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Interesting idea. I figured nothing could really be done for this movie, other than editing out some of the cheesier jokes, or removing some of the racier scenes to restore the "PG-13 theatrical" cut.
Good luck!
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Hello everyone. My name’s Alexander, and I would like to talk to you about my first, finished/completed, fan-edit that I did.
When my friend, THE ONLY ONE THERE CAN BE, told me to re-edit this film, I told him “why would we need to?”, he said “because its bad, and its nonsensical”. Four months later, I see what he meant.
The HIGHLANDER franchise was born after the original film’s release in 1986. Since then, it spawned countless spin-offs, tv shows and novels. Its a good, but somewhat underrated film (not saying its a masterpiece, and I am a fan).
In 1992, following the critical failure and burnout of HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING, the producers of the Highlander franchise had decided to do a TV show that explored Connor MacLeod’s journey as he fought more Immortals in the present day. But because Christopher Lambert, the actor who played the original Highlander, refused to return to commit to a show, the producers considered different actors for the part, until they decided on Adrian Paul. But because Lambert was willing to do a third film playing the same character, the decision was made to create a new lead character entirely - and thus, Duncan MacLeod was born.
With the birth of the show, the question was brought up: What to do with the original film? It ended the story with the Gathering taking place and the Prize being won by Connor. The decision was made, to simply ignore the finality of the first film (ie., Connor and Kurgan were not the last Immortals, Connor didn’t win the Prize, etc.) and pretend the first film’s present day scenes was just Kurgan’s final attempt at killing MacLeod, and whoever else escaped him over the years. In effect, the first film was retconned, and the second film was now non-canonical. This created the fan-term, Series universe, where the events that include Duncan MacLeod directly (the Series, the novels, the fourth and fifth film) and indirectly (The Raven spin-off show, starring Duncan MacLeod’s on-and-off Immortal girlfriend, Amanda) take place, as well as the original film in the above mentioned retconned fashion.
The third film was initially released in 1994, during the third season of the show. For whatever reason, the producers decided, for the third film, that it wouldn’t set MacLeod’s new adventure in the Series universe, but instead, it’d be a direct sequel to the first film alone. This conflicted with the second film as well, that definitively showed Brenda being the last woman that Connor MacLeod has had any involvement with.
The story was, Connor didn’t win the Prize after the first film, because three Immortals were trapped in the cave for centuries. At the end of the film, Connor wins the Prize by defeating the bad guy, Kane, and resumes his mortal life.
For years, the canonicity of the project was in question, and presuming no official word has been spoken about it for YEARS, its safe to assume that HL3 could, in no way, be seen as taking place in the Series universe.
This re-edit goes out to change that.
Firstly, by deleting any and all references to the Gathering ever taking place in 1985 (the first film’s time), and secondly, by placing the entire story in the said Series universe (in which, many, MANY more Immortals were still around and fighting out for the Gathering and the Prize).
However, the film also goes to almost completely recontextualize the whole film. The original film was filled with plot holes, errors and incredibly ridiculous story decisions that undermined a generaly good flick. The Unofficial Renegade Version really sets out to bring back some dignity to the third HL film. Additionally, songs from Queen (including the much-loved fan-favorite “Princes of the Universe”) have been included in various places in the film, as well as a new music video montage, using the “God Took A Picture” song found in one of the many versions of Highlander III.
The first goal of this re-edit was to bring purpose to the film’s existance by placing it in the larger canvas of the expanded universe created by the TV show. The second goal was to make a more pleasing, less-shitty and much less silly version of a Highlander film that has always been like a black sheep in that franchise.
I hope we (The Only One There Can Be and myself) have created a superior version of this sequel, that can be watched pleasently.
[color=#FF0000]NOTE: This space will be edited later on, to include info on how to receive the said re-edit. I haven’t gotten used to how to do this (uploading a DVD, making it available through fanedit.org, etc.), as this if my first re-edit, EVER. I’m sure a lot of you are experienced and all, but I’m only asking a bit patience so that I can find a way to make this avaialble to you all. [/color]
Thank you for your patience.
