship with Tessa, etc. Often Adrian Paul's sidekicks, namely Richie (Stan Kirsch) and Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) would become tedious but casting Adrian Paul – although it's unlikely that the actor will ever score an Oscar – compensating for a lot, him having a similar amiable acting style to the original Highlander, Christopher Lambert. By the end of the second season, story lines became more concrete, interesting and the guest-stars more selected – to name just a few, Roger Daltrey, Kabir Bedi, Werner Stocker, hey, even Roland Gift, singer of the "Fine Young Cannibals", played an immortal.

It may not matter to the general viewer, but what has bothered many-a more 'fanatic' fan, is the fact that the series kept altering the "Highlander"-canon: there are female immortals (not being chauvinistic, but such it was in the original film), the "Quickening" was no longer about the assembling of the last immortals, but simply a prize, which one immortal from each generation could win; the immortals actually died for a while when being 'killed', then returned to life, while the immortals in "Highlander" never died, may they be underwater, having their throats cut or being crushed by elevators. Or take the concept of 'The Watchers', even though Sean Connery assured us that, "no one hash ever known we were among you....until now". But how else to keep a long-running TV-series running, without adding or changing something in the storyline? All in all, one was saddened when the series finally came to an end, having gotten fond of the characters and willing to watch a few more episodes. It was a good seven year run, definitely worth watching, even if you've skipped the last three installments of the "Highlander" movie-franchise.

Overall, a good 7 points from 10.

Great series until it wasn't

[reb-warrior · 7/10 · 9 June 2019]

The Highlander series was a spin-off from the Highlander movies. Starring a different MacLeod, Duncan. There's something about Adrian Paul that gives off an old worldly persona that made it believable that he really was a guy that was 400 years old. Duncan was humble, charming, romantic, and principled. The flashbacks over the seasons told his story. He was a phenomenal character. Adrian Paul was made for this role. He played the part to perfection. In many ways, since this is in series form, it gives it many advantages over the movie, such as character development, relationship longevity & development, and the development of the mythology about the immortals.

The action and sword fights were top notched. Season one had him with Tessa, his girlfriend, and Richie. Tessa was classy, cultured, sophisticated, and complimented Duncan well. I love that he had an established relationship and the viewers didn't have to put up with a parade of love interest pairings. Later Joe, Amanda, and Methos are recurring characters in the show. They were excellent additions.

The show is set in America and France. Usually half in each country per season. Unfortunately, the dubbing for the French actors was awful. It sounded like they were reading rather than performing a part.

Seasons 2-4 were the best. Season 5 is a mixture. Season 6 is garbage. I also loved season one because of the group of three with Duncan, Tessa, & Richie. There are some lemons, Adrian Paul's acting starts out a little weak but gradually improves. Keep watching the series, it gets better. There's a warmth to the show. You care about the characters. There are actually many touching episodes. Homeland is my favorite.

The stories are really good. But something starts happening later on. In one or two episodes in season 4, then in many in season 5, Duncan starts becoming more "zen." Zen isn't necessarily a bad thing but for an action show, it didn't play out well for the lead character. It leads to him becoming self-righteous, judgmental, and hypocritical. I mean you understand where he's coming from, but then he does things that are contrary to his own judgments. Let me put it this way, it's not okay for other immortals to seek revenge, but it's okay for him to seek revenge.

Season 6 is garbage. I'd advise not to watch it. You'd have to also skip the last episode of season 5 because it was a cliffhanger. From what I understand season 5 was supposed to be the last season, but at the last minute, they renewed it for a 6th season. Unfortunately, many of the actors weren't available since they thought the series was over and moved on to other projects. Adrian couldn't always be there due to shooting the Highlander Endgame movie. In fact, he's not in two episodes out of the 13 they had. The cliffhanger ending from season 5 is continued in the first 2 episodes of season 6. They were boring and stinky. Many of the other episodes barely had Duncan in it, as they were trying to spin this off, so they brought in female immortals and told their stories, to see which would be a good spin-off. They should have done the spin-off thing earlier in the series. Look at Xena. She appeared in three episodes in season one of Hercules and they realized they she would make a great spin-off show. Though, I think it would have been a mistake to do all those test episodes, especially with next to nothing of Duncan.

Warning: there's a lot of sexism and misogynistic things in the series. Pretty much no female immortal can fight. Mac has to fight for them. This was a major turn-off such as with the character of Amanda. There is also a huge amount of abuse towards women. Tessa is constantly victimized. A lazy writing set-up so Mac can come rescue her all the time. The character of Anne, one of Duncan's love interest later on is written as a busy body and frankly dumb as she put herself in harms way also endangering other people. The love scenes at times seem very exploitive of women, over-long and the cameras angling at certain areas of women. There are rapey situations that are brushed over and not talked about. The series is still great despite all this, but one definitely notices and it may turn-off some people. I managed to get through, but I also commented on these things on my episode reviews.

If you are a huge fan of the Highlander movie and a purist, then you may not like this. However, if you are more open-minded, loved the Highlander movie, and want something in that same universe, then you may love this series. I'd also recommend for people that liked Hercules and Xena, love action, fantasy, and the historical genre. I gave it a 7/10

Pleasant, enjoyable, escapist television

[vandeman-scott · 7/10 · 3 August 2020]

Back in the late '90s, I used to watch a syndicated episode of HIGHLANDER on USA Network every night before going to sleep. It definitely beat SILK STALKINGS! This engaging, oddly sexy show took my mind off the past day and made me forget about my worries for the coming day.

I recently rediscovered the show on Tubi, and it still has the same effect. It's not high art, just pleasant, enjoyable, escapist television. It's also fun to remember stars of the '70s and '80s, and to see a few of today's stars before they were big names.

It's fun, and I recommend it!

THE TIME OF THE "QUICKENING" IS HERE...........

[renfield54 · 30 June 1999]

This series is a seamless excerpt from the time line of the Highlander movies. A science fiction fantasy deluxe, the tale of Duncan McLeod, of the klan McLeod, becomes a realistic, believable, secret world hidden within our own. The only "real" sadness is Duncan's eternal loneliness due to the eventual deaths of all he allows near. Mortals are so fragile and, as for immortals, "There can be only one!"

Very easy to get caught up in, my children and I each carried katanas (plastic sword replicas) for many months during the original run of the series. Duplicating sword "riffs" and "taking" heads made for many hours of "immortal" fun.

Try to catch "HIGHLANDER" from the beginning episode and follow Duncan through the centuries of his life (in present day and flashback sequences). He adapts to all "times" and we get to learn perspective on present day and (supposedly) historical events immortals have influenced or shaped.

Too bad it's gone, but you can only save the world so many times before it gets old. There are re-runs though......

Good, but could have been better.

[bignastybastard · 7/10 · 14 February 2013]

I was always a fan of the Highlander films with Christopher Lambert and knew from the start I would feel the same about the series. I really liked how they expanded on the imortals and brought in the watchers, and different villains like the rogue watchers who saw imortals as an abomination to humanity and wanted to kill them.

What annoyed me about the series is every episode seems the same, Mac reminisces about his past, meets an immortal from his past, they do battle, Mac wins and has learned a valuable lesson in life and has closure from an event in his past.

Every episode seems to be about an Immortal which annoys me because if Imortals exist then surely this should open it up for all kinds of possibilities. I think the writers could have really expanded on the Highlander franchise if we saw other kinds of things in it, such as maybe Warlocks, witches and other kinds of supernatural elements.

That been said I did like the Highlander series, Adrian Paul was great as Duncan MacLeod. There were some fantastic sword fighting scenes and some great stories based around past historical events. I like how we got some new characters too such as Amanda, Methos, Richie, and Joe A great series that would have been better if the writers were able to think outside the box.

Fascinating and thoughtfoul.

[dimadick · 9/10 · 25 August 2001]

The idea of immortals isn't new.This show examines the life of "immortals" and examines the answers to question as: What is like surviving your loved ones?Surviving your family?Your hometown?Your country?Your religion?The civilisation whose ideas you carry on?It can be thoughtful.Especialy once you stop thinking about "good"and "evil"immortals and start examining what makes them act the way they do.It's deeper than most modern TV shows and far better than the movies with the same name.The charachters tend to be very interesting.Especially the cynic,dissilusioned immortal Methos the surviver.Five thousand years old and he is sounding like count Fosca from de Beauvoir's "All Men Are Mortal"who is bitter,dissilusioned and hopelessely alone,destined to survive mankind.Other charachters of interest to viewers are1)Amanda the French,manipulative thieves who seems to enjoy her life more than other immortals seem to do.Has she found the meaning of life?2)Duncan McLeodThe star.Noble and thick-headed.He doesn't hunt other immortals.He waits for them to come and they do.How important is he?3)Darius,general and priest.What made him quit the game anyway.4)Kalas,singer and monk.An immortal killer who loves music and plotting.5)Kronos a horseman.He brings anarchy. The show is definitely worth seing.

Starts mediocre and ends mediocre but great in between

[sshs72 · 7/10 · 17 December 2020]

Season One is ok. Good character interaction and development and story. It builds from the excellent first movie although season one starts kind of slow. The series as a whole does drastically improve past the first season until the last season and half which seems like everyone involved was just phoning it in and didn't know where the story was supposed to go. However, the intervening seasons are excellent. Duncan is outstanding as a character and Adrian Paul plays him beautifully both physically and artistically. The supporting characters that come and go do a good job and sometimes are underrated but definitely add to the overall charm and appeal of this show. Additionally, the guest stars are top notch: Richard Moll, Roger Daltry, Roland Gift, etc. I encourage everyone to check out this series.

An Honest Review

[generationofswine · 10/10 · 14 December 2016]

It is what the sequels should have been and it gives justice to the original.

The first season is weak. It borrows the antiques dealer riff from the movie and most of the plots are the standard women-in-peril thing that we are probably all sick of. Tess is in danger, Duncan has to save her. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Even then, however, it still had its charm. It picks up when they move the location to Paris and from then on the writers have clearly found their footing.

The Second season starts with a bang that can be heard from the first episode on. They drop the woman in peril thing entirely, they add a protégé for Duncan to train. He swaps the antiques business for a dojo and the story starts to really move along at a breakneck speed.

By season 3 and 4 you should be locked in. The supporting cast has been well developed, everything is chugging along nicely and cemented enough for the plot to really thicken. They aren't reliant on the old tropes anymore and the fat has been trimmed enough for you to get at the real meat.

It doesn't really go down hill until the final, abbreviated, season when it became clear that Highlander did all it wanted to do and they were just out there looking for a spin-off. The series itself wrapped up nicely in Season 5. Season 6 was just an attempt to launch a new show.

Ultimately what you have is 4 stellar seasons, with the first season hit or miss, and the last season clearly not intended to continue the over-all plot of the show.

Entertaining, but...

[carlamonterey · 6/10 · 28 October 2020]

Only entertaining up until a certain point. Which is too bad. I love ongoing series with a good story line.

There Can Be Only One!

[jeffman52001 · 10/10 · 17 August 2004]

I am a big Highlander fan,this show is so wonderful, great cast and crew. Adrian Paul is so wonderful as Duncan MacLeod. The show really does explore the good and bad sides of immortality, Duncan MacLeod is a man of Principle and morals, he was born 400 years ago in the Highlands of Scotland. He has been around the world, made some friends and made enemies too. There are good and evil immortals. The cast consists of Stan Kirsch as Richie Ryan who becomes immortal in season 2, Alexandra Vanderoot as Tessa, MacLeod's girlfriend who knows he's immortal, Jim Byrnes(Wiseguy and Higher Ground) as Joe Dawson, a member of the secret society known as "The Watchers" who know about immortals, the late Werner Stocker as 2000 year old immortal priest, Darius. Peter Wingfield as the oldest immortal, Methos, who is 5000 years old. Duncan MacLeod has fought a lot of evil immortals and defeated them, even the ones who are older that he and more powerful than him, his courage and skills is what it takes to win. My favorite good immortals next to MacLoed are Darius, Methos and Amanda, the 1100 year old immortal, Richie Ryan, Marcus Constatine and Sean Burns. My favorite evil immortals are Kalas, Xavier St. Cloud played by Roland Gift of the 80's pop group "The Fine Young Cannibals", Kronos and Grayson. I also for a good immortal I like Hugh Fitzcairn, played superbly by Roger Daltrey of "The Who". Joan Jett made a guest appearance in the first season episode as immortal Felicia Martens. This show really rocks,they play great songs by Queen, the song "Princes Of The Universe" is the perfect song for the theme music of the show. I give this show 2 thumbs up.

Today, I would love this series without the death and violence!

[Catharina_Sweden · 7/10 · 4 March 2014]

For some months about 20 years ago, this show was my life! I was very unhappy in real life at this time, for various reasons, and I suppose my need for escapism was enormous. And so I happened to watch this series on TV, and it just entered my heart and my soul and my whole being, and exploded... and for some time, I lived quite as much with Duncan and Tessa and Richie in the antique shop, as I lived my real life - which was at that time taking place in a small Austrian town, with a job that I detested, non-empathic colleagues, and hateful flatmates...

Of course Duncan/Adrian was in the center of it all. I admired his dark, masculine, mysterious, handsome looks, and every move of his perfect body. I almost loved him - if it is possible to love someone you have never met in reality...

Now, when I have been re-watching some of the episodes on Youtube, I am not as impressed anymore. The story is VERY confused and muddled, with enormous plot holes, and almost all the episodes follow the same pattern. A new immortal is introduced, Duncan remembers when he met this person before in history and we are shown back-flashes in period costume, and in the end Duncan fights him and wins (of course). This plot is framed by nice homey scenes with Tess and Richie, and spiced up with love-scenes - often containing both sex and nudity... It becomes very repetitive after ten episodes or so.

I would not fall for this series, if I saw it for the first time today, and I would not fall for Adrian/Duncan either. I even do not find him that very attractive anymore - I get a feeling, that without the lines that someone else wrote for him, he would come across as quite stupid... There is too much death, blood, and violence, for one thing. If I got to chose, I would only want to see a sword fight quite occasionally - but spend the time mostly in the homey company of Duncan, Tessa and Richie..! :-)

But still - the show has to have SOMETHING, as so many people all over the world, along with me, were caught up at it then in the 90:s. Queen's spurring music is part of it, and the historical scenes that - as far as I can see - were very well researched and staged with the right costumes and props and everything. If one likes to, one can learn a little history from it.

One of the best action and historical series ever!

[David_del_Real_Reviews_in_IMDb · 10/10 · 28 September 2017]

Note: Most of my reviews contain some spoilers, but I always try that none of these "spoilers actually spoil" any important surprises of the narrative arc.

These series present us a new "Highlander", it's a spin off of the "Highlander family" of films and gives us a story where the immortals can ,seemingly, actually be born on our planet.

One of the most important things about "Highlander, the series" is that its length helps to understand the relationships between the characters very deeply. Many characters are hundreds or even thousands of years old and show us how the same person performs in different places and times. Many of the most interesting dialogues in these series (like the ones between Duncan (Adrian Paul) and Methos (Peter Wingfield) occur between characters that were born with hundreds of years of difference or in opposite cultural environments. As many long series, it presents us dozens of characters during its seasons and most of them only appear in one episode or two, but it has also many of them that appear very regularly and can be observed during very different aspects of their personalities. It is also very rich in characters that fall in the categories of anti-heroes or anti-villains which makes the plots very interesting.

One of my favorite aspects in "Highlander, the series" is its bravery to base some of its plots on biblical references, which emphasizes the idea that if the heroes can't win, the onslaught to come could literally reach "biblical proportions."

Last but not least, it is very rich in its martial arts scenes and styles, it even had the participation of Master Swordsman Bob Anderson, the same man who did the "Darth Vader" sword fights for the 4-6 Star Wars trilogy.

How does this title compare to another similar series? Its clearly above the average action series and shows a bigger variety of scenarios that many historical series.

How does "Highlander the series" compare to "Highlander, the Raven" and "Highlander, the animated series" ? I think it is the best of the three, but "Highlander the Raven" has some good episodes too.

Thanks for reading

U KIDDIN ME?

[A_Different_Drummer · 3/10 · 5 September 2020]

In the 1990s the Canadian movie sector had not achieved parity with the rest of the world in terms of the basics -- casting, acting, directing, lighting, writing etc. Which is painfully obvious if you try to watch this.

Interesting, entertaining and thought provoking series

[Elson321 · 16 January 2005]

This interesting highlander series has a lot more to it than action, fantasy and drama. The characters are well acted, and thought out by the actors and screenwriters, respectively. The plots were excellently written, especially linking Duncan Mcleod's past until now, the current time period. I probably think this because i have always been a fan of time period fantasy dramas such as Highlander (1992-1998), Angel (1999-2004) and Witchblade (2001-2002).

I especially love it when events of the past are explained through such dramas like Highlander. One example of this is within one of my favourite episodes in 19th or 18th century historical England where Mary Shelly, the author of the famous novel called 'Frankenstein', sees one immortal get stabbed and then rise to life again. She goes on to comment that seeing such an event inspired her to write 'Frankenstein'

Thought provoking questions about the series, as some members have already mention, arose such as what was it like for immortals to outlive their loved ones? What was it like to live forever?

Adrian Paul as the lead actor, playing Duncan Mcleod, was excellent. His talents of martial arts and acting skills really shine in this series. Afterall, the series did last for 7 years.

However, the series did have some faults. One of them being how does Duncan beat every immortal he fights, even ones who are much older, wiser and more experienced in combat than he is. I know there is the good old 'smart-aleky' answer of 'because there would be no one else to carry on the show' but it still remains a question unanswered satisfactorily. Other members have brought up even better questions that pick out the faults of this show you can read.

But overall, it is an interesting and good quality series that is worth watching. After a few episodes the characters will grow on you.The interesting plots will also intrigue you. Give it a try! I give it a 4/5

Good show, but should have known when to stop

[movieman_kev · 8/10 · 26 September 2005]

This show followed the adventures of Highlander Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), his girlfriend Tessa, and Richie, a young punk twenty-something that Duncan takes in after the kid tries to rob his house. Duncan also has to deal with many other Highlanders, violent and benign through the course of the series (and varies era's in flashbacks) as well as a secret cabal of mortals known as Watchers. For the most part this show was pretty good considering it's limited budget and I looked forward to it every week, but sometime it started it's gradual decline in it's 5th season, and the 6th season is virtually unwatchable due to all the episodes that were just searching for a spin-off character that season should be stricken from the records as the mere mention of it makes my blood boil. The spin-off "Raven" show sucked balls as well.

My Overall Grade: C (if the show had stopped when it should have it would've been a much higher grade)

Like most shows, good runs and bad runs

[Jackbv123 · 8/10 · 1 February 2020]

The show relies heavily on two things ( maybe three). There are almost always martial arts style fights where the hero triumphs over thugs, sometimes armed and sometimes not. Most of the episodes have sword fights followed by a light show that represents the "quickening" which is where one Immortal receives power and more from the one he or she just defeated. You could group those two things together as one and call it fighting. The other (second or third depending on how you reckon) is the history. Almost all, if not all, episodes have flashbacks to a earlier period in history, usually from Duncan's perspective, but occasionally from another Immortal like Amanda or Fitz.

This show is also very chauvinistic even misogynistic. I tried to post a parental warning that many episodes include abuse and mistreatment of women. This includes everything from the emotional and threats, to the physical. Significant female characters are abducted, tied up, drugged, roughed up (usually not drastically unless they are killed), coerced into marriage sometimes tantamount to slavery, enslaved outright, threatened with rap,e and there was at least three episodes were rape occurred or was strongly implied. Certainly men are roughed up, even tortured, and killed, but with the women it is most frequently done in a gender demeaning way. They are also frequently used as bait or leverage.

Despite this, I mostly enjoyed the show when it was at it's best focusing on character development heavily supported by historical flashbacks.

Seasons 2 and 6 where not the show at it's best, although many people will not mind season 2 which revolved around Horton and the mortal Watchers who wanted to kill Immortals just because they were afraid of them. Like many religious zealots, these evil watchers were just that, evil, justifying their actions which including killing many innocent mortals because of the greater goal of eliminating what they considered Abomination. I hated season 2.

Season 6 descended into an even darker place than the earlier seasons and included battles against demonic forces and possession. Many people who were otherwise fans of the show did not like season 6, including myself.

I loved Tessa and Alexandra Vandernoot was excellent. Perhaps it was her and her relationship with Duncan that hooked me to the show so that I did not easily abandon it in harder times. She was able to play contrasting personalities when she doubled as Lisa. Episode 4 of Season 2 goes down in my book as one of the most memorable episodes in a television series of all that I have watched.

Despite her morally questionable ethics, I also loved Amanda and always hoped for more of her, but not as the Raven, but opposite Adrian Paul.

The show dealt with interesting topics especially ones that are neither black or white, but gray. MacCleod has a definite set of principles which are usually heroic, but even he must make difficult choices. Sometimes difficult social issues were addressed and it was common to demonstrate the plight of financially distressed people.

Obviously the show includes bloody violence. It also can be disturbing as so many of the villains are ruthless. At times it seems like unnecessary killing is the first choice even when innocents become collateral damage. In one episode, a father and his cohorts open fire on MacCleod and his companions after refusing to discuss the situation but demanding immediate surrender of the father's baby. This father turned out to be the wronged party, but he was a little too eager to kill to get his way. In the previous episode, another father was willing to storm a house and decisively kill 4 innocents along with the one guilty rapist. This attitude is not isolated in the show.

Not just a show

[smokedatcriz · 10/10 · 27 October 2006]

This has to be one of the best made shows EVER on television. They don't make shows like this one anymore. They tried to extend the show with Highlander the Raven with Amanda as the lead character. She wasn't cut out for it. The scripts for this original series with Duncan Macleod were great, and they only got better after the 1st season. The flashbacks are remarkable, putting us in many scenes through Duncan's 400 year history, and some of the histories of other immortals he knows, including Methos from a 5000 year standpoint. To be honest, i wish they would have made the extended series with Methos instead of Amanda, people would have thousands of years of world history to choose where to put him and when to put him. I wish they made more, and i hope the new movie is more like the show. Lets bring it back :)

Richie Ryan Ruins It

[Johnny_West · 8/10 · 8 February 2021]

I could never watch The Highlander back in the day when it was originally on television. I loved The Highlander movies, and I loved the concept, but I could not stand the incredibly annoying Richie (Stan Kirsh). Why he was even on the show made no sense. The Highlander wanted to keep a low profile, and all Richie ever did was to create trouble, bring attention to The Highlander, and be a big mess that Duncan MacLeod had to clean up after.

Why was Richie even in the series? Fortunately, now in the modern age of streaming video and DVD sets, I can watch every episode of The Highlander and fast-forward every time Richie starts talking in any scene. It is a blessing to be able to finally enjoy The Highlander without Richie (Stan Kirsh).

The Highlander is a great TV series, with lots of excellent action, thoughtful strategy by the various characters, and a lot of good philosophical situations. Combined with the movies, this is a great series that delivers in every way.

Lame...

[nhaka · 1/10 · 23 October 2020]

There can be only one, and that's the first movie! All that came after, movies and series like this one, just suck big time!

Thoughtful, and very hot

[Venus-25 · 29 October 2001]

Far superior to the films, for every reason: Better venue for developing the mythos and the characters, better opportunity to explore the nature and implications of immortality, and a far superior leading man for all the reasons we choose them. Adrian Paul (who inspires whole libraries of romance novels) looks magnificent and convincing in any time period and has ALL the right moves. He's also a vastly superior actor to Christopher Lambert. It is easy to see why the producers regretted not having made Duncan MacLeod immortal in an earlier time period; not only would there have been more history to explore and a richer background for Duncan, but it would have provided more visual riches for the audience.

The series jumped the shark after season 5, which I think had some of its best episodes: "Comes a Horseman", "Revelation 6:8", "Duende", "Dramatic License", "Little Tin God". "The Stone of Scone," which has its defects, represents an episode type that this series should have done more of: a complete flashback without 20th C references. The possibilities of such episodes were a missed opportunity.

There's just too much going on for any of it to matter

[anubisswift · 9/10 · 5 August 2013]

Richie Ryan was and integral part to the show. After his death, it seemed repetitive and dull. I would rather it ended with the demon pazuzu defeating Duncan's spirit. At least it had more closure and we could imagine the rest. The acting was great, i think there must be a curse as none of the start made it as big as they should have, but guest such as barry pepper, ron pearlman and others are pretty huge. This show is about morality and forgiveness in a world gone mad. It was unsurpassed in geographic locations, cinematography and lighting on TV. Season 1 was rough and a bit hard to get into. The background music was always great and original, but starting season 5 sound started getting too goofy taking away from the mystique. Now we get into unnecessary story arcs. Often there were branchings off from the Macleod cannon that were throw-away episodes altogether. The better ones were not resolved in a single hour, but involved multi-episodic recurring villains. The historical flashbacks and effects were well done and stylistically advanced. Overall there had not been a more thrilling program on television. The series is simply a case of having too much; which devalues the better, linear portion. The Cacophony drowns out a masterpiece. In my opinion it is still better that any of its film derivatives.

Suggestions: start at season 2, end at 5 finale, don't watch raven, get rid of tessa, get rid of dr. lindsey, more methos, and for an antiquities dealer i expected more artifacts. You can never have enough dank abandoned factories. I've said my peace.

Excellent

[ronbell-23984 · 10/10 · 24 May 2019]

This is miles better than the movies. The story was always good but Christopher Lamberts was miscast badly. Adrian Paul plays Duncan, the cousin of Connor McLeod in the TV series and his Highlander portrayal is far superior to Lambert's.

This show is very well shot. The stories are good and the action scenes are excellent, very well shot. There are alot of appearances throughout the series from a range of famous faces which was cool, notably Roland Gift and Roger Daltrey.

Out of the 6 seasons, the first 5 are the strongest but overall, this is a solid series and very enjoyable. I recommend this.

Much better than the sequels

[justin-fencsak · 10/10 · 17 February 2019]

After the failure of the second highlander movie increased the popularity of the first one, it was time for the franchise to go into another medium...television. The live action series first came out and became a pop culture sensation, followed by an animated series that lacks the queen song but has good animation and is aimed at kids too young to watch the r rated franchise. This live action is better. It was heavily shown on USA Network where i watched it and it's fun to binge watch the saga.

The best action show ever produced for television

[DangerousDag · 8/10 · 6 December 2020]

The ultimate expression of 90s genre fiction, Highlander built a formula that worked and for five solid seasons, it never tried to be anything more than what it was. It was a fun fantasy-adventure show built around a unique and compelling concept, a well-constructed action show with excellent fight sequences, and a perfect encapsulation of the fashions, the music, and the feel of the 1990s.

Unfortunately, towards the end, the show does fall off a bit, firstly by introducing a storyline, at the end of the fifth season, that didn't really belong in the show, then by carrying forward into a sixth season when the star of the show had made it clear that he wanted to move on. The producers of Highlander trapped lightning in a bottle with Adrian Paul. When he decided he'd had enough, they should have taken the hint. Still, looking back, it is absolutely possible to enjoy this show every bit as much as I did when I first watched it as a kid, and just pretend that Season 6 doesn't exist.

Firs half of first season ONLY episodes worth watching.

[lightsleeper23 · 1/10 · 15 March 2008]

This show started out REALLY good. Just how I remembered it. Duncan and Tessa own and run an antique shop, in an American city, I think Seattle. Richie is introduced in the first couple minutes of episode one, and Duncan drives a bad ass 1950s Thunderbird that he parks in the alley outside the antique shop.

So I'm watching the episodes on the season one DVD set, and they are introducing an entire supporting cast, with special guest stars that have recurring roles. I'm getting to know all these people, like the cop who knows Duncans secret, the slightly annoying, but endearing reporter who doesn't know anything but is suspicious of Duncan...etc. I'm getting to know and love these characters, then all of the sudden, out of nowhere in around the tenth episode, they just pick up and move the whole show to god awful France. It's like, Tess gets some job offer there, and even Richie is like "Wait a minute, we're not talking about picking up and leaving are we? I mean you guys have lives here, and a huge investment. Right?" But that is exactly what they do. Just like that.

The actual production of the show moved there too. So now you have a cast ENTIRELY made up of horrible French actors. Richie is the ONLY American left on the show. Then you have French film crews, cameramen, directors, special effects people, etc. All VERY bad at their jobs. Not to mention the fact that now you have to deal with strong, intolerable French accents from, you guessed it, EVERY person on the show except Richie. And of course, Duncan has an accent, but at least it's supposed to be a Scottish one, even though you can TOTALLY tell he's English and not Scottish.

After around the tenth episode, this show turns into a cheesy French film. And a bad one. Which reminds me, how come it doesn't seem the slightest bit odd to any of these other Highlander fans that French people, in France, would be speaking English ALL the time. Even to each other, when no Americans are around. This is one of the problems I have with ANY movie or TV show taking place in a foreign land. If you're going to watch a foreign film that's one thing. But do it right, get a GOOD one, with a foreign language and subtitles.

Do not watch Highlander the series, except for the first ten or so episodes.