Customer Reviews

Highlander - The Raven Video Set [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Go to the official highlander website and find the DVD for Highlander the Raven for $39.99 as well as the VHS set for $19.99

First of all, why did this series end up only lasting around half a season on network TV, even though a full season of episodes was actually filmed? After viewing the entire season, I'd say that considering their overall quality, it's really a shame they didn't reach a wider audience. But the show aired at a really odd time, at least in the Midwest (early Saturday afternoon), so you really had to break up your day to watch it. As such, it was well nigh impossible to catch the drift of where the series was heading.

And gee whiz, the 'stock' trailer at the beginning of each episode was so very, very cheesy sounding.

I should probably mention that Amanda's extremely short, bleached blonde hair made her head look too small for the rest of her body, which is silly, considering all the devoted fans from the former Highlander series were used to seeing her done up in her full glory. In well over 20 episodes of the original series, she wore her hair many different ways, using this particular coiffure one time only.

Also, why is she "the Raven" when her hair is practically white? The idea of the raven is only briefly alluded to in one episode of the entire series, certainly not enough to warrant the quasi-mythic, or should we really say pseudo-mythic significance given to it in the aforementioned cheesy trailer. The writing for that speech ("She is immortal . . .") is atrociously bad, almost nonsensical, and the man who reads it aloud in a flamboyantly pseudo-macho manner is definitely wrong for the part. Was this supposed to be some kind in in-joke? Maybe he thought Amanda was really China (the pro wrestler/personality seen on UPN) whom he was introducing. Whatever the rationale, it certainly didn't work very well.

But know that if you watch the Raven series from beginning to end, it's really quite remarkable. I think that sometimes the stories themselves tend toward more subtlety than the 6 seasons with Duncan McLeod, though the original series to its credit seemed somehow, what, more spacious and cosmopolitan? Here, though, there are less sword-fights per episode, and of course less 'quickenings'. (Amanda's quickenings have a feminine flavor to them whereas Duncan's often seemed rather wooden, maybe trying to flirt with the aforementioned pro wrestling audience.)

Possibly the biggest problem with the original series was a technical one: when scenes occurred in relatively darker surroundings, you had to jack up the brightness and tint of your monitor screen - though then everything looked too blue, and even then often you couldn't see what was going on. Thankfully, this technical oversight was corrected for the 'Raven' episodes.

Series star Elizabeth Gracen as Amanda was a frequent guest on episodes in Highlander: the Series' first 5 seasons, and a full-fledged co-star during its final season. She is a former Miss America who put her prize money to excellent use by going to acting school. Here she gets to show her own ample ability rather than merely playing the part of comedic and romantic foil to Adrian Paul's character Duncan McLeod (even there she was a very popular personage, gaining numerous loyal and devoted fans - check out her own website). In the earlier series, she often came off rather quirky, almost a mere appendage - of course not so here. During the Raven series, the gradual moral and emotional development of her own character works in tandem with the slowly developing/deepening friendship with her co-star (the former policeman, turned private detective, turned hi-grade security operative Nick Wolfe). It's really a tour de force in terms of believable acting and directing. Maybe even more so than for the original series, I was never tempted, once I got a few episodes into it, to want to turn the TV off, other than to eat, sleep, and go to work.

Though you could see where the series could have continued after the last episode (a second season, anyone?!) it also was emotionally a good place for it to end or at least go into hiatus. Although, maybe if you'd not already seen the 6 seasons of the original series, this wouldn't be the case.

Duncan's prolific and beautiful ramblings into far eastern religions and martial arts forms, as well as the little proverbs that emerge here and there from the mouths of different immortals (and mortals), both friends and foes, aren't present here as much, at least not in such a dressed-up form. Amanda's wisdom displays itself more in fits and starts (sometimes very passionate), but that makes this all the more believable, as viewers see that she's not just a clone of McLeod. The wonderfully diverse nature of the many different characters in the original series was a major factor as to why it was so stellar. To their credit, the writers, directors and producers did their best to preserve that tradition of excellence.

The only character (besides of course Amanda) who here reprises his role from the original series is the 'Watcher' Joe Dawson, though only for one episode. Valentine Pelka (the evil immortal Kronos in several episodes of the original series) and Philip Akin (who co-starred as Duncan's friend and employee Charlie throughout season #3) guest in a couple or so of the Raven episodes, portraying different characters than they played originally.

This is a truly wonderful show and a wonderful box set, with a authenticity numbered certificate! This show is a pleasure, I discovered it through the satellite but wanted to make sure I had all the episodes of season one, which is now the case. Paul & Elizabeth are truly great in that show, there's a lot of irony too which is rare nowadays; so this is certainly a great gift.
Thank you amazon.com for selling this set because I never managed to find it anywhere else.

Although this series was never shown in the UK, I enjoyed the Highlander series so much that I always wanted to see this.I am very gratefull that Amazon sell it /It comes up to my highest hopes and recommend it to all viewers of the orig series.I just wish it came with closed captions as the diologue is not always too bright.
PRINCE RAFAEL

Not as dark as Highlander - I recommend it to fans of the tv show Alias who can take a bit of the fantasy genre. The chemistry between the leads lends a touch of romance and both are easy on the eyes.

This show followed Amanda, you know the thief who was constantly getting Duncan Macloud (the Protaganist of this shows parent series, Highlander the series). It for the most part was good but as all spinoffs not quite as good as the original. The original though struggled in ratings, and was carried by Adrian Paul(the main star)was still a good show good stories and good acting. This show tryed but it to struggled in the ratings and it distibuter Ryhser Entertainment pulled the plug they also distributed the original.

The series is pretty dire, but the 1st soldier is DIDIER KERSTEN, a true great of the French theatre - buy it now!!!!1