Highlander: The Source (2007)

Director:

Brett Leonard

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Kelvin Watkins (screenplay) and
Mark Bradley (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 August 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In a world without end, their will is eternal. But a quest for the source of immortality will awaken the Guardian.

Plot:

Duncan MacLeod and his fellow Immortals quest to locate the Grail of their world.

Plot Keywords:

Immortal | Immortality | Watcher | Highlander | Beheading

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Dec. 7

5:00 PM

SYFY

Cast

Adrian Paul	...	Duncan MacLeod
Thekla Reuten	...	Anna Teshemka
Cristian Solimeno	...	The Guardian
Peter Wingfield	...	Methos
Jim Byrnes	...	Joe Dawson
Stephen Rahman Hughes	...	Zai Jie
Stephen Wight	...	Reggie Weller
Thom Fell	...	Cardinal Giovanni
Patrice Naiambana	...	The Elder
Sakalas Uzdavinys	...	Security Guard
Geoffrey T. Bersey	...	Brother Radu (as Geofrey Bersey)
Rolandas Boravskis	...	Jurgis
Saulis Siparis	...	Man in Tyres
Buckley Norris	...	Captain
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Antanas Surgailis	...	Monk 1 (uncredited)

Directed by
Brett Leonard

Writing credits (WGA)
Stephen Kelvin Watkins		(screenplay) and
Mark Bradley		(screenplay)
Mark Bradley		(story)
Gregory Widen		(characters) (as Greg Widen)

Produced by
Chris Chrisafis	....	co-producer
Guy Collins	....	co-producer
Peter S. Davis	....	producer
Zivile Gallego	....	assistant producer (as Zivile Januskaite)
William N. Panzer	....	producer
Adrian Paul	....	executive producer
B.J. Rack	....	executive producer
Michael Ryan	....	co-producer
Ramunas Skikas	....	co-producer
Christian von Tippelskirch	....	line producer
Donatas Zvalionis	....	co-producer

Original Music by
George Kallis

Cinematography by
Steve Arnold
Trevor Coop
Dmitrij Gribanov

Film Editing by
Chris Blunden
Les Healey
Terry Jones		(documentary editor)

Casting by
Dalia Survilaite

Production Design by
Tom Brown

Art Direction by
Dean Clegg

Costume Design by
Alexandra Tonelli

Makeup Department
Egle Mikalauskaite	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Arturas Dvinelis	....	production manager
Lisa Jordan	....	post-producer
Agne Silickaite	....	second unit manager
Barrett Taylor	....	post-production supervisor (USA domestic version)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrius Brazas	....	third assistant director
Marco Ciglia	....	first assistant director
Rita Clifford	....	second assistant director
Agne Januskyte	....	second assistant director: second unit
Eddie Stacey	....	second unit director
Neil Tuohy	....	first assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Arturas Bujokas	....	sculptor
Arturas Cerkauskas	....	set dresser
Aurelijus Gaidelionis	....	assistant property master
Gediminas Gerulis	....	on-set dresser
Gintas Matonis	....	construction coordinator
Ramunas Rastauskas	....	property master
Sarune Tautvaisaite	....	stand-by props
Rosanna Westwood	....	stand-by art director

Sound Department
Paul Cotterell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Les Fiddess	....	foley artist
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Howard Halsall	....	adr editor
Dan Johnston	....	foley editor
Zdenek Manych	....	boom operator
Rene Mikan	....	sound mixer
Rob Prynne	....	sound effects editor
Steve C. Shaw	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer

Special Effects by
Michael Clifford	....	special effects supervisor: Lithuania
Jens Döldissen	....	special effects supervisor
Sean Kenrick	....	special effects technician
Ian Morse	....	makeup effects supervisor
Anthony Parker	....	prosthetics creator

Visual Effects by
Steven Bray	....	digital compositor
Steven Bray	....	matte painter
Alan Church	....	visual effects supervisor
Lee Clappison	....	colourist
Tom Collier	....	lead compositor
Neil Culley	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Nick D'Aguiar	....	junior compositor
Stefan Drury	....	head of film effects: LipSync Post
William Foxwell	....	digital lab operator: Lip Sync Post (as Will Foxwell)
Simon Giles	....	visual effects supervisor
Meetal Gokul	....	assistant digital editor
Julia Hall	....	senior designer: LipSync Post
David Hewitt	....	model maker
Katja Hollmann	....	digital lab producer: Lipsync Post (as Katja Lazare)
Russell Horth	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Pete Howlett	....	digital compositor
Daryl Jordan	....	visual effects editor
Richard Ketteridge	....	visual effects editor
Daniel Kumiega	....	computer graphic artist
Danius Kvedaras	....	compositor: LipSync Post
David Lloyd	....	head of film technology: LipSync Post
Alasdair MacCuish	....	senior producer: Lipsync Post
David Margolis	....	digital compositor
Aileen McIntosh	....	digital lab operator: Lipsync Post
Alberto Montañés	....	digital compositor
Gary Morton	....	model construction manager
Kevin Phelan	....	head of post production: Lipsync Post
Thomas Power	....	model maker
Glen Pratt	....	lead compositor: LipSync Post
Angela Rose	....	compositor: LipSync Post
Jon Rosenthal	....	digital effects artist
Steve Shaw	....	digital consultant
Naveen Shukla	....	digital compositor
Brett Smith	....	visual effects (USA domestic version)
Avishay Sweiry	....	animation designer: LipSync Post
Daniel Tomlinson	....	digital lab operator
Vasanthan	....	senior compositor
Howard Watkins	....	creative director: LipSync Post
Sheila Wickens	....	visual effects supervisor: LipSync Post (as Sheila Gorman)
Jonathan Wood	....	digital effects artist
Christopher D. Martin	....	lead visual effects designer (uncredited)

Stunts
Stanislav Adamickij	....	stunts
Sándor Boros	....	stunts
Tomas Ereminas	....	stunts
James Grogan	....	stunt double
László Imre	....	stunts
Leonid Kotik	....	stunts
Levente Lezsák	....	stunts
Slava Samuchov	....	stunts
Eddie Stacey	....	stunt coordinator
Jonas Tamulevigius	....	stunts
Béla Unger	....	stunt arranger
Béla Unger	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Feliksas Abrukauskas	....	second assistant camera
Richard Blanshard	....	still photographer
Egidijus Braziunas	....	gaffer
Marc Dando	....	digital lab supervisor
Linas Dikcius	....	assistant camera
Ross Fall	....	digital imaging technician
Simas Gricius	....	best boy: second unit
Vytaitas Gudlevicius	....	key grip
Zdislav Jagelo	....	electrician
Rolandas Joneliukstis	....	first assistant camera
Justin Lanchbury	....	camera coordinator
Florian Rettich	....	digital imaging technician
Rokas Rudzionis	....	key grip: second unit
Audrius Zelenius	....	assistant camera
Linas Zilys	....	dolly grip

Casting Department
Vanessa Baker	....	adr voice casting
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting
Vita Survilaite	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Silvestras Dobroslavskis	....	post-production
Scott Goulding	....	on-line film editor
Dirk Meier	....	digital image technician
John Nash	....	on-line editor
Tomas Rugevicius	....	assistant editor
Neguine Sanani	....	additional editor
Brett Smith	....	colorist
Milena Tasso	....	assistant editor
Samantha Welland	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
George Kallis	....	conductor
George Kallis	....	songwriter
Liz Schrek	....	music supervisor
Mark Tucker	....	score recording engineer
Tom Villano	....	supervising music editor
Graham Walker	....	music production supervisor

Transportation Department
Inga Zavoronok	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Brian Bero	....	armorer
Christopher Hutchins	....	assistant: director
Arturas Nemanis	....	horse master
John O'Quigley	....	data technical manager
Rasa Rimkute	....	assistant to cast
Caroline Sax	....	script supervisor
Ramunas Skikas	....	managing director
Susie Tullett	....	unit publicist
Rasa Vilkaityté	....	assistant production coordinator
Loreta Zajarskyte	....	production coordinator

Thanks
Kristi Lake	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Davis-Panzer Productions
• HandMade Films
• IAC Films
• Lietuvos Kinostudija
• Lithuanian Film Studio
• Sequence Film

Distributors

• Lions Gate Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• NonStop Entertainment (2008) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Eagle Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• IAC Films (2006) (non-USA) (all media) (sales)
• Lions Gate Films (2006) (USA) (all media)
• Lionsgate
• Mediafilm (2009) (Italy) (all media)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• e-m-s the DVD-Company (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Anibrain (visual effects)
• Oysterr (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Hyperactive Broadcast  editing equipment
• Digilab Services  digital film workflow
• Lip Sync Post  digital intermediate and titles
• Lip Sync Post  sound re-recording
• Lip Sync Post  visual effects
• Malde & Co.  auditor
• Matchframe Video  post-production facilities (US version)
• Micdi Productions  music editing (US version)
• Midtown Editorial  post-production facilities (USA domestic version)
• MotionFX  camera equipment provided by
• Post Media  production services
• Runway  post-production
• Soundworks  sound re-recording (US version)
• Stargate Digital  visual effects (USA domestic version)
• Virtualmix  sound re-recording
• Wilshire Stages, The  ADR recording facility

Also Known As:

Highlander 5 (USA) (working title)
Untitled Highlander 5 Film (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

86 min | Brazil:99 min (DVD version) | Russia:94 min (DVD version)

Country:

UK | USA | Lithuania

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A | UK:15 | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Kaunas, Lithuania

Company:

Davis-Panzer Productions

Trivia:

The film was intended to be the first of a new trilogy, but these plans were dropped after the poor critical and commercial performance of "The Source."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Duncan fights the Guardian near the end of the film, his wife Anna is standing in the "Source," at the top of a set of stairs at one end of the pit. After the Guardian stabs Duncan, he is standing between the two of them, with Duncan and Anna at opposite ends of the pit. Watch the closeup of Duncan just before the Guardian begins to spin a tornado by waving his sword; you can clearly see Anna standing at the top of the stairs behind him, even though she's supposed to be behind the Guardian.

Quotes:

Anna: You're a smart guy, Reggie. How come you make believe you're not?
Reggie Weller: Now what makes you say that, love?
[Anna playfully slaps him on the shoulder]
Reggie Weller: [more serious] When people think you're a bit of a cabbage, they tend to underestimate you. That's good for keeping a head on one's shoulders when you're immortal.

Movie Connections:

Follows "Highlander" (1992)

A Bitter Disappointment.

"Highlander: The Source" is to "Highlander: Endgame" what "Highlander II" is to "Highlander".

I really liked "Endgame", I thought it was a good way to continue the story set by the TV Series and Adrian Paul proved a more than worthy successor to Christopher Lambert. However, "The Source", which has been in the vaults of Lionsgate since late 2006 is a bitter disappointment.

The first cut of the film has been released on DVD in Russia. I ordered a copy from XploitedCinema.com (a great website, BTW) and watched it last night.

Initial fears were realised when it was revealed that the film was set "In The Near Future", which stirred up bad memories of "Highlander II". The premise of the movie and the motivation of the characters is poorly explained and the execution is rushed, which is very disorientating for the viewer. However, I will try to sum up the plot as succinctly as I can.

A group of Immortals, led by Methos (Peter Wingfield) are trying to locate and verify the existence of The Source, which is believed to be the origins of the Immortals. Methos is reluctant to involve his former good friend, Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul), but is forced to when Duncan encounters The Guardian, the Immortal Anti-Christ, while searching for his ex-wife, Anna, who is somehow drawn to The Source.

The Source, good. The Guardian, bad. Got it? Speaking of The Guardian being bad, it's really hard to fear a villain when they talk in a funny voice and act like a complete tool.

The Director, Brett Leonard, overuses trendy editing techniques that modern filmmakers are so eager to apply, giving it a "music video" style, essentially making the direction seem trite and cheap.

The sad thing is that this film has/had potential. While I'm glad to hear that it is currently being re-edited before a general release, I fear that without some re-filming, which I believe is not happening, certain flaws can never be rectified.

Overall, "Highlander: The Source" is a great disappointment, especially to a fan of the Movies and the TV Series.