Christopher Lambert is Connor MacLeod aka the Highlander, a member of an immortal species of beings who have existed among humans for centuries. Unaware of his powers, he is unable to explain his revival after his apparent death in a clan-fight in the 15th century. This convinces the superstitious villagers to stone him and drive him out of the village. He then encounters another one of his kind, Ramirez (played by Sean Connery), who indoctrinates him in the ways of the immortals. The only way these "immortals" can die is by having their heads cut off. Given the credo that there can only be one, you can imagine a race where everyone tries to chop everyone else's head off. Of course, in such a race, there'll be factions, and MacLeod and Ramirez are one side battling the forces of evil immortals who want to take over the planet and wreak destruction on it (sounds a bit like Mortal Kombat now that I think about it).
Lambert is an actor I find barely tolerable, but Connery's performance is fairly decent. This movie has become something of a cult classic.
This is my favourite of all the Highlander movies. However, the story line is skewed a bit and this bothers a lot of people. We are given the impression that the immortal species the Highlander belongs to are actually exiles from the planet Zeist. The motivation for the immortal species being on planet Earth is given here, along with reasons as to why there can be only one. The leaders of Zeist exile members of a failed rebellion with the condition that they will be immortal on Earth until there is only one (and this can happen only by chopping off the heads of the other immortals). Finally, when there is only one immortal left, they can choose to grow old and return to Zeist or die of old age.
Guess who's the only one left at the beginning of the movie? It's an old and weary Connor MacLeod. Meanwhile, Katana, operating from planet Zeist, sends two assasins to finish off MacLeod. They don't succeed and he gets their heads in the bargain, becoming immortal again and reviving Ramirez. Then follows the side plot that involves the thinning of the Ozone layer, MacLeod constructing a shield to protect it, and his eventual battle against Katana, but I'll let you figure that part of it out.
Sean Connery is highlight of this movie. His acting, and his lines are much better than the ones in the first one. In and of itself, I think it is the most complete Highlander movie made.
"There can be only one" is the phrase used to refer to the number of immortals on planet earth in the Highlander movies. It is clear that the producers of the movies didn't apply this logic to the number of sequels. Given that each movie has had its good and bad points, I'm not sure whether this is worthy of praise or not. I think Highlander 3: The Final Conflict is one of the better sequels in the Highlander series though. Here, the Highlander must face Kane, an immortal with magical powers, and be the only one. Do you want to guess what happens? The plot is rehashed, as is the case in most sequels, but it's done reasonably well. References are made to the original film, the morphing effect is cool, albeit overused, and Kane (played by Mario Van Peebles) makes a good villain.
This is a combination of two TV episodes and I think it is available only on video. In the first episode, Christopher Lambert is the guest star as Connor MacLeod. In both episodes, however, Duncan MacLeod is the main attraction. In a typical theme that we have come to see in the Highlander movies, he must defeat the other immortals who want to kill him by cutting off their heads so he can be the only one. This again can be viewed in a standalone fashion, but it suffers 'cause there's no Sean Connery in this one.