Highlander: The Source - DVD Review

To say that I’m a Highlander mark would be an understatement. Since the first time I saw the original film in 1986 with it’s great soundtrack by Queen, I’ve been hooked, going through all the films and TV series, and even watching the awful Highlander II a couple of times. So when I heard that a new film, The Source, was being released on DVD, I rushed down to my local Woolworths first thing on Monday morning and got a copy.

With Adrian Paul reprising his role as Duncan MacLeod from the television series, the films tells the story of The Source, regarded as a myth by most of the world’s immortals, while others think that it may hold the key to finding their origin, and that it may also give them ultimate power.

It sounds an interesting premise as a small group, including MacLeod’s wife and his old buddies Methos and former watcher Joe Dawson go off in search of The Source. Director Brett Leonard has done a good job in telling this story, obviously drawing on techniques from other films, because at times some of the effects made it seem like I was watching scenes from Sin City or 300.

But although the story is solid, and the performances of the main characters are well executed, I was still disappointed. Forgetting Highlander II for a minute, when compared to the other Highlander films and TV series, The Source lacks that certain charm and humour that made those pieces of the franchise so damn enjoyable. The dark setting of a world in chaos took that charm away, and gone were the flashbacks to moments in the immortals’ past lives. Some of those were worth the prices of those DVDs alone, but these particular moments are missing from this film.

In conclusion - I can only say that while it was well made, it was very disappointing, and as this is meant to be the first part of a trilogy, I hope the makers of the next two films look back at the Highlander heritage in the films and television shows, otherwise they could end up spoiling that heritage a little more.