The third Highlander. Released in 1994, it is also known by the subtitles The Final Dimension and The Final Conflict.
Ignoring the events of the previous film, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) now lives a quiet life as the winner of The Prize. But Kane (Mario Van Peebles), an old enemy of Connor's, is released from the cave where he was imprisoned centuries ago and is now seeking revenge.
This film has examples of:
- Bedlam House: The psych ward Connor briefly finds himself in is portrayed as a cage full of raving madmen.
- Big Bad: Kane.
- Buried Alive: Kane and his two immortal companions are buried inside Nakano's cave when it collapses after his death, with only Connor escaping. Since they're immortal they do not die, and are incredibly pissed off when they are released centuries later.
- Co-Dragons: Kane is introduced with two other evil immortals who seem to work for him, but they're quickly killed off when he sends off one (Senghi Khan) to fight MacLeod by himself and betrays and kills the other (Khabul Khan) to absorb his powers.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Kane is very similar to the Kurgan from Highlander, a sword-wielding barbarian madman who has clashed with Connor in the past, beheaded an important mentor of his, and is still pursuing Connor to get the Prize. They differ in that Kane starts out with two allies before going solo and is also a Magic Knight, which makes him more dangerous.
- Devour the Dragon: Kane kills one of his Co-Dragons after they have been released from their underground prison in order to gain his power and weed out his remaining opposition.
- Dr. Jerk: The doctor who examines Connor's vanished bullet wounds admonishes the ambulance staff for wasting his time, then has Connor thrown into a psych ward just because he wakes up violent and confused.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: When Connor and Kane fight on holy ground, their swords shatter. This somewhat conflicts with the series, where Joe at one point says that a fight on holy ground caused the eruption of Pompei. Though that was a fight all the way to a Quickening, and is a Watcher legend; this could be an example of a "cosmic warning shot."
- Expy: Kane is very similar to The Kurgan, the Big Bad of the first film. He led a band of warriors, killed a mentor of Connor's and talks in a deep gravelly voice. They even share a very similar scene where they drive against traffic for kicks.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Kane has a very deep, raspy voice.
- Fair-Play Villain: Subverted. In Connor's final duel with Kane, he loses his sword. Kane offers it back, claiming he can't fight an unarmed man. He immediately retracts the offer, since life isn't fair anyway.
- Forging Scene: After spending some time in Scotland, Connor forges himself a new sword.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Kane plays mind games with Connor during the final battle by creating an illusion where Connor manages to cut him in half.
- Immortal Procreation Clause: Connor has adopted a son named John to have children, since he can't procreate while he remains immortal. Kane taunts Connor over having had to lie to all his past wives just to be a dick.
- Kick the Dog: Kane's entire arc is basically one long string of atrocities to cement his evil. For instance, he slaughters a village during the opening of the film when the people living there don't immediately tell him where Nakano is, endangers the life of a small boy for kicks and rapes a prostitute.
- Losing Your Head: After Kane decapitates Nakano, the sorcerer still manages to recite an incantation on his cave to trap him.
- Mage in Manhattan: Kane is an immortal sorcerer who travels to modern New York City and immediately starts causing trouble.
- Magic Knight: Kane is the titular sorcerer that qualified for this trope, since he is a swordsman like most Immortals and gained magical powers from an Immortal sorcerer he beheaded. He typically manifests his abilities as illusions, though.
- Master of Illusion: The Japanese sorcerer Nakano, Connor MacLeod's mentor, possesses the power of illusion and uses it to confuse his opponents. Kane steals it from him by killing him, using it to impersonate people and create fake projections to trick them.
- Mugging the Monster: A variation with a con scheme. Two street card hustlers try to rip off the immortal warrior Kane, but he uses his magic to turn the entire deck into winning cards and takes their money. When they protest, he also takes one guy's Cool Shades with another magic trick, which freaks them out enough that they decide to take the smart option and run away.
- Name of Cain: The main villain is named Kane and is a vicious warrior who kills and rapes for fun.
- Napoleon Delusion: Connor is strapped to a bed in the psych ward of a hospital, and uses his first-hand knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars to convince a guy who believes he is Napoleon to free him.
- Numbered Sequels
- Off with His Head!: As usual with a Highlander installment. Connor himself narrowly escapes a French guillotine.
- Paranormal Gambling Advantage: The Magic Knight Kane turns the tables on a duo of card hustlers by turning their entire deck into winning cards.
- Reincarnation Romance: During his time in 18th century France, Connor was in love with an English woman named Sarah. She is reincarnated into Alex Johnson, who becomes his love interest in the present.
- Retcon: Connor didn't win the Prize in the first movie.
Word of God says that the powers he experienced were a side-effect of the massive Quickening he got off the Kurgan; between the two of them they held the power of the vast majority of the world's immortals. - Same Plot Sequel This film follows the plot of the original Highlander very closely after the disappointing Highlander II: The Quickening. Once again, Connor is pursued by a very powerful and evil immortal from his past, there's a romance subplot with a present-day mortal woman who mirrors a woman from Connor's past, the Muggle police start investigating Connor because of all the strange beheadings he's involved in, the villain kidnaps one of Connor's loved ones towards the climax to draw him out, and at the end Connor finally defeats the villain after a heated duel and wins the Prize.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Kane and the other two evil immortals are trapped in a cave for centuries, only being released in the present to attack Connor once again.
- Secondary Character Title: Nakano the Sorcerer is killed off by the main bad guy in the prologue of the film, although Kane inherits his powers because of that, becoming a Magic Knight in the process.
- See You in Hell: Kane's last words.Kane: I'll see you in hell... huhahaha![Connor defeats him]Connor: I'll be the judge of that.
- Sexual Karma: Connor MacLeod has very passionate and romantic sex scenes with his past and present love interests. The villain, Kane, visits a hooker in a seedy inner city neighborhood whom he proceeds to physically abuse.
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Kane is portrayed as much more dangerous and deadly than the Kurgan because of his illusion powers and eagerness to fight on holy ground.
- Steel Mill: The climactic fight between Connor MacLeod and Kane takes place in a steel mill.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Brenda Wyatt, Connor's girlfriend from the first film, died from a car crash before the modern-day events of this film.
- Training Montage: Connor trains on a mountaintop to prepare himself for the battle with Kane.
- Truce Zone: When Kane confronts Connor again, Connor points out that they can't fight because they're inside a Buddhist temple. Kane replies he doesn't buy it and fights him anyway, but the universe seems to punish them both by breaking their swords for ignoring the rules.
- Unexplained Accent: When Kane kidnaps Connor's son and takes him for a joyride, Kane suddenly has a punk British accent for no reason.
- Villains Blend in Better: Kane awakens after centuries of slumber and quickly assimilates into the modern world, aided in no small measure by his magical powers.
- Where It All Began: The ending takes place at Connor's original homestead in Glenfinnan, which he visits with Alex and John. To note, the same Iconic Item (Connor's family sword) is still embedded in the ground, just as it was when he left it behind after burying Heather and burning his homestead in 1546.
- Word Sequel: Some video releases drop the numbering and just have the subtitle.
- Wrecked Weapon: Connor's katana shatters due to him and Kane violating the "no fighting on holy ground" rule.
- Would Hurt a Child: Kane kidnaps Connor's son, torments the boy for kicks (like hanging his head out of a moving car to almost push it against the asphalt), and threatens to kill him to get Connor to come to him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When Kane and his two companions are released from their entombment, he almost immediately kills one to weed out his remaining opposition.
