The original opinion of Highlander was the right one.

When the movie debuted in 1986, it outright bombed at the box office, pulling in a mere $12.8 million on its $19 million budget. Critics also hated it, with Roger Ebert calling Highlander “a completely silly and very boring movie,” and Gene Siskel saying it was “one of the lousiest films I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Despite its lackluster start, Highlander became a cult hit on VHS and spawned a whole franchise, which consists of several films and TV shows, as well as an upcoming reboot starring Henry Cavill. But here’s the thing. Highlander is not some gem that audiences just missed and self-important critics thought they were too good for. It’s a bad and painfully self-serious movie, and by the looks of the upcoming reboot, that’s going to be a similar slog.

The original Highlander was conceived of by screenwriter Gregory Widen and directed by Russell Mulcahy. It stars Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a warrior in 1500s Scotland who appears to die in battle, only to fully recover and be accused of witchcraft and banished by his clan. Soon after, a swordsman named Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez........

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