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"We set sail on this new sea because their is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won" John F Kennedy

members.aol.com/mfwan/index.htm

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Tired of the name of your ship? Always thought that names like USS Frederickson or USS Sao Paulo were difficult to spell? Here is your chance to change that!

Introducing the new NX-2000 Renamer. It can create new names and numbers. Any text, any size, anywhere! You can also use it to change registry numbers. Always though that the number NX-59650 was to low? The Renamer can fix that! Always wanted to impress your friends on DS9 that you have an original Enterprise-D shuttle? The Renamer can change the number in mid-flight!

To order, please call us at: 0-800-CONFUSE
 

*still trying to wash the taste of that second movie out of his mouth*

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Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.
--
Ambrose Bierce
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! It's useless to struggle.

I hope they don't put the Raven-chick in there. Lambert has had some bad movie-years now, this could be his last chance.

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Ready for the action now, Dangerboy
Ready if I'm ready for you, Dangerboy
Ready if I want it now, Dangerboy?
How dare you, dare you, Dangerboy?
How dare you, Dangerboy?
I dare you, dare you, Dangerboy...

�on Flux, "Thanatophobia"

Saw the movie. It basically was going all over the place with these damned flashbacks, morality speeches and oversentimentality, without respect for the plot itself.

The action wasn't that great either, except between Duncan and that Japanese kung-fu fighter.

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"My Name is Elmer Fudd, Millionaire. I own a Mansion and a Yacht."
Psychiatrist: "Again."

 

$poiler$
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Who else thought the plot was confusing enough without the flashbacks compounding it?
I could hardly keep track of it, and I've seen literally every single movie and episode at least twice! They had Dawson and Methos all of 10 minutes in it too. I'll count it as not real since they bastardized killing Conner so badly.
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Where's the bathroom on this ship?
 

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Ready for the action now, Dangerboy
Ready if I'm ready for you, Dangerboy
Ready if I want it now, Dangerboy?
How dare you, dare you, Dangerboy?
How dare you, Dangerboy?
I dare you, dare you, Dangerboy...

�on Flux, "Thanatophobia"

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?

[This message has been edited by TLE (edited September 04, 2000).]
 

The plot wasn't that good, I agree. I was hoping the opening flashback would go back to Highlander 1 and "clear up" the ending of that film and say, hey, Connor didn't win the prize ... he just whacked an Immortal is all.

I liked "THE" fight scene that answers "THE" question. Maybe at the beginning, you know who wanted you know who to take his head without a fight, but at the end, you know who just wanted one of them to have the other's Quickening.

It was a Chinese guy. Not Japanese.

I really liked seeing Duncan in "kick-ass" mode in Connor's old place.

As I understand it: 2 and 3 NEVER EVER happened. NEVER. Forget them. Don't bother trying to understand them, they DO NOT and NEVER WILL be canon.

As for when this takes place ... Highlander: The Series had 6 seasons. However, season 6 took place over a year after season 5 ended (there was reference in the dialogue in the season 6 premiere to this).

The first season episode where Tesa is kidnapped by the "Beat Master" dude from V? Marc Singer? Dialogue at the beginning of the episode between Tesa and Richie tells that Duncan is in NEW YORK. Could this be when the opening flashback happened? Very possible. It couldn't be much earlier than this, because Connor was in the Series' first episode. This would set the movie about 3 years after the end of the Series, and 2 years after the end of the Raven.

Well, I guess thats all, folks!

"Don't Lose Your Head" -- Queen

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It's a Jeep thing

 

I thought the movie sucked as well. There were a few minor gems, but all in all, it was just a bunch of stuff crammed into an hour and a half. It felt like an episode of the series.

There was so much they could've done with this. You've got this great concept of an immortal who doesn't care about the rules. He has all these footsoldiers working for him that don't care about the rules. And what do they do with it? Hardly anything!! He just kills them all off.

And then to have Connor die so Duncan could face him alone...more dumb. A far better ending would have been for them to both show up and fight him together, choosing to disregard the rules themselves in order to fight this evil. But it turned into just another headchop battle.

Methos and Joe just put in token appearances and really didn't advance the plot at all. I did like the Watchers at the beginning, but they turned boring really fast. I also liked the revelation that Connor's partner/secretary from the first movie showed up again and turned out to be his adoptive daughter. That was a good twist. And at least they got all the old actors to play characters from the first movie. I'm surprised no mention was made of Ramirez, though.

If you can't tell already, I was disappointed.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore

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How stupid do you have to be to play Russian roulette with a semi-automatic?

For me, the flashbacks were the most enjoyable bits. Watching Connor and Duncan make their way through centuries of costumed history was rather fun, as was learning a bit of the personal history of these two characters. I grew tired of seeing the life-weary, broken Connor Macleod bemoaning his "curse."

Apparently, the ancient highlands of Scotland produced quite a few immortals. Duncan and his bride to be were BOTH IMMORTAL? Connor and Jacob Kell were BOTH IMMORTAL? Rather unlikely odds. I also found it difficult to believe a man like Connor Macleod would harbor guilt for centuries over killing a religious zealot responsible for putting his beloved mother to the torch. And after finding out that the source of his "curse" is Jacob Kell, a man responsible for the deaths of everyone Connor has ever loved, he would have relieved him of his head at the first opportunity, holy ground or not.

As far as I'm concerned, Endgame can be grouped with all the other Highlander sequels which most fans have agreed NEVER happened.
 

Basic formula

They don't connect to eachother at all. Bleh.
Highlander 1 and 3 seperately contained sequels.

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?

[This message has been edited by TLE (edited September 07, 2000).]
 

I think the only canon timeline we can accept now is Highlander (the first movie with the suspention of disbelief that Connor actually didn't win the prize)>Highlander:The Series>Highlander 4.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore

Duncan MacLeod, the jetsetting trendy Immortal, commutes between a barge in Paris and a bankrupt dojo in Seacouver (named so b/c the show was filmed in Vancouver but supposed to take place in a northwestern pacific U.S. city ... and it was an antiques store in season 1, yes), fights to keep his head against a variety of enemies ... including the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. At the end of the series, Duncan has been "chosen" to fight some great evil and kills his student, Richie Ryan in a fit of insanity. Seeking retreat, he leaves the Game for a year before returning and defeating his enemy.

A few years later, Duncan begins having nightmares about Connor, who has been missing for ten years. This is "Highlander IV: Endgame"

Some inconsistencies:

"Highlander: Endgame" would leave one to believe that Connor MacLeod found Duncan a few hours after Duncan's first death, while "Highlander: The Series" firmly establishes that Duncan had been lost in the Highlands for two years as an Immortal before meeting Connor, and had, in fact, taken his first Quickening before meeting Connor. You'll notice I don't say his first head ... Duncan met an Immortal hermit, who prophesised that Duncan would be the one to confront a great evil towards the turn of the millenia. The hermit had confronted the evil at the turn of the last, and cut off his own head to give Duncan his strength.

"Highlander: Endgame" also establishes that Duncan has been married. "Highlander: The Series" was again firm that Duncan MacLeod had NEVER been married and NEVER would be married ... this was key to the episode "Into The Darkness", where Tessa Noel and Richie Ryan were both killed by a renegade Watcher (Richie came back as an Immortal ... Tessa died the permenant death).

I also have a hard time believing that Duncan MacLeod OR Connor MacLeod couldn't defeat Kell by themselves. Connor beat the Kurgan! And look at all the Immortals Duncan got ... hell, he got two of the four Horseman of the Apocalypse!

In The End There Can Be Only One ... and it will be Duncan MacLeod, of the Clan MacLeod ...

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HowsaboutdemO's?

During The Series, Duncan MacLeod took (approx., mind you) 90 Immortal Heads.

Watching episodes like "Watchers""Hunters""Unholy Alliance""Finale""Methos" you tend to get the idea that there are SEVERAL THOUSAND Immortals out there, not couting all the thousands which have died.

The original movie gave the idea that in all of time there are about, oh, four dozen Immortals ... total. From the Dawn of Time to the Gathering.

The Series shows thousands of immortals, from all walks of life. It's only reasonable to expect a fair number of Immortals from Scotland, and yes, from the Highlands. I mean, hell, Duncan and Connor are from the same CLAN much less the same region!!!!

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HowsaboutdemO's?

The first movie had Connor killing the last Greater Immortal to win the prize. He held the prize until another Immortal accended from Lesser Immortal status to Greater Immortal status. This spawned the dissapointing sequels (I still think the 3rd and 4th were decent). Duncan finally appeared because he is now a Greater Immortal. Methos on the other hand, as the oldest (5000 odd years) could be retired? from the Game and is only a Watcher like Joe Dawson.

This is purely speculation but in some ways it makes a fair amount of sense on how the Movies and the Series are tied together as well as the status on the Prize.

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"I now stand ready to offer you my life, my skills, and my knowledge. I ask you only one thing in return. My wife will have fled by now. Help me find her, save her, and the finest weapon the Empire ever created will be yours to command."
- Colonel Baron Soontir Fel, 'The Making of Baron Fel'

[This message has been edited by Soontir_Fel (edited September 10, 2000).]
 

A good way of explaining Highlander 1 is that it is a "mini-Gathering" ... the 6 Immortals from the film were in close enough proximity to one other that they somehow BELIEVED themselves to be in the final Gathering, and dueled themselves to the end.

Another popular idea, is that the Gathering itself takes a VERY long time ... years, decades even. In fact, the first season of Highlander: The Series opened by saying that the Gathering was indeed here ... of course, you can see how well that would've worked out ... at least a six year Gathering!

Methos is NOT retired from the Game. He has been very active during the past few years of the Series, taking at least three heads that I can think of offhand (Kristin, Silas & the k'immie from the Joe&Methos 6th season ep)

And the thought of Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod as a "lesser" Immortal makes me cringe ... Duncan has always been portrayed as a character with a very strong moral compass. He's also got a zest for life, something which makes him markedly different from Connor.

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HowsaboutdemO's?

Here's why: Connor kills Kurgan, and moves with Heather to the Scottish Highlands. Heather is killed by a speeding car ... (Jacob Kell's hands at work here, perhaps?)

Now, in Highlander 3, Connor:

Moves to Marakesh, adopts a son, and lives in the "countryside"

In Highlander IV, Connor:

Returns to New York to rebuild his life, but dissapears when Rachel, his "daughter", dies in a bomb set off by Jacob Kell. Connor dissapears into "sanctuary" for 10 years, and when he emerges, he soon challenges clansman Duncan MacLeod to a fight and loses.

I see NO way for the modern events of Highlander 3 to be "cannon" ... sorry, folks ... there is NO way it could have happened ...

The flashbacks, i.e., Connor traveling to Japan, Immortal Kane killing the Sorceror Nakano and being trapped with two other Immortals in a mountain somewhere -- I can TOTALLY see that as having happened.

It would've been so much EASIER if the producers had set Highlander: 3 in The Series universe and not insisting to make a sequel to the first film ... sheeeeesh ...

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HowsaboutdemO's?

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Sailing the Slipstream
 

And ... believe it or not, The Series also introduces us to Juan Villa Loboz Ramirez' teacher!! Who was killed by a K'Immie way back when, and then Richie killed the K'Immie's apprentice, so the K'Immie came after Richie, but MacLeod stepped in and killed the K'Immie ...

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HowsaboutdemO's?

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?
 

It just didn't delve into any of the really interesting things about the bad guy. I miss all the history and story-telling of the series. That got into alot of the myths and culture of the Immortals as their own society. Which always made perfect sense to me.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore

Instead of using the bad k'immie Kalas in the TV series ...

Kalas was a BIG pain in Duncan's side in the 3rd season. He appeared in FIVE episodes before Duncan finally took his head. Kalas' hunt for Methos was how Duncan met him. In fact, Methos offered Duncan his head -- its the only way to stop Kalas, Methos said.

In the final two episodes Kalas appeared in, he aquired a Watcher disc which identified EVERY Immortal and where they were and who they had been. He challened Duncan MacLeod: if Duncan didn't give him his head, he'd distribute the disc to the media and the Immortals' secret would be out ...

These five episodes would've made a GREAT movie. A little reworking, bring Connor in somehow ... hell yes.

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HowsaboutdemO's?

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?
 

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HowsaboutdemO's?

I believe Babylon 5 was set up more or less like this. The writer knew everything that was goning to happen before they started filming.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore

i.e.: Alexandra Vandernoot, whose character died in Season Two b/c filming the Series was taking a toll on her personal life

Stan Kirsch, who had his character Richie killed, when he wanted to move onto work on other things.

I also believe that B5's course wasn't as it was supported to be, either. The Network (or whoever was buying it)didn't like the character of Sinclair, so JMS moved up how the series was SUPPOSED to end, with the audience finding out that Sinclair goes back to become the Mimbari's religious leader.

And with Capt. Sheridan, JMS had to find a new arc to tell, b/c he couldn't suddenly make Sheridan the new Mimbari Religious leader ...

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HowsaboutdemO's?

It's not that you plot out every episode and movie you want to do exactly, but just the MAJOR parts ... i.e., Darius' death and MacLeod's discovery of the Watchers ... Tessa's kidnapping, and her and Richie's murder at the hands of a street mugger resulting in her death and Richie becoming an Immortal ... MacLeod telling Richie to go out on his own when he takes his first head ... Xavier St. Cloud working with renegade Watcher James Horton ... Richie coming back to MacLeod when he's stalked by another Immortal ... MacLeod bringing down Horton and the Hunters when they try to use an imposter to pose as Tessa and take Mac off guard ...

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HowsaboutdemO's?

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

 

I don't care if B5 was totally or partially planned from the start, it's execution was excellent. Even B5 had character probs. Susan Ivonova (Claudia Christian) quit/denied back in the last season which made JMS rewrite some eps.

Too bad Highlander and other series weren't set like this.

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?
 

DS9 dropped the ball in this area. La Femme Nikita dropped the ball in this area. In fact, I can't think of any show that has done a really good job of this except maybe B5 (which I haven't watched all that much).

As for actors leaving: there are several ways around this
A) Plan departures for some of the supporting characters after a few seasons and make them sign contracts for that long. The main character has to under stand the the series will go for so long and be willing to commit i.e. sign a contract.

B) Make everybody sign contracts for the series' five year run or whatever and make them stick to it.

C) Write contingencies that allow for unexpected dropouts, injuries or deaths. Yah this one is kinda difficult, but not impossible.

I'm not saying that any of this is simple. I'm saying it's what is needed to provide a truly satisfying, non-week-to-week-feeling show. Just MHO of course.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

 

Especially Elizabeth Gracen in her skin-tight outfits waving a sword around ...

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

 

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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Ready for the action now, Dangerboy
Ready if I'm ready for you, Dangerboy
Ready if I want it now, Dangerboy?
How dare you, dare you, Dangerboy?
How dare you, Dangerboy?
I dare you, dare you, Dangerboy...

�on Flux, "Thanatophobia"

And I think Grayson falls to the side. He falls foreward to his knees, then collapses to one side.

A beheading was done very well in the flashback for "Finale." Xavier St. Cloud fights and beheads Hamza El Kahir in the desert, and you see Xavier disarm Hamza (the shot is a POV from Duncan, so the two dueling Immortals are kinda far away, but you can still see them clearly enough), and Hamza drops his head and Xavier deals the final cut,and Hamza collapses, and you see Xavier get the Quickening.

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

He came back in the second season for a two-parter, "Unholy Alliance" where Xavier teamed up with ex-Watcher turned Hunter James Horton to go for MacLeod's head. Mac got Xavier at the end, took his head, but Horton got away ...

Xavier came back for a flashback at the end of the third season, and another flashback for an episode filmed for the fourth season but held over until the 5th.

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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love's function is to fabricate unknownnness
--
E. E. Cummings
****
Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! And party everyday.

 

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?

The only standout eps in the 6th season were a flashback episode where MacLeod and Fitz are tying to figure out which one of Fitz's mortal friends poisoned him and why ...

And the finale, which was essentially a (damn -- what IS that film title???? I can't believe I forgot it!). You know, MacLeod gets challenged to a duel by an Immie whose holding Amanda hostage, and Mac goes prepared to lose his head, and then does the whole what-ever-the-name-of-this-damn-movie-is-why-can't-I-think-of-it and sees how the world would've turned out if he had never existed:

Methos would still be running with the other Horseman...

A full blown war has erupted between the Watchers and the Immortals ...

And Amanda's a bad girl 'cuz she poisoned her husband ...

Oh, but Tessa is married with children ...

And Fitz lost his head several hundred years ago, "and that's a lot of unhappy women, MacLeod..."

And Richie died his first death during a robbery and was taken in and trained by Kronos and Methos, and when he can't kill Joe Dawson, Methos kills him ...

And MacLeod fights him ... "I AM DUNCAN MACLEOD OF THE CLAN MACLEOD!"

To which Methos replies, "never heard of you."

They fight. MacLeod wins ... and goes back to reality, where he and the real Methos (not the alternate-universe Methos) overpower the K'Immie's henchmen and MacLeod fights and takes him down to a Quickening to the tune of Amazing Grace ...

Good two-parter.

The rest of the 6th season sucked.

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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"Have you ever tried factoring Optimus Prime?"

-TSN, TrekSunday, 9/17/00
 

I KNEW THAT! I KNEW THAT! I KNEW THAT!

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My roomate is a stupid, often-drunk, country-listening, non-cleaning, non-choring redneck ... kill him now ...

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?

A lot of evil Immortals in Highlander have names starting with "K"

Kurgan, for instance.

Kalas, Kell, Kane, Keegan, etc., etc.

So, if you want to quickly reference an evil Immortal, you call 'em a "K'Immie" ...

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Since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball. From Soho down to Dryton, I must have played them all.

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Ready for the action now, Dangerboy
Ready if I'm ready for you, Dangerboy
Ready if I want it now, Dangerboy?
How dare you, dare you, Dangerboy?
How dare you, Dangerboy?
I dare you, dare you, Dangerboy...

�on Flux, "Thanatophobia"

Grayson, St. Cloud, etcetra. But you'd still refer to them as a "K'Immie" even if their name doesn't start with a "K" and their evil ...

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Since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball. From Soho down to Dryton, I must have played them all.

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Where's the bathroom on this ship?

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And by the way, I faked all the orgasms.

Leslie Nielsen, in "Room With A View With A Staircase In A Pond"
 

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Jeff's Webcam
***
From the dawn of toys we came, living secretly among your cherished treasures, moving through the toy chests, until the time of the Gathering, when those who remain will battle for the prize. In the end, there can be only one ... LEGOLANDER!
***
Gore/Lieberman 2000