Other Titles • Highlander: Endgame • Highlander 4: The Search for Connor • Highlander IV • Highlander IV: World Without End • Highlander: A New Order • Highlander 4
It was because of the enthusiasm of these fans that producers Bill Panzer and Peter Davis decided to revisit the spirit of the very first HIGHLANDER -- and provide the final story that ties everything that has happened since then together. They brought in screenwriter Joel Soisson -- who also recently brought a new twist to the classic vampire story with "Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000," also for Dimension -- to develop a story by Gillian Horvath and Panzer.
"This is a story about revenge, about the Highlander legend coming full circle," says Bill Panzer. "There is of course breathtaking action, but it's really about the two men who are the very essence of HIGHLANDER -- Adrian and Christopher, Duncan and Connor -- meeting at last as brothers even though they know there can only be one in the end."
In addition to sparking a new take on the fantasy genre, the original HIGHLANDER marked the first major feature film from music video director Russell Mulcahy. Likewise, HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME features the directorial debut of Doug Aarniokoski, a protege of Robert Rodriguez, who cut his stylistic teeth working on such cutting-edge genre films as "From Dusk Til Dawn," "The Faculty" and most recently, "Texas Rangers."
Aarniokoski immediately saw the challenge on HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME as two-fold: to satisfy the intense interest of the loyal HIGHLANDER fans while at the same time opening up the HIGHLANDER universe to audiences who never experienced the original. "We really have a story that doesn't require you to have seen the previous films or the television series," comments Aarniokoski. "This means that anybody can jump right into this story with both feet and be completely engulfed in it."
Engulfing the audience in all of HIGHLANDER's layered aspects -- from impossible romance to psychological drama to breathtaking swordfights and time-shifts from ancient Scotland to 21st century America -- was Aarniokoski's goal. He also brought in elements never before seen in HIGHLANDER: new weaponry and some of the wildest kinetic martial arts sequences ever shot. "This film creates a different Connor and Duncan MacLeod, both grown wiser, stronger and sadder over thousands of years. and both of whom have honed their fighting skills to the absolute highest level," notes Aamiokoski. "The legions of HIGHLANDER fans will see things they've never seen before."
From the beginning, the desire to complete the HIGHLANDER story in true HIGHLANDER style rested on the creative involvement of two men: actors Christopher Lambert, who kicked off the enduring cult, and Adrian Paul, who carried the HIGHLANDER legacy through years of television popularity. Both were excited by the chance to add new and deeper dimensions to their long-lived characters.
"The idea was to have Connor and Duncan become like the yin and yang of the symbol of wholeness, and I think we've created that," says Adrian Paul. "For me, it's really a story of redemption. It's about Duncan trying to save his friend, trying to save his morals and repay a debt he was never able to fulfill in the past."
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