[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/highlander_endgame_movie_poster_2000_1020196402.jpg]]

->''"What you need to understand is that I don't care about the game. I don't care about the rules."''
-->-- '''Jacob Kell'''

The fourth ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'' film, and the first one to [[{{Crossover}} cross over]] with [[Series/{{Highlander}} the television series]], starring the former's protagonist Connor [=MacLeod=] (Creator/ChristopherLambert) and the latter's protagonist Duncan [=MacLeod=] (Creator/AdrianPaul).

An enemy out for revenge from Connor [=MacLeod=]'s past starts causing trouble, and he must team up with his cousin Duncan to stop him.

Creator/DonnieYen notably had a role as Jin Ke, an Asian Immortal, besides serving as martial arts choreographer.

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!!This film has the examples of:
* AdvertisedExtra: Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}'s role was heavily promoted by {{Wrestling/WWE}}, including a mock in-ring Academy Awards ceremony and an Entertainment Tonight segment in which Edge invited co-stars Christopher Lambert and Adrian Paul [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K9PKCaSyJI backstage]]. Edge's screen-time totals about two minutes with two brief lines of dialogue and a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSXHUikakTY single, extremely truncated fight scene that's played mostly for laughs.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: According to the Watcher database that Joe brings up, Duncan has 174 confirmed Quickenings, while Kell has ''661'' (and that number keeps going up).
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: During the final battle, Kell knocks Duncan's sword out of his hands, sending it tumbling off a catwalk. Duncan leaps over the railing and jumps after it, grabbing it ''in mid-air''.
* AnAssKickingChristmas: The Watcher who tries to assassinate Duncan is surrounded by Christmas decorations, suggesting this trope to be in effect. Joe shoots him and wishes him a Merry Christmas as he bleeds to death.
* BestServedCold: Jacob Kell is peeved at Connor for [[CreateYourOwnVillain killing his foster father]], a Scottish Priest. Kell bides his time for five centuries before carrying out his vengeance fully.
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: In the rough cut of the film, Jin Ke beheads himself during the "Last Supper" scene to deny Kell getting his powers.
* BigBad: Jacob Kell.
* CanonWelding: The movie tries to weld the movie and series timelines (which by this point had diverged from a prequel series to AlternateTimeline status) together. For some reason they decided to retcon pretty much every major plot point from both to do this.
* ChekhovsSkill: Played with. Connor teaches Duncan a supposedly unbeatable finishing move in a flashback, and Duncan uses it in the fight between them in the present. In the final battle with Kell, he tries it again... and Kell effortlessly parries it with a dagger he had hidden up his sleeve.
* CombatPragmatist: The reason Kell is so powerful. He didn't honor a key rule of the Game like Connor, Duncan, and so many others did; instead of one-on-one challenges, he amassed a team of Immortals to weaken his targets and then had them stand aside while he takes the heads.
-->'''Duncan:''' [[LampshadeHanging It's a team sport now?]]
* ContinuitySnarl: The movie's attempts to weld the movie and series timelines results in a lot of continuity errors, but the most egregious would be Duncan's ex-wife, despite the series itself having established quite clearly that Duncan never had, nor would, marry (the one time he intended to, with his longtime lover Tessa Noel, she was murdered shortly after he proposed).
* CruelMercy: Jacob Kell's goal is to make Connor [=MacLeod=]'s life a living hell, killing all those close to him and keeping Connor alive until they are the last two Immortals left.
* DemotedToExtra: Methos and Joe from the TV series make small appearances.
* DevourTheDragon:
** Jacob Kell kills his mooks to gain their energy for the final battle.
** [[spoiler:Connor forces Duncan to defeat him with [[ChekhovsSkill a technique he had taught him in the past]], and take his power so that Duncan has a better chance against Kell]].
* FashionVictimVillain: InUniverse, on the DVD extended edition.
-->'''Cracker Bob:''' Somebody order a club sandwich?\\
'''Duncan:''' Oh, he's funny, nice outfit too.\\
'''Cracker Bob (to Kate/Faith):''' Faith, I told you I look like [[PrecisionFStrike a fucking orange!]]
* {{Flashback}}: A given for this franchise. We see such moments as Connor's revenge against Kell, Connor and Duncan's first meeting, and Duncan's history with Faith.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Unlike most of the beheadings in the films, [[spoiler:Connor's]] happens very briefly, is obscured by blinding light, and the way his body falls obscures his headless corpse.
* GrandTheftMe: During the final fight, [[spoiler:the absorbed spirit of Connor superimposes himself over Duncan's face]] in order to taunt Kell.
* HeroicBSOD: Connor suffers the loss of his adopted daughter and then the guilt over numerous Immortals being slaughtered by Kell at the Sanctuary because he was there.
* HolyGround: Actually, it was ignoring this rule that led to VoodooShark below.
* IdiotBall: Duncan's wedding flashback. Having previously discovered that his bride-to-be is a latent Immortal, Duncan stabs her through the chest on their wedding night ''without warning'', triggering her immortality. Faith's horrified reaction is (ironically) the most plausible character moment of the entire movie.
* IronicEcho: When meeting in the graveyard, Kell asks Connor "What's wrong? Don't you want to be inside me?" Connor asks him the same question during the final fight.
* IsntItIronic: The trailer plays the line "I can never die" from a remix of Dragula by Music/RobZombie, however, the franchise is about immortals who can indeed die, and the song is about a witch hunting grave digger with no relation to the plot of the movie.
* ItHasBeenAnHonor: "[[spoiler:Goodbye, Duncan, my true brother]]."
* ItsPersonal: Kell wants revenge against Connor for what happened in 1555.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: After a short discussion about honor, Jin Ke challenges Duncan to a martial arts fight.
* LosingYourHead: Carlos moves his eyes a bit after his head hits the ground.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Duncan quickly realized how stupid he had been after he stabbed Faith to make her Immortal.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer has scenes of Jacob Kell wielding [[DeityOfHumanOrigin godlike powers]], [[MesACrowd splitting into clones of himself]], and [[BulletDodgesYou freezing a sword in mid-air]]. These scenes were in fact shot specifically for the trailer.
* NewOldFlame: Duncan's ex-wife Faith.
* NotQuiteDead: Connor spends a good chunk of the movie unaccounted for and even thought dead. Of course, he's not.
* NumberOfTheBeast: Kell has either 665 or 666 kills under his belt when he fights Duncan (depending on the version of the film).
* ObviousStuntDouble: It's always easy to spot Creator/ChristopherLambert's stunt double during the battle between Connor and Duncan, especially during the wide shots. In general, the stuntman is way more adept with a blade than Lambert, who had presumably not been keeping his Connor skills up between ''Highlander 3'' and this film.
* OffWithHisHead: As par for the course.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Subverted. [[spoiler:Kell wanted to behead Connor himself, but he's not angry when Duncan does. After all, he can still claim Connor's power from Duncan and have the satisfaction of killing another of Connor's loved ones.]]
* PreMortemOneLiner:
** Courtesy of Joe: "Just watch."
** "There can be only one... and you're not it."
* ReallyDeadMontage: [[spoiler: Connor]] gets one after he is beheaded. However Highlander 2 establishes that one Immortal can resurrect another under certain circumstances giving hope for the future.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Faith and Kell had never been mentioned before this movie, even thought the former is Duncan's ex-wife and the latter is Connor's childhood best friend. Made worse by the fact that the series had previously stated Duncan had never married.
* {{Retcon}}: ''Highlander: The Series'' established that Duncan never married, while here, the existence of Duncan's ex-wife is a major plot point.
* RevengeMyopia: Kell doesn't care that he and his father invoked BurnTheWitch on Connor's mother first, which gave him a valid reason to attack them.
* RevengeByProxy: According to Kell, he has been hounding Connor by killing his friends for centuries.
-->'''Kell:''' Look back at the endless travesties of your life, and you'll see me, always there waiting in the shadows. When friends and lovers are wiped from your sight, I'm there. When those you cherish die abruptly and for no reason, I'm there for you.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: In 1555, Connor killed Kell and Father Rainey (Kell's adopted father) as revenge for his mother being put to death for witchcraft. Kell becomes immortal and vows to return the favor--spending centuries hunting Connor and targeting those he cares about.
* SadisticChoice: Discussing Faith's potential to be an Immortal, Connor advised Duncan to just let her lead a normal life instead of bringing it out. Between letting a loved one eventually die or making her a target in the Game, Connor admits he doesn't envy Duncan having the option to choose.
* SoulFragment: When Duncan beheads [[spoiler:Connor]], he absorbs his swordsmanship skills and perhaps a bit more, judging by the morphing effect during the final fight where his face is briefly seen over the top of Duncan's.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Rachel, Connor's adopted daughter from the first film appears only to be killed in the opening as part of Kell's revenge against Connor
* SwordPlant: Duncan plants a sword as a memorial on [[spoiler:Connor's]] grave.
* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: As ever. Kell intends to be the last Immortal standing, though he's quite content to break the rules of the Game however he sees fit.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler:Connor's last thoughts as he is beheaded are of Heather. Duncan completes it by burying Connor next to her in Scotland.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: Jacob's sanity (which there wasn't a lot of in the first place) pretty much evaporates the more Duncan persists during their final battle, as he even resorts to stabbing him repeatedly, clearly trying to inflict as much pain possible on him rather than just directly kill him, while shouting angrily how Duncan's "lost his faith". Just when he recomposes himself and grabs his sword to finally decapitate him, he hears Connor's voice calling him alongside seeing flashes of Connor's face on Duncan's, leading into an OhCrap moment that Duncan takes advantage of to finally kill him.
* VoodooShark:
** A group of Immortals live in voluntary stasis in the "Sanctuary," which is located in a large cathedral, but they are murdered by Kell. In the original theatrical version, the Sanctuary is referred to as being [[TruceZone holy ground]], but this annoyed fans of the series since it had been established that Immortals are not allowed to kill one another on holy ground (The reason for this was never clearly given, but Joe at one point implied that two immortals violating this rule may have caused the Vesuvius eruption of 79 A.D.). This rule was even followed by every villain, no matter how evil. So the line was excised from the DVD version. But putting aside the fact that it's in a cathedral, the Sanctuary not being holy ground is just as nonsensical when you stop and wonder why a bunch of Immortals opted to be put into voluntary stasis in a place where they'd be vulnerable. Or why the renegade Watchers would establish the Sanctuary on a place that was not Holy Ground. Their goal was to prevent The Prize from being won, ergo they didn't want the immortals there losing their heads any more than the immortals themselves...
** There were also multiple mentions both in the trailers and film dialogue of Kell no longer following the rules of the Game. It could have been a plot point that Kell had found a way to make the usual rules no longer apply to himself, even if it was never definitively explained how he'd managed to do it.
* WeWillMeetAgain: A two-fer after Connor and Kell's duel. Kell defeats him, but he vows to only kill him until some far off day when they're the only Immortals left. Duncan is also there, though, and Kell warns him he's on borrowed time.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Kell guesses that Connor's ultimate fear isn't simply losing the Game, but losing to him and having his power make Kell stronger.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: In the past, Connor had guessed that Faith (at the time known as Kate) had the potential to be Immortal and told Duncan. Duncan made the choice to bring it out so that they could always be together, but she resents him for taking away her ability to have children, grow old with a loved one, and lead a normal life (neither the films nor the series ever clarified if an immortal could conceive/sire children before they became immortal).
* WideEyedIdealist: While Faith denounces him and says she'll never forgive him, Duncan believes there's always a chance for forgiveness and tells her he'll wait centuries if he has to.
-->'''Duncan:''' That's one blessing of immortality; there's always tomorrow. Even for us.
* WomanScorned: Faith is still pissed about [[IHateYouVampireDad Duncan killing her and making her Immortal]], but deep down still cares for him.
* WordSequel: Because the films had StoppedNumberingSequels by this point, it is only natural.
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