•
Cliffhanger (
1993) -- High-stakes excitement with Stallone, 7/10.
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~~ Review
Script ~~
This exciting thriller by director
Renny Harlin was released on
Memorial Day weekend in 1993, eventually earning nearly four times its $65 million dollar budget.
Action icon
Sylvester Stallone stars as a mountain ranger, who becomes unwittingly involved with
John Lithgow's band of deadly criminals: who are searching for three giant suitcases of stolen cash strew across a snowy mountain area.
Opening with a nail-biting, yet patently absurd and unbelievable opening, that features a really creepy smile from the scene's oldest gentleman - we're introduced to Stallone's character: who seems like an outdoor woodsmen version of
Die Hard's
John McClane: especially when he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. His dramatic range has always been limited, but he's decent here, kicking ass and climbing rocks in the R-rated adventure. Curiously speaking in a bad
British accent throughout,
Lithgow is otherwise perfectly cast as the antagonist: a truly menacing foil who is deliciously fun to watch, remarking on his future legacy, "
Kill a few people, they call you a murderer. Kill a million and you're a conqueror." The supporting cast includes lesser known actors like
Michael Rooker,
Janine Turner and
Rex Linn - who all contribute passable, but rarely convincing performances. A first act sequence that has the bad guys transferring cash and persons between two flying airplanes is arrestingly shot, and extremely compelling - and at a cost of $1 million, was the most expensive single stunt ever filmed at the time.
Trevor Jones' awesome soundtrack is a memorable and suspenseful one, keeping tensions high during this well paced, 112-minute picture. Although familiar in style and execution, the overall story, which three separate writers claimed to write - is an awesome concept: making great use of the exotic locations and death-defying heights. All culminating in a terrific climax, a literal cliffhanger that has a helicopter teetering on the edge of a sheer drop. The fights, blood, and executions will surely delight all fans of classic action movies, as this is a great popcorn flick to say the very least.
Harlin does a good job keeping things thrilling and focused, especially a scene where Stallone is being dragged off the side of a cliff by impatient bad guys below. As a rock climbing enthusiast myself, a number of the practices and methods used in this picture are insultingly inaccurate and dangerous: but if you're able to look past them, and the other flaws inherent with the action genre, "Cliffhanger" makes for "High-stakes excitement with Stallone".
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- published: 08 Mar 2014
- views: 4215