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Highlander: The Source

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Highlander: The Source
Directed byBrett Leonard
Written byCharacters:
Gregory Widen
Story:
Mark Bradley (Joel Soisson)
Screenplay:
Stephen Kelvin Watkins
Mark Bradley
Produced byAdrian Paul
Peter S. Davis
William N. Panzer
StarringAdrian Paul
CinematographySteve Arnold
Dmitrij Gribanov
Edited byLes Healey
Music byGeorge Kallis
Distributed byLionsgate Films
Release dates
September 15, 2007
Running time
US Domestic Version
86 min.
Original Version
99 min.
LanguageEnglish

Highlander: The Source is the fifth installment of the Highlander film series, and the first film of a planned trilogy on the Sci-Fi Channel. Adrian Paul reprises his role as Duncan MacLeod from the television series and the fourth film, Highlander: Endgame. Highlander: The Source is the first Highlander film in the franchise not to be released in American theatres; instead, it was shown on the Sci-Fi Channel on September 15, 2007.

Plot

A group of Immortals quest to locate the mysterious "Source" in the near future. One member of the group, Zai Jie, breaks into a tower in Eastern Europe and contacts his associates to give them the location of the Source. The Guardian of the Source, who has supernatural speed, confronts and decapitates him. Reggie, another group member, discovers that the planets are moving from their orbits into a cosmic alignment.

Former Immortal-Watcher Joe Dawson is called by group member Methos to find their mutual friend Duncan MacLeod. Joe finds MacLeod in a fight with the Guardian, and shoots Duncan, hauls him into a truck, and drives off to meet with the others at a monastery, in order to meet with an ancient being known as the Elder so they can locate the Source.

At the monastery, they meet Anna Teshemka, Duncan's mortal wife, who is having visions. The Elder meets them all as a group, and tells of how, in ancient history, another group of Immortals sought the Source. Upon slaying the Guardian, the two survivors were cursed with decay, and one of them became the new Guardian. The Elder tells them all to follow Anna, who knows the way. She receives a vision from the Elder. Meanwhile, the Guardian comes and attacks Reggie and Joe Dawson on holy ground. In an effort to save Dawson, Duncan throws his katana at the Guardian, temporarily wounding him. The Guardian removes the sword from his neck and breaks it, killing Joe with the broken blade before escaping. After burying Joe, they leave for the Source, which they have determined to be on an island in a lake in Eastern Europe.

Approaching the island, the boat's captain tells them that the "maniacs" rule the island: cannibal gangs. After fighting locals who were poised to immolate a man to death, they obtain a van and drive to a deserted house a short distance away from the Source. That night, the Guardian kills Reggie by slashing him to death — the Elder had warned them that the closer they get to the Source, the weaker they would become, and that they would lose their immortality. Duncan has replaced his broken katana with a pair of butterfly swords. The group takes Reggie's body with them, until they ultimately discover that he will not revive.

After burying Reggie, they continue on their way. They find the road blocked, and are captured by cannibals. While the cannibals are distracted by their drunken carousing, the Guardian frees Anna, and forces her to accompany him to the Source. Later, Giovanni also escapes and takes a sword, hoping to be "The One." Duncan frees himself and Methos, and sets off to rescue Anna. Giovanni gets recaptured, and Duncan goes in to save him. Methos saves Duncan at the last moment, and says he believes Duncan is "The One," due to his incorruptible nature. He rides off on a horse to distract the cannibals, and allows Duncan to chase after Anna. Giovanni, who had run off when Duncan came to his rescue, is decapitated by the Guardian.

Duncan finds Anna in a clearing by a sandy pit, illuminated by starlight, as the cosmic convergence is happening directly over them. The Guardian surfaces and challenges Duncan. Duncan finds he has the same speed and power as the Guardian, and fights him. Finally defeating the Guardian, he taunts Duncan to take his head. Duncan refuses, and the Guardian vanishes, screaming, in a blast of light, exclaiming that he is "cursed forever."[clarification needed] Duncan enters the Source, qualified to do so by his pure heart. In the Source, Anna reveals that she is pregnant with their child. Duncan declares "He is the one."

Cast

Actor Role
Adrian Paul Duncan MacLeod
Peter Wingfield Methos
Jim Byrnes Joe Dawson
Thekla Reuten Anna Teshemka
Cristian Solimeno The Guardian
Thom Fell Cardinal Giovanni
Stephen Rahman Hughes Zai Jie
Stephen Wight Reggie Weller

Production

As early as 2001, producers of the previous film in the franchise, Highlander: Endgame, were discussing plans for a fifth film with fans at conventions.[1] Highlander: The Source began at Dimension Films under a number of different screenwriters, including Joel Soisson and Peter Briggs, with production scheduled to begin in Lithuania in late 2005. In July 2005, Lionsgate Films acquired the rights to the film under the title Highlander: The Journey Continues, with director Brett Leonard at the helm as director, and actor Adrian Paul in the lead role as Duncan MacLeod. Leonard described the franchise: "Highlander is an amazing ongoing story that I can bring my visual style to. Everything I have done has led me to this kind of mythical fantasy."[2] Filming began in October 2005,[3] and concluded the following December. In June 2006, Adrian Paul revealed that Highlander: The Source had been undergoing editing and visual effects work. The actor said that composer George Kallis had been brought on board to create a film score that was recorded by an 80-piece orchestra.[4]

Lionsgate originally planned to release the film in 2006.[5] When that plan didn't work out, several release dates were listed in various places; for example, February 2007 was listed in some official The Source auctions, as well as on actress Thekla Reuten's own website, and March 2007 was listed on composer George Kallis' website. Eventually, even the official auctions began using simply a broad "First Quarter 2007" release date. As of February 14, 2007, producers Peter Davis and Bill Panzer of Davis/Panzer Productions, in conjunction with Lionsgate Entertainment, were editing and remixing the film.

Lionsgate finally released the film as a direct-to-TV movie, which premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel on September 15, 2007. Screenwriter Joel Soisson ultimately won a Writer's Guild of America screenplay-credit arbitration, and was listed in the final U.S. release's end credits under the pseudonym of "Mark Bradley." Plans to continue the films with The Source being the first of a trilogy have since been abandoned, as Peter Davis has recently sold rights for a remake of the original film to Summit Entertainment.[6]

Early releases

Russian

An early version of Highlander: The Source, which had been shown to distributors in October 2006, was released on DVD in February 2007 in Russia, and was quickly ripped. These copies of the release began to proliferate across the Internet. The same cut was also later released in Brazil, Poland[7], Romania and Germany[8][9]. Based on posts made by fans at the Official Highlander Message boards,[10] some who actually purchased their copies legally through Russian and Polish DVD sites, the reaction to this cut of the film have mostly been extremely negative. After this release, producer Peter Davis stated that the Russian version was not the final producer's version, and that Lionsgate would release the finished film in September 2007.[11] This was the TV premiere, eight minutes shorter than the Russian version, and featuring different opening and closing narration.

Dutch

Another version was released sometime in Spring 2007 as a Dutch DVD.[12]

UK

The Region 2 release is out now from 7th January 2008. This is the same version as the Dutch DVD albeit in the incorrect aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

American premiere

Despite previous announcements and long-standing rumors that a "Producer's Cut" of the film would be released straight-to-DVD and/or theaters in September 2007, the U.S. Sci-Fi Channel aired the film at 9:00 PM and 1:00 AM Eastern, on Saturday, September 15, 2007 as a "Sci-Fi Original Movie."[13] This, like the Russian version, was met with an underwhelming fan reaction.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Harry Knowles (2001-09-17). "Highlander 5". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved 2007-09-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Paul Davidson (2005-08-04). "Highlander: Going to the Source". IGN. Retrieved 2007-01-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Paul Davidson (2005-10-21). "New Highlander Starts Shooting". IGN. Retrieved 2007-01-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Adrian Paul (2006-06-29). "Scoring The Source". AdrianPaul.net. Retrieved 2007-01-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Paul Davidson (2005-07-05). "How Many Highlanders Can There Be?". IGN. Retrieved 2007-01-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ The Hollywood Reporter - Highlander remake
  7. ^ Monolith - DVD Details
  8. ^ e-m-s - DVD Details
  9. ^ e-m-s - Blu-Ray Details
  10. ^ Highlander Community Message Boards
  11. ^ Highlander: The Source Official Site
  12. ^ Which version of The Source is best? - Official Highlander Message Board
  13. ^ Schedule | On Air | SCIFI.COM
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