"Жоғары Таудың Екіншісі: Қайта Жаратылу және Көлеңке"

1991 film by Russell Mulcahy

Highlander II was panned by critics and fans, and is considered to be one of the worst films ever made. The original theatrical edition was released on 12 April 1991 in the United Kingdom (in an eight minute longer cut) and 1 November 1991 in the United States, and was also a box office bomb grossing $16 million in the US on a production budget of $34 million. In 1995, an alternate director's cut called the Renegade Version was released to home video that attempted to address the many story problems, such as removing all mention of Zeist and the idea that immortals are aliens. This was followed by a Special Edition DVD release in 2004, which was largely the same cut as the Renegade Version but with some altered special effects. The sequel Highlander III: The Sorcerer follows the events of the first film, in the process contradicting and completely ignoring the events and revelations of Highlander II.

In the 1990s, industrial pollution has destroyed Earth's ozone layer, leading to millions of deaths due to the sun's unfiltered rays, including Brenda Wyatt MacLeod, whose death inspires her husband, Connor MacLeod, to use his wealth to save the world. By 1999, Connor supervises a scientific team headed by Dr. Allan Neyman, who create an electromagnetic shield to protect the Earth from radiation. The shield saves the Earth, but with side effects of condemning the planet to constant darkness, high temperatures and humidity. Humanity loses hope and the shield falls under the control of the corrupt Shield Corporation and its chief executive David Blake, who imposes heavy fees on countries for continued protection from solar radiation. In 2024, Connor, now mortal, is a frail old man. While watching an opera performance, he has a flashback from five hundred years ago on the immortals' distant home planet of Zeist. Connor was chosen by Juan Sánchez Villalobos Ramírez, a wise Zeist sorcerer, to lead a rebellion against the corrupt leadership of General Katana. Using the Quickening, Ramírez creates a bond between him and Connor that cannot be broken even by death. Katana and his troops then attack, crushing the rebellion and imprisoning Connor and Ramirez. They are put on trial by Katana's priests, before being exiled to Earth to live as immortals. Locked into ageless lives, they will fight each other until there is only one left. The survivor will win the Prize: a choice to either remain on Earth as a mortal or return to Zeist, their past crimes forgiven. Awakening from his flashback, Connor is approached by Louise Marcus, the leader of an anti shield group. Louise has uncovered the possibility that the ozone layer has returned to normal and that the Shield Corporation are keeping its restoration quiet to maintain revenue. Louise asks Connor to help her take down the shield, but he refuses, replying that he is too old and disapproves of terrorism. Meanwhile on Zeist, General Katana orders Connor's death and sends assassins Corda and Reno to Earth to kill him. MacLeod defeats Reno and Corda, and uses their Quickenings to regain his youth and summon Ramírez back to life. Ramírez awakens where he died in Glencoe, Scotland, during a Shakespeare play. Drawn to Connor's location, his earring is apparently worth enough money to buy a new suit of clothes and a plane ticket to New York. General Katana also arrives on Earth, determined to kill Connor himself. After Ramírez finds Connor and Louise, the three make a plan to take down the shield. Katana approaches the Shield Corporation and creates an uneasy alliance with David Blake to kill Connor. When it is discovered that Neyman has revealed to Connor proof that the ozone layer has indeed healed, Blake has Neyman imprisoned. Connor, Ramírez and Marcus break into the prison, but Neyman dies and Ramírez sacrifices his life to save Connor and Marcus from a trap. Katana kills Blake and Connor has one final confrontation with Katana. After winning the fight and decapitating Katana, Connor uses the combined Quickening energy to disable the shield, and the world begins to see a night sky for the first time.

Although the film originally began after the success of the original, Davis/Panzer Productions presold most of the rights of the Highlander sequel to Vestron Inc. for $18 million, namely in five foreign territories, such as the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Australia, Japan and Benelux, while Vestron would handle French home video distribution, Filmauro gained Italian rights to the project, Highlight Communications gained German rights to the film, Nea Kinisi for the Greece market and Lusomondo for the Portugal market, and the producers concluded other presells were available for the Argentina, Peru and Bolivia markets, and in the U. S., set to be released by New Century/Vista Film Co., which was intended for the summer of 1988, but it was landed in development hell. The sets of Highlander II have been compared to those of Ridley Scott, particularly those of Blade Runner. Lambert and Ironside both suffered injuries during the filming, according to the St. Petersburg Times: "Lambert chipped one of Ironside's teeth during a fight scene, while Ironside inadvertently chopped off part of Lambert's finger during a swordfight scene. Both men recovered from their injuries, but Ironside said precision thrusts and parries were impossible when wielding a 22 pound broadsword." John C. McGinley made his character's voice as deep as possible in an effort to sound like Orson Welles. He has since admitted that this was a bad idea. According to the documentary Highlander II: Seduced by Argentina, the film's apparent poor performance is partially a result of the bonding company's interference with the work of the director, Russell Mulcahy.

In the United States, the theatrical cut was released on VHS on 13 May 1992 by Columbia TriStar Home Video, and was reissued on 13 April 1994 by Hemdale Home Video.

In the UK and European theatrical release, the opening segment includes a scene where Brenda Wyatt (Connor MacLeod's lover from the first film) is dying from solar radiation. She makes MacLeod promise to stop the ozone crisis before dying. Additional scenes include MacLeod and Marcus climbing through a tunnel to get above the Shield to find the ozone layer has returned to normal. The ending shows MacLeod returning to Zeist after destroying the Shield, bringing Louise with him (this has been dubbed by fans as the "fairy tale ending").

In 1995, Mulcahy made a director's cut version known as the Renegade Version, which became the main version of the film available as the original theatrical cut did not have enough demand to warrant further production for home media. As a result, many fans in later years were only able to find the Renegade Version for viewing rather than the original theatrical release. The Renegade Version was reconstructed largely from existing material; certain scenes were removed and others added back in and entire sequences of events were changed. All references to the Immortals being aliens from another planet called Zeist were eliminated. New sequences include a battle between MacLeod and Katana atop a moving vehicle after they escape the security facility, and MacLeod and Louise climb through a mountain tunnel to emerge above the Shield to confirm that the radiation levels are back to normal (a scene previously only seen in the UK cut). The new version removes a major continuity gaffe from the theatrical version, which had merged two separate sword fights between MacLeod and Katana into one longer climactic battle. The director's cut version restores them to two separate battles, although it never shows how or when Connor reacquired his katana.

Producers Panzer and Davis revisited Highlander II once again in 2004. Dubbed the "Special Edition", this cut was nearly identical to the Renegade Version, but with a few alterations, such as the introduction of new CGI special effects throughout the film, including a now blue shield as originally intended, and a small piece of voice over work by Lambert. As the original cut of the film is no longer distributed, many fans in later years have only had the Renegade Version and Special Edition available to watch. Reviewing the 2004 "Special Edition" DVD, David Ryan of DVD Verdict gave it a score of 69 out of 100 and said that "[this] is the best version of this film that [the producers] can make with the material they have on hand. It's still not a particularly good film—but it's infinitely superior to the original version What was once a horrible, horrible film has become downright tolerable, and actually somewhat entertaining at times."

The film was released months later in the US on 1 November 1991, and opened at #3, grossing $5.3 million in 960 theaters in the opening weekend. It grossed a total of $15.6 million in the US.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rare approval rating of 0% based on 24 reviews and an average rating of 2.7/10. The site's critics' consensus simply reads "There should have been only one." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film a score of 0.5 stars (out of four), saying: "Highlander II: The Quickening is the most hilariously incomprehensible movie I've seen in many a long day—a movie almost awesome in its badness. Wherever science fiction fans gather, in decades and generations to come, this film will be remembered in hushed tones as one of the immortal low points of the genre If there is a planet somewhere whose civilization is based on the worst movies of all time, Highlander 2: The Quickening deserves a sacred place among their most treasured artifacts." Ebert also mocked the Quickening, saying it looked like a person standing in a puddle had touched another person who had just stuck his finger into a light socket. Awarding the film one star out of five, Christopher Null of FilmCritic. com said, "Highlander has become a bit of a joke, and here's where the joke started Incomprehensible doesn't even begin to explain it. This movie is the equivalent of the 'Hey, look over there!' gag. You look, and the guy you wanted to beat up has run away and hid [sic]." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "It makes clearer much that was so vague in the original; it even jokes about how confusing its premise is. In short, audiences who made the first film successful enough to warrant a second will be getting a bit more for their money." David Nusair of Reel Film Reviews gave the film two stars out of four, saying: "It's hard to imagine Highlander II appealing to non fans of the first film, as the film barely captures the sense of fun that was so prevalent in the original. With its complicated storyline and dreary visuals, it occasionally feels more perfunctory than anything else—though, to be fair, it's nowhere near as bad as it's been made out to be over the years."