Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
Genres: Science Fiction
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Virginia Madsen, Sean Connery, Michael Ironside
Highlander II: The Quickening is a 1991 science fiction film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christopher Lambert, Virginia Madsen, Michael Ironside and Sean Connery. It is the second installment in the Highlander film series, and sequel of the 1986 fantasy film Highlander. Set in the year 2024, the plot concerns Connor MacLeod, who regains his youth and immortal abilities and must free Earth from the Shield, an artificial ozone layer that has fallen under the control of a corrupt corporation. The film was shot almost entirely in Argentina before and after the country's economy crashed; as the local economy experienced hyperinflation, the film's investors and completion bond company took direct control of production and final edit, removing director Mulcahy and his creative influence while changing parts of the story. The resulting film contradicts the established canon of Highlander, in depicting immortals as aliens, featuring the inexplicable resurrection of Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, and altering the concept of the "Quickening".