Highpoint (1984)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fresh and Exciting

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It just makes you wonder what the screenwriter was thinking. Okay lads, we'll have sword fighting, car chases and crashes, a pony and trap chase, people flying into water in their vehicles and slowly sinking, horses and oooh, I know, let's get some laughs with people sneezing and getting trapped in lift doors. Just as you can't quite believe what you're watching, we have s peeded up sequence with people talking speeded up like Benny Hill used to do. Why Christopher Plummer, just why? Richard Harris had the oddest accent I've heard in a while. Thank goodness for Beverley D'Angelo who at least looked amazing. There's a line during the showdown on the CN Tower that says "Leave them, they're idiots" Advice I probably should have taken!

This movie is pretty terrible, but I gave it an 8 out of 10 because hidden away inside it is a great little (shorter) movie.If you: * take out all the scenes with Maury Chayken and Saul Rubinek (who are fine actors, but most certainly not here)* take out all the speed-up-the-movie-for-humor scenes (most notably the chase through Quebec - indeed, drop most of that chase entirely)* take out everything before the opening credits (that is, the tedious 'backstory', which is explained just fine later in the movie -- indeed better.)* leave in everything with Richard Harris and Christopher Plummer (who appear to have someone else writing their dialog from the pretty awful stuff written for everybody else.)... then there's a cracking good fish-out-of-water story joined with a swashbuckler trying one game too many.So, be ready with the fast-forward button, and you might just have a good hour or so.

I saw this movie while studying in Edinburgh in the 80's. Loved it too. A light and fairly fluffy storyline with the prerequisite villain and good guy formula to the fore. However, the "highpoint" for me was the car chase featuring an MGB GT convertible doing some very silly stuff. Great action, and a spectacular end to this chase. Also, one little line from the movie is still quoted by my brother and I all these years later - when Harris goes to make a tricky maneuver in his car, he tells his passenger to put on her safety belt as he's about to do a "Brodie", and then yanks on the handbrake and spins the car in the middle of the road. Fun film, dated now but the CN Tower stunt is scary when you realise that someone actually did the jump, AND got paid handsomely for the privilege.

Peter Carter's last film (The late director of Rituals, Wolf Dog and The Intruder Within) directs this comedy and action film with Richard Harris as an undercover cop. Some of the scenes could very well be funny another film like this was made called Kuffs with Christian Slater. Carter supposely died of a Heart Attack shortly after this films release.