The original HIGHLANDER film, with Christopher Lambert as immortal Connor Mcleod , was such a success that it spawned three sequels, HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING (1991), HIGHLANDER: THE FINAL DIMENSION (1994), and HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME (2000). And in 1992, Davis Panzer Productions launched the HIGHLANDER TV series which began with Connor passing the torch to Duncan Macleod, played by Adrian Paul. It’s not uncommon for genre films to make their way to television, but with the exception of the STAR TREK phenomenon, most of the respective television counterparts don’t hold a candle to the bigger-budgeted blockbusters and are cancelled after only one season (like PLANET OF THE APES, LOGAN’S RUN, CONAN, TIMECOP, etc.). Well, HIGHLANDER the TV show is one of those rare exceptions—while the last two movie sequels left fans disappointed, the syndicated television series took off and lasted six seasons, and HIGHLANDER fans were far more ecstatic learning about the mythos of the HIGHLANDER universe through the eyes of Duncan Mcleod. The series even launched a new spin-off entitled HIGHLANDER: RAVEN and an animated series. Anchor Bay picked up the video rights to the HIGHLANDER TV series and put out these magnificent complete television season box sets. For this review, we examine Season 6 of this cult favorite series, which contains the following episodes:

• Homeland
• Brother in Arms
• The Innocent
• Leader of the Pack
• Double Eagle
• Reunion
• The Colonel
• Reluctant Heroes
• The Wrath of Kali
• Chivalry
• Timeless
• The Blitz
• Something Wicked
• Deliverance
• Promises
• Metheluslah’s Gift
• The Immortal Cimmoli
• Through a Glass Darkly
• Till Death
• Judgement Day

Anchor Bay presents HIGHLANDER Season 4 in the original made-for-broadcast ratio of 1.33.1. The high resolution of the DVD format makes it easy to see all the nuances that the world of HIGHLANDER has to offer, especially the flashback sequences. At times the image looks a little soft, despite the colors being fully saturated. The image is good as a low budget TV series can get. Black levels are dead on. Obviously, the picture quality is not up to par with the big budget cinematic HIGHLANDER outings. The HGHLANDER television series was originally broadcast in Dolby Surround, and Anchor Bay has taken it one step further with the creation of all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks for each episode. Again, don’t expect earth-shattering movie quality stuff here, but this new remix is really good. The sound field is totally immersive and front heavy allowing all the swordfights and action sequences to benefit from this crystal clear audio. The only fly in the ointment is that the dialog emanating from the center channel is too low and often the dialog gets buried in the mix.

HIGHLANDER SEASON 4 is jam-packed with all the extras. Across the breadth of discs in this box set, you’ll find the following worthy extras:

• Audio commentaries with Adrian Paul, Jim Byrnes, Peter Ellis, Stan Kirsch, Gillian Horvath, Anthony Delongis, and Don Paonessa
• Interviews with the cast, crew, and creators including Adrian Paul, David Abramowitz, Roger Bellon, Jim Byrnes, Elizabeth Gracen, Ken Gord, Gillian Horvath, Stan Kirsch, F. Braun McAsh, Bill Panzer, David Tynan, Peter Wingfield, Stephen Geaghan
• Original Production Designs and Sketches
• Bloopers & Outtakes
• Still Gallery
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes
• Featurette: The Watcher Chronicles

The box set includes a CD-ROM with the following extras:

• Teleplays for all 22 episodes
• Cast & Crew Bios
• Shooting Schedules
• Production Notes
• Fight Scene Scripts
• Trivia

HIGHLANDER Season 4 may not be the best season of the series, but it did offer some interesting revelations to the HIGHLANDER universe. We learned that a Highlander can inherit the evil energies of the immortals he kills. This happens to Connor and we see him become an evil version of himself. This results in an exciting battle for survival by two Connors—one good and one evil. The season winds down with the Watchers putting Duncan’s immortal ally Joe Dawson on trial for interfering in the affairs of men and immortals. Some major plot threads come into play during Season 4, but I don’t want to give them away. You’ll have to watch to see for yourself. Anchor Bay has done a magnificent job on these discs, making this low-budget series look and sound incredible. The company has also packed these discs with all the extras you could ever want, including screenplays of each episode! The only negative thing I can say about this 8 disc set is that the packaging is not only ugly, but unpractical as well. It really looks unattractive on my video rack. Beside that cosmetic limitation, Anchor Bay’s HIGHLANDER Season 4 DVD Box Set is a blessing for HIGHLANDER fan regime.

 HIGHLANDER SEASON 4 is available at DVDEmpire

-  Jason the Mason

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