Beyond the Rhetoric

This time around, I’m going to take us back to the 90s. Yes, the 90s. When Zack and Kelly were still a couple, and AJ Slater wore billowy pants and equally billowy shirts. Okay, so I’m not really talking about Saved By the Bell, but let’s face it – the 90s had some… interesting fashion. But I digress.

Interesting fashion aside, this particular series, Highlander, was filmed in Vancouver, Paris and Seattle. Vancouver was its home for almost all six of the seasons it was on air and it’s a nice look back at historical Vancouver should you watch it today.

Highlander was originally a movie, starring Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod and Sean Connery as Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez. It eventually went on to have four other movies, but Highlander – the Series was an offshoot of the movie, where Christopher Lambert guest starred to pass the torch to the TV series hero, Adrian Paul, who plays Duncan MacLeod.

The premise of the series is simple: immortals fight to the death whilst shouting THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!!! Interestingly enough, I think this show had the longest opening sequence of any show I’ve ever seen – it’s 1 minute and 20 seconds long. The theme song was written by Queen and yes, I have it on my iPod. Check it out!

If you’ll notice in the opening sequence, there are a few recognizable Vancouver landmarks – the sulphur mine at the Vancouver harbour being the most prominent. Throughout the series, there are overhead shots of the downtown core, overhead shots of BC Place Stadium sans retractable roof and many others. Unfortunately, due to the series’ age, I wasn’t able to track down too many screencaps, but you could buy the series and watch at your leisure!

Tags: Adrian Paul, Christopher Lambert, Highlander, landmarks, Sean Connery, TV, vancouver

Filed under Arts and Entertainment.