Russell Mulcahy directed some of the most recognisable music videos of the early 1980s, including Video Killed the Radio Star, and brought that visual grammar into features. Highlander is the result: swooping crane moves, hard cuts across centuries and a Queen soundtrack doing structural work.
The film was poorly received and became a lasting cult property, generating sequels, a television series and a franchise that has outlived most of its 1986 competition.
His later work, including Resident Evil: Extinction and a long run in television, is less distinctive. Highlander is the picture, and its visual influence is easy to trace in later fantasy filmmaking.
