Media and Music: Want to Make a Bad Movie Good? Add a Better Soundtrack
“Highlander” (1986) has many flaws, but its soundtrack by Queen isn’t one of them.
In Media and Music, our writers take a deep dive into how movies use scores and songs to engage viewers, give new meaning and tone to some of our favorite scenes, and establish themes. It almost goes without saying, but there are spoilers abound.
Written by Allison McCarty
Photos courtesy of IMDB
Bad movies, unlike those that earn big at the box office and gain illustrious praise from critics, don’t have many redeeming qualities. Whether it’s writing that’s difficult to comprehend, acting that’s uncomfortable to witness, or plot that’s complex and incohesive, bad movies share very little with their highly-respected counterparts. However, there is one aspect of the film which both atrocious and breathtaking cinema can share: their soundtracks. Soundtracks subconsciously affect the audience and draw specific emotional reactions which visuals alone lack. One such terrible movie which flaunts an impressive soundtrack, written and recorded by Queen, is 1986’s “Highlander.”
“Highlander” is a sprawling sci-fi flick centered around the life of an immortal man born in 1500s Scotland. The man, Connor MacLeod, finds out he has the ability to live forever when he sustains a fatal stab wound but survives. After living through the centuries and finding his way to America, the film moves onto MacLeod’s life in 1985 as he assumes a new identity and inhabits New York City. However, Connor’s peaceful urban life is threatened by the continued pursuit of a powerful immortal who has been following him through time, and the film climaxes with the final battle between the two. As with all sci-fi films, the fate of the world rests in the hands of the protagonist. For those that haven’t seen Highlander, this summary might sound enthralling. However, the frenetic and chaotic attempt at filmmaking that is “Highlander” falls flat on its execution.
Objectively speaking, “Highlander” is not a good movie. The writing is muddled and overly dramatic, and it often seems as if the actors are repeating lines off of entirely different scripts. Conversations flow as well as a dammed river and are jarring to hear, like each word of dialogue is a tug of war between the actors fighting for artistic dominance over the other. There is romance with laughably absent chemistry shoehorned into the film so abruptly that it makes absolutely no thematic sense.
The acting of the film, especially Christopher Lambert’s performance, is strange and unnatural. Lambert refuses to play MacLeod with anything other than a perpetual grimace. Other actors try to make up for his lackluster performance and come off as theatrical and over-the-top. “Highlander” also has plenty of plot holes: the notion of immortality in the film isn’t coherent, the “prize” each immortal fights for can never be won when following the established logic of the film, and we never learn how exactly the immortals tell who is immortal and who isn’t. “Highlander” is terrible, I’ll assert that. It is bad. Monumentally bad, even. But what saves this film, and the reason I’ve seen it multiple times and still enjoy it, is its soundtrack.
Photo courtesy of IMDB
The soundtrack for “Highlander” is written, produced, and recorded by Queen, who is one of the most famous rock bands of all time. With a multitude of No. 1 hits and certified gold albums, Queen is one of the most decorated and accomplished recording artists in history. They were also no stranger to recording film soundtracks before “Highlander” — they were also responsible for the soundtrack to the 1980 film “Flash Gordon.” Prior to their involvement in “Highlander,” Queen had released their 11th studio album The Works in 1984, which received critical praise and a slew of gold and platinum certifications. Riding on the chart-topping success of the album, Queen became involved with “Highlander” and wrote seven songs for the film, most of which were released on their 12th studio album A Kind of Magic. It’s no surprise that when people speak of the positive aspects of “Highlander,” Queen’s music is always included.
Music adds an unparalleled and unique amount of depth and character to a film, and for all of its faults, “Highlander” could do no better than finding its lyrical voice in Queen. The film opens boldly with the first words of “Princes of the Universe” loudly overlaying the title sequence, perfectly harmonized by the charismatic voices of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor. The energy and power of the vocals accompanied by Taylor’s thunderous staccato drum beats and May’s iconic Red Special wailing guitar chords begin the film with the precedence of overwhelming heroism and the promise of action. The actual visuals of the introduction are mostly mundane compared to the sound of the opening, with mullet-donning wrestlers in tight singlets parading around a boxing ring while Connor MacLeod sits in the audience.
Throughout the film, little snippets of Queen are heard as scenes begin and end. “One Year of Love,” “Gimme the Prize,” “Don’t Lose Your Head,” and “A Dozen Red Roses for My Darling” are featured numerous times when action and tension are building. It isn’t until the middle of the movie when the film features what most consider the quintessential song written for the movie, which is May’s delicate and captivating “Who Wants to Love Forever.” May has said that he was inspired to write this song after watching the scene where Connor’s love interest dies of old age in his arms.. The track is mesmerizing, a force of feeling pulling the listener into a whirlwind of ethereality and sadness and adoration and anguish. How May wrote such art from a scene in which Lambert’s awkward acting choices make it seem like he doesn’t even remember his lines is beyond me.
The expert use of dispensing bits of Queen throughout the film is what Highlander does best, as it keeps the passion and vitality of the audience alive when the movie isn’t able to sustain that itself. Without Queen, “Highlander” wouldn’t be able to hold anyone’s attention with its bizarre performances and mediocre writing. If it hadn’t been for the talent and musical prowess of Queen, “Highlander” certainly wouldn’t have garnered the cult following it has bolstered over the decades since its release, and it definitely wouldn’t have retained many viewers over its nearly two-hour runtime. Masking undeveloped plots and nonsensical writing is easier when you have the likes of Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, and Brian May to help, so when it comes to making terrible movies watchable, take the “Highlander” route and get a better soundtrack. Preferably by Queen, if you can swing it.