If not Highlander, then Outlander

If not the movie "Highlander", then the TV series "Outlander".

I remember the first time that I had seen the movie "Highlander". It was in the mid 80's. This was during a time that a lot of science fiction and fantasy movies were coming out. Some of them were pretty impressive with the most up to date special effects at the time. Computer Generated images (CGI) was in its mere infancy so some of the special effects could be now labeled comical in comparison to today's special effects.

One of the things that was starting to bother me was that the new abilities of special effects were beginning to be a substitute to the quality of the stories. They were fun to watch for the "wow" effect but that was just it. That would be all that there was for some of these movies. Wow, but no real story.

The movie "Highlander" would change that. This was a movie that had a really wonderful but sad story and had some pretty impressive special effects. It is based on the reflections of a 400 year old immortal man named Connor McCloud that was born into a clan in Scotland. He would soon discover that he was immortal after being severely wounded in a clan battle.

The fact that he did not die from this wound would become the source of fear from his fellow clan members and he was soon ostracized and accused of being in consort with Satan. In his isolation, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful Scottish woman and eventually is sought out by a powerful and older immortal. This older mentor would eventually prepare him for the up and coming battles with other immortals to claim the ultimate prize which is not really disclosed. After each battles with the other immortals, the winner absorbs the power from the loser through decapitation. This mentor eventually sacrifices his own life to protect the Highlander from the evil Kurgan , the oldest and most powerful of all of the immortals through an intense and powerful battle scene.

The movie does a wonderful job of flashing back and forth through periods of time in his long life including beautiful and powerful images of medieval Scotland and his current location in modern New York. The rock group "Queen" adds a really powerful music track to the whole movie. It really shows the sadness of losing his one and only true love Heather due to his immortality and the eventual knowing of permanent loneliness that living forever has. It was also disclosed to him by his mentor that he can never have children. None of the immortals can have children. This really puts Connor in a bind as he must somehow reveal to Heather about his true destiny. She does choose to stay with him all through her life until her eventual death from old age.

Soon, the last of the remaining immortals meet in New York city and the final battle is concluded with the defeat of the evil Kurgan. Kurgan has eliminated all of the remaining immortals until he and Connor are all that remain. The reoccurring phrased that is mentioned several times in the movie is " There can only be one". The sadness of Connor losing friends that he has known for centuries was so well expressed by the actor who played the part of Connor.

Connor wins the "Prize" and becomes mortal which he now really wants. We are led to believe that this would be a wonderful thing for world peace and prosperity. He knows he can fall in love again and even have children if he wants.

Although the movie is definitely dated in the 1980's, the story of loneliness and lost love is truly timeless. A beautiful story with beautiful music makes this a truly classic movie.

Outlander is a TV show that came out in 2014. It is based on the same idea of immortals in Scotland with a woman that is transported back back through time. She is a nurse that is transported into 17th century Scotland from the 1940's during World War 2. She falls in love with a clansman but only after quickly marrying him. This is a long running series that follows her trails and tribulations during a period of time when Scotland is transitioning from the medieval into the renaissance period. It is wonderful to see the transitions from the brutish vulgar violence to the refining of thoughts and ways of behavior. I will not go into the deep details as this would depriver the viewer of watch the story in action. The love story is beautiful and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. For those that are history afficionados like me, there is a lot to learn from this series. I believe that if you liked the movie "Highlander" or any of the series and other related movies that spun off the original movie, you will definitely enjoy this series.