Highlander 2: The Quickening
In August 1994, news broadcasts announce that the ozone layer is fading, and will be completely gone in a matter of months. In Africa, millions have perished from the effects of unfiltered sunlight. Among the dead is Connor MacLeod's wife, Brenda Wyatt MacLeod. Before dying, Brenda extracts a promise from Connor that he will solve the problem of the ozone layer.

By 1999, MacLeod becomes the supervisor of a scientific team headed by Dr. Allan Neyman, which attempts to create an electromagnetic shield to cover the planet, and protect it from the Sun’s radiation. The team succeeds, in effect giving Earth an artificial ozone layer. MacLeod and Neyman are proud to have saved humanity, and believe they will be remembered for a thousand years.

The shield has the side effect of condemning the planet to a state of constant night, a high average global temperature, and high humidity. By 2024, the years of darkness have caused humanity to lose hope and fall into a decline. The shield has fallen under the control of the Shield Corporation. The corporation’s current chief executive, David Blake, is focused on profit, and is imposing fees for the corporation’s services. A number of terrorist groups have begun trying to take down the Shield, among them Louise Marcus, a former employee of the Shield Corporation.

Meanwhile, Connor, now a frail old man, expects to eventually die of natural causes. As he watches a performance of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, an image of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez appears, and induces MacLeod to recall a forgotten event of his past. On the planet Zeist, a last meeting is held between the members of a rebellion against the rule of General Katana. The rebellion’s leader, Ramirez, chooses "a man of great destiny" from among them—MacLeod—to carry out a mission against Katana. At this moment, Katana and his troops attack, crushing the rebellion. Katana orders his men to capture Ramirez and MacLeod alive and kill the rest of the rebels. The two captives are put on trial by Zeist's priests, who sentence them to be exiled and reborn on Earth in pursuit of "The Prize." Winning the Prize gives the victor the choice to either grow old and die on Earth, or to return to Zeist. It is worth noting that alternate cuts of the film have these events transpire in Earth's distant past rather than on Zeist. Katana is unsatisfied with their decision, but the sentence is executed, leading to the events of the original 1986 film.

Back in 2024, Louise Marcus discovers that the ozone layer has in fact restored itself naturally, which means that the shield is no longer needed. The Shield Corporation is aware of this development, but has chosen to hide it from the general public in order to maintain its main source of profit. Meanwhile, on Zeist, Katana decides that MacLeod cannot be allowed to return, and sends his immortal henchmen, Corda and Reno, to kill him.

Marcus manages to reach MacLeod first, and asks for his help in taking down the Shield. To her disappointment, she finds the passionate person she once admired has grown into a tired old man. MacLeod explains to her that he is dying and expresses his disapproval of terrorism. Before they can finish their conversation, Corda and Reno attack. MacLeod manages to decapitate them both, absorbs their energy during the Quickening, and regains his youthful appearance. In the process, MacLeod summons Ramirez back to life.

In Glencoe, Scotland - the location of his death in the first Highlander film - Ramirez is revived. He finds himself on a theatrical stage during a performance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Meanwhile, MacLeod has found a new lover in Louise Marcus. He attempts unsuccessfully to explain to her the concepts of his immortality. Elsewhere, General Katana arrives in New York, the scene of The Gathering and begins wreaking havoc.

Both Ramirez and Katana soon adapt to their new environment. Ramirez’s earring is apparently valuable enough to pay both for a new suit he acquires from the finest and oldest tailor’s shop in Scotland, and for an airplane ticket to New York City. Katana finds New York much to his liking. After entertaining himself for a while, Katana encounters MacLeod at a church. Since immortals are forbidden from fighting on holy ground, they do not fight each other, but MacLeod expresses rage at being immortal once again.

Soon thereafter, MacLeod is contacted by Ramirez, who joins them in their plan to take down the Shield. Katana, expecting this, forges an uneasy alliance with David Blake, who mentions that shutting down the planetary shield would require so much energy that the planet would be destroyed. The conflict between the two sets of allies eventually leads to the deaths of Dr. Allan Neyman, Ramirez, Blake and General Katana himself. MacLeod succeeds in taking down the Shield by using the combined energies of his final Quickening from General Katana. Louise sees the stars for the first time in her life. MacLeod then claims The Prize by returning to Zeist with Louise.

tl:dr -
In August 1994, news broadcasts announce that the ozone layer is fading, and will be completely gone in a matter of months. In Africa, millions have perished from the effects of unfiltered sunlight. Among the dead is Connor MacLeod's wife, Brenda Wyatt MacLeod. Before dying, Brenda extracts a promise from Connor that he will solve the problem of the ozone layer.

By 1999, MacLeod becomes the supervisor of a scientific team headed by Dr. Allan Neyman, which attempts to create an electromagnetic shield to cover the planet, and protect it from the Sun’s radiation. The team succeeds, in effect giving Earth an artificial ozone layer. MacLeod and Neyman are proud to have saved humanity, and believe they will be remembered for a thousand years.

The shield has the side effect of condemning the planet to a state of constant night, a high average global temperature, and high humidity. By 2024, the years of darkness have caused humanity to lose hope and fall into a decline. The shield has fallen under the control of the Shield Corporation. The corporation’s current chief executive, David Blake, is focused on profit, and is imposing fees for the corporation’s services. A number of terrorist groups have begun trying to take down the Shield, among them Louise Marcus, a former employee of the Shield Corporation.

Meanwhile, Connor, now a frail old man, expects to eventually die of natural causes. As he watches a performance of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, an image of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez appears, and induces MacLeod to recall a forgotten event of his past. On the planet Zeist, a last meeting is held between the members of a rebellion against the rule of General Katana. The rebellion’s leader, Ramirez, chooses "a man of great destiny" from among them—MacLeod—to carry out a mission against Katana. At this moment, Katana and his troops attack, crushing the rebellion. Katana orders his men to capture Ramirez and MacLeod alive and kill the rest of the rebels. The two captives are put on trial by Zeist's priests, who sentence them to be exiled and reborn on Earth in pursuit of "The Prize." Winning the Prize gives the victor the choice to either grow old and die on Earth, or to return to Zeist. It is worth noting that alternate cuts of the film have these events transpire in Earth's distant past rather than on Zeist. Katana is unsatisfied with their decision, but the sentence is executed, leading to the events of the original 1986 film.

Back in 2024, Louise Marcus discovers that the ozone layer has in fact restored itself naturally, which means that the shield is no longer needed. The Shield Corporation is aware of this development, but has chosen to hide it from the general public in order to maintain its main source of profit. Meanwhile, on Zeist, Katana decides that MacLeod cannot be allowed to return, and sends his immortal henchmen, Corda and Reno, to kill him.

Marcus manages to reach MacLeod first, and asks for his help in taking down the Shield. To her disappointment, she finds the passionate person she once admired has grown into a tired old man. MacLeod explains to her that he is dying and expresses his disapproval of terrorism. Before they can finish their conversation, Corda and Reno attack. MacLeod manages to decapitate them both, absorbs their energy during the Quickening, and regains his youthful appearance. In the process, MacLeod summons Ramirez back to life.

In Glencoe, Scotland - the location of his death in the first Highlander film - Ramirez is revived. He finds himself on a theatrical stage during a performance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Meanwhile, MacLeod has found a new lover in Louise Marcus. He attempts unsuccessfully to explain to her the concepts of his immortality. Elsewhere, General Katana arrives in New York, the scene of The Gathering and begins wreaking havoc.

Both Ramirez and Katana soon adapt to their new environment. Ramirez’s earring is apparently valuable enough to pay both for a new suit he acquires from the finest and oldest tailor’s shop in Scotland, and for an airplane ticket to New York City. Katana finds New York much to his liking. After entertaining himself for a while, Katana encounters MacLeod at a church. Since immortals are forbidden from fighting on holy ground, they do not fight each other, but MacLeod expresses rage at being immortal once again.

Soon thereafter, MacLeod is contacted by Ramirez, who joins them in their plan to take down the Shield. Katana, expecting this, forges an uneasy alliance with David Blake, who mentions that shutting down the planetary shield would require so much energy that the planet would be destroyed. The conflict between the two sets of allies eventually leads to the deaths of Dr. Allan Neyman, Ramirez, Blake and General Katana himself. MacLeod succeeds in taking down the Shield by using the combined energies of his final Quickening from General Katana. Louise sees the stars for the first time in her life. MacLeod then claims The Prize by returning to Zeist with Louise.
(Andrew Avetoom, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 15:11, 14 replies)

Don't make stuff up, there was never a sequel to Highlander.

( BraynDedd Natasha Kaplinsky's labia majora, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 15:14, closed)

Or, more to the point,
tl;dr.
(username failed moderation, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 15:44, closed)

I quite enjoyed Highlander 3.
The less said about the series, and subsequent film tie-in, the better, though.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 16:09, closed)

alright, skagra

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 15:19, closed)

Is Skagra a fan of Wikipedia?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_II:_The_Quickening

I thought he wrote all that Dr. Who BS off his own back.
(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 15:34, closed)

not a clue
you don't expect me to actually read any of those
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 17:01, closed)

Fair dues!

(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 17:04, closed)

That's not how I remember it

( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 16:37, closed)

ARGH!!!
No... just no... Dig a hole and bury it. Please - this never happened.

I actually *paid* to watch that at the cinema... and I am sure even the projectionist got fed up with the mess that was this "film" and lost a reel towards the end. Either that or there was some really appalling editing in the later fight scenes.


As the original Highlander film stated quite clearly - "There can be only one". No sequels were ever made.
( Batter Pudding Hurler is a figment of your imagination, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 17:11, closed)

I never saw Highlander 2, it being notoriously bad.
As a result, I thought that the above story synopsis was made up as a joke. The idea that it was all about the ozone layer struck me as particularly amusing, and bad.

Interested to see how much of the above was based on the real HL2 story, I decided to check wikipedia, to find it was in fact 100%.

Holy fuck.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 18:50, closed)

Try and fool your mind that this is an April Fool
It is better to never have known that this mess got the OK as a follow-up to Highlander. This post is a lie, Wikipedia is a lie, you will wake up from this dream next week. There was only one...
( Batter Pudding Hurler is a figment of your imagination, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 19:05, closed)

The reviews summed it up best....
Giving the film a score of 2 out of 10, IGN's review of the film said: "How bad is this movie? Well, imagine if Ed Wood were alive today, and someone gave him a multi-million dollar budget. See his imagination running rampant, bringing in aliens from outer space with immensely powerful firearms, immortals who bring each other back to life by calling out their names, epic duels on flying skateboards, and a blatant disregard for anything logical or previously established—now you are starting to get closer to the vision of Highlander II."
( Batter Pudding Hurler is a figment of your imagination, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 19:35, closed)

It's been 20ish years since I saw it
I remember it had one vaguely amusing scene, where Lambert and Connery wake up on mortuary slabs and joke about how many times each of them was shot to put them there.

That's it, that's the one bit I remember as being anything but jut awful.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Wed 2 Apr 2014, 19:44, closed)

I liked the soundtrack

(Plague Hedgehog 'posting crap', Thu 3 Apr 2014, 7:10, closed)