I’ve been a Sylvester Stallone fan for nearly 50 years now. Livia and I saw ROCKY either while we were still dating or right after we got married, I don’t remember which, and I’ve just liked the guy ever since. His current TV series, TULSA KING, is one of our favorites. But I’ve missed some of his movies along the way, including CLIFFHANGER. Until now, of course.
Stallone is a mountain rescue ranger in this one, and early on, a tragedy
occurs for which he blames himself. But don’t worry, there’s only a little
angst. He’s about to walk away from his job, his best friend, and his girl,
when a bunch of bad guys pull off a ridiculously complicated mid-air heist of a
hundred million dollars, contained in three cases of used thousand dollar
bills. But the money cases are lost during a mid-air transfer, falling onto a
snow-covered mountain, and the plane carrying the bad guys crashes nearby (with
most of them surviving), and now Stallone and his friends have to corral the
bad guys and keep them from getting away with the loot.
Lots and lots of action ensues, including fistfights, shootouts, and plenty of mountain
climbing. Many of the reviews of this movie on IMDB refer to it as DIE HARD ON
A MOUNTAIN, and that’s about the best description of it. Yeah, the script,
co-written by Stallone, is predictable and stretches suspension of disbelief
nearly to the breaking point on numerous occasions, but the cast and director
Renny Harlin make it work.
Speaking of the cast, this movie is full of actors I like. John Lithgow is the
leader of the bad guys and chews the scenery with great enthusiasm. One of my absolute
favorite character actors, Rex Linn, is another villain. Michael Rooker from
THE WALKING DEAD, looking impossibly young, is Stallone’s buddy and fellow
mountain climber. The great Bruce McGill shows up briefly as a Treasury agent.
Beautiful Janine Turner is Stallone’s girlfriend. Most of you probably remember
her from NORTHERN EXPOSURE, but she’ll always be Laura Templeton from GENERAL
HOSPITAL to me. (By the way, her sister
Jackie on GH was played by Demi Moore.) Ralph Waite from THE WALTONS is a
helicopter pilot.
I had a really good time watching CLIFFHANGER. Is it a great film? No, it’s
not, but it’s a solid action movie and I’m glad we finally got around to watching
it.
5 comments:
I have to assume you've seen Cop Land. It's my favorite Sylvester Stallone movie.
No, Cop Land is another one I haven't seen, but I plan to.
It's strange to think of being nostalgic for the 90s, but you've got to admire the "bigger and badder" ethos action movies chased then. For this one, they ziplined from one airplane to another! That kind of spectacle just doesn't come around anymore.
Yeah, I loved it. I'm a sucker for these kinds of movies but don't watch then ones being made today. I did like the Liam Neeson one you recommended though, James.
The above was me, by the way.
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