Impact: From the Archive... Great Scot

Highlander III has been a long time coming to the screens, but earlier this year it finally went into production and now it's about to be released. Journalists allowed on the set? As in the movie... 'there can be only one' and Impact's John Mosby got the exclusive invite...

Christopher Lambert has been a very busy man this last year. At the cinema, the French actor could be seen in the futuristic action adventure Fortress and on video he popped up in two tales, Roadflower and Gunmen. The latter teamed him up with that moody and broody actor Mario Van Peebles and it was that meeting which led him to team up again, this time for the long awaited second Highlander sequel.

But a few mouths ago, the rumours were flying thick and tall. Christopher Lambert, it was reported, had stormed off the set after a 'disagreement' with co-star Axl Rose and the whole film was about to be scrapped. In fact, the truth was much less dramatic. So let's get the facts out in the open. Let's set the record straight once and for all...

"(About Christmas) we had a few problems with the production side. It wasn't clear if we were gambling with the money or what... so at one point I was just fed up and said 'I'm going'. Twenty-four hours later, everything was in place, surprise surprise!" explains Lambert sitting on the font of the set's Landrover. "It's not as if I'd have really gone, but I was the only person with enough weight to say Well, goodbye... you can't shoot this movie without me. Twenty-four hours later, we were back on track and rolling."

So what of these 'problems' with the lead singer of Guns N Roses? "What was written in the English press was crap, the stuff that we did not get on was totally made up... because at that point I hadn't even met Axl! We're still talking about (the group's involvement) but like any big rock group, like Queen for the first film, they want to see a rough cut and then we can decide whether they'll be one, two songs or an album. They are not out of the race..."

The original Highlander film has achieved cult status. The second film (sub-titled The Gathering) totally departed from the formula and gave the immortals a whole new origin. They were in fact, wait for it, aliens! Fans hated it. Gone was the love story that had made the first film so successful and in its place was a bad mix of Total Recall and Blade Runner. Somewhere in the mess was a statement about the environment, but most of it got lost. Lambert sympathises with the complaints.

"When I did Highlander II, I had no choice - I had signed to do I and II. I had no say, no script approval. When I saw the second film I was pretty disappointed. Not the visual side because it was very spectacular, but because it had no story. I knew that while I was filming it, which was pretty painful, but I didn't have a choice. So when they approached me for Highlander III I told them I wasn't against it, but I wanted script approval and every approval possible! The main thing was to go back to number one. Number three is the direct sequel to number one and is the sequel number two should have been! I'm not saying that to sell this movie, it's the truth. When I was publicising the Highlander II, I told the truth - that if you were looking for a similar film to the original you wouldn't be getting it! This one seems to be working much better."

The plot of the third film sees McLeod take on the menacing Mario Van Peebles (who plays Kane 'The Magician'). Connor now lives a relatively normal life with his family, something long denied the immortal However there'd be no story if it stayed that way. Three hundred years ago The Magician was buried under Neri, a mystical mountain in Japan with three other immortal warriors. When they are unexpected released into the modern world, they set out to claim the Highlander's power.

McLeod realises that he must leave his son and return to the streets of New York to face his ancient enemy. There he meets Alex Johnson (Deborah Uuger) a research scientist already on Kane's trail. Unknown to Alex, she and McLeod have already met a long, long time ago...

"Mario is a broody and moody actor and everything he does is under-played. I wondered if he was really going to 'go' for the bad guy image and it works well. He has long hair, shaved on the side, a nose ring and blue contact lenses. He looks really evil, this guy could be the Son of the Kurgen", explains Lambert.

Deborah Unger may be relatively unknown outside Canada but with a seriously shrewd head on her shoulders and body that bears serious comparison to Sharon Stone's it can't be long before she's a major player."When I did Highlander II, I had no choice - I had signed to do I and II. I bad no say, no script approval. When I saw the second film I was pretty disappointed. Not the visual side because it was very spectacular, but because it had no story. I knew that while I was filming it, which was pretty painful, but I didn't have a choice. So when they approached me for Highlander III I told them I wasn't against it, but I wanted script approval and every approval possible! The main thing was to go back to number one. Number three is the direct sequel to number one and is the sequel number two should have been! I'm not saying that to sell this movie, it's the truth. When I was publicising the Highlander II, I told the truth - that if you were looking for a similar film to the original you wouldn't be getting it! This one seems to be working much better."

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