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There are a few shots in the Highlander series that really bother me, and I wonder if any of you feel the same way about other instances whether it be from a sword fight, a conversation, or just anything that you felt didn't come across quite right or that you felt was outright silly.
My main three all come from sword fights.
I love the Season 4 episode "Brothers in Arms", but the final decapitation really bothers me because it's obvious that the move just wouldn't have severed Cord's head. In fact I remember watching the episode with an ex of mine who I was trying to introduce to Highlander and when she saw that move she said, "oh, so the immortals don't have to decapitate one another?" What they really needed to do was pan the camera to the right as Paul made the killing stroke just like they did in the final decapitation of "Eyewitness". Not only does it give the killing blow a sense of power, but it more clearly hides the fact that the blade is just not making the kind of contact it would need to make in order to behead someone. See it at 45: 25.
I think the worst example of a Highlander beheading is from the Season 3 episode "The Cross of St. Antoine". The final decapitation is just plain ridiculous. Such a stroke wouldn't have been capable of cutting paper and we see the sword on camera hitting NOTHING but the air. Check it out at 43:27.
But my most hated shot in the entire series comes from an episode that is otherwise one of my favourites—Season 5's "The Messenger". The shot in question comes during the final fight after Richie has picked up the sword that Macleod has thrown to him. The badguy runs towards him and then blatantly grabs the point and guides and holds it to his stomach as if he's been stabbed with it, and we see all of this right in front of us on camera. I cannot understand how this ever made it into the final cut. I can imagine that maybe they were shooting on such a tight schedule that they didn't have time for such a simple retake (though I find that unlikely), but there's no way that shot should have made it past the editing process. All you have to do is do a quick cut from when the badguy is running at Richie to him holding the sword to his stomach. You just need to cut the bit where he blatantly grabs the end of the blade and guides it there out. You can check it out at 44:50.
My main three all come from sword fights.
I love the Season 4 episode "Brothers in Arms", but the final decapitation really bothers me because it's obvious that the move just wouldn't have severed Cord's head. In fact I remember watching the episode with an ex of mine who I was trying to introduce to Highlander and when she saw that move she said, "oh, so the immortals don't have to decapitate one another?" What they really needed to do was pan the camera to the right as Paul made the killing stroke just like they did in the final decapitation of "Eyewitness". Not only does it give the killing blow a sense of power, but it more clearly hides the fact that the blade is just not making the kind of contact it would need to make in order to behead someone. See it at 45: 25.
I think the worst example of a Highlander beheading is from the Season 3 episode "The Cross of St. Antoine". The final decapitation is just plain ridiculous. Such a stroke wouldn't have been capable of cutting paper and we see the sword on camera hitting NOTHING but the air. Check it out at 43:27.
But my most hated shot in the entire series comes from an episode that is otherwise one of my favourites—Season 5's "The Messenger". The shot in question comes during the final fight after Richie has picked up the sword that Macleod has thrown to him. The badguy runs towards him and then blatantly grabs the point and guides and holds it to his stomach as if he's been stabbed with it, and we see all of this right in front of us on camera. I cannot understand how this ever made it into the final cut. I can imagine that maybe they were shooting on such a tight schedule that they didn't have time for such a simple retake (though I find that unlikely), but there's no way that shot should have made it past the editing process. All you have to do is do a quick cut from when the badguy is running at Richie to him holding the sword to his stomach. You just need to cut the bit where he blatantly grabs the end of the blade and guides it there out. You can check it out at 44:50.
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