Highlander: The Source

In the near future, human society has fallen to violence and chaos, with gangs fighting over territory and many people now living as homeless scavengers. A group of immortals still has resources and access to advanced technology. It includes the ancient Methos, computer hacker Reggie, warrior Zai Jie, and Cardinal Giovanni, who represents the Vatican. The group seeks to locate the mysterious "Source of Immortality." Zai Jie seems to find a lead on its location. However, while contacting the group, he is killed by the Guardian of the Source, a monstrous immortal with unnatural speed. Convinced they need help, Methos asks his old friend Joe Dawson to find Duncan MacLeod.

Duncan wanders the wastelands after separating from his mortal wife who decided she could not remain with him because of his infertility. While wandering, MacLeod is attacked by the Guardian and briefly fights him before Joe Dawson recruits him. They rendezvous with Methos, Reggie and Giovanni at a monastery to meet with the Elder, an ancient being that can help them locate the Source. At the monastery, they find Anna Teshemka, who reveals to have been having visions related to the Source.

The Elder, an immortal whose body continually decays, explains how a group of immortals once found the Source in ancient times. Upon slaying the Guardian, two of the three survivors were cursed, with one of them becoming the new Guardian while another became the endlessly decaying Elder (the third is later implied to have been reincarnated as Anna). The Elder tells them that Anna's visions mean she knows the way. The Elder warns that the closer they get to the Source, the weaker they will become.

The Guardian arrives and attacks Reggie and Joe Dawson on holy ground. In an effort to save Dawson, Duncan throws his katana at the Guardian, temporarily wounding him. Unaffected, the Guardian breaks the sword and kills Joe before escaping. After burying Joe, Duncan and the others leave to find the Source, which seems to be on an island off the coast of Lithuania in the Baltic Sea, an island ruled by gangs of cannibals. Talking with Anna, he is surprised she has not started a family with a fertile mortal man. Anna remarks she did not simply want children, she wanted children with Duncan.

After fighting locals, Duncan and his allies drive to a deserted house close to where they believe the Source to be. That night, the Guardian starts slashing Reggie. Due to their proximity to the Source, his wounds do not heal and he dies. After burying Reggie, the group continues. During the journey, Duncan and Methos conclude the expression "there can be only one" does not refer to one person becoming the last immortal and claiming the Prize, the power of all immortals who ever lived. It actually refers to the fact that only one immortal can claim the full power of the Source.

At a road block, the group is captured by cannibals. While the cannibals celebrate, the Guardian frees Anna and forces her to accompany him to the Source. Giovanni then escapes. Believing it is his destiny to be "the One", he leaves Methos and Duncan to die. Duncan then frees himself and Methos. Methos concludes that Duncan is "the One" due to his incorruptible nature. He rides off on a horse to distract the cannibals, allowing Duncan to chase after Anna. Meanwhile, Giovanni is decapitated by the Guardian.

Duncan finds Anna in a clearing. The Guardian appears and challenges him. Now only a few yards away from the Source, MacLeod matches the speed and strength of the Guardian. Anna seems to commune with the Source. When Duncan tries to join her, an energy barrier blocks him. The fight continues and MacLeod uses superhuman speed to bury the Guardian in the ground up to his neck. Now immobilized and defeated, the Guardian demands death. MacLeod refuses and so the curse does not transfer to him. The Guardian vanishes in a blast of light, screaming he is now "cursed forever." Having proved his purity of heart, Duncan joins Anna and connects to the Source. As they stand together, the film ends with the image of a fetus.

In the DVD release of the movie, dialogue is added at the end, in which Anna reveals they will have a son. Duncan declares "he is the One."

• Adrian Paul as Duncan MacLeod
• Peter Wingfield as Methos
• Jim Byrnes as Joe Dawson
• Thekla Reuten as Anna Teshemka
• Cristian Solimeno as The Guardian
• Thom Fell as Cardinal Giovanni
• Stephen Rahman Hughes as Zai Jie
• Stephen Wight as Reggie Weller
• Solly Assa as Monk

As early as 2001, producers of the previous film, Highlander: Endgame, were discussing plans for a fifth film with fans at conventions.[2] However, the production of the film was plagued with several problems. The original rights holders, Miramax Films, decided to sell the rights back to the producers due to the lackluster performance of Endgame. Also, Adrian Paul refused to reprise his role as Duncan Macleod, as he was disappointed with the previous film. At this point, the producers decided to ask Christopher Lambert to reprise his role as Connor Macleod (despite the character having been killed off), but Lambert demanded more money. The producers were left with no choice but to renegotiate with Paul again, even offering him a producer's credit as well. In July 2005, Lionsgate Films acquired the rights to the film under the title Highlander: The Journey Continues, with director Brett Leonard at the helm as director, and actor Adrian Paul in the lead role as Duncan MacLeod. Leonard said: "Highlander is an amazing ongoing story that I can bring my visual style to. Everything I have done has led me to this kind of mythical fantasy."[3] Filming began in October 2005,[4] and concluded the following December. In June 2006, Adrian Paul revealed that Highlander: The Source had been undergoing editing and visual effects work. The actor said that composer George Kallis had been brought on board to create a film score that was recorded by an 80-piece orchestra.[5] Production was originally intended to be filming in Africa before it was decided to film in Europe.

Critical reaction to Highlander: The Source was universally negative. Christopher Monfette of IGN gave The Source a score of 1 out of 10, saying: "The worthwhile days of Connor MacLeod, it would appear, are officially over—dead, decapitated, and depleted of their power. The struggle for an immortal to move through life unchallenged has since mutated into an awkward arrangement of mismatched mythologies, TV-to-movie crossovers, and a steady stream of low-budget, direct-to-DVD cash-cows which may, in the end, prove to be the only truly immortal thing about this series."[12]

Brian Orndorf of DVD Talk gave the film one half star out of five, saying: "The Source is nothing less than a parody of what has come before. If you've seen the previous sequels, you already know that's saying something. There is some relief that this franchise will finally be put out of its misery, because nobody in their right mind would try to keep this series going after watching just how boneheaded Highlander: The Source is."[13] Danél Griffin of Film as Art gave The Source one half star out of four, remarking that "it's bad—cheesily bad, colossally bad, monumentally bad, bad enough to make you never want to watch another movie again bad."[14]

Keith Breese of FilmCritic.com gave the film one star out of five, saying: "Not only will Highlander fans be disappointed by the film's nosedive into nonsense, but the average viewer will be stunned by the backyard quality of this film. The acting is uniformly terrible, the special effects are hideous, the sets are cheap and grubby, and the direction is uninspired. The film is an utter failure. ... Surely this is the final nail in the coffin lid for this film series. If it isn't, then something is truly wrong with the universe."[15]

The Sci-Fi Movie Page gave The Source one and a half stars out of five, saying: "Just when you think that this is a franchise that can't sink any lower, along comes Highlander: The Source. ... One gets the impression that The Source was filmed with theatrical distribution in mind but that no sane cinema distributor would touch it with a ten-foot barge pole. Good for them. Instead it went straight to the SciFi Channel and now the DVD shelves where you should let it stay, collecting dust."[16]

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• Official "Secret" website (revealed on the OS album)
• Highlander: The Source at IMDb
• Highlander: The Source at AllMovie