Cliffhanger - Worthy Stallone Vehicle Holds Up

May

3

Cliffhanger - Worthy Stallone Vehicle Holds Up

≡ Category: Action, Essential, Movie Reviews By Country, United States |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: United States
Genre: Action
Director: Renny Harlin
Year: 1993

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE

I saw Cliffhanger last night and I’ve got to tell you, it’s even better than I remembered. It hasn’t aged one day since 1993.

At the time, people were pretty sick of Sylvester Stallone, including me. He had been in a lot of really crappy movies. Get this — his last five movies before Cliffhanger were Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Oscar, Rocky V, Tango & Cash, and Lock Up. No wonder Cliffhanger was nominated for four Razzies that year. Just the fact that Stallone was involved with the project was more of a liability than anything, at least domestically, in the United States.

I remember at the time the reviewers made a big fuss about the opening sequence, in which Gabe Walker (Stallone) is involved in a routine rescue that unexpectedly becomes rather challenging. So much was made of the suspense in this sequence that by the time that I saw the movie in the theater, I was predisposed to be unimpressed because of all of the hype. In hindsight, that scene is every bit as good as reviewers said it was. In fact, the entire movie plays out on a similar level of competence.

Let’s get Stallone’s performance out the way. It’s quite believable, even moving in spots. For the first time in ages, he has a real character to play, along with the expected physical heroics, and he’s completely up to the task. The movie is larger than life. The tone is a sort of overblown realism edging towards a cartoon, but within those parameters, the casting is excellent, and the performers do a uniformly fine job. Special mention should be made of Rex Linn as Richard Travers, a Treasury agent with an agenda; Leon Robinson as Kynette, an intentionally irritating token black villain who slings the obligatory Ebonic palaver; Craig Fairbrass as Delmar, who gets a great scene kicking the crap out of Stallone’s best buddy; and best of all John Lithgow, chomping the scenery as Eric Qualen, the evil mastermind behind all of the shenanigans. On the side of the good guys, Ralph Waite as Frank the helicopter pilot manages to make the basic decency of the character interesting; and Michael Rooker as Stallone’s best buddy Hal Tucker convincingly conveys a journey from resentment to forgiveness.

Of course the actors couldn’t create such involving characters if they weren’t on the page to begin with. The script, by Michael France and Sylvester Stallone (?!) is as tight as an Indian slumlord. Every scene serves to move the plot forward, reveal character or in most cases, both at the same time, often in creative or ingenious ways. The characters are distinctive, original, and sharply written, and are given many witty bonmots which are nonetheless within the realm of the reality that has been painstakenly established. Some might complain of certain details that strain credibility, such as Gabe wearing an undershirt in the Rockies for a good part of the picture, or a metal ladder which is conveniently attached to a mountain at a critical juncture in the plot, but the key is that while these details strain reality, they don’t tear it irreparably.

Ah, yes. I’d better say a few words about the plot. A daring 100 million dollar heist led by Eric Quale (John Lithgow) doesn’t go off quite as planned, with 3 suitcases full of money ending up scattered over the Rocky mountains, so he tricks two mountain rescue guides into helping him recover the loot. Unfortunately for Quale, one of the guides is Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone). And that’s all I’m going to say.

Director Renny Harlin keeps the action hurtling along like a cannonball, and makes the violence brutal and graphic, which I really appreciate. I miss the bloody exit wounds of yore. And I’ve got to give a shoutout to cinematographer Alex Thomson — the visuals are fantastic and serve the story to a T.

Alert viewers will note a clever allusion to the Energizer bunny commercials that were ubiquitous at the time Cliffhanger was made, which pretty much sums up hero Gabe Walker and this movie.