History Trivia / HIGHLANDER

** Methos spent time as as a medical doctor in the early 19th century. Peter Wingfield started medical school before becoming an actor and more recently returned to complete his degree. His specialty is cardiac anesthesiology.

** ''The Raven''. Five failed on-screen auditions and, as we all know, Elizabeth Gracen got the job by default. Initially, the Nazi-hunting Alex Raven (Dara Tomanovich) was considered, which is why the spinoff is [[OddlyNamedSequel confusingly-subtitled]] ''The Raven''. Claudia Christian (of ''Film/TheHidden'' and ''Series/BabylonFive'' fame) was probably one of the strongest tryouts, but she didn't get the role for some reason, either creative or contractual. Abramowitz claimed he auditioned Creator/CarrieAnneMoss for the role, but that Panzer shot it down, saying [[ItWillNeverCatchOn she couldn't act convincingly]].

** Music/DavidBowie, Music/{{Sting}} and Music/DuranDuran were all considered to do the soundtrack.

* ExecutiveMeddling: For the U.S. release, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox cut five minutes out of the film (which included some valuble character moments), and used a grainy, black-and-white close-up of Christopher Lambert's face for the poster. Naturally the movie bombed there, but did better overseas thanks to a less half-assed marketing campaign.

** WhoWantsToLiveForever (from the ''Music/{{Queen}}'' soundtrack song which sums up the concept succinctly)

** Music/{{Queen}} were offered first pick for a scene to do a accompaniment for. They enjoyed the film so much that they scored the whole thing. Music/BrianMay wrote "Who Wants to Live Forever" on the way back to the hotel from their private viewing.

* WorkingTitle: ''Shadow Clan''. The script was originally called ''Dark Knight''.

* TheCharacterDiedWithHim: Werner Stocker as Darius.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/ChristopherLambert is very nearsighted and couldn't wear his glasses for the role. He is half-blind throughout his fight scenes.

* FanNickname:
** The act of Immortals sensing each others' presence is called "The Buzz," due to the whooshing, buzzing sound effect that plays (codified in the Series, but hinted in at in the original film). Has pretty much become AscendedFanon.
** The seeming ability of Immortals to produce their swords from outfits where it would be unlikely or impossible for them to be concealed is dubbed "[[Hammerspace Katanaspace]]" or "Zeist Pockets."

%% Queen took the name from Flash Gordon** WhoWantsToLiveForever (from the ''Music/{{Queen}}'' soundtrack)

** Methos spent time as as a medical doctor in the early 1800s. Peter Wingfield started medical school before becoming an actor and more recently returned to complete his degree. His specialty is cardiac anesthesiology.

** Christopher Lambert (French) plays Connor [=MacLeod=] (Scottish). Lambert had a very limited grasp of English at the time the first film was made. Though born in New York, he was raised in France and it was his first real English role, so had to learn his lines phonetically. This is obliquely referenced in his interrogation scene.

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* FanNickname:
** "Q" for "Quickening," usually preceded by the name of the Immortal whose power the Q copies, "Kurgan Q" for the one that adds a point of damage to your attacks, "Luther Q" for the one that lets you block Power Blows without an exertion, etc.
** "Power Block," being just plain easier to say than "block a Power Blow with an exertion" (or " block a Power Blow without an exertion and take no damage"). Became AscendedFanon in the second edition.

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* ApprovalOfGod: Panzer-Davis, approved four fan-made films: ''Highlander:Dark Places'', ''Highlander:Hans Kirshner'',''Highlander:The Watcher'' and its sequel slash comedy companion ''Highlander:Bad Watcher''.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Surprisingly, there are not many examples that are much more than simply being dated. The most notable is in fact the opening, where Connor is attending a wrestling event at Madison Square Garden. In the early to mid 80s, wrestling events were held at [=MSG=] almost weekly from several promotions, but would drop off to only a few every year by the early 90s when the [=WWF=] had an exclusive agreement. Even more so, the event was explicitly an [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] event. In 1986, when the [=NWA=] and the [[Wrestling/WorldWrestlingEntertainment WWF]] were running neck and neck, this was feasible, but within two years, [[Wrestling/WorldChampionshipWrestling WCW]] would take over much of the [=NWA=] while the [=NWA=] itself ceased to be a household name. An event held by the [=WWF=], even at the time, would have a vastly different appearance.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The 90s, where the series was set, was pretty much the last "modern" decade where the premise could have worked. Beyond this, the rapid rise of the internet, social media, smartphones with built in video cameras, greater visual surveillance, facial recognition technology, PRISM etc. would have made it far harder for immortals to remain a part of mainstream society without being discovered and outed.

** Lambert wanted to continue the series, and he thought a TV series was a good move. But he himself wasn’t interested in doing a weekly TV series. So when offered a chance to reprise his role as Connor [=MacLeod=], he asked for an absurd amount of money and was turned down. As the series was being developed, it was going to be a direct sequel to the first film; but without Lambert on board, it was decided that Adrian Paul would [[TheOtherDarrin take over the role]] of Connor. Paul pragmatically asked to play his own character, fearing fans would unfavorably compare him to Lambert. The gamble worked and Duncan [=MacLeod=] was created.

*** In fact, the producers had already decided on abandoning the first film's ending as early as the eighth episode of the first season. That episode, ''Revenge is Sweet'', opens on New Year's Eve 1988 which would set the story ''three years'' after the end of the first movie.

* ActorInspiredElement: Creator/ClancyBrown came up with most of the Kurgan's [[LargeHam hamtastic]] and playful personality, as he didn't like how the role was originally written as little more than a cold-blooded ImplacableMan.

** [[Series/TheXFiles Nicholas Lea]] likewise appeared in a fairly small guest starring role in the "The Fighter" before returning as an Immortal LovableRogue in "Money No Object".

** Creator/KarenAllen, Creator/RosannaArquette, Creator/LorraineBracco, Creator/KateCapshaw, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/LindaFiorentino, Creator/LindaHamilton, Creator/DianeLane, Creator/DemiMoore, Creator/AnnetteOToole, Creator/ElizabethPerkins, Creator/TanyaRoberts, Creator/SigourneyWeaver, and Creator/SeanYoung were considered for Brenda Wyatt.

** The original script for the first film was much DarkerAndEdgier than the film that got made. Connor was born in 1408 instead of 1518. He lived with his mother and father. In the draft, Heather (Connor's beloved wife in the film) does not exist; Connor was promised to a young girl named Mara whom he loved with all his heart, but who later rejects him after he becomes immortal. Connor leaves his village instead of being banished. His alias in the draft was Richard Tupin and he used an assortment of swords rather than the katana he took after Ramirez's death in the film. Ramirez was a Spaniard rather than an ancient Egyptian born more than two thousand years earlier. The Kurgan was known as the Knight using the alias Carl Smith. He was not a savage, but a cold blooded killer. Brenda was known as Brenna Cartwright. Other major aspects were later changed during rewrites. Initially, Immortals could have children; in the draft Connor is said to have had 37. The film was originally set in Washington DC and Pennsylvania in the present day rather than New York City. The final showdown took place in a museum.

[[folder:''Highlander'' 1-3]]

* DeletedScene: A number of scenes were deleted from the first film and sadly lost due to a fire. Among them was a scene where the younger detective played by Creator/JonPolito was shown encountering Connor and Kastagir in a bar and getting drunk with them; the Kurgan fighting and killing an Asian immortal security guard; and a post-lovemaking scene where Brenda coerces Connor into revealing a bit about his past. The Blu-ray release of the film compiles remaining photos of the deleted scenes

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Christopher Lambert is very nearsighted and couldn't wear his glasses for the role. He is half-blind throughout his fight scenes.

** Clancy Brown improvised the line in which he poignantly addresses the sparse congregation and clergy in the Church. "I have something to say: It's better to burn out than to fade away!"

** Creator/RosannaArquette, Creator/LorraineBracco, Creator/KateCapshaw, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/LindaHamilton, Creator/DianeLane, Creator/DemiMoore, Creator/TanyaRoberts, Creator/SigourneyWeaver, and Creator/SeanYoung were considered for Brenda Wyatt.

** The actor who played Caleb Cole in “Mountain Men” was originally in the running to play Connor [=MacLeod=].

* EditedForSyndication: The famous “Eurominutes” that were cut from the US version due to American TV having more commercials. At least once, it caused a bit of confusion. Duncan’s kinswoman Rachel brought him his father’s sword during the dark quickening arc but a couple scenes with her were cut, leaving Americans a bit surprised when she was still in Paris in the following episode.
* EnforcedMethodActing: The abandoned hospital in “Turnabout” was a real closed-down former mental hospital.

** Kenny wasn’t killed because the networks wouldn’t allow a child character to die violently onscreen, even a 1,000-year-old child.

** Adrian Paul’s brother has small parts in a couple of episodes.
** Adrian’s wife at the time played the woman who has plastic surgery to look like Tessa in “Counterfeit.” Alexandra Vandernoot took over the role after the "surgery" was done.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Duncan’s barge caught fire in one episode to give an on-screen reason for the name switch. It actually resulted from an inability to use the original barge in later seasons.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Unfortunately, Lambert’s lack of a second appearance also forced the editing-out of Connor in the footage of Little Deer’s funeral, which was filmed for the pilot and reused in “Line of Fire”.

** Creator/GaryDaniels and Creator/AlexisDenisof were considered for Duncan Macleod.

-->'''David Abramowitz''': The character of Amanda was never meant to be a heroic lead. She was always meant to be {{the gadfly}}, the character--the little angel on your shoulder that says, 'Go on, have that extra drink.' 'Go on, put that in your pocket.' 'Go on, sleep with that woman even though you're not married to her. Have a good time!' And to make ''that'' character heroic, you have to twist her and turn her, and [[TomHanksSyndrome it didn't play into Elizabeth's strengths]], which is that kind of bounce and that kind of comic stuff.\\

###Unbeknownst to Bill Panzer or his staff, Elizabeth Gracen had quietly gone off the deep end, believing she was being shadowed by the U.S. government. (This was the real-life reason for Amanda's Annie Lennox makeover: Gracen dropped off the grid for a while before filming and bleached her hair to avoid detection.) She only agreed to participate in the show because it was shot overseas and she couldn't be subpoenaed. Gracen was being fed lies by her new "manager": he claimed to be "the Ambassador to the Cayman Islands from the Vatican", but was actually some kind of grifter.

###Unbeknownst to Bill Panzer or his staff, Elizabeth Gracen had quietly gone off the deep end, believing she was being shadowed by the U.S. government. (This was the real-life reason for Amanda's Annie Lennox makeover: Gracen dropped off the grid for a while before filming and bleached her hair to avoid detection.) Gracen was being fed lies by her new "manager": he claimed to be "the Ambassador to the Cayman Islands from the Vatican", but was actually some kind of grifter.

###The male co-star, Paul Johanssen (''Series/OneTreeHill'') was gradually downgraded to Amanda's bumbling sidekick (i.e. Diet Richie), to his dismay.

###The two leads detested each other, killing any romantic chemistry between the characters.