Highlander

Revealing mistake: The initial fight with Fasil is supposed to take place in the parking garage underneath Madison Square Garden. But in the shot where wrestler Terry Gordy is smashing his head against the turnbuckle, a banner for the New Jersey Nets is visible in the upper left corner of the screen. The arena scenes were actually shot at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Nets play.

Revealing mistake: During the end fight between Kurgan and Connor, Brenda can be seen holding onto the illuminated sign. You can also see the safety harness used to keep her from falling off, as well as two wires attached to the sign which are used to pull it over after Kurgan has sliced the supports from underneath.

Casperuk

Revealing mistake: When McLeod has his sword kicked away in the carpark, he grabs a metal pole from the fire point, only it bends when he grabs it and bends several times when he uses it, showing that it's made from foam rubber.

Revealing mistake: At the end during the sword fight, sparks fly off whenever the Kurgan hits something metal. However, at one point, the sparks fly out a full second after the Kurgan strikes it. You don't even need slo-mo.

Revealing mistake: This is just after the Kurgan kills the black Immortal. The Marines sees him in the alleyway after the Kurgan kills the Immortal, then it cuts to a shot of the marine. Look at the Kurgan's shadow-it just jumps randomly around the place thanks to dodgy editing.

Revealing mistake: When the Kurgen and Ramirez are fighting in Connor's home, watch the large pieces of stone that break away from the wall. They are obviously lightweight foam replicas of stone, evidenced by one or two shots where the Kurgen lightly pushes one slightly out of his way.

Continuity mistake: In the Madison Square Garden fight scene between MacLeod and Fasil, Fasil's shades fall off after he rolls over a car, and the shot of them on the ground shows him running away in the reflection. McCloud stands over them looking around...and a few seconds later Fasil strikes a junction box, with his shades miraculously back on his face.

More mistakes in Highlander

Brenda: So, Nash was illegitimate?
Doctor: Yeah, for about a minute and a half. He died right after she did.

More quotes from Highlander

Trivia: Whether it's deliberation or happenstance, Brenda Wyatt's first name is a Norse girl name meaning "sword".

More trivia for Highlander

Question: In the director's cut (which seems to be the most widely available version these days), what's the deal with all the backflips in the opening fight? The editing is very awkward. Fasil goes from running, to doing backflips, then back to running, then back to doing backflips several times, seemingly between shots, during a short section of the fight. Is it just bad editing? Or is the movie trying to suggest that it's a different person doing the flips? Or... what? It's so confusingly edited.

TedStixon

Answer: The Director, Russell Mulcahy, started his career making music videos. He was known for using fast cuts and tracking shots.

Answer: I always felt the idea was given he was trying to move very rapidly whilst also being silent. In a garage with those shoes on your footsteps are very loud. Perhaps he was trying to confuse MacLeod as to where he was.

lionhead

I'm not asking why he's doing backflips. I'm asking why the editing is so confusing, since he goes from doing backflips, to running somewhere completely else, then back to backflips at the first location between edits. (Look up the clip "The Highlander (1986) 1080p : Underground parking Fight Scene. Epic!" on YouTube and pay attention around 4:20.) He also loses his sword whenever we see him doing backflips, even though he's carrying it when he's running. The editing makes absolutely no sense.

TedStixon

I know the scene. As I said, it's supposed to look like Fasil is confusing MacLeod by moving around a lot. Him losing his sword as he does it is already a corrected entry.

lionhead

Ah, got ya. Sorry, misunderstood what you mean. It just seemed very awkwardly edited to me.

TedStixon

More questions & answers from Highlander

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