Through the century, a group of Immortal swordsmen battle and lie in wait for The Gathering, a time when there will be but a few of them and they will battle to the last. Able to die only through decapitation, Connor MacLeod, one of the Immortals, faces his greatest challenge in nearly five centuries when a seven-foot tall Sword-wielding Immortal resurfaces in modern-day New York and tries to have his head for breakfast.

"There Can Be Only One". This line, pronounced often in the movie as the Immortals knock each other has often echoed what I think of the Highlander movie franchise: there should only have been one. Disregarding the weaker sequels, the original film is a truly entertaining story with a fantastic concept and great execution. Released back in 1986, this film has endured as a truly immortal staple for many movie fans. Beginning with the original concept of immortal swordsmen doing battle over a great many centuries, this action-packed feast comes complete with an engrossing hero, a very (very) intimidating bad guy and Sean Connery to boot! Christophe (I will not call him Christopher) Lambert puts his charisma to work as Connor MacLeod, an immortal whose life we follow through the discovery of his powers, his training at the hands of a mysterious Spaniard (Connery), all the way to his final confrontation with the mysterious Kurgan (Brown). The action sequences, mainly swordfights are very well choreographed and despite some dated special effects, the visuals of the film are pretty damn exciting.

From the opening scene at a NYC wrestling match to the medieval Scottish Highlands, it's all there and more. The main Immortals played by Lambert, Connery and Brown are special in that they each represent extremes of humanity that have seemingly evolved over centuries. MacLeod represents the struggle with his own inhumanity, Connery represents the wisdom of experience and Brown's Kurgan is the vivid representation of evil accumulated over many, many years. They all make it mesh together and despite an unnecessary appearance by Roxanne Hart as MacLeod's love interest, the characters all fall perfectly into place and manage to keep it all fascinating and downright entertaining. A great soundtrack by British rock group Queen is definitely a plus as well. If you haven't seen this film yet, you're definitely missing out on one of the most original concepts in film. You're also missing out on some great staring by Lambert and on one of the few films in which his vastly inconsistent accent fit right in. Is this a good movie? No. It's a kick-ass great movie!

Video: The Immortal Edition is the first time this film is released in widescreen format and boy, does it look great. Despite some special effects which are obviously a product of the low-tech eighties and a transfer that seems a bit dated, the great scene transitions in the film as well as some great scenery add to the overall visual value of the film. Watch for the great sky-cam shot in the wrestling match at the beginning of the movie.

Audio: You can't go wrong with Digital THX sound and 6.1 DTS. This is a very loud movie so make sure the neighbors are warned before you plug it in. Like I mentioned above, the soundtrack is almost exclusively made by Queen and these dudes can rock pretty loud when they want.

Here's where you get a bit let down. The DVD comes in an attractive metal box and when you pull it out, you immediately say "WOW! Two DVD's"! Let's clear this up right away then: Disc 2 is nothing but an audio CD containing three songs by Queen. We'll therefore eliminate this right now as a source of extras, although it's still pretty neat to have. Onwards we go then, with a pretty slim offering of bonus material. We begin with the full-length commentary track by Director Russell Mulcahy, along with producers Pewter Davis and William Panzer. It starts of pretty good as they share some insight on the film, but unfortunately, about half an hour into it, it sort of becomes a bit of a ramble fest with the three dudes sounding like fogies in a home discussing last week's bridge game. With all due respect though, they sometimes chime in with interesting information.

Following that is a set of 3 music videos by Queen. Featured are "Who wants to live forever", "A kind of magic" and "Princes of the universe". The songs are very cool and the videos are ok, but it's nothing you can't catch on MTV and it really adds nothing to the film experience. Apart from that, you're left pretty much out in the cold. Two pretty effective trailers, Film and Queen still shots and a couple of cast bios are pretty much all that you'll get out of the extras. Then again, when you consider that this is the umpteenth time that they release this film on a different DVD edition, it's no wonder they ran out of stuff.

This is a very good film and definitely one I recommend owning. Unfortunately, the DVD package, despite being physically attractive is somewhat disappointing and chances are that real fans of the film already own another edition. If you don't, then I surely recommend running (not walking) to you nearest video store and setting yourself up for an exciting couple of hours watching guys who can't be killed run after each other with very sharp swords. Have a blast!