JLRVancouver Indestructible and relentless Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone) and his mountain rescue buddies take on a ruthless gang of criminals searching for a hundred million dollars that fell out of the sky onto the alpine snows following a botched aerial robbery. The plot is somewhat contrived (the villains have a convenient suitcase detector) and reliant on improbabilities (the suitcases seem easy to find in the wilderness just knowing their general location), but serves to set up the action sequences, which are generally excellent. Stallone is fine playing his typical pumped-up minimalist hero and the rest of his team serviceable (although Ralph White seems to be smiling at some inner joke most of the time). Despite affecting an inconsistent English accent, John Lithgow is great as the cold-blooded criminal leader and his crew are sufficiently brutal and deplorable to justify their extirpation. The real star of the film is the magnificent mountain scenery (a melange of the Dolomites and the Rockies) and the climbing scenes (especially the opening sequence and the scenes on the massive rock faces) are outstanding, with seamless transitions between the actors and their stunt doubles. The film is diminished somewhat by the strained secondary material such as Stallone's and Janine Turner's relationship and White's 'comic relief' shtick, and (despite the more farfetched moments of heroism having been edited after poor test audience responses), a couple of action sequences that are unbelievable to a point of ridiculousness. All in all, an entertaining, fast paced, and scenic action film that has aged pretty well. Note: the scenes with the BASE jumpers, a couple of entertaining, albeit superfluous, characters, had been edited out in the sanitised version I recently watched on TV.

LawnBoy-4 (Spoilers ahead)I get that action yarns such as this typically require a partial or complete suspension of disbelief, but, when a movie comes along that is so staggeringly stupid that the requirement of said suspension constitutes an intellectual assault on the viewer, well, it's impossible to give the film makers a pass. This is such a movie.Others have already covered the plot in more detail than is necessary, so you've already been sufficiently apprised of the fact that Lithgow & Co. are searching the mountains of Colorado (Canadian rockies, in actuality) for the money they've stolen and subsequently lost. Stallone, in typical Stallone fashion, plays the over-the-top action hero who is, in this specific case, a tortured soul thanks to his inability to save a friend from a tragic fall.Moving on to the idiocy, I'll list but a few of the offenses that make this movie so unforgettably awful:1. The 60-year old, non-weight rated, hardware store-quality rope that manages to somehow hold both Stallone and "Jesse" as they repel their way to eventual safety whilst fraying, piece by piece. In tact, the rope would not hold either one, let alone both, for 5 seconds before breaking. The idea that it would be able to hold both of them, even after having sustained broken braids caused me to roll my eyes so far into the back of my head that I actually sustained a headache.2. The scene in which Stallone manages to kill Travis from below river surface may have been the single most offensively unrealistic scene in the movie and here's why: First, when the body spends any degree of time in freezing water, muscles become nearly "paralyzed", making quick movements almost impossible. Yet somehow, Stallone was able to quickly remove his shirt, see through the murky water/ice and, in quick-draw fashion, shoot Travis as he stood above him on the ice. Next, As we saw earlier in the movie, the cold temps caused Stallone to struggle after having encountered Jesse in the shelter. How, in God's name, was he not completely hypothermic after having been submerged for an extended period in icy water? Further, how did he manage to dry so quickly and remain calm (and non-shivering) within 10 mins after he had been rescued from the depths? Props to him for managing to restyle his hair, too! Finally, how was his decision to grab Travis and pull both of them into icy water an even remotely logical decision? 3. As great of an actor as John Lithgow has demonstrated himself to be, his scenery chewing and overacting were beyond absurd. Coupled with the vaguely European accent and repeated utterances of "BOSTID!" (bastard), his performance was just way over the top.4. Following on from #1 above, the scene in which Stallone somehow managed to grab and hold onto a rock face with one hand while gripping and ultimately pulling Jesse to safety with the other (all without chalk or ropes!) did, admittedly, cause me to laugh audibly, so props to the film makers for that.5. The use of night vision goggles during a supposed "night" scene (when Stallone and one of the villains slid for what appeared to be a couple of miles in the snow) was especially absurd given the fact that it was obviously filmed during the light of day.These are but a few of this film's transgressions. Overall, this is an Ed Wood/Uwe Boll-level action flick that begs for a Rifftrax treatment. The only reason I afforded it as many as two stars was due to the cinematography.

martyhalvorsen The movie is shot very well. One of Harlins best films. One of the last films to have many action scenes filmed without green screens. There are some but not what you see today.. The story is solid, the casting excellent. To me one of the films underestimated. One of Stallones most under looked films. The villain John Lithgow was also a great casting choice. John Lithgow is a great actor and brought much to the story. Reny Harlin is known for fast action and being physically demanding on his actors. Clifhanger is thrilling and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I think one of the overlooked films of that year. It's also one of those films that stands the test of time even on 2016.

OllieSuave-007 Sylvester Stallone stars in an action thriller where his character, Gabe Walker, has to deal with a tragedy that occurred while climbing a mountain range. Meanwhile, a group of thieves led by Eric Qualen (John Lithgow) hijack a $100,000,000 delivery but their plans go awry and they wound up crashing into the mountain range. After they radio for help, Gabe and his partner Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker) respond, not knowing they would be forced to guide the thieves to locate the money.This is an exciting little action flick full of thrills and roller-coaster rides as our heroes attempt to scale the mountain in search for the missing money before the bad guys do. Thrown in the mix is a daring rescue mission and awesome stunt work. Stallone makes a formidable action hero while Lithgow makes a ruthless, love-to-hate lead villain. The plot is fast-paced and the acting is serviceable, albeit a little corny at times. One major issue I had is that I didn't like the part where the villains first appear before Gabe and Hal. There was no suspense or tension built-up like you would normally see in action movies when the film's protagonist first sees the antagonists.Other than some minor set-backs, it's a neat action flick to watch for a friends night-out.Grade B-