MovieChat Forums > Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) Discussion > I don't think the alien origin is such a...

I don't think the alien origin is such a bad idea.

posted 12 years ago by HellboundHero
6 replies | jump to latest

It's just that it created a lot of questions that went unanswered, mainly pertaining to Connor and Ramirez's memories of Zeist or lack thereof. Do immortals know they're from the planet Zeist from the moment they arrive on Earth? If so, why did none of the immortals in the original show no recollection of their alien origins? If not, when do immortals remember? Did Connor remember when he won the Prize in his battle with the Kurgan? If Connor has known since the end of the first movie, why did he never take the chance to return to Zeist?

I think they could have used the alien concept while not contradicting anything from the first movie so it's not inherently a bad idea. I'm sure they could have come up with something better, but the very concept isn't inherently offensive to me.

Other than the plot holes relating to Zeist, I feel that the movie focused too much on the Shield subplot. I understand that the idea is Connor used his new mind reading powers in order to help humanity, but it felt like the whole environmental message hijacked the movie in much the same way the arms race message of Superman IV hijacked that movie.

[–] donutpower 12 years ago

Do immortals know they're from the planet Zeist from the moment they arrive on Earth?

they are supposed to know but obviously that doesnt translate across the two films.

If so, why did none of the immortals in the original show no recollection of their alien origins? If not, when do immortals remember?

thats the bothersome part. its like..at least write it so it fits with the first film tightly.

Did Connor remember when he won the Prize in his battle with the Kurgan? If Connor has known since the end of the first movie, why did he never take the chance to return to Zeist?

he was supposed to. The Kurgan was supposed to appear in Highlander II. but the actor declined. and so they just wrote him out.

it'd have been a better received sequel if it stood alone WITHOUT contradicting the first film. instead it just makes a mess of everything.

well Superman IV was all about the nuclear arms race.so i wouldnt say the film was hijacked, because the whole conceit of that film was the nukes and the message Reeve wanted to get across.

with Highlander II it tried to do the Shield plot along with reintroducing a whole new backstory to the immortals. so you're right in that it should have focused on one or the other.

[–] ferdinandhudson 12 years ago

Do immortals know they're from the planet Zeist from the moment they arrive on Earth?

In the script they were sent to be reborn with no memory of their past life on Zeist. Due to some significant re-editing of the script the memory wiping (not to mention rebirth) was left off thus making the whole thing unnecessarily vague/unexplained. This was supposed to be part of the expanded dialogue by the Zeist priests at the sentencing of Ramirez and McLeod.

If not, when do immortals remember? Did Connor remember when he won the Prize in his battle with the Kurgan?

Connor's memory of Zeist didn't come back until that evening at the opera (beginning of Highlander 2) which triggered memories of a battle between the rebels and General Katana's troops on Zeist.

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500 years ago on the planet Zeist

[–] HellboundHero 12 years ago

Connor's memory of Zeist didn't come back until that evening at the opera (beginning of Highlander 2) which triggered memories of a battle between the rebels and General Katana's troops on Zeist.

I kinda figured that's when he remembered, but that seems to defeat the point of the game. How do the Zeistian priests expect the winner to know to return to a planet of which they have no memory? And having the memories return in such a haphazard way decades after the game ended seems like a sloppy way to run the game. What if Connor died of old age before he went to the opera?

[–] ferdinandhudson 12 years ago

Even with the original script there's plenty of things that are head scratchers. The film is a visual treat but logic is sorely lacking in parts. Bellwood certainly should take some blame for it as all can't be due to what happened during shooting and after.

I give them points for coming up with a way for Connor to find more foes to fight when he already had won the game (beats having three guys holed up in a cave for 400 years or having another fellow clansman taking over the reins and completely ignore Connor having won the Prize) but the actions of General Katana are a bit forced (aside from the ever so enjoyable Michael Ironside hamming it up the best way he can) and the shield plot is more than a bit lame (although John C McGinley is a blessing to this film). Sean Connery returning as Ramirez is reason enough to watch this despite its flaws.

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500 years ago on the planet Zeist

[–] Dr_Sagan 12 years ago

I was about to write a similar post with the O.P.
We need an explanation on why immortals are the way they are, and the Alien origin is a such explanation.
Not the most suitable though.
Because of little and not so little things as the "holly ground" rule, the origin of immortals might be better to have something to do with ancient magic and mages and lost religions.

Google is your enemy.

[–] dan-willi84 12 years ago

I am beginning to see where they were coming from. Highlander 2 was a "What if". They trying to imagine, if Connor and Ramirez had been aliens from another planet.
But, they should had stuck to the original story and mythology.