2. Highlander 2: The Quickening (1991)
Highlander (1986) was quite a bumpy film that took some time for audiences to appreciate as it gradually bloomed into a cult hit. The film spawned numerous sequels, TV shows, and gave Christopher Lambert some acclaimed stardom, whilst also making Sean Connery's career semi-relevant since he retired the mantle of James Bond. After seeing the appreciation for Highlander rise since its release, surprise surprise, a sequel was in the works, one known as Highlander 2: The Quickening (1991). The problem is, Highlander rounded off the quickening with the death of Kurgan, and offered a pretty streamlined series of events that couldn't really be progressed as MacLoed had already claimed the prize. Regardless, Highlander 2 takes place in a futuristic continuity, as well as the very distant past, with some scenes also being based in 1999. Highlander: The Quickening is barely linked because it entirely defiles the film's original canon, whilst adding in a bunch of completely unnecessary science fiction elements, like the nonsense concerning the o-zone layer that shouldn't be relevant at all considering the subject matter of the first film. Oh, and they're aliens now. From Planet Zeist. That's why they're immortal. Right. In addition to completely altering and arguably ruining the narrative canon of the first film, The Quickening failed to provide more of the medieval setting and continuity that many fans of the original loved. In addition, Sean Connery reprised his role as Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez when his character should have been long dead. Everyone's beloved villain The Kurgan, as portrayed by Clancy Brown, was meanwhile nowhere to be seen. Highlander 2: The Quickening is a sloppy, incoherent mess of a film, widely regarded as one of the worst of all time, that completely failed to uphold, or build upon the themes and ideals established in the original.