OK, I must admit to being rather lazy with the blog posts of late as alot of them have been rewrites of older posts. So, yes don't worry I will address this soon enough but for now I figured...what the hell?? Let's just do another one in the meantime.
So, the post I will revisit this time is the one I did on the film Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone (which already has had a revisit!!). So after almost 25 years, how does this action flick rate???? Well, let's gear up and take another look....
And yes the usual warning is coming....
SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!!
STORY
So the film begins with the main character, Gabriel "Gabe" Walker (Stallone) a mountain rescuer who is sent to pick up his friend and fellow mountain ranger, Hal (Michael Rooker) who is stranded with his girlfriend, Sarah (Michelle Joyner) up on a narrow peak in the Rocky mountains. Hal manages to transfer himself on a steel cable line over to a rescue helicopter piloted by Jessie (Janine Turner) who is also Gabe's girlfriend. However after Gabe fixes the harness for Sarah as she transfers over the line, the harness begins to break and she is left dangling on the line. Gabe goes to rescue her and he grabs just as her harness breaks off but he loses his grip as her glove slips off, Sarah falls to her death 4000 feet below.
After this the story shifts to eight months later and Gabe returns to town since Sarah's funeral, and he is now racked with guilt and no longer climbs. Gabe asks Jessie if she will come with him but she refuses to leave town as she says this is her home and she is annoyed at Gabe's insistance on feeling guilty over Sarah's death as she feels he did all he could.
Meanwhile the story moves to the US Treasury Department where treasury agent Richard Travers (Rex Linn) is assigned the task of transporting three suitcases of 30 million dollars via plane. On the plane however Travers turns out to be a turncoat as he kills two of the other agents and wounds an undercover agent who twigs what Travers is up to. Travers then get's in contact with another plane which is manned by a team of thieves lead by a former military intelligence member, the pyschotic Eric Qualen (John Lithgow).
Travers arranges to transfer the cases by a zip line between the two planes and he goes over himself onto the other plane, however before the cases can be transferred (by Travers pilot who is in on it as well) the undercover agent shoots the pilot and at the thieves plane. The agent is soon killed however as Travers has rigged explosives on the plane to blow, however as a result the zip line is broken and the thieves lose the cases which fall among the mountains. The plane makes a crash landing and three of the group die as a result of the crash.
In the meantime as Gabe is about to leave, Jessie informs him of a distress call, which soon turns out to be from the thieves. Gabe relucantly agrees to go and help find them and he meets up with Hal while climbing up the mountains, who is still angry at Gabe over Sarah's death for which he blames Gabe, but despite that they move on to the thieves location.
On arriving at the plane crash, Qualen and Travers force Gabe and Hal to help them find the cases which they agree to, however as Gabe helps them find the first one, they attempt to kill him but he manages to escape by cutting the rope he was tied to, just as one of the thieves causes a landslide by using a grenade launcher, one of their party is killed. Gabe then continues to use his skill and knowledge of the mountain areas to try and keep ahead of them as he rejoins with Jessie they work together to try and find the remaining two cases.
Meanwhile Hal is forced to help Qualen's men and Travers find the remaining two cases, although unbeknownst to them he takes them the long way round to buy Gabe some time. And from here its up to Gabe and Jessie to try and save Hal and find a way to stop Qualen's men and Travers from getting what they want......
THOUGHTS
After making a string of mediocre films during the late 80s and very early 90s such as "Over the top", "Cobra", "Tango and Cash", and "Stop or my mom will shoot!" not to mention the underrated but nonetheless panned "Rocky V" Sly returned to form here with Cliffhanger, which is still a very entertaining and suspenseful action thriller.
It also sees a nice change from the cocky action heroes that Stallone had played previously to this as Gabe is morely an everyday good guy, who has to overcome his own guilt at failing to help save his best friend Hal's girlfriend from dying as well as confront his own fears and get back into climbing.
The setting of the film in the Rocky mountains in Colorado also allows for some spectacular scenery (in reality it was shot in the Dolomites mountain range in Cortina, Italy) and the high altitude sequences also add much suspense to the film and its a nice contrast to the city based action films so overly used today and even of that time.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section contains spoilers and strong language!)
Performance wise things are pretty good in Cliffhanger.
Starting with Sylvester Stallone, who gives a pretty good account of himself in his role as Gabe Walker, the guilt ridden mountaineer who is forced into a situation where he must fight against a group of ruthless thieves.
Stallone also get's some good dialogue in the film and despite his character being less cocky and flashy then what we've seen from Stallone before, he still get's some good quips. As for a few examples for starters there is the opening scene where Jessie asks Gabe whereabouts he is climbing as they search for Hal and Sarah and Gabe hanging by the rock face says "I'm just hanging out, Jess!".
And in the next scene Gabe teases Hal by revealing how Hal got the bandage on his leg by saying "Oh yeah I remember you twisted it when you lifted that kid out of that hot tub!" and Sarah surprised says "I thought that was an old war wound from Nam!" and Gabe says sarcastically "Really??!". Then Gabe says to Sarah "What do you say we take off and leave this clown (i.e. Hal) behind??!" so Hal then grabs Gabe's radio and warns Jessie that Gabe is making advances on his girlfriend and is liable to get his ass kicked off the mountain. So, Jessie replies "Be informed Gabe makes advances to me only or he'll be climbing down alone and sleeping outside!" and Gabe replies "Baby, he lies!".
Another good scene is when Gabe escapes from Qualen and his men and he climbs up a mountain and reaches the top, however he is only wearing a T-shirt and jeans, so he is frozen and he barges his way into an old shelter, where Jessie already is. So, Jessie runs over to tend to him and Gabe tells her "They've got Hal! The distress call was a fake!". Jessie then asks "Fake? What do you mean it was a fake?" and Gabe tells her "Before they crashed, they dumped cases of money!" and Jessie asks "Who are they?" and Gabe says "I dunno. They're using Hal to find it. When they do, he's dead!". So, Gabe chittering away says to Jessie "You gotta get on the radio and call Frank...and tell him to call the state police!" and he puts on an old ragged jumper that Jessie gave him. Gabe soon calms down and get's his breath back and says to Jessie "Let's take everything we need. Let's move. We got to get to that next case before they do!".
Then there is the scene where Gabe and Jessie find a cave and rest at night while Gabe has made a fire and uses some of the suitcase money to keep the fire burning. So, as Gabe throws on some money to the fire, he says to Jessie "It costs a fortune to heat this place! Bad humour, I know." and the two of them snuggle up for warmth and he says "We better get some sleep. We're going to need it".
Another good scene comes when Gabe is confronted by one of Qualen's group Kynette (Leon Robinson) who asks him where the money is, Gabe replies "I burned it. Never could save anything!". And this leads into the next scene where Gabe get's his ass kicked by Leon who asks him where the money is, he weakly replies "Sissy! You hit like a sissy!" but before Gabe turns the tables on Kynette.
WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO THE END OF THE FILM!!!!
And lastly there is the scene where Gabe tells Qualen to meet him at the highest point of the mountain range in the helicopter and Qualen flies up there he sees Gabe and says to him on the radio "I must admit you are a real piece of work" and Gabe says "Yeah and I must admit you're a real piece of shit!". So, Qualen points his gun at Gabe and says of the bag of money that Gabe has "Throw it up, or I'll kill her!" and Gabe says "You do and the cash is gone! I want you to put her down!" and he points off to his left "Over there!" which Qualen reluctantly does so.
And this leads into the climactic fight sequence where the chopper ends up going over the edge but it remains attached to a cable that Gabe fit to a rock ladder. So as the two men fight, Gabe ultimately get's the better of Qualen and beats him up and shouts "Remember, shithead....to keep your arms and legs in the vehicle at all TIMES!!!" and he kicks Qualen, who falls back into the chopper, which plummets below and blows up taking Qualen with it. And afterward, Gabe catches his breath and looks up and says to himself "I'm outta here!".
John Lithgow is excellent in his role as the ruthless Eric Qualen, the leader of the thieves, even though he hams it up and puts on a rather questionable English accent, he is quite effective and creepy as the main villain.
And Lithgow has his share of good moments that include the scene where at the start of the hijack of the FBI treasury plane, Travers slides down a zipline to join Qualen and his team on their plane. And Qualen annoyed asks him "Why didn't you send the money first???!!" and Travers says "Somehow I didn't think you'd wait for me if I sent it first!". However as their plan goes awry due to one of the surviving FBI agent's shooting Qualen's plane (just before the agent himself is blown up by the charges set on the FBI plane by Travers) they lose the cases of money, which falls thousands of miles below to the surface. And Qualen says to Travers "So, this is your idea of a foolproof plan?! You stupid bastard!".
Lithgow also get's some other good lines of dialogue such as when he first meets Gabe and Hal who ask what is the suitcases and he says "Suits, socks, 30 million dollars, the usual stuff!". Then Qualen takes Gabe and Hal into the plane and Travers shows the locations of the three cases transponders and Qualen asks them "Do you recognise these locations?". However after Gabe and Hal say nothing, Qualen warns them "Let me jar your memory. It you don't recognize them, you're useless. Useless items are usually discarded. Right, Travers?!". Travers annoyed by this responds "Get off my back, Qualen!" to which Qualen says "Off? I haven't even got on it...yet!".
Then there is the scene where the two young skydivers, Brett and Evan encounter Qualen and his men with Hal. And Qualen says to Hal "Walk over" and as Hal pleads with Qualen to leave them alone Qualen says "We're not animals. Don't force us to be. Walk over!". However after Hal yells at Brett and Evan to run for it, Brett is gunned down and Evan just makes it as he dives off the mountain with his parachute. Hal afterward angrily says to Qualen "You murdering motherfuck!" to which Qualen responds "Kill a few people they call you a murderer. Kill a million and you're a conqueror. Go figure! Move on, Tucker! Time is short!".
Then there is the scene where Travers attempts to radio in his own people for a chopper as he is afraid to go over a rather precarious looking foot bridge. So, Qualen grabs him and says "You don't get it, do you?! We're in bed now, joined at the hip, partners in crime! You've crossed over, Travers, and there's no turning back" and he moves toward the bridge.
Lithgow's most potent scenes comes when he actually kills his own girlfriend, one of the thieves, Kristel (Caroline Goodall) in an attempt to force Travers to help them find their money (with the use of a tracking device). And in the scene he grabs Kristel and whispers in her ear "Do you know what real love is, Kristel? Sacrifice!" just before he shoots her and he says to a shocked Travers "Now I'm the only one that can fly us out of here! We're partners again". So Qualen throws the tracking device over Travers and angrily says "Now take your toy and find our money!" and he throws Kristel's body aside and he sits down in the chopper and says "Radio me when you find it. I'm waiting here!".
And last of all is the scene near the end when Qualen get's a surprise radio call from Gabe and he says "Walker! You resilient bastard, so you are still alive!". And as Qualen holds Jessie hostage in the helicopter he says to Gabe "You get the picture, Walker. I wan't that money. Meet me at the highest point from where you are, or else I'll find it this little angel of yours can fly!" to which Gabe agrees. And afterward, Qualen says to Jessie "Love's a killer, isn't it?".
Michael Rooker is also pretty good as Gabe's good friend, Hal, who at first holds a grudge against him, but he quickly put his differences aside as he tries to help Gabe escape whenever he can, by slowing down the thieves as he guides them to their cases. And its good to see Rooker, who usually plays the bad guys in his films, play a good guy for once.
And Rooker has his share of good scenes in the film such as the one where at the start of the film, where Hal and his girlfriend, Sarah, are rescued by Gabe as they were stranded up on a mountain (well sort of saved!). And in the scene Gabe sort of hits on Sarah and Hal grabs his radio and says to Jessie "Please be advised that Ranger Walker is making advances toward my girlfriend...that's liable to get his ass kicked right off this mountain, over!".
Another good moment is when Hal confronts Gabe for the first time since his girlfriend's funeral. In the scene Gabe angrily says "You didn't love her and you didn't have to explain to her family!" and Gabe says "And you didn't have to look into her eyes when she was falling! Now drop it!" and Hal grabs him and very nearly pushes him over a cliff edge and he says "NO, BUDDY! It was YOU who dropped it!". And as Gabe perilously stands over the egde he says to Hal "You wanna do it? Do it!" but Hal shakes his head and let's go of him and says "No! You live with it!".
Then there is the scene where Hal deliberately misleads Qualen and Travers by taking them the long way round to the next case. However, Travers nearly twigs this at one point and says to him "Wait a minute. It looks like a winding route to me" and Hal says "The fastest way is right up the east face. Of course there's only about twelve guys in the world who can do it. You wanna try it?!".
Rooker's best scene in the film comes when he faces off against one Qualen's thugs, Delmar (Craig Fairbrass) who is about to shoot, but when Hal goads him to, Delmar instead kicks his ass and yaks on about soccer. And in the scene Hal says "Hey Delmar, from me to you, you're an asshole!" and later "In a minute I'll be dead and YOU will always be an asshole!". And as Delmar is about to kick him off the cliff, Hal manages to surprise Delmar by quickly grabbing a knife he had in his trousers and stabbing it into Delmar's leg and Hal grabs the thug's shotgun and says "SEASON'S OVER ASSHOLE!" just before he blasts him off the cliff.
WARNING: THIS PARAGRAPH REFERS TO THE END OF THE FILM (AGAIN!!)
And lastly there is the final scene of the film where the bad guys are all taken care of (in the Jules Winfield sense of the word! i.e. as Samuel L Jackson's character in Pulp Fiction who once said "taken care of!") and Gabe is helped back up the mountain by Hal and Jessie. So, Hal teases Gabe and says "Hey, buddy, you couldn't have put a little more effort into that climb?! I thought you were in shape!" and Gabe weakly says "I'm guess I'm falling apart!". And as the FBI agents get in touch over the radio frequency (and Hal in the scenes talk to them with a radio he took from Delmar earlier in the film) Hal fills them in. So, Hal says to the agents "If you're looking for Mr. Qualen... try about 4,000 feet south of here. He'll be the one wearing a helicopter! Over!".
Rex Linn is also pretty good in his role as the corrupt treasury agent, Travers, who is in cahoots with Qualen albeit somewhat relucantly, as they both despise one another. Linn also has some good moments in the film such as his opening scene where one of the treasury agents Wright (Paul Winfield) calls treasury agents the most superstitious prompting Travers to says "We should be! Everyone wants what we have!".
And there is also the scene where Travers transfer between planes to Qualen's plane, but he does it before he sends the money. So when Travers reaches Qualen's plane and he is taken in, Qualen angrily asks "Why didn't you send the money first?!" and Travers replies "Somehow I didn't think you would wait for me if I sent it first!".
Another good scene is when just after Qualen's plane crashes in the rocky mountains and Qualen demands to Travers "Give me the tracking monitor!" and Travers says "What the hell are you gonna do with it?!" and Kynette warns Travers "Don't make him ask you twice! Give it to him!". So, Travers takes the tracking monitor for the cases and hands it over to Qualen "You want it? Here! Take it. Its only got 50,000 key code variations in it!". This angers, Delmar who comes at him and shouts "I'm gonna break your fucking neck in a minute!" and Travers angrily says back "Yeah, go ahead and break my fucking neck!" as he lunges for Delmar but he is held back. So, Travers shouts at them "In case any of you slept through the landing...you're gonna need all the money you can find to buy your way out of this country! YOU know it and I know it!".
Then there is the scene Hal, Qualen, Travers and the others are about to encounter Brett and Evan and on their radios, they hear Frank come as he is sweeping the area in his chopper. So, Qualen says "Looks like we're drawing a crowd" and Travers quips "We're down to a few hours before the whole fucking world shows up!" and he asks Hal of the cases "Where's the next one?" and Hal replies "On the tower". Qualen then asks Hal "How far?" but Hal doesn't respond straight away, so Travers impatiently grabs Hal by the throat and yells at him "He asked you how far, goddamnit!! You know what I think? I think we've been taking the scenic route! NOW, HOW FAR IS IT???!!" and Hal gasps and responds "Half a day!".
Another good scene from Linn is where Travers get's a lock in on the last remaining case of money and he says to Delmar "I've got it locked in". So, Delmar asks him regarding Hal "So, we're finished with him, yeah?" and Travers says "Yeah and do it quietly. Your insane boss just made enough noise for anyone within 10 miles to hear us" and he walks off and says "Its been fun!". So after Hal survives his brutal encounter with Delmar and (SPOILER!!!!!) by shooting him off the mountain with Delmar's shotgun, Travers, far off sees the body fall in the distance over the cliff and he says "I said quietly!".
Last of all is Linn's best scene where Travers finally snaps, as he tries to locate the last case but instead he finds a bunny rabbit has the transponder device on it and he goes bananas with his machine gun and contacts Qualen and berates him on the radio. And Linn get's some good dialogue in the scene where he says to Qualen "They beat us! A couple of fuckin mountain rangers beat us! They beat the man no law agency ever could! And I'm finding that pretty tuckin' hilarious, Qualen!". Travis then continues his rant to Qualen "It's hard to believe I sold out after 20 years... and this is my payback? To run on a mountain with a fuckin' dirtbag like you!". Qualen responds angrily "Travis, you've lost your mind!" and Travis says "I lost it?! Fuckin A', I lost it! Pure fuckin section eight!". Qualen then finishes by saying to Qualen "I gotta go. I'm on my last official manhunt! Adios motherfucker!" and he signs off and throws away the tracker and sets his sights on hunting down Gabe.
Janine Turner next is very good also as Gabe's girlfriend, Jessie, who helps Gabe out in trying to find the cases of money and to try and reach Hal as well as fight off the baddies. Turner has some good moments in the film, and her funniest line comes when she flies the chopper at the start of the film up the mountains and she sees Gabe climbing and she says "I don't recognise him, but the butt looks familiar!".
Turner also has another good scene with Stallone near the start of the film where Jessie says to Gabe "Why don't quit hoarding all the guilt! You held on as long as you could!". And as Gabe says "I don't think you understand" Jessie says "I think I'm the only one who understands! You know there were times where I didn't know what to do more, love you or hate you. But one thing I do know is that I understand you".
Then there is the scene where Jessie senses something is wrong with Hal and Gabe after hearing Hal's responding transmission just after he has been captured by Quanlen's men. So, Jessie back at the rocky mountain rescue office says to Frank "He said the tower, but he's on Comb Bluff. Frank, fly me to the west valley. The winds are never too strong there. It's only a half-hour climb to the Douglas Shaft. It's the only shelter around. Hal would have to go there!". Frank however shakes his head and says "That is a bad idea, Jessie. Hal would have my head!" and Jessie tries to flatter Frank "And its such a handsome head. Come on, Frank. I'll buy one of your paintings!".
And lastly there is the scene where Gabe and Jessie prepare to use the old rope they got to rappel down the mountain. So Gabe says to Jessie "The ledge is too far. Take this rope and pull it apart and tie it together. We're gonna rappel down!" and Jessie asks "This rope is 60 years old, do you think it will hold?" and Gabe says "Don't think so" and Jessie says "Bad answer!".
Leon Robertson is also good as the brutal henchman, Kynette who in his best scene where he confronts and later beats up Gabe and demands where the money is.
And at the start of the scene Kynette springs up on Gabe as he pops his head out of the cave he has just climbed up and Kynette says to him "Your life is on sale, Walker! The price is 30 million! Where is it?!". And as Gabe says he burned it Kynette says "Not even a dumb mountain boy like you would burn 30 million dollars!" and then he says "I don't make deals, Walker but I'll make one with you. Hand over the money and I'll just kill you and not the girl! Now give me the money!" which prompts Gabe to agree but then he lifts his pick axe out of the snow and slashes Kynette's leg with it as Gabe falls back down into the cave.
And as Kynette beats up Gabe, he shouts at him "I'm gonna ask you just three times....WHERE'S THE MONEY??!!!" and Gabe says "Sissy! You hit like a sissy!" so Kynette kicks Gabe again and he yells "WRONG ANSWER, MOTHERFUCKER!!". So, Kynette grabs Gabe and yells "GET UP! I'm gonna ask you a second time....where is the money?!!" and Gabe replies sharply "Burned it!" and Kynette glares with fury and shouts "WRONG...ANSWER!!" and hits Gabe in the face with his knuckle duster. So, before Kynette goes in for the kill, he get's the film's best line which is "It amazes me in this day and age that a man would put money before the personal safety of himself and his bitch! I want you to go to your grave knowing, I'm gonna treat the bitch RIGHT!" but then Gabe turns the tables and kills him instead!
Craig Fairbrass (who was known in Britain for his role in Eastenders) also makes a decent impression as one of Qualen's thugs, Delmar
Fairbrass also has another good moment where Qualen's group loses another of their men and Hal smiles saying "Gravity is a bitch ain't it?" and Delmar shouts "Fuck the money and fuck you! I wasn't born to die on no fucking mountain!". And Kynette sarcastically asks "Where were you born to die? You gotta place picked out?!" and Delmar warns Kynette "I don't need to hear that fucking shit from you, boy!" causing Kynette to angrily grab Kynette by his hair and hold his knife to his throat yelling "Maybe this boy should make your mouth a little bigger!".
And Craig's best scene comes when Delmar kicks the crap out of Hal and Hal does his best to goad Delmar into beating him up before killing him. So, as Hal calls Delmar an asshole, Delmar responds "Yeah? Well, you're a loud mouth, punk slag, who is about to die!". So, Hal says to him "Maybe. But in a minute I'll be dead and YOU will always be an asshole. So go ahead and shoot. SHOOT!!" so Delmar grabs Hal and says "Who's shooting?" and he headbutts him.
So as Delmar proceeds to kick the shit out of Hal he taunts him saying "Do you like socceer? Its a great sport! I was a fucking good striker!" and he stamps on Hal's calf, who screams out "God, Fuck you!!". So, Delmar says "You're swearing now! That's a penalty kick! Unsportsmanlike!" and he kicks Hal a few more times. Delmar then walks back as he prepares to delivery one final almighty kick and he says to Hal "Striker lines up at the penalty spot. He focuses on the ball. The crowd is on its teet. Striker moves to his lett. He draws back his foot. He comes in....". Delmar delivers one more brutal kick to Hal, which just about sends him over the edge as Hal desparately tries to hold on, Delmar puts his foot on Hal's hand and laughs sadistically. Hal however manages to open the switchblade he took earlier from Frank and stabs Delmar in the knee with it, takes his shotgun and yells at a panicked Delmar "SEASON'S OVER, ASSHOLE!!!!" and shoots him off the cliff.
Ralph Waite also puts in a nice performance as the rescue team's search and rescue pilot, Frank, and he has an amusing scene where he does a painting of what appears to be a banana and he says to Hal "This is a banana eating a monkey! Nature in reverse!". Hal bemused asks Frank "Where?" and Frank points at the painting "Right there!" and Hal laughs and says "He looks like a normal guy...but he's not, are you, Frank?!" and Frank offended says "Hey, I'm an artist!".
Waite also has a good moment in the opening scene where he pilots the helicopter while they search for Hal and Sarah and as Jessies teases Gabe when she spots him climbing the mountain and says "I don't recognise the face but the butt does look familiar" Gabe says "Hey careful or you'll embarass old Frank!" and Frank replies "It would take a heap more than that, rock jock!".
But its also worth noting in the opening scene of the film that Waite as Frank appears to have a rather mad looking grin on his face when Sarah falls to her death as its almost like he was enjoying it! Of course it is more likely just the expression that Waite had on his face in that given scene but even still it makes you think "Frank, what a sick bastard you are grinning at a time like this!".
Caroline Goodall is also good in her role as Kristel, Qualen's girlfriend (although it is actually never explicitly stated in the film that she is) and she, too has some good scenes such as the one near the start of the film where after Qualen's plane crash lands in the rockies and Kristel sends out a fake distress call, which Hal picks up.
So, in the scene as Hal responds on his radio, Kristel fakes an American accent (as she is English) and Kristel says "Oh, thank God! Ah, we're stranded. We were hiking and lost our bearings. We didn't expect the weather to come in this fast!". And as Hal asks how many people are in their group, Qualen indicates five to Kristel who says to Hal "Five people. I don't know where we are. I-- I see only a cylinder-type rock formation. Over!". So, as Hal tells her to stay calm and he is on his way, Kristel feigns desparation again as she says to Hal "Please hurry! Billy's going into shock! Please, we need insulin! Please, hurry!". Qualen then shuts off the radio and looks at Kristel, impressed, he strokes her face gently and says to Travers "We need insulin?" Would you have thought of that?".
Then there is the scene where Kristel rigs a mountain bridge with explosives, and as she sets it, she says to Qualen "Its ready". And after Kristel finishes, Qualen watches her and says "You'll make someone a fine wife some day" and she replies "You should see me bake a cake!" and he smiles.
And last of all there is the scene where Frank lands the chopper nearby as he sees Kristel lie face down in the snow, which is just a ruse so they can get the chopper. So, as Frank goes to Kristel, he says "Where's the rest of the group?" and Kristel slowly get's up and the suddenly grabs Frank's gun and points it at him and says "Welcome!". Frank looks surprised and asks "What are you doing?!" and Kristel aggressively says "Now, back off!" and Frank says "I came here to help you!" and Delmar suddenly appears armed with his machine gun, who says "You did. Don't move". And at this point, Hal, who was held at gunpoint by Qualen and Travers is let go and rushes toward Frank yelling at him to get the hell out of there only for Delmar to then gun down Frank. Kristel then furiously get's up and yells at Delmar "YOU STUPID MANIAC!! No one told you to shoot!" and Delmar says "We've wasted enough time".
And lastly Paul Winfield makes a good albeit brief appearance in the film as a treasury agent, Walter Wright who later uncovers Qualen's plot to rob the US Treasury. And Winfield delivers one of the film's most ironic lines near the start when he reassures one of the undercover agents that "Armoured cars can be hijacked, trains derailed but nobody can touch us in flight!". Travers then says "Haven't lost a bill in 12 years. Don't jinx me now!" and Wright then smiles and says "I swear Treasury agents are the most superstitious people in the government!" and Travers says "We should be! Everbody wants what we have!".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Getting onto the direction, Renny Harlin (who was best known for directing Die Hard 2) does a fine job with Cliffhanger and he skillfully shoots the spectacular climbing sequences as well as handling the film's gritty action scenes and suspense very well. He also creates some interesting visual shots such as the scene where we see a distant shot of the mountain where on the top Hal leads the thieves and thousands of feet below we can see Gabe and Jessie work their way toward finding the remaining cases.
The film's music score is also pretty good which was written and composed by Trevor Jones, and it has several tense and dramatic passages which work very well and the film's main theme is also memorable. The score also has a resemblance to Jones's score for The Last of the Mohicans and it also even echoes part of his score for Mississipi Burning during the night time scenes where Qualen's men chase Gabe. So as a score it still holds up pretty well to this day.
FLAWS
As for flaws does Cliffhanger have any????? Yeah its not entirely perfect.
And to begin, I felt that the story in itself is pretty flimsy and there's nothing really new there, as its just another cliched story of bad guys wanting money, and the hero trying to overcome his own demons and adversity. I also thought some of the sequences in the film were a bit daft such as the scene where Gabe climbs up the mountain face having just escaped Qualen's men in the harsh freezing snowy conditions, wearing only a T-shirt on top, yet somehow he doesn't freeze to death in the process! And when Gabe finally reaches the top and the shack where Jessie is waiting and she gives him a jumper as soon as he puts it on he almost stops shivering immediately, which marks a pretty quick recovery for a man who almost certainly would have died from hypothermia due to being exposed to such cold temperatures only wearing a T-shirt!
The film's violence is also pretty strong and there are one or two moments that could leave an audience cold (no pun intended) such as the scene where Qualen shoots Kristel or the young skydivers being mercilessly gunned down by Qualen's men. The censors were also pretty strict on the violence in the film and in America they made several trims to the film's violent scenes and the initial DVD release over here was also heavily censored. The main cuts to the DVD release in the UK included the scene where Kynette beats up Gabe and where Delmar kicks Hal's ass.
The film also on some levels could also be accused of being a little racist, especially in its depiction of the character of Delmar, who in one scene (which was initially edited in the British DVD release) harbours a grudge toward Leon (who threatened him with a knife earlier on) and he says to Kristel "Good, and blow up that black bastard while you're at it. Save me the time of doing it meself!". This scene and all the others cuts were of course restored in the UK Blu-ray release of Cliffhanger which is still uncut and rated as a 15, even though at the time those cuts were made in order for the film to prevent it from receiving an 18.
The film also features one or two redundant characters such as the two young sky divers Brett and Evan who provide us with some daft dialogue particularly in one scene where the two of them camp for the night. And in the scene, Brett asks Evan "Where would rather be right now? Here at tent city or back home playing some righteous air hockey?" and Evan says "Air hockey got my vote" and Brett says "Exactly cheeshead, exactly!" leaving Evan to bemusingly ask "Cheeshead?" and Brett confirms "Cheesehead". It almost seems like they appeared to have been added as an afterthought for the sake of the MTV generation (well OK maybe not but its just my theory!).
Another problem I had with the film was to do with how Gabe is one minute shown driving away from Jessie's place, intent on heading back to Denver despite Jessie's best attempts to try and persuade him to help out Hal with what turns out to be Qualen's fake distress call. However in the next scene we suddenly see Gabe up the mountain having decided to help out Hal! I just think there should have been a transitional scene in there somewhere that showed Gabe changing his mind, even if he drove off so far and then decided to stop and turn the jeep around! So, I just think Gabe's decision to help out Hal should have been handled better in the film than it actually was.
Another scene which I found puzzling is where Kristel sets the explosives over the bridge and while she does it Qualen appears to be holding her at gunpoint! And you have to ask yourself: if he is then why??? I mean she is on his side after all and its not like she wouldn't be willing to do what he asks of her. It may of course just be a poor bit of perspective in terms of direction and in a earlier shot in the scene we see that Qualen has his gun held lower down to his side but in the next shot he clearly appears to be holding at Kristel like "Don't you screw this up!". Its nothing of great significance but its a small but puzzling niggle all the same.
I also thought the film had a pretty stupid climax with Gabe fighting with Qualen in the mountain rescue helicopter which has crashed and gone over the edge of the cliff and is hanging by the remaining rungs of the ladder (which Gabe wrapped around the helicopter's landing skids, which are steadily coming loose because of the weight of the helicopter.
And the sudden ending (PLOT SPOILER) with Gabe having dealt with Qualen, they receive a call from the Treasury agents who are enroute to save them and Paul Winfield's character says "Just sit tight for now" and the credits role. So in this regard you wish you kind of saw some sort of aftermath for the characters having made it safely down, rather than, pardon the pun, just leave them hanging!
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up Cliffhanger is still a very entertaining and suspenseful action film which has some spectacular visuals and some good action in it as well. The film does of course have some cheesy action movie moments and a pretty hammy villain and it also stretches its credibility in quite a few places especially with its over the top climax but if you can forgive that then Cliffhanger is still one of Stallone's most enjoyable action films.
Right, so that's it for now and hopefully the next review I will do will be a new one, which possibly could be a review of the latest DC movie, Justice League.
So, till the next one, its bye for now!
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