by Jonathan Melville

Polaris, out now

A deep dive into the making of the first – and best – Highlander movie.

Many years ago, the main job of one of my writers on DreamWatch was as a writer of copylines for movies, and he was given the assignment, so the story goes, of preparing the tagline for Highlander II. To which the only reasonable response was to say, “There can only be another one.”

The 1986 Russell Mulcahy movie is as beloved for its Queen soundtrack by many as for its action sequences, and Sean Connery;s larger than life appearance. It inspired multiple sequels on large and small screen – with the mythologies of them eventually crossing over. There’ve been animated series, audio series from Big Finish, novels…

Melville charts the movie from its genesis (and its original inspiration may surprise you) through pre-production to filming and beyond. He has an easily readable and accessible style, keeping the text in short subsections, and mixing up narrative with interview, and quotes from or summaries of the relevant parts of the script.

He presents all the stories, with interviews from key personnel where possible (Sir Sean had retired, and refused all media requests), and there are some wry anecdotes from production – such as the New York police chief whose car was destroyed on the first night of shooting! Chapter 13 will be of great interest to soundtrack and score fans, detailing the work that Queen and Michael Kamen put in, while Chapter 15 puts some persistent rumours to bed about Connery’s involvement.

Verdict: The sequels and other ancillary tales get a mention – the director of Highlander II sums it up best – but there really can only be one Highlander… and you’re highly unlikely to find a better account of it. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk