History YMMV / HIGHLANDER

* StarTrekMovieCurse: ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' is a CultClassic action-adventure tale of an immortal Scotsman killing his centuries-old rival and attaining the unlimited power of The Prize. ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' is a [[SoBadItsGood ludicrous mess]] involving a dystopian future and Immortals being aliens from the planet Zeist. ''Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer'' is a SoOkayItsAverage affair that has a plausible reason for keeping Immortals around after the events of the first film, if not for giving the villain magical illusion powers. ''Film/HighlanderEndgame'' is a continuation from the TV series including numerous plot holes and having Duncan [=MacLeod=] kill Connor [=MacLeod=]. ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance'' is a surprisingly good film that makes Highlander work in an AfterTheEnd anime world complete with MechaMooks and mutant Immortals. ''Film/HighlanderTheSource'' is. . . well. . . [[FranchiseKiller yeah]].

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The VictorGainsLosersPowers nature of Quickenings is never really explored, or even explained in any great detail. It's mentioned a few times that an Immortal who kills another gets all their knowledge and power, but nothing is really done with that concept. A prime example is "The Innocent," an episode with a mentally handicapped Immortal named Mikey who loves trains and has an encyclopedic knowledge of them, but can't defend himself in The Game. In the end, for assorted reasons, he voluntarily removes his own head via train, and Richie, who's befriended him, gets his Quickening. The episode closes with Duncan and Richie hearing a train whistle in the distance and smiling as they remember their friend, but how much more impactful might it have been for Richie to identify the train by its whistle, location, and the time of day, as Mikey would have? They did allude to it in season 5, with Richie picking up habits of an immortal he killed, but that was it.

* WTHCastingAgency: A Frenchman playing a Scot trying to pass for American and a Scot playing an Egyptian passing for Spanish yet still sounding respectively French and Scottish.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The Season 5 episode "Manhunt" gives us Matthew [=McCormick=], the Immortal police detective who's pursuing Carl Robinson. Carl is accused of murder, but the man he killed was actually an Immortal headhunter who Carl killed in self-defense. [=McCormick=] ''knows'' this, but is actually after Carl because [[ItsPersonal he wants revenge for a friend of his that Carl killed back in 1859]]. The problem with that is that [=McCormick=]'s murdered friend, Seth Hobart, was a ''Southern slavemaster'', and [[BornIntoSlavery Carl was one of his escaped black slaves]]. The episode tries to portray [=McCormick=] as somewhat justified in wanting revenge, but since he's [[RabidCop knowingly abusing his position]] to [[AvengingTheVillain avenge someone as heinous as Hobart]], it's difficult to sympathize with him at all.
** Hobart wasn't [=McCormick=]'s friend but his father-in-law, and Robinson killed him after [=McCormick=] had freed him from slavery, educated him about his immortal nature, and asked him not to kill Hobart in turn. More importantly, [=McCormick=] ultimately does make peace with Robinson and help him fake his death.

** There were times when the Immortals as a whole were called "Highlanders" by viewers new to the franchise. "Highlander" is not the name of the Immortals' race, but a reference to Connor's Scottish origins.

* DesignatedVillain: While there are plenty that don't fall into this category, its very easy to make a case that a lot of Highlander villains are exactly this. Offscreen, other immortals are almost certainly coming for them, so they come for other immortals. If they can get an extra quickening, their odds of survival go up. A particularly notable case was [[spoiler: Tyler King]] who [[spoiler: Attempted to take the head of an idiot savant immortal, knowing that he had absolutely no chance in the game whatsoever, and was thus doomed anyway.]] To underscore this point [[spoiler: after killing King, Duncan and Richie came to the same conclusion anyway.]]
%%* EnsembleDarkhorse: Methos. Amanda also, due to a combination of Elizabeth Gracen's surprising acting ability (especially in comedy) and [[MsFanservice exceptional beauty]].

* TheCastShowoff: Jim Byrnes was showcased numerous times playing guitar and singing blues music.

* JerkassHasAPoint: No matter ''who'' wins the Prize, the idea of ''anyone'' having the power to rule all of humanity is a pretty scary one. Horton's trying to make sure no Immortal ever wins the Prize, ensuring humanity's free will and self-determination, isn't completely wrong.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' is a CultClassic action-adventure tale of an immortal Scotsman killing his centuries-old rival and attaining the unlimited power of The Prize. ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' is a [[SoBadItsGood ludicrous mess]] involving a dystopian future and Immortals being aliens from the planet Zeist. ''Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer'' is a SoOkayItsAverage affair that has a plausible reason for keeping Immortals around after the events of the first film, if not for giving the villain magical illusion powers. ''Film/HighlanderEndgame'' is a continuation from the TV series including numerous plot holes and having Ducan [=MacLeod=] kill Connor [=MacLeod=]. ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance'' is a surprisingly good film that makes Highlander work in an AfterTheEnd anime world complete with MechaMooks and mutant Immortals. ''Film/HighlanderTheSource'' is. . . well. . . [[FranchiseKiller yeah]].

** The church scene with Connor and The Kurgen.

** Neither of the theatrical releases based on the show, ''Endgame'' or ''The Source'', were well-recieved by the fans or casual viewers, although some die-hard fans found parts of ''Endgame'' redeemable, particularly the flashbacks to Connor's loved ones over the years.

* ValuesDissonance: The season 2 episode "Run for Your Life" revolves around a Watcher disguised as a cop who is hunting down a black immortal. The entire episode, and the scenes of Duncan explaining racism to a black man especially, lands a lot differently in the era of Black Lives Matter.