This anime take on the popular film series is much better than the last few theatrical sequels. Highlander fans will recognize the basic structure of the piece but it does up the sex and violence ratio.
What back of the box says:
The answer may lie with the beautiful yet tough freedom fighter Dahlia, who has a mysterious connection to Moya. Colin must confront Marcus in a showdown where the future of all men will be decided. There can be only one...”
Our story begins in 2187 and the Earth is a wasteland from years of terrorism and man’s tendency towards war. In this barren ruin of humanity comes Colin MacLeod (Alistair Abell, a MacLeod by adoption in a sense), who is searching for vengeance for the murder of his lost love in ancient Rome. She had drugged MacLeod and went to the Roman general Marcus Octavius (Zachary Samuels) to offer herself to save her people.
When Octavius attempts to accept her offer of herself, but says her people are doomed anyway, she stabs and kills Marcus. Of course, both Colin and Octavius turn out to be immortals. Another coincidence is that Marcus happens to be the ruler over the ruins of New York city in the future storyline. The Sean Connery role is played by Amergan (Scott McNeil) who is the ghost of a monk who appears to Colin to teach him the ways of the Immortals and taunt him as well.
The film does follow a familiar pattern set up by the television show in that there are numerous flashbacks to times past. Although there are some familiar parts, this sequel (well, not really since it features characters different than the movies or television show) benefits from the anime style as well as director Yoshiaki Kawajiri.
He’s the bloke responsible for Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scroll, Demon City Shinjuki, and the Program segment of the Animatrix. He’s no stranger to these types of storylines and his style of animation fits the characters and series well in my humble opinion.
They also add some nudity, profanity, and explosive, gushing blood bursts that are both standards of anime and fit well into a series where it usually ends with somebody losing their head.
Highlander - The Search for Vengeance is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include the featurettes “East meets West Part 1” and an “Interview with Director Kawajiri.” There’s also the teaser trailer and a photo montage. Unfortunately, the screener copy I was sent only had the feature and none of the special features so I can’t go into much detail on them.
Highlander - The Search for Vengeance seems a fine start to another series of adventures in the Highlander universe. Let’s hope that there can be more than one and that this series continues to grace our DVD shelves.
Highlander - The Search for Vengeance is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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