Highlander

Highlander (1986)

38 mistakes

(5 votes)

Continuity mistake: In the Madison Square Garden fight scene between MacLeod and Fasil, Fasil's shades fall off after he rolls over a car, and the shot of them on the ground shows him running away in the reflection. McCloud stands over them looking around...and a few seconds later Fasil strikes a junction box, with his shades miraculously back on his face.

Continuity mistake: In the end, when Connor is receiving the prize, you can see a car battery at his feet, that was hooked up to the swordsman to produce the sparks when the swords clashed.

Continuity mistake: In the scene when the Kurgan has been shot by the paramilitary mortal in the alleyway, Kurgan makes his getaway by taking possession of a green Chevelle, with an old woman still inside. As the movie cuts to the car emerging from the alley at high speed, it is no longer a green 1971 Chevelle, but is now a green duster.

Factual error: When we first see Kurgan in modern day New York, he begins to assemble his sword in a motel room. The very fact that he is assembling his sword the way he is, snapping segments together, especially the blade itself, which is segmented in the middle, would make that quite possibly one of the weakest and most inefficient weapons a person could ever wield. Being that it is segmented the way it is, it is structurally weak, and a clash against another sword, or any hard surface for that matter, would break the segments apart easily.

Continuity mistake: At the end when the car is being driven by Kurgan, it bashes into the railings on the bridge several times, but by watching in slow-mo you can see that the sparks fly out of the railings about a metre in front of the car.

Visible crew/equipment: During the car chase scene towards the end of the movie, there is a shot of traffic heading down the street from behind the cars. To the side, you can see a van with the hazard-four way flashers going, a small platform hanging off the back, and two guys looking backwards at the screen, operating what looks to be a camera.

Continuity mistake: During the fight on the roof, Kurgan's sword is noticeably bent. This is right before they fall though the skylight.

Revealing mistake: The initial fight with Fasil is supposed to take place in the parking garage underneath Madison Square Garden. But in the shot where wrestler Terry Gordy is smashing his head against the turnbuckle, a banner for the New Jersey Nets is visible in the upper left corner of the screen. The arena scenes were actually shot at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Nets play.

Deliberate mistake: There's a bizarre editing gaff in the opening fight of the Director's Cut. At one point, Fasil's sword vanishes (for no real reason) and he starts to do backflips. The scene then cuts away, and when it cuts back, he's suddenly running and has his sword again. A few shots later, he's suddenly doing backflips and has lost his sword again. (It's meant to be Fasil doing the flips.) The editing makes absolutely no sense. It's like they somehow mixed up two different scenes during editing.

TedStixon

Continuity mistake: When Conor and Heather are making love outside, just before Ramirez appears, she says to him "You can do that to me forever if you'd like, my lord". Conor is then seen from above as he turns his head slightly and looks at her. The angle changes to a sideways shot, and his face is now turned directly upwards to the sky, and his eyes are closed. Back to the first angle, and he is once again looking at Heather with his head turned.

Twotall

Continuity mistake: In the final battle, it is impossible for Brenda to have gotten from the roof to the large "final fight" room as portrayed in the film. Brenda is seen on the roof, then shortly after, barging against the wall of the room. Too little time has past for her to have gotten from point A to point B.

Revealing mistake: During the end fight between Kurgan and Connor, Brenda can be seen holding onto the illuminated sign. You can also see the safety harness used to keep her from falling off, as well as two wires attached to the sign which are used to pull it over after Kurgan has sliced the supports from underneath.

Casperuk

Continuity mistake: When the ex-marine pulls up to see the Kurgan fighting the guy, the year of his Trans-Am changes. The first car is a Trans Am with the shaker scoop, but in the next scene, it becomes a similar looking Formula with front facing scoops.

Audio problem: The sounds of the weapons being used in the movie are evidently inserted in most cases. Like 1) When MacLeod fights Fasil in the Madison Square Garden garage, he uses an iron bar to ward off the sword blows - the twin sounds in both impacts are exactly the same, but in the second instance, the bar is hit only once. 2) When MacLeod and Brenda are ambushed by Kurgan, MacLeod swings a cable or chain at Kurgan. The sounds are exactly like those of the swinging swords.

Other mistake: In the scene when the Kurgan breaks into the tower house looking for Connor, he breaks down the front door. As the door fragments, we can see it is not made of wood but polystyrene.

Continuity mistake: In the first scene in the parking garage, after striking the car with his sword, McLeod's sword is noticeably bent. You can see it shorty after he strikes the car in the close up.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Connor lops off the head of his first opponent in the Garden car park, the man's head flies off some distance to the right of the viewer - Connor's left. However, in the next couple of shots, the head can be seen lying on the floor to the left of the body (or alternatively, on Connor's right). It's also a bit closer to the body, but the main issue here is that it switches sides instantaneously.

Continuity mistake: The camera follows Connor from behind as he is driving his car in an attempt to leave the parking lot before the police get there, you can see his hair is quite fluffy and dry. When he gets stopped by the police, his hair is now wet and slicked back.

GalahadFairlight

Connor MacLeod: I apologize for calling your wife a bloated warthog, and I bid you good day.

More quotes from Highlander

Trivia: In the video versions, the scene where MacLeod rescues Rachel, the text the German SS officer speaks has not been subtitled or otherwise translated, so it may not be obvious why MacLeod eventually kills the German (I don't know whether that was rectified in the DVDs). Here the translation of the German text: MacLeod trips up the officer and seizes his weapon. The German calls: "You should be dead." When MacLeod orders him to move, the German says: "No. First you will have to shoot me." Then MacLeod gives off his opinion about the 'master race', and then shoots him.

More trivia for Highlander

Question: In the director's cut (which seems to be the most widely available version these days), what's the deal with all the backflips in the opening fight? The editing is very awkward. Fasil goes from running, to doing backflips, then back to running, then back to doing backflips several times, seemingly between shots, during a short section of the fight. Is it just bad editing? Or is the movie trying to suggest that it's a different person doing the flips? Or... what? It's so confusingly edited.

TedStixon

Answer: The Director, Russell Mulcahy, started his career making music videos. He was known for using fast cuts and tracking shots.

Answer: I always felt the idea was given he was trying to move very rapidly whilst also being silent. In a garage with those shoes on your footsteps are very loud. Perhaps he was trying to confuse MacLeod as to where he was.

lionhead

I'm not asking why he's doing backflips. I'm asking why the editing is so confusing, since he goes from doing backflips, to running somewhere completely else, then back to backflips at the first location between edits. (Look up the clip "The Highlander (1986) 1080p : Underground parking Fight Scene. Epic!" on YouTube and pay attention around 4:20.) He also loses his sword whenever we see him doing backflips, even though he's carrying it when he's running. The editing makes absolutely no sense.

TedStixon

I know the scene. As I said, it's supposed to look like Fasil is confusing MacLeod by moving around a lot. Him losing his sword as he does it is already a corrected entry.

lionhead

Ah, got ya. Sorry, misunderstood what you mean. It just seemed very awkwardly edited to me.

TedStixon

More questions & answers from Highlander

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