''Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (also known as ''Highlander: The Final Dimension'' or ''Highlander: The Final Conflict'') is a 1994

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

and the third installment in the ''Highlander'' film series. Set as an alternate sequel to the

original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal H ...

, it is the final ''Highlander'' film that focuses on

Connor MacLeod Connor MacLeod, also known as The Highlander, is a fictional character in the '' Highlander'' film series, and appears in the extended franchise of the television programs: '' Highlander: The Series'' and '' Highlander: The Animated Series''. In ...

as the protagonist. In the film, Connor MacLeod is forced to face a new, dangerous enemy, a powerful sorcerer known as Kane who threatens to win the fabled "Prize" in order to gain world domination by eliminating MacLeod. It grossed $36.7 million worldwide.

Plot

Some time after the death of his wife Heather in the 16th century, the immortal Scottish Highlander

travels to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

to train with an immortal named Nakano, a sorcerer (said to be a master of illusion) and old friend of the Highlander's late teacher

Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez is a fictional character in the '' Highlander'' franchise, which covers multiple timelines. Born under the name Tak-Ne, he is generally depicted as an Egyptian swordsman who is immortal due to an energy called th ...

. In a cave in Mount Niri, Nakano teaches MacLeod how to fight with the

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

that once belonged to Ramírez. He also warns of Kane, an evil immortal making his way across Asia with two immortal henchmen named Khabul Khan and Senghi Khan. After burning down a village, the three reach the cave. Kane beheads Nakano, taking his immortal

Quickening In pregnancy terms, quickening is the moment in pregnancy when the pregnant woman starts to feel the fetus' movement in the uterus. Medical facts The first natural sensation of quickening may feel like a light tapping or fluttering. These sensat ...

energy and power of illusion. The Highlander escapes and Nakano laughs as he dies, declaring that Kane will not be present at the time of the Gathering (when the last immortals fight) and implying he has planned one last trick. The release of his energy causes a cave in, trapping Kane and his henchmen. In 1788 France, Connor meets and falls in love with Sarah Barrington, a visitor from England. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, MacLeod is captured and sentenced to death for treason against King Louis XVI of France. His immortal friend Pierre Bouchet takes his place, claiming he is tired of his immortal life. Believing Connor is dead, Sarah marries another man. By the time MacLeod finds her, he discovers she now has a family and decides to let her continue believing he is dead. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, the Gathering occurs in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and MacLeod is seemingly the last immortal left alive. He and his new love Brenda Wyatt move to Scotland and are married. She is killed in a car accident in 1987 and he survives without any wounds, indicating he has not lost his immortality and may not have won the Prize. By 1994, Connor is living with his adopted son John in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

. Meanwhile,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Dr. Alexandra Johnson (a woman identical to Sarah Barrington) is part of a team excavating the legendary cave of Nakano. The excavation frees Kane, who beheads Senghi to gain a boost in power while his other soldier Khabul leaves to find Connor. Sensing the release of the Quickening again, MacLeod realizes the Game is not over and realizes he must return to New York City. MacLeod leaves John in the care of his friend, Jack Donovan. Arriving in New York, MacLeod (using his old alias of "Russell Nash" again) faces and kills Khabul. NYPD Lt. John Stenn believes Khabul's headless body is proof that the "headhunter" killer of 1985 is loose again. He concludes the killer is Russell Nash, who was a suspect during the original case. Alex investigates a piece of kilt cloth found in the cave of Nakano, identifying it as branch of the MacLeod family, one where a clan member was banished for having unnatural powers. Learning that Russell Nash claims to be a descendant of this branch of the clan, Alex tracks him down and witnesses him battle Kane. The fight ends when MacLeod's blade shatters (possibly because their fight crossed into holy ground) and Kane flees. Connor returns to the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

to build another sword but is unsuccessful. Learning more and concluding that "Nash" is actually the banished Connor MacLeod, still alive, Alex tracks him down and gives him a bar of finely refined steel she found in Nakano's cave. Connor forges a new katana and admits his identity, and the two become lovers. MacLeod then learns Kane has abducted his son John. MacLeod meets Kane in an old church mission in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Christopher Lambert Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert (; ; born March 29, 1957) is a French-American actor, producer, and novelist. He started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, and became internationally famous for portraying Ta ...

as Connor MacLeod / Russell Nash *

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

as Kane *

Deborah Kara Unger Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (1994), ''Crash'' (1996), '' The Game'' (1997), ''Payback'' (1999), '' The Hurricane'' (1999), ''White Noise' ...

as Dr. Alexandra "Alex" Johnson; Sarah Barrington *

Mako , better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television d ...

as Nakano * as Lt. John Stenn *

Raoul Trujillo Raoul Maximiano Trujillo de Chauvelon (born May 8, 1955) is an American and Canadian actor, dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. A former soloist with the Nikolais Dance Theatre, he is the original choreographer and co-director for the ...

as Senghi Khan * Jean-Pierre Perusse as Khabul Khan * as Dr. Fuji Takamura * Jack Ellerton as Staring Drinker * Gabriel Kakon as John MacLeod *

Louis Bertignac Louis Bertignac (; born 23 February 1954) is a French guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. An ex Shakin' Street member and a founding member in 1976 of the rock band Téléphone, he formed Bertignac et les Visiteurs after Téléphone split in 19 ...

as Pierre Bouchet *

Michael Jayston Michael James (born 29 October 1935), known professionally as Michael Jayston, is an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). He has also made many television appearances, which have include ...

as Jack Donovan *

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

(archive footage cameo from original film) as

The Kurgan The Kurgan is a fictional character from the first '' Highlander'' film. He is portrayed by Clancy Brown. He is an Immortal and the main antagonist to Connor MacLeod in '' Highlander'', and the latter's ultimate opponent in the Gathering. The ...

Production

The film completely ignores and contradicts the events of '' Highlander II: The Quickening,'' effectively erasing it from canon. The movie specifically states that Brenda Wyatt died in a car crash in 1987 and shows a version of 1994 where Earth's ozone layer is intact, whereas ''Highlander II'' depicts the ozone layer as being largely gone by 1994, causing many deaths by cancer and radiation poisoning, including Brenda's. In a 1996 ''Cinefantastique'' interview, ''Highlander'' producer William Panzer mentioned that several references to the TV series' continuity were inserted into this film as a means of linking it to the TV universe. However, none of them have been acknowledged to each other between the third film and the TV series. Many of the locations in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

from the original film were revisited for this sequel. Several scenes were shot in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

: the medieval Japanese village and the building in which Nakano's cave is found were shot near

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. Plus, many sequences in New York were actually shot in Montreal, as well. Other scenes for this film were shot in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. The U.S. theatrical release was rated PG-13, and a slightly-longer R-rated ''Special Director's Cut'' was later released on home video with two sex scenes trimmed from the theatrical release restored. On top of this, additional violence was reinstated, mainly the shot of Kane's head rolling off. The PG-13 theatrical cut originally only showed Kane's head wobbling from side to side, then cutting immediately to the extreme close-up on Connor saying, "There can be only one." Furthermore, several enhanced visual effects shots are present in the American version, including Kane's arrival in

(via a teleportation portal, instead of stepping off of a freighter in the international version), as well as during the final Quickening sequence (where several additional shots of Connor levitating are seen, complete with new VFX work). Also, the American ''Final Dimension'' cut includes alternate musical tracks and cues (including the song "God Took a Picture" during the ending credits instead of

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...

's "Bonny Portmore," and a rock-instrumental version of

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

's " Dr. Feelgood" during the final battle between MacLeod and Kane).

Music

The score was composed and conducted by

J. Peter Robinson John Peter Robinson (born 16 September 1945) is an English composer, musician, and arranger known for his film and television scores. Early years and pop music career He studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music and enjoy ...

. The film marks the first use of "

Bonny Portmore "Bonny Portmore" is an Irish traditional folk song which laments the demise of Ireland's old oak forests, specifically the Great Oak of Portmore or the Portmore Ornament Tree, which fell in a windstorm in 1760 and was subsequently used for shipbu ...

" in the ''Highlander'' films (it was also used in the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

). The soundtrack features the following songs: * "Ce He Mise le Ulaingt? The Two Trees" by

available on her album ''The Mask and Mirror'' * "Bonny Portmore" by

, available on her album ''The Visit'' * " God Took A Picture" by

Suze DeMarchi Suze DeMarchi (born 14 February 1964) is an Australian singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the band Baby Animals (1989–1996, 2007–present). Early life DeMarchi was born in Perth, Western Australia to Walter and Shirley DeMarchi and h ...

(with

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and businessman. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. He has also recorded ...

) * "

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...

" by

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

* " Dr. Feelgood" by

(instrumental riff) * "Dummy Crusher" by

Kerbdog Kerbdog were an alternative metal band from Kilkenny, Ireland, formed in 1991. Following two albums released on Mercury Records, the band split up in 1998. Since 2005, they have reformed for a series of occasional one-off performances. In 201 ...

* "Little Muscle" by

Catherine Wheel Catherine wheel may refer to: * wheel or breaking wheel, an instrument of torturous execution originally associated with Saint Catherine of Alexandria * Catherine wheel (firework), a firework that rotates when lit Arts and entertainment * Cather ...

* "Boom Boom" by

Definition Of Sound Definition of Sound was a London-based dance-music group, consisting of Kevin Clark and Don Weekes, working with musicians Rex Brough (aka The Red King) and later Mike Spencer. Their second and fourth singles, "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" (199 ...

* "Honest Joe" by

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Reception

Box office

The film opened at number one at the U.K. box office but with a disappointing gross of £864,000 ($1.3 million) in its opening week. The film debuted at number 2 at the U.S. box office, grossing $5.6 million. The following week it dropped to 7th place, taking in $2.9 million. ''Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' finished its U.S. theatrical run with a gross of $13.7 million and grossed $23 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $36.7 million.

Critical response

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' remarked, "How could an action-adventure film that cost $34 million, most of which clearly went into pyrotechnics, computerized special effects and scenic locations, end up looking cheap, silly and lifeless? 'Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' isan incoherent mess ndhas performances that are one-dimensional even by the undemanding standards of the genre." The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's review gave the film a score of two stars out of five, saying: "This is a far superior film to '' Highlander II'' utit is really a copy of the first one. ... It really feels as if the ''Highlander'' story has no more to give us—but that would be very wrong. Perhaps the best thing this third movie did was promote the generally better

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

Christopher Null Christopher Null is an American writer, film critic, and columnist. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 to 2012. In 2003, CNN cal ...

of FilmCritic.com also gave ''Highlander III'' two stars out of five, saying: "The third in a line of increasingly perplexing ''Highlander'' movies, ''Highlander: The Final Dimension'' steals wholesale the plot from the original, just throwing in some fresh faces. ... Ultra-fans will rejoice in the face of the third installment—and it's nowhere near as bad as ''Highlander II''—but most of you can give it a pass." In retrospective, the film holds a 5% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 20 reviews, the critic consensus says "Borderline unwatchable and unspeakably dull, ''Highlander III'' is a sloppy third installment that still somehow manages to mark a slight improvement over its predecessor." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the film has a score of 28% based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Highlander Iii: The Final Dimension Highlander (franchise) films 1994 films 1990s fantasy action films British action films British sequel films English-language Canadian films Canadian action films Canadian sequel films English-language French films French action films French sequel films 1990s English-language films Fantasy adventure films British films set in New York City Films set in Scotland Films set in Morocco Films set in Japan Films shot in Montreal Films shot in Scotland Alternative sequel films Films shot in Morocco Dimension Films films Films set in the 16th century Films set in 1788 Films set in 1994 Fiction set in 1985 Fiction set in 1987 Films directed by Andy Morahan Films with screenplays by René Manzor Films with screenplays by Brad Mirman Films with screenplays by Paul Ohl Films scored by J. Peter Robinson 1994 directorial debut films Japan in non-Japanese culture Films about archaeology 1990s Canadian films 1990s British films 1990s French films