Ranked #2996

Highlander: Vengeance

Im no Highlander fan, Im just a geek... I've never been interested in Highlander as a franchise,...let's just get it on.

The story was pretty fair, there were no breath taking action sequences but even tho, it was enjoyful. It moves from the future to the past and back... simply to bring a little bit of complication in to it. Its all about revenge and hate , and anger, and how you cant win if those feelings are leading your way kinda thing. Im sure you know what I mean since weve seen it before...

The Animation is really great, everyone will enjoy the animations and effects that this movie has. There are few really good gory scenes in which are used effects that are just marvellous, so there is something to look at.

The music (rock or metal, sorry that I can't tell) is fitting but after a while you will concentrate on the fights and scenes so much that you wont even know that there was some background music, thats not a bad thing but I just feel like its a waste of efford in that matter. Sound effects are well done, everything sounds as it should, the metal chinging, bullet shots, explosions... all sounds just right.
Higlander is originaly in english, the voice acting was fine, what was really great idea was that the accent of the characters was changing, in the past they were talking with a scottish accent and in the future it was american, nice touch there.

Characters arent anything special, there was just nothing new what would make those characters unique. However it was a fair job nothing to be sad about.
So dont fix whats not broken...

I really enjoyed it from start till the end, I really think that this is gonna be enjoyful for Highlander fans (from what I hear) nothing to be crazy about, but if you want some serious sword action it will take you in but not as well as other titles (Vampire Hunter D: Blood Lust). For those that are searching for a good lone hero adventure, you might have found your Jackpot but for most people its a One Timer at worst. read more

As a big fan of the Highlander franchise, the first film and the tv series, and not the sucky movie sequels, I had really high hopes for this film. When you consider it was directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (who as you know directed such classics as Ninja Scroll and Vampire D bloodlust) and the script was penned by one of the writers of the tv series, then I feel I was warranted in expecting a great film. Not to mention that Imagi and Madhouse did the animation.
Unfortunately for me the Search For Vengeance was a bit hit and miss for me. While it ticks all the boxes for what you would expect from a film in the highlander franchise it does little else beyond that.

The film is set in a post-apocalyptic New York City where the protagonist Colin Macleod, Of the Clan Macleod (naturally) arrives and discovers that Marcus Octavius, who he has been chasing throughout time in a quest of vengeance over the death of his wife is the leader of this ruined city. Colin joins up with the local rebels of the town, reluctantly, to take down Marcus who is planning to wipe out the city’s population with a virus so he can build his new utopian society from its ashes.

As you would expect from the talent on hand the film looks really, really good. The animation is top notch with some great character designs. I particularly liked the design of Dahlia who with her red hair and clothes is such a stark contrast to the dull and grey environment of this desolate New York. Colin is also well designed as looks like a badass action hero but not in a generic way. Where the animation really excels is in the action scenes and as you would expect from the director of Ninja Scroll the action is fast paced and enjoyable. The audio is quite solid too with a good soundtrack and all the voicework is top notch. Even in the flashbacks to Scotland the accents and the dialogue sound perfect.

Unfortunately it is with the writing that my main criticisms lay. The writers clearly played it safe here and did not tinker with the Highlander formula at all, and beyond the highlander stuff the plot just has that “done to death” feel about it. Films set in a post apocolyptic world are nothing new and neither are stories of vengeance revolving around a murdered lover. As for highlander specific stuff as I said it ticks all the boxes: We get to see how Colin discovers he is immortal and we see plenty of other flashbacks from different points in history and each time the flashback is triggered by something in the present day. Colin has a love interest in the present day who just happens to resemble his one true love from the past. And this was my problem because all of this had either been done in the original movie and tv show and was just not that interesting to me. Now clearly they wanted to make a movie that fans and newcomers could enjoy and I respect that and that was probably the right way to go but as a fan of the franchise there just was nothing here I had not seen before.

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This is about the most american anime I have ever seen in my entire life. It's so disgustingly terrible. There were a couple reasons I watched this title. The first, and biggest reason, was that I saw this as I was browsing amazon. It got some nice reviews so I thought to myself "hey, I should watch and then buy this." Now I've seen two highlander movies and a good portion of the TV series and I can honestly say that this is the worst Highlander creation I've ever seen.

Story: This is what happens when you get a writer who is 1. subpar and 2. Not Japanese. The writer for this has written for Highlander before, alot for highlander. I think that he's written ONLY for Higlander. The formula for this anime is VERY simple and yet incredibly complex. Revenge. I've seen revenge done before, and i've seen it done VERY well. Highlander has a very simple revenge plot, it's so simple that it's insulting. There's also the TERRIBLE sideplots....these were also insulting. I'm not giving any spoilers, but really, even if I did, it wouldn't really spoil anything at all. All the "plot developments" were predictable and boring. And i'm usually too busy paying attention to what's going on to think about what's going to happen. But I was constantly thinking about what "twist" they were going to throw at me next. Oh and the script is absolutely terrible. If you can't finish 50% of the lines before the actors say them...then you're not trying hard enough.

Art: For a terrible anime the art is pretty nice. The art is very smooth, very crisp. There are some really beautiful scenes, and then there are a bunch that aren't that hot. The action scenes lacked flow. They all seemed very static and choppy, very few seemed beautiful. Someone compared this to Afro Samurai and mentioned that the fight scenes lacked intensity, which is exactly what it lacks. This anime is meant to be all about action, and yet the effort put into these scenes seems so lacklustre. The art reminded me alot of Basilisk, and I'm not a huge fan of the style, it really doesn't suit the "feel" of this anime.

Sound: All that was available for me was the english dub....which frightened me. BUT I watched it. They got McLeod with a Scottish accent.......half the time. Which is HILARIOUS when he drops it for a bunch of lines. The english voice actors deliver every line terribly, it doesn't help that the entire script is riddled with terribly cheesy lines and ridiculous one-liners. They had some ridiculous rock music for a bunch of it as well....that didn't help.

Character: Oh man. the characters here are absolutely hilarious. You have the protagonist Colin, who's only dream is vengeance. He wants revenge because some guy "Markus" killed his wife. He's silent, angry, and incredibly powerful. you have Markus, who's such a "bad guy." you even watch his girlfriend kill some gigantic barbarian without breaking a sweat. Then he makes out with her. Oh yeah, he's bad. Then there's the whore with an ulterior motive, who tries to sleep with Mcleod....but he refuses because he's faithful to some wife who died hundreds of years ago. You have the annoying little kid with a dying sister who just HAS to join them because he has to save her from a virus that kills people. *sigh* Just watching them hurts, trying to analyze them hurts even more.

Enjoyment: No one should watch this. For an anime, it didn't even feel like an anime. This is probably the perfect example for anyone who hates how some anime become "americanized." This is an American anime...but it's not fun, it's not creative, it's not original. Only a die-hard Highlander fan could stand watching this.

Please. Don't make the mistake that I made. This anime is horrible, worse than an American B-movie. Even in the first 10 minutes it's really easy to see that it's not going to get any better, and it doesn't...it just gets worse. read more

PROLOGUE
It is a mistake to watch this movie without being aware of the Highlander movies and tv series. It will give you a really bad impression of an otherwise ok franchise. The Highlander is an entirely American concept. It is aiming at epic rock fans, who dig the idea of knights and warriors fighting for some high ideal, while accompanied by dramatic pasts and rock music in the background. It is quite silly if you try to reason it, as it is brimming with Manihaistic concepts (good vs evil) and it’s filled with heavy-dudes who have nothing better to do with eternity, other than fighting each other with medieval swords. And this movie happens to be the flashiest but also driest incarnation of the entire franchise.

ART SECTION: 9/10

General Artwork & Backgrounds 4/4: Vivid but not tiresome colors, multiple details, huge variety on objects and locations. The series does not have a unique artistic concept; it just depicts a grim, dystopian future world in the same way all Hollywood movies do. You know, wastelands, deserts, remnants of today’s skyscrapers, people suffering and hiding and the like. Still, the artwork is planned through with care. Plus, there are several flashbacks, where we get to see many violent time periods of human history, which are equally detailed and well-made.

Character Figures 2/2: Cool sword-wielding heavy dudes and busty chicks fill the screen. SWAT underlings, amoral scientists, tanks and mechas, all in exceptional detail and without the slightest body deformity.

Motion Fluidity & Lightning/ Visual Effects 3/4: Excellent on both sections, the movie feels like it was made with an extremely high budget. Nothing was left unattended. Wonderful battle choreographies, sword sparks, lighting shows during Requickenings. Still, like in all Hollywood action films, they are great but not realistic. They LOOK real but they don’t FEEL real. Especially the final blows in all the battles are the most out-of-place and forced events ever.

SOUND SECTION: 7/10

Voice Acting 2/3: Rather dry. Westerners simply lack the awesome voice coloring of the Japs (the movie is on English dub). The result is still nothing in comparison to a good anime series. There are way too many cheesy one-liners and talking like that of a 12-year-old. Not fitting with Immortals who have the wisdom of a 1.000 years and scientists with an I.Q. of 200.

Music Themes 3/4: Very atmospheric but completely forgettable.

Sound Effects 2/3: Crystal clear but too reminiscent of American action b-movies, which I happen to loathe.

STORY SECTION: 3/10

General Scenario 1/2: The basic premise is about a small portion of humans, born with the ability to be ageless and immortal. The only way to kill them permanently is to take their heads off. Since every Immortal wants to be the only one left alive in order to be free to do anything he wants with the world (usually to conquer it), all Immortals spend their limitless time training in swordsmanship and dueling with others of their kind. Each one of them has a portfolio, which hardly gets any deeper than becoming the strongest in the world and dominating all humanity until the end of time. So, we basically have a bunch of muscular guys and some busty chicks looping each other’s heads off. Not very smart…

The movie focuses more on the personal drama of the protagonist and not on the whole idea of “There can be only one”. The hero in the story is an Immortal whose woman was killed by a megalomaniac Immortal a 1.000 years ago. He pretty much spends this millennium hunting him in order to get revenge.

An action-based series with revenge being the only excuse for the plot is not original nor it is smart. The series doesn’t try to go any further than that, but at least, it does try to flesh-out its characters a bit.

Form of Development/ Pace of Plot 1/2: Since we are talking about a movie, the plot is very linear. Until we are introduced to the main characters, their pasts and their goals, there is nothing left to see other than the final battle.

Side Stories/Extra Spices 0/2: None! The story is entirely about the hero’s quest to avenge his woman. All the rest of the characters don’t really do anything major to affect that.

Believability/Reasoning/Realism 0/2: None! Everything is either left unexplored or forced upon us to be accepted as it is, without an explanation backing it up. Who are these immortals? How many of them are there? How did the bad guy gained control of the city? Where did he get all those soldiers and high-teck equipment? Why does the hero always magically fall unconscious in Holy Ground every time he is about to lose? Why does the hero always win with a simple, vaguely depicted strike? And how many side effects did that last explosion had in the end of the movie? With a simple blow, everything out of control was solved; like in some cheesy fairy tale.

Conclusion 1/2: Do you expect something original? Let me spoil it for you.
The bad guy loses and the good guy gets the girl. The same thing that happens in all American action movies. It is an ending but it will leave you emotionally unsatisfied.

CHARACTER SECTION: 2/10

Presence 1/2: Well, heavy-dudes and busty chicks always have their way of attracting your attention. But since this is a movie and they don’t have much personality, they are easily forgotten. … Oh, did I mention how generic they seem to look, like the cast of every American action movie there is?

Personality 0/2: The good guy wants revenge. The bad guy wants to rule the world. The chick wants to save her people. The ghost-mentor mumbles some cheesy monologue every 10 minutes. That’s all there is to it.

Backdrop 0/2: The good guy is Scotch. The bad guy is Roman. They are 1.000 years old. The chick is a 20-something New Yorker. The ghost mentor is a wise druid. The end.

Development 0/2: The hero gets to think it over and towards the end of the movie does not live for revenge but to protect the new woman he loves (which is effectively the same woman, reincarnated) … Not that this changed anything. He still had to fight the bad guy, no matter how he changed. And he did fought like he usually does. So, we would be taken for suckers if we believe that he or anyone else changed. No development! And don’t think that someone who dies is considered a development in his personality.

Catharsis 1/2: The hero got the girl. TADAAA!

VALUE SECTION: 3/10
Historical Value 2/3: It bears the name of Highlander, so it is automatically considered rather famous.
Rewatchability 1/3: Maybe just for the battles. There is not much of a story or characters to bother with.
Memorability 0/4: How many myriad series/movies with heavy-dudes bound on revenge have you seen? Add one more.

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 8/10
Brainless action, cool-looking heavy dudes, sexy femmes and awesome graphics and sound. Very enjoyable if you don’t try to reason what you are watching.

VERDICT: 5.5 / 10
If revenge is a dish better served cold, then this movie has no spark of warmth in it. And as a dish, it had quite a typical flavor to it.

SUGGESTION LIST
Afro Samurai and Gundam G. Same story and characters.
Vampire Hunter D and Ninja Scroll. More movies from the same production team.
Fist of the North Star. Similar premise, better story.
The Highlander francises. There are 5 movies, 1 tv series and 1 European animated series. And if I am not mistaken, some novels and comic books. The world never seems to run out of Immortals. Is there ever going to be Only One left? read more

---Dcm18's quick reviews---

Story: 6 (Good but very predictable)
Art: 9 (Exelent quality)
Sound: 7 (Not memorable, but nice)
Character: 5 (Generic characters...)
Enjoyment: 7 (Meh at least not boring)

Overall: 6.8 (Very americanized flavor, kinda ruins the movie)

Art: Character designs were decent, though perhaps too similar to Kawajiri's previous works. Marcus looked too much like Gemma. Clothing, backgrounds, weapons etc were all fairly detailed.

Animation: Pretty decent. Fight scenes were fairly well animated, with some slow motion scenes here and there. Could have really done with some single-framed sword fights though, that would have been really awesome.

Choreography: Bit too much sword bashing and sword breaking in this anime. I laughed when Colin's thin katana cut straight through Octavius' thick sword. Sword deflecting bullets was really dumb as well. So overall the choreography isn't that great really. Certainly nothing breathtaking like Sword of the Stranger or VHD:Bloodlust.

Conclusion: The movie felt really disjointed. Like it was just a bunch of random unrelated scenes of two guys swing swords at each other. And I wouldn't have minded that if it was done better. Also Marcus not killing Colin when he had like 50 chances to do so was really dumb as well. The whole "I know I have better things to do than chase the same faggot for 2000 years and repeatedly failing to kill him but I'm still doing it anyway" thing was also retarded. read more