Last time: Kastagir brought us sunshine and rainbows and booze and fun. Connor smiled (1980s) and got stabbed a lot (1780s).
26. Oh, right. This movie’s about immortal people whacking each other (part 1).
Meanwhile, the Kurgan is checking out of the flophouse (I seem to be running out of cartoon-wolf reaction shots for this). On the way, he stops to menace the clerk for saying the following:
“How’d you like Candy? She said you were kind of kinky, huh?”
Setting aside the fact that saying that is obviously suicidal… If you thought I was really digging in with the religious analogies last time, let me say that I have pondered those words above quite a bit since the first time I watched Highlander. And as wishing for a competent fanfic writer to do the same has not panned out, I’ll just point out that, reluctant as I am to admit it, the Kurgan hasn’t actually done much for a guy who is posited as humanity’s greatest threat. Other than his attacks on immortals, he has so far:
- Killed a bunch of MacLeods in exchange for access to Connor—possibly also because he enjoyed it, but it’s explicitly stated that it’s part of an “agreement”;
- Left Heather alive and in a condition that gives Connor no inkling of what happened;
- Left Candy the prostitute alive and mildly complaining (assuming that was in fact a complaint);
- Given the flophouse clerk a really stern talking-to.
By the standards of movies set in gritty New York, that’s pitiful. Jeff Goldblum’s nameless thug in Death Wish did worse. Still, it’s an interesting contrast to what we see later in the movie, and I still can’t figure out if it’s a deliberate one. All I can say is that it took me years to notice.
We then have one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I’ve mentioned how good all the minor characters are, and this wackjob is no exception: a survival nut drives the dark streets of New York in what I’m pretty sure is a Trans Am, music blaring, machine guns rattling around in the car. The guy is one Rambo headband (and one bad decision) away from having his own movie, in other words.
Wackjob passes an alley and sees two guys fighting with swords: it’s the Kurgan and Kastagir, who will henceforth be known as The Fellow Who Should Have Stayed In And Ordered Room Service. Wackjob grabs one of his guns, thrilled to have some actual crime to fight, and tries to break things up. The immortals sensibly ignore him; less sensibly, Kastagir is not wearing a thick metal collar. Soon he’s not wearing a head anymore either.
And just as the Kurgan is about to have a totally-not-a-sexual-analogue experience, Wackjob shoots him full of bullets. How rude.
Next time: Hitchcock for Found-Again Friday.
Next time on TCBOM!: Explosions! I know I promised you explosions this week, but the farther into the movie you get, the harder it is to, er, slice things up properly.
