Bonus Episode 2-6 Voices of Highlander: A Portrait
Keith: Hey, Rewatchers! In a very special bonus episode, we hear directly from you, the fans that keep the magic of Highlander alive! The Rewatchers compiled this special tribute from interviews conducted at the 30th Anniversary Gathering. Each story proves the lasting impact of Highlander, and the resilience of its community. Thank you to all the fans who share this journey with us online, in person, and in spirit.
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My name is Kyle. I'm 41, from here in ***** Florida, about an hour away from Lakeland.
My name is
Davis, I am 41 years old. I live just south of Orlando!
My name's
Tim, I'm from Lakeland. I'm 45.
Well my name's
Renee.
Wil, North Carolina, 36.
My name is
Tam Rachatanavin, I'm from Carbondale, Illinois. 578 years old. Just kidding, I'm 37.
Urban Pradipasena, I am 37 years old. And I'm from San Antonio, Texas.
I'm
David, and I'm 38.
My name is
Jill, and I came from Japan via the Narita Airport. It's a very long flight.
My name is
Amanda Montoya, and I'm from the Napa area.
My name's
Michael Kuprian. I'm over here from Fort Meyers, Florida.
Hi I'm
Tony, I'm from San Antonio, down in Texas.
My name's
Justin Och, and I am now from Lakeland, Florida, but I used to live in Fairfield Connecticut in upstate New York.
Hi! Uh, my name is
Shane, I'm from the West Palm Beach area.
My name is
Andrew Martin Fudge, I'm from Lakeland, Florida.
I'm
John Mosby!
My name's
Thomas Maine. I'm 42 from Orlando, Florida.
My name's
Tim, I'm from Lakeland. I'm 45.
Well for me, I mean I saw the first movie back in the day, um, not quite in theaters but on VHS and just the whole concept of it brought me in.
Actually, the first time I ever watched Highlander was Highlander II and... I thought it was very intriguing, I thought it was very cool, and then I started watching the TV show, and Duncan MacLeod became, like, my favorite Highlander for sure.
John Mosby: When the Internet was just started, when people just started to get the Internet, which makes me sound very old, but it was about--probably about Ninety...five, ninety-six, ninety-seven, when I started basically Googling stuff, one of the things was Highlander. Found the Highlander--the Rysher Highlander Forum at the time, made loads--a lot of friends on there. Heard about the big event that was going on in Anaheim. Uh... and basically, yeah. Managed to get across there. Where, technically, I met my wife!
Um, I was first introduced to Highlander in high school. Somebody brought it in to school one day, and we watched it in class. Been a huge fan of it ever since. And then when the series came out, I really enjoyed it as well.
My brother Tim, he kind of introduced me to the Highlander--the first Highlander movie with Christopher Lambert, and we just really enjoyed it. And when the series came out, we were just addicted to it. My whole family loved it. As a matter of fact, my e-mail address for the last twenty-seven years is macleod22. Hahah!
I caught it on TV. I didn't... I didn't hear about it before. I knew what the movies were, and I watched the first one and I was like, "Oh, this is pretty cool!" and then, you know... after '86... I was six years old! And then when the series came out, I was like "Wait! Is that... is that the same...?" I saw swords. I saw martial artists, and I was like, "Oh, man my god this show is awesome!" So, I started watching, fell in love with it... here I am.
I first got into Highlander, it was actually the Queen intro song that got me into it. Because I was just flipping through the channels in high school, and I heard the song, and I was like, "Oh, what was that?" But I would catch the end credits, and I was... so, but I kept catching it, and I was like... I thought it was a movie at first. Then I was like, "Oh!" You know, I kept trying, I would like, actually try to find out what was this cool song; where did it come from. I had actually watched some of the show before, like bits and pieces, and then I just, independently, without realizing that they were connected. So eventually I like, watched a whole episode or something, and I was like, "Oh!" You know, "THAT's what that's from!" Well I already liked this thing, so I tried to watch more of it.
Jill: I was watching Highlander when it came on air, and it was GOOD. And it was worth watching, and it was fun... and... sometimes it was not fun because it was sad...
When the movie came out, the original movie with Christopher Lambert, but I DID appreciate the series, of course there's so much more of the series, so then you grow to develop an appreciation, and then it can go into so much more character development.
Well, I got into Highlander back in 1986, there was a little movie called Highlander, obviously. One day, somebody said, "Hey, there's a TV show called Highlander: The Series!" I tuned in on it, and got hooked ever since.
I first got into Highlander back, I think it was in 1989. Uh, my mom was a big Christopher Lambert fan, so she watched all his movies, and I saw Highlander once, and I was hooked... the first film.
I got into the Highlander because, uh, it was a big thing in my family, we started kind of like watching it together, then we kind of all went to our separate rooms and started watching it. You know, my family's kind of just been into martial arts 'n, you know, military weapons, things along those lines, so... the Highlander I guess just seemed like the right progression! *laughing*
I first saw Highlander in 1986 when it was in the theater. I... it just captured me. I went back to see it over and over again. To this day it's my favorite movie. There really hasn't been one that's surpassed it. "There can be only one," as they say.
And I started to get into watching Highlander right around when I was like thirteen or fourteen when I was in middle school, per se. And something about the show just struck me, and it was just fell in love with it. I used to pretend I... thought it would be cool to be a... wouldn't it be like, to be an Immortal, wore a trench coat because of it...
Boy, I was in college, I didn't have any money, had nothing else to do. Highlander reruns were on left and right, and uh, just started watching one, and just got hooked. Uh, and then after that I've watched every single episode multiple times, and uh, here I am. You know, 42 years old, still a... a big boy-fan.
What makes it unique to ME is the whole Immortality concept, I guess. No other TV shows or movies have that kind of... concept, but I did name my firstborn son Connor, after Connor MacLeod.
Uh, I think it just... it's original. Nobody else has really tried to do something like this. I think with Highlander II there's been so--there's such a history built up; but there's still so many unanswered questions that they have so many ways they can go with it, that it's--leaves it open to the imagination. I think that's one of the big things with Highlander, is you never know where they can pull something from.
Michael Kuprian: It had a... pretty deep impact on my life. A lot of things actually got changed because of the series. Well at the time, I was being bullied in school and had very low self-esteem, and a lot of things went on because of that. Highlander actually changed that because it gave me a means to... look at the world in a different light. Uh, it got more into looking at artwork in a different light. Spawned my love of sword-collecting, as well as, uh, old cars. And appreciation of life and of history--
There's a lot of history in it, that--that gives it a lot more depth, it's not just a modern-day character. I like the flashbacks, and uh, you know, seeing those parts of history.
There's so much history involved in it, but also the fact that he just has so many facets to his character, he's... he's a dancer, he's... you know, a kung fu master and... you know, he has this nobility about him, and he does things for the right reason and... he's just the renaissance man. He can do everything, so... it's pretty cool.
Swords. You know, any good story will keep people in--you know... inspired and connected.
I think it's timeless. You can actually go back and watch an episode and it's... it's not dated or anything, and it... it works.
Jill: I think what hold it is the sheer variety of stories they had, and the variety of characters they brought on, and the way that those characters in the stories could be expanded upon; even the dead ones because of flashbacks. They gave a lot of people things to imagine about.
To me it's about the characters. Of course it's about the swords, and it's of course it's about the fun, but it's about the loyalty; that you will always be there for a friend, and you will do what you have to do to protect someone... you know, just all those things that make us a better person in life.
I guess my whole way of morality and ethics came from the show. I guess I matured a lot faster... being a teenager watching the TV series, and since then I've been following the movies, and not a year goes by where I'm not watching... I remember back in school, back in high school, an older teacher of mine said that, "You know it's true love when you can see the girl you're looking at, and you picture her as an old woman, and if you still love her just the same, then that's true love." And when I saw that actually happen onscreen with Highlander, I thought okay, there's something there. Cuz of course you know, over years you get away from the action, you get away from the drama, and you, you know... your styles change, but I think the romantic side of it is what kept me going. The love story of it.
It has adventure, romance, comedy; it has every element you could possibly want in a movie. And uh, it was just is a fantastic film. It's timeless.
I loved it so much I named my firstborn son Connor.
For me, um, it was a moral set. It was a way of life. It was a... a way to treat women. It was a tra... it was a way to take care of the little guy. It was a way to stand up for people that couldn't stand up for themselves. Uh, it was a moral code that really set on me. You know, and stuck with me my whole life. So I think that's probably what most, uh, what MOST appealed to me.
Michael Kuprian: It's... how well it adapts to you. Every person's going to be different in how it affects. I don't know if it's the story-writing, or the... the way a story-line is conveyed, or the actors playing the characters and how they play them. But as far as for me, it gave me an outlook to say, "Hey! This can be ME." If you don't change how your outlook is... nobody can change that but yourself. So if you look into yourself, you can either be good, bad... or indifferent. Look at life as a camera. Your camera sees what you want it to see. You can shoot hope or despair; garbage or flowers. It all depends on where you want to spend your life. You don't have to be immortal to change how you are. Some people take ages to change, or a lifetime, and there are some people that can't change. So, if you can change, based on the experiences that you've had, you can make yourself a better person later in life. And that's pretty much what it did to me.