Release Date:
12/08/2000
Chris ODonnell is like a chihuahua: It tries so hard to be tough by barking its little lungs out, but the whole time you know that a strong wind could take it out. So Vertical Limit suffers from trying to convince the audience that this petulant little preppie yutz is a rough and tumble mountain-climber. Yeah, and Kenny Loggins is now fronting a death metal band.
And yet, even if Sylvester Stallone had played the lead (since this is, basically, Cliffhanger 2), Vertical Limit would still have a lot to answer for. First of all, how the hell did they allow the special effects to look like such crap? If, like us, you saw the trailer and thought, Well, it looks cool, anyway, youll be horribly disappointed that most of the shots look like they stuck actors in front of Sears Portrait Studio backdrops and had an intern blow wind and snow on them. Also, it suffers from Titanic syndrometheres only so much trauma and peril you can pile on your movie before it begins to lose all control. In Vertical Limit, there are more tragedies and disappointments per minute than a FalconsCardinals gameyouve got climbers freezing to death, other climbers falling to their deaths, one climber trying to kill the other climbers oh, and each one of them has a cannister of nitroglycerine strapped to his back. Youve got ridiculous characters (witness Scott Glenns Grizzly Adams-meets-Gandalf Montgomery Wick), implausible action, and a simpering leading man. Vertical Limit had us begging for a slow, icy death.
And yet, even if Sylvester Stallone had played the lead (since this is, basically, Cliffhanger 2), Vertical Limit would still have a lot to answer for. First of all, how the hell did they allow the special effects to look like such crap? If, like us, you saw the trailer and thought, Well, it looks cool, anyway, youll be horribly disappointed that most of the shots look like they stuck actors in front of Sears Portrait Studio backdrops and had an intern blow wind and snow on them. Also, it suffers from Titanic syndrometheres only so much trauma and peril you can pile on your movie before it begins to lose all control. In Vertical Limit, there are more tragedies and disappointments per minute than a FalconsCardinals gameyouve got climbers freezing to death, other climbers falling to their deaths, one climber trying to kill the other climbers oh, and each one of them has a cannister of nitroglycerine strapped to his back. Youve got ridiculous characters (witness Scott Glenns Grizzly Adams-meets-Gandalf Montgomery Wick), implausible action, and a simpering leading man. Vertical Limit had us begging for a slow, icy death.