The Highlander franchise has a long and checkered history. It began with the original film, which had three things going for it: an intriguing premise about immortals living among ordinary humans, a decent cast, and a music score (in part) by Queen. Though flawed, its mix of history, mysticism, and romance made up for any shortcomings and established why fans of the franchise still want to see more of the story today. A second film, Highlander II, threw most of that away with an utterly ridiculous plot that attempted an origin story. It was so bad that it is still largely ignored by producers and fans alike. Next, the TV series Highlander: The Series came along with a different cast and restored much goodwill. It stuck to the basics of the first film and went on, after a slow start, to expand the franchise with a range of interesting characters and recurring plot lines. Using that goodwill, Highlander: The Final Dimension was more of the sequel that Highlander II should have been. It was watchable, but not great. Highlander: The Raven was a spin-off TV series that came along after the original series folded. It collapsed under its own weight after just one season. Finally, the film Highlander: Endgame attempted to join the characters and plot ideas of the TV series and movies, but did so poorly. In all, the creative output of the franchise has been more bad than good.

This production record will not be improved by the latest made-for-TV movie in the franchise, Highlander: The Source. Starring Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield from the original series, it attempts another look at the origin of the immortals. Set in a rather apocalyptic near-future, Duncan Macleod (Mr. Paul) and Methos (Mr. Wingfeld) go on a quest for “The Source”, the mythic well-spring and destiny of all the immortals. They are joined by two immortals: Cardinal Giovanni (Thom Fell) who looks more at home in an A Flock Of Seagulls video than the Catholic Church and Reggie Weller (Stephen Wight) who plays the cockney everyman. Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes) makes a (final) return from the series to get Duncan involved in the quest and to help him keep his moral bearings as it progresses. The immortals are lead to the source by Duncan’s estranged wife (Thekla Reuten), who broke with Duncan because they couldn’t have a child. They are opposed by The Guardian, a highly powerful (and generic) evil immortal who seems to exist solely to oppose those who are seeking The Source.

If none of this sounds horribly promising, it isn’t. An acid test of any movie screenplay should involve the amount of time that the characters spend needlessly shouting at each other. It’s an easy thing to measure: the more shouting, the worse the movie. Characters shout at each other in Highlander: The Source all the time. The production also disappoints. The director relies too much on flashy technique and moody night scenes. There is only the semblance of a plot. Characters are poorly drawn, with none of the back story (told through historical flashback) that would have been present on the original TV series. The SciFi Channel must know how bad this movie is. Although IMDB gives the film a 102 minute running time, I swear that the network placed three or more minutes of commercials at every break, shortening the actual air time of the movie down to about 90 minutes.

This film is so bad that I don’t even feel guilty for spoiling the end:

Duncan’s reward for joining with The Source is the ability to have a child (a twist taken from the first film). Given that the movie starts with a moody monologue about the split between Duncan and his wife, this is all just far too neat.

While I have to give the movie points for a denouement about something other than taking the head of an immortal, the lack of subtlety and a real back story leaves the ending feeling empty.

Better luck next time, guys.