Highlander [Blu-ray] [1986]

Reviews of Highlander [Blu-ray] [1986]:

Great film, shame about picture quality
I love this movie and thought it would really lend itself well to the high definition format but... the picture quality is very grainy in the New York scenes and you could clearly see the wires when he rises up after defeating the Kurgan, which I found really distracting. Surely in this day & age they could have used some software to edit those out? I don't own the movie on DVD so can't make that comparison, but for me the picture quality in places looks worse than an upscaled DVD. I also have Matrix on blu ray and the picture detail of that movie is fantastic in comparison to this one. I don't regret buying it because I like the film, but at least if you read this review before buying you won't expect crystal clear HD images like I was expecting and then be disappointed.

A good blu-ray of a great film that shows off strengths...and some quite funny weaknesses
Highlander itself is hugely fun schlock action: - when Connor MacLeod is killed in battle, his village is horrified instead of delighted to see him come back to life, as they assume it's the work of the devil. Instead he is one of a rare and misunderstood race of Immortals, and he must learn to face his gift through the ages until he reaches 1980s America and the time when he must face some of his deadly immortal rivals.
It's executed with a great sense of fun and some terrific scenery. Windswept mountainous vistas and lakes convey the Highlands well, and there are ancient stone guard-forts and ornate American sets thrown in as well. Connor's sense of history is nicely conveyed with Lambert portraying the man with a wild-eyed but world-weary energy as a man who's tired of fighting but will attack savagely if provoked. Sean Connery is both funny and likeable as his eloquent Spanish friend and trainer (with a Scots accent), and Clancy Brown is big, imposing and mean-spirited through and through as arch nemesis and brutal killer The Kurgen.
Blu ray shows the film off well, and many scenes are glorious. It is however an old film, and some brief moments look like they couldn't find the original film so inserted pieces of the Video version as the quality plummets, then jumps back up to blu-ray again. Fear not though, these are very few and far between, and don't affect any important scenes in the film. More amusing are the moments where the extra visual sharpness has given away some hilarious mistakes that went unnoticed by the blurrier quality of video or DVD: these include an obviously more burly (and VERY curly ginger-haired) stuntman performing some of Lambert's 'training with Connery in the Highlands' scenes, some blatant supporting wires during a scene near the ending, and hilariously, a crew-member's arm frantically pushing fake-stone blocks out of the way to make them look as if they're 'falling' during a building destruction sequence.
I actually quite liked these little moments, and they made me look even more fondly upon a little gem of an action film that has likeable characters, flashy sword-fighting, fun historical mythology, great character designs, and a great ending.

This Bluray disc marked as Region 'B' plays on Region 'A' players
I bought the Highlander 10th Anniversary Director's Cut Region 1 DVD and was very disappointed with the picture quality, it was very grainy indeed. I was very excited to find a Bluray version on Amazon.UK. I can only play American Region 'A' Bluray. It's a pity that Amazon never bother to give The Region details for Bluray discs. I buy 99% of all my Discs from Amazon.com. I find that The American transfers are far Superior to The UK, many of the American Bluray discs support Regions A B & C. plus many discs are Region free.
I researched as best I could to find out if this Highlander Bluray was region free, as it was originally Warner Bros in The States it would be region free as are all their Bluray discs. When I received the Disc I was very disappointed to find it marked Region 'B', I had a gut feeling that it may be region free but just marked 'B' to please The UK market! Anyway I can confirm that it WILL play on Region 'A' DVD players including PlayStation 3.
AMAZON please in future give us Region details for Bluray Discs. Oh by the way, picture Quality is much improved indeed.
Ian Rough. France

Currently The Best Version
If you are like myself,I have owned all the Highlander's from VHS and a number of DVD releases. I was expecting this Blu Ray to be a bit of a dissapointment, I glad to report,that this is far superior to any other release out there. Yes, you get flaws with grain in the film,but to honest the picture quality is a big jump the ladder.

In my opinion,it's as good as it's going to get,unless it gets the Hollywood Money and treatment in the latest remastering,and lets be honest,thats never going to happen!
Take no notice of the moaners,it is and will always be a classic movie with visual flaws

Highlander Immortal but only just
within in the collection of Blu rays I own i hoped this one would take pride of place. The combination of action and panoramic views of the highlands should lend itself to the Blu ray format beautifully but alas this version has it faults. Its a little bit jekyl and hyde with the quality of the scenes. One moment you are looking at almost 3d life like vistas of the highlands, the next unfortunatly, grainy views of New York. I wanted so badly for this version to be as breathtaking as the many other films I own on blu ray but it doesn't quite hit the mark and i hope against hope that another transfer appears for an aniversary edition of the movie.

Is it better than VHS or DVD versions of the movie ? well yes I own a VHS copy and both the 10th annivesary region 1 of the film and a later UK dvd release. All 3 versions showing artefacts, imperfections and a grainy image so the quality of the blu ray shines above those, but if I was to compare it to say The Warriors blu ray which is infact an older movie, then it falls a little short. Having said that this version seems much cleaned up and I would say its currently the cleanest and picturesque version out there and a 25th anniversary copy (if it happens) won't appear till 2011

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