Movies I've Missed Until Now: Cliffhanger (1994)

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.