Vertical Limit (UK)

Is Vertical Limit an interesting story? No. Is it believable or in any way credible? No. Does it at least have some new ideas and originality? No No NO!. Did I enjoy watching it then? Yep!, I sure did!.

Let me explain the (clearly contradictory) paragraph above. Some movies are entertaining on a very mindless level and the fact that they aren`t really believable and don`t try to complicate things with an unnecessarily "brainy" plot is often just what the doctor ordered!. I think this title is a good example of such a movie, because if you wanted to, you could rip it to shreds and sit through the whole thing with a glum face and derive no entertainment whatsoever. Thing is, you`d be missing out big time.

This is a visual and aural extravaganza, one that will push your system to the...."limit" (heh!). The A/V quality on display is utterly faultless and this is matched only by the ambitious set-pieces contained within the film, many of which will give you butterflies (if you`re not sitting there moaning that is!). Okay, so the plot of the film is not only unlikely, it`s ridiculous. If you take it on it`s own terms though (exhilirating adventure in snowy location) there are countless exciting scenes and many jaw-dropping moments to make up for the obvious shortcomings.

People have said the film has poor direction, I`d strongly disagree though and can`t imagine what they`re basing that opinion on. The story IS lame and implausible, but everything else is top-notch and that includes the director`s contribution. The action is well filmed and well portrayed, frequently avoiding the usual "point-out the technique being used" laziness. Perhaps I`d suspended my disbelief to such a degree that I watched it as though it were a (unusually thrilling) documentary!.

The disc is full of extra`s too. Unfortunately, an "informative" K2 feature is also present (ooh, no thankyou) and some other much more movie-centric and therefore more welcome featurettes. Director Martin Campbell has thoughtfully given a commentary aswell, so the disc provides everything you could sensibly ask for.

I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway!. It`s not a brilliant film by any stretch of the imagination, but if you allow it to be, it`s certainly a brilliant cinematic experience (are you prepared to make that distinction though?).

So, am I pleased I bought it? Yes!. Would I confidently recommend it to others? No!.

Vertical Limit suffers from the recent idea of studios to add drama, a story or who knows what to a genre that on the early days of cinema, would be "only" entertaining: action movies.

Whoever started this trend should be taken for a seat on an electrified chair. 20.000 Volts minimum, please.

Thank God DVDs are divided in chapters and almost all remote controls allow you to go straight to action. Maybe someday we see a "viewer`s edition" on the web, stripped from the "personal dramas". Will last some 40 minutes, but`ll keep you glued to the chair...

The action scenes - 10.
The story (!?) - 2.
The Video transfer - 9.
The Sound (DD 5.1) - 10. It`s one of the discs I use to demo my new DD/DTS system to friends.
Extras - Many, and some interesting ones. Specially for those who don`t know too much on mountaineering.

As an action movie the film loses a lot thanks to the imbecil plot and many personal dramas that are added, but actually don`t add nothing. This only leads to distraction and poor acting. The action scenes are fewer than we`d have liked, but of high quality. Worth at least a view. It seems that the director wanted more, but the budget didn`t allow as many.

When will the studios free this genre of boring dramas and ridiculous plots? This could`ve made this an excellent action movie.