Highlander 2 came out back in 1991. I saw the original version and I was not impressed with it. The special effects were terrible and the plot was pretty jagged. Then the DVD came out. I never saw the Renegade version but I was lucky enough to catch the 2-Disc edition from Lionsgate. Needless to say, I was impressed. The special effects look so much better due to all of the digital reenhancing. The quickening effects look way better than the effects in the original. The energy shield effects look way better too to give it a much darker atmosphere. The sword fights are not as good as the original but they are good. It's also fun to see Katana hijack a train and go nuts. Katana is a good villain but he'll never beat the Kurgan (YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WEAKER THAN I!). Russell Mulcahy should be given a pat onthe back for making one of the most beloved fantasy pictures ever with a decent sequel. The other sequels are good, but not as good as 1 and 2. The special effects are at their best in 1 and 2. At least Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery have come back. This movie also has a great soundtrack with an awesome song: Lou Gramm's One Dream. If you want to own this film on DVD, get the 2-Disc Special Edition from Lionsgate. If you have the Renegade version, trash that and get the Lionsgate version. You will be impressed. The DVD makes this film way better! There can be only one!

I received the product in a timely manner and product was in good shape. Good shopping experience

There's alot of cool stuff in Highlander 2 that adds to the saga and makes it a satisfying wrap to the first film. Despite not being fully developed to it's full potential due to money issues in the production, the re-edited and new effects work brings it up to a level that continues the fantasy of the first in a daring new way.
It is a great noirish looking fantasy this time around in the dsytopian future and the thread of super natural powers and immortality remains strong. The whole starting set-up at the start is well done and with the new effects work and additional footage, it really does enter back into the quality on many ways of the imagination in the first film while being a different fresh film.
The film's weak points are firstly that the back story of first planet "ziest" and then changed to the distant past are not really properly explained or set up, which is a pity cause it is central to the events in both films and also was actually a very good and exciting concept in which to fill in that blank. It did nicely explain things as well as being full of potential for further drama but at best the bare minimum gets given for a complicated plot point; which was the crux for a potentially great trilogy but due to outside influences it got mangled in the theatrical cut creating a sure fire way to create a deep backlash for what was actually a great direction to go in!
Even now i think the makings of a great trilogy still remain, but would need Mulcahy, Lambert and the visionary intergrity continuity that's there for Zeist in both H1 n H2 to be fully developed and which as of now is oly half revealed in H2 THe Quickening.
The end of the film is a bit lacking in omph, which again is probaby due to not being able to film all the finishing that the creators had planned, but it nevertheless manages to bring the story to a decent conclusion while hinting that alot more could have been packed in. The other thing it doesn't have is the immediately grabbin rock musical score that the first one had throughout, being lucky enugh to have many of Queen's great tunes which got used really well, but "who wants to live forever" in this Highlander 2 remained very fitting and there are other nice musical accompaniments at times throughout the film.
Despite unfortunate circumstantial flaws there is much magic to be had in Highlander 2 Special Edition and it is just a pity that the "Ziest now unfortunately changed to distant origins" and ending section have the feeling of a sketch, rather than the fleshed out sweeping epic that is in much of the rest of the film. There is alot of great imagery, imagination and effort in this re-presented sequel which despite becoming abit unstuck, makes the highlander fantasy a wothwhile saga rather than one great standalone film, meaning that this and highlander one are the canon as far as i'm concerned. If the above problems weren't in the film, i would probably have given it a five star, and for some strange reason, i probably still find it just as good if not better than the first highlander...perhaps it's the lighting.

There is no doubt this is one controversial movie. I guess it boils down to two simple opinions you either love it or you hate it either way I believe it is still an important movie in the series, as we all still have opinions about it after 16 years since it's original release.

I personally liked the movie. I was fortunate enough to have a bootleg screener of this movie all those years ago that contained at least 2 hrs of footage, all of which have been included in this package. The ending was a little different It saw Conner and his Lass fly off into the celestial world or something like that, which has been removed from this version. When I eventually saw the theatrical release of the Quickening (original title) half of the movie I saw on the screener was missing and the story jumped all over the place, its no wonder fans of the original were so disappointed. This version restored all that lost footage with a twist they removed all references to the Quickening and the planet Zeist. Which I feel is the only major flaw of the movie, as this caused a lot of inconsistencies around the story itself. At the end of the day this is trivial. There are some great ideas in this movie to make a great Sci Fi flick. the effects have been updated and look great, and the issues regarding the continuity between this film and the first movie is this, maybe they didn't know about their past because the prize was yet to be one?

OK, I loved the first movie. The Highlander (1986) is probably in my top 25 favorite movies of all time. Somehow the producers for Highlander 2 convinced Connery to reprise his role as Ramirez (probably the $3 million for 6 days works did the trick!). Re-uniting Christopher Lambert and Connery had POTENTIAL. Unfortunately, this potential was destroyed by a horrible script, ridiculous story, horrible new characters and poor acting. In short, they screwed this up BIG TIME. In this edition of the DVD, many of the special effects have been digitally changed and remastered. Although this pretty cool, it's still just putting lipstick on a pig.

What I hated:
* Really stupid is the plot line where Katana (Ironside) suddenly wants MacLeod dead after he's spent 500+ years in "exile" on earth. At this point in the film, MacLeod is in his 80's and at death's door anyway. How do you expect us to believe this load of garbage? I guess the creator's thought that if the audience were stupid enough to believe the Ramirez can come back from the dead after getting his head chopped off in the first Highlander, than the audience will believe ANYTHING.
* The movie had the look and feel of a bad comic book from the 1930's yet the year was 2024. What the hell is that all about?
* Why did they have to show us backstory of the immortals (who they are , where they came from etc). It ruined the mystique of the original movie! Dumb decision on creator's part.

* Michael Ironside's character aka General Katana - Mulcahy circa 1990: "Hey Michael, this is what I want you to do to prepare for the role of the bad guy in this film. go watch the original Highlander and pay close attention to Clancy Brown as the Kurgan. We want you to copy that performace. Yeah, be like the new Kurgan or someting. Yeah, that's the ticket." Ummm, didn't work fellas. I freaking hated Michael Ironside in this movie. Bad, bad, bad.

* Virgina Madsen, as Louise Marcus, was the one who really killed this movie. Her character was laughable at best and her acting was an embarrasement. I was hoping that she bought the farm early in the movie. Unfortunatley, we have to suffer from her performance to the very end.

* Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb aka the two idiots from the Planet Zeist that come to kill MacLeod. They were hilariously bad but even worse, once MacLeod chops off their heads (and this becomes immortal again - wha wha what?) he his a little boom boom with Lousie Marcus, whom he met like 5 minutes earlier. To the Director: please delete this scene when you do the Super Special Director's Cut.

Final Thoughts: I picked this DVD up in the bargain rack at Walmart for 5 bucks. It was worth it to me becuase I laughed out loud numerous times when I viewed it. Plus, there are tons of special features which were actually interesting. In parting, it is true, there can be only ONE, and this is NOT the one. BUT, if you can pick it up for 5 bucks and you want a good laugh, Go for it!