Swordsmen condemned to immortality in a constant lightning storm! Sean Connery portrays an Egyptian nobleman with a Spanish name! Half of the film takes place in Scotland! And the main character is French and can’t speak English! When “Highlander” with Christophe Lambert got the green light for filming, no one would have believed that this fantasy film would become one of the most popular of the decade. But like no other work, “Highlander” served fanboys’ longing for the late Middle Ages, for weapons and knights, and the Highlands in Scotland inhabited by farmers were quite new as a setting for Hollywood. Added to this were the flashes used like lasers; Special effects that were displayed whenever one of the swordsmen beheaded another swordsman. It all reads strangely, but it worked on screen.
Queen also had the right nose. Her soundtrack album “A Kind Of Magic” would even become the most successful of her career – that is, it would sell better than “A Night At The Opera” (with the mega hit “Bohemian Rhapsody”), better than “The Game”, better as “The Works”. Queen, friends of “Highlander” director Russell Mulcahy, an MTV man, were only supposed to contribute one song. But Freddie Mercury and colleagues were so enthusiastic about the concept that they wrote six. The cleverly chosen album title (“Highlander” would have sounded stupid for a record) is a film quote from Christophe Lambert, who explains his immortality to a girl – “it’s a kind of magic”.
The six “Highlander” songs include “A Kind Of Magic”, “One Year Of Love”, “Who Wants To Live Forever”, “Gimme The Prize”, “Don’t Lose Your Head” and “Princes Of The Universe”. “Friends Will Be Friends”, the Mercury solo piece “Pain Is So Close To Pleasure” and the opener “One Vision”, which the band also used for the action film “Iron Eagle”. The heterogeneous mix of songs makes “A Kind Of Magic” a mixed experience. “One Year Of Love” and “Pain Is So Close To Pleasure” reflect Mercury’s love of Hollywood crooners (and are both a bit boring), “Friends Will Be Friends” is a cheesy ode to male friendship, a pub song.
Like the best music clip of the year
The remaining “Highlander” pieces function as independent works, as well as illustrations of what is happening on the screen. Everything good is brought together in the most beautiful scene. Highlander Connor McLeod (Lambert) holds his old wife Heather (Beatie Edney), who in contrast to him is mortal, in his arms, she wonders for the last time about his eternal youth, our gaze wanders over the hills, Lambert talks offscreen, Freddie Mercury sings “Who Wants To Live Forever,” and Michael Kamen orchestrates a tune that couldn’t be sadder. Those four minutes were like the best music clip of the year. A lesser-known song at the time of its release, “Who Wants To Live Forever” became an anthem after Mercury’s death in 1991.
No less effective was the “Highlander” opening credits, in which Queen intone “Princes Of The Universe” – and which did not show the band or actors in action, but rather blood-red writing against a black background, plus Mercury’s powerful text from the summit of the chosen ones ( “I Have Inside Me Blood Of Kings”). No MTV editing spectacle with stars appearing. Fully trusting in the effect of the song, doing everything completely right.
“Highlander” immediately made its mark: This was a rock music film in kilt. The longer album version showed what can happen in three and a half minutes: ghostly howls, marching music, wrestling soundtrack, speed metal. Who associates the pop of “A Kind Of Magic” with the fact that Mercury sings harder here than on any other Queen album?
The title song seems like madness: this one, of all things, doesn’t sound like steel swinging, but like swing pop, relaxed almost to the point of unbearableness.
Heavy plastic?
The 1980s are often referred to as the problematic Queen decade. It is said that the band tried to chase trends after their successful start in 1980 (“The Game” contained their first and only US number one singles “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Another One Bites The Dust”). The disco-funk-oriented “Hot Space” (1982) failed, and “The Works” was also dismissed as pop nonsense, despite its single hits. After Mercury appeared as a woman in the video for “I Want To Break Free,” her career in America was over. The band was rightfully stunned.
In 1985, Queen wanted to regain ground with the worldwide broadcast spectacle “Live Aid” and they rehearsed like crazy for their medley on the stage of London’s Wembley Stadium. In the end, her twenty-minute performance was considered the crowning glory of the event.
After its release, “A Kind Of Magic” received mixed reviews – excluding the assessment of the record cover – and the American ROLLING STONE described the work as “heavy plastic”. The emotional strength of songs like “Who Wants To Live Forever” or “Princes Of The Universe” was recognized at least in subsequent years. To mark the album’s release in June 1986, Queen embarked on their final tour; a year later, Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS.
As correct as Queen were in predicting the success of their Scottish fairy tale, their record company reacted just as late. When “A Kind Of Magic” was released in June 1986, “Highlander” had already been in theaters for three months.