CLIFFHANGER (1993)
This movie is based in the Colorado Rockies and ends up pitting Gabe, (played by Sylvester Stallone) against Qualen (played by John Lithgow) who robs a treasury plane but loses 3 cases of money in the process. The 3 cases of money are vastly spread out over the Rockies. Gabe, and his former rocky mountain rescuer friend Hal, (played by Michael Rooker) are now some homicidal maniac's only chance of getting the money, and moving to freakin Mexico or wherever.
Jessie (played by Janine Turner from the Northern Exposure TV series) is also caught up in this and she’s coming to try and help out, after going off on Gabe, for leaving earlier due to an accident on the mountain. We aren’t going to get into that right now, because this thing has got high-flying suspense, guns, helicopters, and climbing equipment jetting all over the place.
I was fortunate enough to see this in theaters when it came out. One thing I loved about this movie and never forgot about it was the opening sequence. In fact, I was so distracted by it, that I had to watch the movie again just to figure out what the plot was. Suffice it to say, it was by far one of the best action flicks of its time and actually got criticized for being too “unrealistic”. Seems like a strange accusation for a movie that isn’t even remotely pretending to claim anyone can spring around the mountain tops of Colorado, with 900 gallons of pure adrenaline like Gabe.
John Lithgow was mind-blowing as Qualen and really made you dislike the character. Stallone was definitely in his element and I guess partly took on the film to overcome a fear of heights. Janine Turner was good, but she kind of just played herself. I wasn’t crazy about some of the dialog and unfortunately, some of that feels pretty dated. This is also one of those films where they try to cram a sense of macho honor into a few of the characters and rather than feeling natural, it feels very “grand-standish” and cliché. This would have been fine if the film was self-aware but it isn’t. VAN HELSING has a scene that pokes fun at this problem in writing with great comedic timing.
Overall this movie is outstanding when you take it for what it is. CLIFFHANGER is an unapologetic balls-to-the-wall action flick like DIE HARD only on a mountain. It’s freakin fantastic. I give CLIFFHANGER a 5 out of 7. That is only because I didn’t run out and buy it, I was however very impressed.
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