Ask John: Why is Reaction to the Highlander Anime so Polarized?

Question:
Why do anime fans hate the Kawajiri Highlander, while Highlander fans think it’s the best one since the first movie? Did people in the former group expect another X TV or something?

Answer:
I believe I can address this question because, ironically, I personally fall into both camps. I have a tremendous adoration and respect for the original 1986 Highlander. I’m the only person I’ve ever met that saw the film in its original theatrical release, and since then I’ve watched the original film more times than even Star Wars. While I largely ignored the various Highlander TV series, I have watched all of the feature films, including the American theatrical and director’s edits of Highlander II, the original German cut of Highlander: The Source and its shortened American edit, and the original Japanese cut of Search For Vengeance and its shortened American cut. I do think that the Highlander anime movie is the second best film of the franchise, but that’s backhanded praise since I consider all of the Highlander films drek apart from the original. Furthermore, I like Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s work. I’ve watched and enjoyed nearly all of it.

Experienced anime fans have valid reason to be disappointed by the Highlander anime. Apart from the bird’s eye zoom introduction to the city that’s lifted directly from Kawajiri’s own earlier Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust movie, much of the Highlander anime movie feels overly familiar. The film’s visual design feels like Japanese designers trying to to appease Western viewers. The action is fluidly animated, but lacks excitement and tension. Certain aspects of the film, like the inclusion of mutants and a superfluous pre-adolescent feel arbitrarily shoehorned in. And worst of all, protagonist Colin McCleod is infuriatingly dumb. He clings to his single-minded quest for revenge despite the woman he’s avenging asking him not to do so, and multiple characters repeatedly, appropriately calling him foolish. The full length Japanese cut of the film makes great effort to contrast protagonist Colin and antagonist Marcus in order to emphasize Colin’s irrationality. That’s admirable, but any critical viewer must wonder why screenwriter David Abramowitz decided to make his lead character such a boneheaded dunce in the first place. The shorter American cut of the film largely obscures the carefully constructed contrast between the shortsighted and bloodthirsty Colin and the ruthless but dignified Marcus. Anime fans that are used to charismatic protagonists; anime fans who were expecting a unique and thrilling Highlander anime film have been disappointed to find the American cut of the movie redundant, impotent, and, and outright stupid.

Highlander fans typically approach the film from a different background and perspective. Fans used to the American franchise find Search for Vengeance colorful, action-packed, and distinctly different from the live action films and American cartoon. Search For Vengeance may not be highly literate or intelligent, but at least its weaknesses aren’t as glaring and systemic as problems in the live action films like the introduction of the planet Zeist or the third film being a thinly veiled remake of the first film. Compared to the other Highlander sequels, Search For Vengeance is respectable. Since the other Highlander sequels are exclusively what Highlander fans compare Search For Vengeance to, it comes out quite well. Anime fans, however, compare Search For Vengeance to other anime films. In that comparison, Search For Vengeance compares quite poorly. Even Kawajiri’s own Jubei Ninpucho movie, made 14 years earlier, is a much better swordplay action film. And the Kurozuka TV series – another fantasy epic about an immortal swordsman that Madhouse animated after Search For Vengeance – is a significantly better original Japanese interpretation of the Highlander motif than the actual Highlander anime.

To put it simply, one’s appreciation of the Highlander anime is influenced by one’s expectations. Anime fans familiar with director Yoshiaki Kawajiri and production studio Madhouse’s former work, and fans familiar with action anime in general, approach Search For Vengeance with different standards and expectations than viewers who are only hoping for a movie that’s as good, or better, than any of the other Highlander spin-offs. Taken as an anime action movie, Search For Vengeance is far from the best available. Taken as a Highlander movie, it’s better than Highlander 2, 3, Endgame, and The Source.

Now that my response to the question is complete, readers who are curious may appreciate my comparison of the full length director’s cut of Highlander (as it’s known in Japan) and Highlander: The Search For Vengeance, as it’s known in America. The director’s cut is a marginally superior version of the film because it feels more fleshed out and it concentrates more heavily on illustrating the contrast between Marcus’ and Colin’s ambitions. It’s obvious that the director’s cut is the original, uncut version of the movie while the American release is an arbitrarily shortened edit. The director’s cut is about 11 minutes longer than the abbreviated American cut. In order to best compare the R1 and R2 edits, I watched the director’s cut in English. Surprisingly, the director’s cut uses an entirely different English dialogue track than the American release. Amergan’s vocal tone and delivery are very different, as are those of the scientist in charge of Marcus’ killer virus. Marcus’s line delivery is frequently slower and more thoughtful. It’s ironic that the English dialogue performances from Marcus and Amergan are much better in the Japanese director’s cut than they are in the original American release. Furthermore, many scenes in the director’s cut seem to last a second longer than the R1 edit. And the director’s cut eliminates the unnecessary on-screen captions throughout the film. I may not have noticed all of the differences, but ones I did notice include:

The director’s cut removes the scene cuts during the opening credits, removes the unnecessary prologue text, removes nearly all of the intro voice-over, and changes the voice of the illuminated billboard.

The director’s cut includes an additional shot of Colin approaching the mutants around the bonfire and Amergan possessing one of the hanging corpses.

The director’s cut eliminates Colin calling Amergan by name when Amergan is in the body of a mouse. It’s better that way because the line of dialogue in the American cut is obviously artificial exposition.

A brief scene of Colin entering Rudy’s bar from the street is absent in the American cut.

The scene in which Amergan introduces himself and explains immortality to Colin is longer in the director’s cut. The uncut scene comes across much more like a natural conversation between Colin and Amergan than the edited R1 cut in which the two seem to be talking at each other instead of with each other.

The first time Colin is in the tower elevator, while Amergan is outside in the body of a pigeon, Colin speaks one line in the R1 cut but two lines in the director’s cut. And Amergan’s monologue during the scene is entirely different.

Colin’s bloody entry into the Roman temple to face Marcus for the second time is entirely absent from the R1 edit. The director’s cut also includes a sequence during Colin’s fight against Marcus in ancient Rome that illustrates the contrast between the two men. And Marcus’ escape following the fight is longer in the director’s cut.

The director’s cut includes brief shots of Colin in the crusades, and riding with the Mongols to attack China’s great wall.

The director’s cut includes two brief shots of Marcus speaking to Colin when they meet in feudal Japan, and a comment from Amergan, all of which are missing from the R1 cut.

The director’s cut includes an additional short scene of Marcus addressing Colin on the wing of the Nazi plane. Marcus’ speech inside the church is significantly longer in the director’s cut, and serves to emphasize the contrast between Marcus’s literate and artistic achievements and Colin’s idiotic, single-mindedness.

In the director’s cut, Marcus has additional lines of dialogue during his fight with Colin inside the city tower. Marcus also savors his wine and speaks, which he doesn’t do in the R1 edit. The fight on the outdoor balcony is longer in the director’s cut.

After Colin locks Dahlia in her room, Joe has an additional line of dialogue in the director’s cut.

The first shot of the tanks rolling down the street is slightly longer in the director’s cut.

In the director’s cut, Joe gets an additional brief camera shot and line of dialogue after he tells Colin of an alternate way into the city. In the following scene, the director’s cut includes a camera shot of the tank commander, then a short scene of the rebels preparing their ambush that are both missing in the R1 edit.

The director’s cut includes an additional shot and line of dialogue from Kyala inside the helicopter just after Colin deflects a bullet with his sword, and another shot of Kyala and another line of dialogue from her just after Colin jumps onto the helicopter.

The director’s cut includes two extra transitional shots leading into the scene in which Doc fires his signal flare.

In the director’s cut, Marcus has an additional monologue just before his killer virus is released. The director’s cut also includes two brief scenes depicting rebels dying because of the airborne virus.