[miketardis]

HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING (1991)
Directed by Russell Mulcahy. Stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Virginia Madsen, Michael Ironside, John C. McGinley, Allan Rich. At least three different versions of this film exist; this review is based on the original U.S. theatrical version, which also was released on videocassette. It’s practically a lost film today, as the VHS tape is out of print, and it’s unlikely to receive a DVD release (though you never know).
This ridiculous sequel is stupefyingly bad, starting from a senseless premise and following it through to its anticlimactic end. Most shocking, it completely contradicts much of what was previously established in the first film, where Connor MacLeod (Lambert) defeated the last of his people in combat to become the last Highlander (“There can be only one,” remember?) and lose his immortality. HIGHLANDER II strangely posits that there are more Highlanders after all, and they come, not from medieval Scotland, but outer space! The planet Zeist, to be exact, where MacLeod and his mentor Ramirez (a slumming Connery) are revealed as rebels whose attack against evil leader Katana (Ironside) failed. Instead of executing them, the two are transported to Earth where they will never die. Somehow, this is considered to be a great punishment. When only one of them remains, he can choose either to return to Zeist or stay on Earth and grow old. MacLeod vows to return to Zeist, though he never does.
In 1999, the ozone layer has been depleted, and MacLeod and his friend Alan Heyman (Rich) create the December Installation: a shield that completely covers the Earth and protects it from solar radiation that has killed millions of people. Unfortunately, it also shuts out sunlight, clouds, rain and the stars. By 2024, the world is dark and gloomy, though The Shield Corporation, which owns the shield, is highly profitable under the watchful corporate eye of CFO Blake (McGinley).
Meanwhile, Katana, 500 years after MacLeod’s exile, for some reason decides to send two idiot assassins to Earth to take out his old enemy, who’s aged into an elderly man and would seem to pose no threat to anyone, much less somebody on a distant planet. By the way, it isn’t established why Katana remains alive five centuries later. If the inhabitants of Zeist are immortal, why would sentencing MacLeod and Ramirez to a life of immortality be such a harsh punishment? MacLeod kills the assassins (in what is probably the movie’s best action scene), regains his youth (which occurred when the killers arrived from Zeist), and teams up with environmental terrorist Louise (Madsen) to defeat Katana (who has also come to Earth) and break up the Shield Corporation.
Filmed on the cheap in Argentina (though Connery allegedly made over $3 million for less than two weeks work), HIGHLANDER II occasionally showcases some very large sets, though often dark, bare ones influenced by BATMAN or maybe BLADE RUNNER. MacLeod’s fight with the flying assassins appears to have been shot indoors or perhaps a back lot, and even though it doesn’t look anything like New York City, it does give the set piece an otherworldly feel. The clumsy editing produces several glaring continuity errors, such as the Zeist-born Katana knowing all about THE WIZARD OF OZ (!) and both Katana and MacLeod changing swords and clothes during their final battle. The occasional comic lines fall flat, as do the awful power ballads sprinkled throughout. Only Connery delivers a decent performance, and he’s barely trying. Lambert is wooden, Ironside is ridiculously broad, and Madsen barely resonates (barely has a character, really), though screenwriter Peter Bellwood deserves his share of blame.
HIGHLANDER II was reportedly butchered by the financiers before its U.S. release, which director Mulcahy disowned. The cut released in Europe was slightly different, and a more recent “Director’s Cut” substantially so, removing all references to Zeist and adding nearly twenty minutes of previously unseen footage. I can’t say that either version is better, though it’s hard to see how they could be any worse. HIGHLANDER II is one of the dumbest sequels ever made, though it isn’t at all boring. On the contrary, it’s an often fascinating example of inept movie making, and it does contain much to laugh at, including some woeful visual effects. Even Stewart Copeland’s score is bad.
Somehow, this movie didn’t bring the HIGHLANDER franchise to a screaming halt. Two more films followed (as well as a third so-far-unreleased sequel), as well as two television series, comic books, action figures and much more. HIGHLANDER remains alive and well more than twenty years after the first film. If HIGHLANDER II couldn’t kill it, then the franchise may prove to be as immortal as its characters.

[Darth Slater]

I have a guilty pleasure toward both versions of this film...

but i prefer the directors cut its isn't as choppy