Highlander what is the quickening

It was the first to be showcased on screen in the original Highlander film, and that helped give a little exposition to the audience as to what happens when one immortal beheads another. Future Quickenings would be far more dramatic, but this one served its purpose. It took place in an underground parking garage, where Connor MacLeod faced down an old frenemy named Fasil played by the iconic Star Wars stunt coordinator Peter Diamond.

The creepiness of the Quickening helped tell a story all by itself, and further added to the mystique and allure of the timeless immortal Game. This particular Quickening is one of the silliest, for all the best reasons. Unbeknownst to them, the two are stalked by an overzealous Vietnam veteran, who is none too happy that this fight is taking place on his turf. After the Kurgan beheads Kastagir, he guns the victor down, not realizing that he's immortal.

When the Kurgan recovers, he stabs the ex-soldier through the chest with his enormous broadsword before making a getaway in an old man's car, with the veteran's terrified wife still in the passenger seat. It just felt too random. While the overall premise of the third Highlander film was mostly a direct rip-off of the original right down to its gravely-voiced villain , the element of magic and mysticism was rather new to the mythos.

Kane wasn't the best villain Connor could have faced, but he did a few things that set him apart from other baddies, including attacking another immortal on holy ground, which shattered his iconic ivory dragon katana. By the time the film was nearing its end, audiences were happy to see Connor conclude the game once more or so he thought by 'killing' Kane. The resulting Quickening was reminiscent of the Kurgan beheading in the first Highlander, even if it wasn't so visually grandiose.

Jacob Kell was one of the more interesting Highlander villains in the franchise, mostly due to his penchant for breaking all the rules. Although no on-screen repercussions were ever shown in the same way as they were in Highlander III , it was intriguing to see a villain completely uninterested in the Game itself.

In order to lure out Connor, Kell had his immortal henchmen attack fellow clansman, Duncan MacLeod, in Connor's old home. He managed to fend them off before Kell arrived, however, the renegade immortal Carlos shot Duncan and sent him flying out a window. The interruption enraged Kell so much that he decapitated Carlos on the spot. The severed slow-blinking head was especially silly, given how terrible the CGI was. Duncan was forced to behead his own clansman, Connor MacLeod, in order to absorb the culmination of his Quickenings.

This and this alone would give him something resembling a fighting chance against the mammothly overpowered Kell. Duncan squared off against his enemy but it was a brutal fight, from start to finish. Allan Rich Neyman as Neyman. John C. McGinley Blake as Blake. Rusty Schwimmer Drunk as Drunk. Ed Trucco Jimmy as Jimmy. Jimmy Murray Horatio as Horatio. Pete Antico Corda as Corda. Peter Bucossi Reno as Reno. Peter Bromilow Joe as Joe. Jeff Altman Doctor as Doctor.

Diana Rossi Virginia as Virginia. Karin Drexler Brenda as Brenda. Russell Mulcahy. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit.

In , Professor Allan Neyman and Connor MacLeod develop a shield to protect Earth from the radiation caused by the damage in the ozone layer.

Twenty-five years later, Earth is dying due to the effects of the shield and the terrorist group commanded by Louise Marcus is trying to destroy the shield. In all their centuries on Earth, nothing could prepare them for Rated R for strong violence, and some sexuality and language. Did you know Edit.

Trivia Michael Ironside recalled his experiences on this movie: "Yeah, listen, I hated that script. We all did. Me, Sean, Chris, we all were in it for the money on this one. I mean, it read as if it had been written by a thirteen-year-old boy. But I'd never played a barbarian swordsman before, and this was my first big evil mastermind-type.

I figured if I was going to do this stupid movie, I might as well have fun, and go as far over the top as I possibly could. All that eye-rolling and foaming at the mouth was me deciding that if I was going to be in a piece of shit, like that movie, I was going to be the most memorable fucking thing in it, and I think I succeeded.

Goofs Katana, who has never visited Earth, knows about league draft rules and the Wizard of Oz. At one point, Ramirez achieves what he describes as "something glorious" in form of glowing Quickening-esque energy flowing from the palm of his hand.

Ramirez uses this to stop a large fan from killing Connor. The final new use of the energy is seen when Connor manipulates the final Quickening to destroy the shield surrounding the Earth. Nearly the all the newly added powers of the quickening are absent in future Highlander media, with the sole exception being the use of a large Quickening to destroy a greater threat. In this film the Quickening is shown to more directly transfer knowledge and skill as opposed to the vague transfer seen elsewhere.

The whole plot of the movie is that the villain beheaded an Immortal wizard and gained his magical abilities for himself. In theory Connor received these abilities at the end of the movie. Though other Highlander stories have featured Immortals with unusual gifts, none have shown the direct transfer of those gifts upon beheading.

The second Quickening to be seen, where Kane beheads one of his henchmen, causes an electrical storm powerful enough to be felt by Connor MacLeod halfway around the world. This would serve to warn Connor that the Game was not over yet; whether this was an isolated event or something that happens after a long time has passed by with a temporary 'suspension' of The Game remains to be seen.

All Quickening sequences featured in this movie have a common theme, starting with Kane receiving the Immortal sorcerer Nakano's Quickening after beheading him, down to the scene where Connor receives Kane's Quickening. The transfer of energy begins with the deceased Immortal's headless body levitating and the surrounding area filling with visible electromagnetic energy capable of causing structural damage to nearby objects.

The final Quickening was powerful enough to levitate Connor while he was receiving it; reminiscent of the final Quickening in the first Highlander film. This movie represents the only two occasions of a single Immortal receiving multiple Quickenings at a time. The first occurs when Jacob Kell penetrates the Sanctuary where Immortals tired of the Game spend their days and decapitates all of them, with the sole exception of Connor MacLeod.

Kell's associates, who are also Immortal, may also have been around to share the Quickenings. However, it was more clearly shown by Kell's beheading of his gang in a mass execution; the resulting Quickenings were powerful enough to levitate him in mid-air.

Duncan seemed to briefly take on the voice and appearance of Connor at one point prior to Kell's defeat, which has never been seen in other Quickenings. The final Quickening, was unique in which a disembodied head is generated from the spot where Kell's decapitated body fell; this head shoots lightning bolts at Duncan MacLeod. Also seen during this Quickening is a spiraling plume of water and electrical discharge rising rapidly towards the clouds and generating an electrical storm that lasts until Duncan fully receives it.

Only two Quickenings are featured in this sequel to Highlander: Endgame ; both are received by the Guardian.

In keeping with previous Quickenings seen in the movies, the beheaded Immortal's essence represented by electrical discharges first emanates from the base of the severed neck, followed by explosions on-site. Due to the power of the Source's manifestation, Immortals who sought the location of the Source lose their Immortality and theoretically their Quickening ; Immortal characters could thus be killed permanently without beheading, and when decapitated do not release the Quickening.

The Quickenings feature several notable differences, unique to the movie and important in both plot and character development. The first Quickening shown the Quickening received by the Guardian shortly after being awakened has two unusual effects: it magically removes a piece of armor protecting the Guardian's neck from beheading, which was attempted by the Immortal Zai several times during his losing battle with the Guardian, and also grants him the ability to use a sword drawn from his own flesh the Guardian did not have a sword when awakened; he killed Zai with his own blade.

This effectively enables the Guardian to once again participate in the Game after several thousand years of inactivity. The second Quickening, shown in a flashback several thousand years earlier in the movie's timeline, results in a curse affecting the two Immortals surviving the battle against the previous Guardian: one was transformed into a mass of decaying Immortal flesh; the other was cursed to take the Guardian's place.

Highlander: The Search for Vengeance seems to follow a similar approach as the original film series. Quickenings occur after beheadings as usual. But there are two Quickenings, in the same manner as in the original Highlander movie. First there's a Japanese woman in the fields, only vibrating her head and rolling her eyes a bit as she turns immortal.

All Quickenings featured on the television series take the form of lightning or electrical storms. The exact nature of each Quickening varies. With the exception of Slan Quince's Quickening in the episode, The Gathering , the Quickening sequences begins with a foggy or misty veil enveloping the loser's fallen body; lightning storms of varying intensity then follow.