In a moment of nostalgia inspired by it being free to stream on Prime (with commercials included, which I hate–why I am paying their yearly membership fee if Primeable streaming includes commercials? Fight me on this Amazon…), I rewatched the classic film Highlander.
And by “classic”, I mean “weird, but delightful.” Somebody prior to 1986 in Hollywood said to a filmmaker “I want to make a movie about immortals who have to fight to the death with swords while secretly living in the modern world; and also one of them is Scottish (a “highlander,” if you will). They can only die if they get their head chopped off, and there’s some kind of reward for the last man standing.” And a movie studio said “take my money!” and five films and nine television seasons later (six of the main series, and two spin-off shows) and we have a kind-of well-established canon of this insane world.
And it is insane. Again: the plot is these people live forever unless someone cuts their head off with a sword. The last man standing wins a prize of some kind (no spoilers–go watch it yourself). Later movies and the TV show work out further details for the world, and of course being immortal gives the writers lots of historical sandboxes to play in (I vaguely remember one episode of the TV show set in feudal Japan, because why the heck wouldn’t a Highlander go to feudal Japan?).
One of the things the film and the series don’t shy away from is religious reflection. What does religion mean if you’re simply don’t age? Obviously in one sense the biggest point of contrast is with those of us who are not (which is everybody). Does religion serve a different function for those who wither with time and those who do not? What does it mean if you just keep living, does life have more value, or less? How should we interact with people whom we know we will outlast?
These are interesting questions that we might not expect in a film about beheadings to dig into. To that end, this is a fascinating movie for believers to dig into, even if it definitely has an 80s feel to it. So if you haven’t seen it, go find this gem and give it a watch!
Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO
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