Review of Cliffhanger (Special Edition)

Introduction

When Cliffhanger was released in 1993, it was greeted with some degree of critical acclaim. After years of formulaic dross, Sylvester Stallone had made a decent picture. I remember this film being hailed as Sly`s big comeback. With the benefit of twenty-twenty hindsight, it`s apparent that this was merely a blip on a downward trend. Nowadays we have become used to Stallone`s attempts to regain the media spotlight with stuff like Get Carter or that driving movie that wasn`t The Fast and The Furious. But stick this shiny platter in your machine, and hark back to the golden age of good Stallone movies, if there ever was one that is.

Gabe Walker is a mountain rescue man with a traumatic past. He is haunted by his failure to rescue his friend Hal`s girlfriend from peril. Her death has forced him to leave his job and his girl, Jessie behind. He has returned to the Rockies in a last effort to convince her to go to the city with him, when an emergency arises and Jessie convinces him to help Hal to rescue the five stranded climbers from atop a mountain. However, Hal is less than enthusiastic to accept the help of a man who he still blames for his friend`s death. These are mundane matters though, for the people who called for assistance, far from needing rescuing, are actually thieves and survivors of a spectacular mid-air heist gone wrong. They`re plane has crashed and their loot has been lost in the mountains. When the rescue party arrives, armed criminals confront them. They are forced at gunpoint to follow a tracking device to retrieve the thieves` missing millions.

Video

Cliffhanger is presented with a 2.35:1 anamorphic print. The picture is almost pristine, the image is sharp and colours strong. Considering the high scenic content of this film, a good picture is necessary and this disc delivers. Renny Harlin directs well-perched high up on an Italian mountain. You can`t really go wrong with mountains, and Cliffhanger looks stupendous. The action sequences are stunning and the stunts, breathtaking.

Audio

You get a DD 5.1 English soundtrack or a Dolby Surround German track The sound is good, if a little workmanlike. The sound is used well to set the mountain ambience and when the wind blew up on the peaks, I could swear that I felt a chill. The action is presented well, with the bullets and explosions reproduced well. I couldn`t help but feel that the bangs and crashes were a little muted, but with today`s emphasis on ever-increasing decibels, this could be understandable in an older film. The music by Trevor Jones conveys the majesty of the scenery well and his score punctuates the action economically. Again it`s another action movie score that doesn`t stay with you after the end credits roll.

Features

You get a fair amount of extras from Momentum. Starting off with the two trailers, both theatrical and teaser and both of them very, very cheesy. I can`t believe that the film sold off the back of them. There is 5 minutes of B-Roll footage set to the majestic mountain music; there is a 7-minute making of featurette, which does a better job of advertising the movie. Finally there are 8 minutes of interviews with the cast and the director. They consist mainly of edited together sound bites and are short but interesting. There are also about 25 stills for your perusal in a gallery. The animated menus are taken from scenes in the film and are pretty to look at.

Conclusion

Sylvester Stallone stars as Gabe Walker, the hardy mountain man who fights desperate odds to defeat the evil machinations of the thieves. In other words, Die Hard on a mountain. Stallone even wears the obligatory grubby T-Shirt. His acquits his role well as the traumatised rescuer who has to face up to his past and his demons to prevail. I do have a problem with the use of trauma to establish a character. A devastating failure does the job well enough to establish the tortured character, but it still feels like a cop-out. Why not establish the character through a good script and performance? John Lithgow is the big bad guy, Qualen. He shines as the malicious mastermind completely lacking in morals and totally ruthless. His performance is very individual and he creates a memorable character that is unique, charismatic and intelligent. The sad fact is that after watching John Lithgow`s High Commander in Third Rock from the Sun for several years, makes it difficult to take Qualen that seriously, which is shame as the character was very menacing back in 1993. Michael Rooker is Hal and does well playing second fiddle to Stallone`s hero and manages to kick some butt for himself. Janine Turner is Jessie and she has a strong role as Gabe`s girl and fellow rescue worker. She handles herself well when the situation requires.

Cliffhanger is a decent action movie, set in some awesome landscapes. The script contains enough intelligence and wit to keep you entertained. John Lithgow gives a brilliant performance as the ruthless Qualen. The problems I have with the film, to whit, the traumatic episode in the hero`s past as well as the inclusion of surf dude base jumpers (Why?) are offset by the enjoyment derived from eye candy mixed with spectacular action sequences. It`s worth it to see Stallone bench press a bad guy into a stalactite, or is it stalagmite. I can never recall which is which. Speaking of action, I noticed that a couple of action sequences were disjointed with confused music. Also subtitles flashed up for dialogue that wasn`t uttered which leads me to believe that Cliffhanger has been sanitised slightly for these innocent eyes of mine. It`s not as bad as the way some films are treated and it`s hardly noticeable, but it is there. Something went wrong, a mistake was made and Stallone made a decent movie. It doesn`t happen very often and when it does you should grab it with both hands and squeeze as much enjoyment out of it as you can.