Cliffhanger (film)

Cliffhanger
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Renny Harlin
Produced by	Renny Harlin Mario Kassar Alan Marshall
Written by	John Long Michael France Sylvester Stallone
Starring	Sylvester Stallone John Lithgow Michael Rooker Janine Turner Leon Robinson Paul Winfield Ralph Waite
Music by	Trevor Jones
Cinematography	Alex Thomson
Editing by	Frank J. Urioste
Studio	Carolco Pictures Le Studio Canal+ RCS Video
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	May 28, 1993 (1993-05-28)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States France Italy
Language	English
Budget	$65 million
Box office	$255,325,036

Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow. Stallone plays a mountain climber, who becomes embroiled in a failed heist set in a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains. The film was a major box office success, earning more than $250 million worldwide.

Plot

In the opening scene, hotshot mountain climber and rescue worker Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone) meets with his friends Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker) and Jessie Deighan (Janine Turner) on a narrow peak in the Rocky Mountains. While moving from one mountaintop to a helicopter via a steel cable, Hal's girlfriend Sarah's (Michelle Joyner) harness breaks and she is left dangling over a deep chasm. While the others try frantically to come up with a solution, Gabe straps himself in and goes out to save Sarah, but is unsuccessful; her gloved hand slips through Gabe's and she falls to her death in the chasm.

Eight months later, Gabe returns to town for the first time since Sarah's funeral. Overcome with guilt over having lost Sarah, Gabe has returned only to pack his remaining possessions to leave permanently. However, a radio distress call comes in to the local rescue center where Hal and Jessie still work. Hal heads off to find the stranded climbers while Jessie pleads with Gabe to join Hal's rescue attempt. Battling his inner demons Gabe meets Hal on the mountain, where Hal, still angry with Gabe for being unsuccessful at saving Sarah, lashes out and almost throws Gabe off a ledge.

The rescue turns out to be a fake; the two climbers are taken prisoner by a group of ruthless thieves led by former Military Intelligence member Eric Qualen (John Lithgow), who seeks to recover three suitcases containing $100 million in uncirculated US currency belonging to the United States Department of the Treasury. With the aid of turncoat Treasury agent Richard Travers (Rex Linn), Qualen and his mercenaries attempt to steal the suitcases via a daring air-to-air transfer, but the transfer is foiled and the three suitcases are lost among the mountains and Mike and two die during the heist. The thieves' plane loses power during the attempt and crashes. The suitcases holding the money have beacon locators, but the thieves need expert help locating them in the mountainous terrain, thus prompting them to summon the unwitting Gabe and Hal to their aid.

The group locates the first of the three cases, and Gabe is tethered to a rope and ordered to scale a steep wall to retrieve it. Gabe frees himself from the rope, and the group begins firing up the mountain, causing an avalanche which takes Heldon (Denis Forest), one of Qualen's thugs. Seeing the money flutter down from the top of the mountain, Qualen presumes Gabe dead and orders the group to proceed to the second case.

Gabe survives the avalanche and makes his way to an abandoned cabin where he finds Jessie, who was airlifted into the area earlier. Together, they reach the second case only moments before Qualen and his mercenaries arrive. They find the case empty (except for a single $1,000 bill with the words "Want to Trade?" written on it) and split up to find Gabe. Qualen's mercenary Ryan (Gregory Scott Cummins) chases after Gabe and Jessie but is killed when Gabe sends him flying down into an abyss. Two of Hal's friends, casually hanging out on the mountain, run into Hal and the thieves. Hal tells them to run, and as they do, one is shot dead by Qualen's mercenary Kynette (Leon Robinson). The other parachutes off a cliff, where his parachute is caught on a tree branch, leaving him dangling off the ground. When Gabe makes an attempt to climb out of a crevice, he is spotted Kynette. A fight ensues between Gabe and Kynette in the cave, resulting in the latter being impaled on a stalectite. Gabe picks up the thief's radio, and Hal alerts Gabe that Qualen is planting explosives directly above him and plans to kill him. Gabe and Jessie barely escape.

The thieves, with Hal still as their guide, make their way to the abandoned cabin for the night. Meanwhile, Gabe and Jessie hole up in a cave and stay warm by burning the money they found to stoke their fire. The rescue helicopter pilot, having not received any response from Jessie, Gabe, or Hal, flies over to the mountain, where he finds Hal's friend stuck in the tree, cuts him down, and transports him to safety, and alerts the authorities as well.

The following morning, Gabe and Jessie attempt to beat the thieves to the remaining case. Krystal (Caroline Goodall) flags down the rescue helicopter. Against Qualen's orders, Delmar (Craig Fairbrass) shoots the pilot. Hal crawls over and grabs a knife from his corpse, sticking it in his boot, and the thieves walk over to the helicopter. Travers at this point pulls a gun on Qualen, telling everyone that he is now in charge of the operation. Qualen, held at gunpoint, states that without someone to pilot the helicopter, nobody will even be able to get off the mountain, and shoots dead Krystal, the only other mercenary with piloting experience.

Once again with leverage over Travers, Qualen tells Travers, Hal, and the last remaining mercenary Delmar track the case. Once within a reasonably close distance to the case, Travers leaves Delmar to kill Hal, only to find that Gabe has beaten him to the case once again. Delmar nearly kicks Hal off a cliff, but Hal shoots Delmar with his own shotgun, sending him in vacuum. Meanwhile, Jessie, who signaled the rescue helicopter thinking it to be a fellow rescue team member, is taken hostage by Qualen. Travers discovers that Gabe has found the last case before him, and furiously chases him causing Gabe to fall into the frozen river. Gabe outsmarts Travers and shoots him repeatedly. His dead body is carried away by the river.

Communicating by radio, Qualen and Gabe make a deal to exchange Jessie for the money Gabe collected from the third case. Qualen releases Jessie, but Gabe throws the bag of money into the helicopter's rotors. In the following confusion, Qualen's helicopter falls precariously against the side of the mountain, suspended by a steel cable. Gabe and Qualen fight atop the dangling wreck. Gabe manages to jump off as the wreckage falls several thousand feet and explodes, killing Qualen. After which, Tucker quotes "If you're looking for Mr. Qualen, try about 4000 feet south of here. He'll be the one wearing a helicopter." The film ends as Gabe, Hal, and Jessie are found by federal agents and rescued.

Cast

• Sylvester Stallone as Gabe Walker
• John Lithgow as Qualen
• Michael Rooker as Hal Tucker
• Janine Turner as Jessie Deighan
• Rex Linn as Travers
• Caroline Goodall as Kristel
• Leon Robinson as Kynette
• Craig Fairbrass as Delmar
• Gregory Scott Cummins as Ryan
• Denis Forest as Heldon
• Michelle Joyner as Sarah
• Max Perlich as Evan
• Paul Winfield as Walter Wright
• Ralph Waite as Frank
• Trey Brownell as Brett
• Vyto Ruginis as Mathesen
• John Finn as Agent Michaels
• Jeff McCarthy as Pilot

Production

Carolco Pictures had originally signed Sylvester Stallone to appear opposite John Candy in a comedy directed by John Hughes about feuding neighbors. When the project was dropped, Stallone was persuaded to appear in Cliffhanger.^[1]

Carolco had also originally signed Renny Harlin to direct Gale Force, a "Die Hard-in-a-Hurricane" action film. The special effects proved too difficult at the time, so he was persuaded to direct Cliffhanger. Three writers claimed that Cliffhanger was their idea. To avoid jeopardizing the film's release, they were paid $250,000 each to drop the case.

The film's most breathtaking scenes were shot in the Cortina d'Ampezzo area of the Dolomites, Italy. For example the bridge scene was shot on Monte Cristallo. Further filming took place in Durango, Colorado. The credits of the film also thank the Ute Tribe for filming in the Ute Mountain reservation.^[2]

Cliffhanger is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the costliest aerial stunt ever performed. Stuntman Simon Crane was paid $1 million to perform the aerial transfer scene, where he crossed between two planes at an altitude of 15,000 feet (5,000 m).

The parachute that the basejumper opens, on his escape from the villains, features the design of the Finnish flag, Renny Harlin's native country (he features a reference to Finland in most of his films). The Denver Mint featured in the film as the producer of the cash stolen by Qualen and his associates actually only produces coins. $100 million from the Denver Mint would weigh 2,500 kilograms (5,500 lb). All paper currency in the US is printed by the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, not the United States Mint. The late Wolfgang Güllich, widely regarded as one of the most skillful, daring and popular rock-climbers of all time, performed as a climbing double of Stallone.

Soundtrack

The critically acclaimed orchestral score to Cliffhanger was composed by film score veteran Trevor Jones. In his review for the Cliffhanger soundtrack, Filmtracks.com reviewer Christian Clemmensen noted it's similarities to Jones's previous work on The Last of the Mohicans, stating, "... with Cliffhanger would come a title theme strikingly similar to that of Last of the Mohicans, possibly too reminiscent in fact for some listeners to tolerate." However, his review was still positive, giving the Cliffhanger score four out of a possible five stars concluding, "No matter your view of whether or not composers should recycle their own material, Jones' main identity for Cliffhanger stands on its own as a remarkable piece, and an often enjoyable action underscore will maintain your interest in between the theme's statements."^[3] The soundtrack has been released twice; through Scotti Bros./BMG Music on 23 May 1993 and an extended version through Intrada Records on 21 February 2011.^[3]

Reception

The film was screened in out of competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.^[4]

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, Best Sound (Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Tim Cooney), Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Visual Effects.^[5]

The film was generally praised by critics, receiving a 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 33 reviews.^[6][7] However, despite the film's critical acclaim,^[8][9] it was nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Supporting Actor (John Lithgow), Worst Supporting Actress (Janine Turner) and Worst Screenplay in the 1993 Golden Raspberry Awards.

Generally disliked is the film's unrealistic portrayal of rock climbing. Most criticized is the feature of the bolt-gun which fires bolts directly into rock, forgoing the usual rock-drilling and bolt-hammering used in rock-climbing. Also, this ignores certain material properties of rock that should cause the bolt-gun's impact site to shatter and explode with flaky projectiles. The bolt gun is considered the most serious of the film's technical inaccuracies.^[10][11]

Craig Fairbrass, who played the henchman Delmar, would later find fame by voicing the game fan favorite character Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley in the Call of Duty video game Modern Warfare 2 (which the game itself made a reference to this film with the level entitled "Cliffhanger"). Fairbrass's recent character Ghost in the game shared some similarities to his previous character Delmar in the film due to both wearing comparable clothing and both wielding the same weapons in combat. However, the character of Ghost was more of a heroic character unlike that of the sadistic character Delmar. In addition, the film's co-star Michael Rooker, who kills Delmar, would later appear as a playable character in the Call of Duty: Black Ops level Call of the Dead.

Distribution

The film was originally rated NC-17 by the MPAA on account of its violence. Several cuts were made to almost every violent scene in the film in order to get an R rating. Several death scenes in the film were shot in slow motion and lasted several seconds; for instance in the beginning of the film the pilot of the plane shoots the co-pilot in the head in a very brief shot; in the NC-17 version, this was shot from a different angle that showed blood splattering on the window. Bootleg DVD copies taken from a timecoded VHS workprint feature the original rough cut of the film, complete with uncut violent scenes. Travers' death originally featured him being shot in the shoulder by Walker with the bolt gun and blasted with the shotgun by Tucker. This was changed to Walker firing the gun three times, not due to censorship but because a review of the dailies caused the filmmakers to think of a somewhat slicker death.

The movie was a box office hit.^[12] For its British cinema release, the film was edited by one minute, then by a further twenty-five seconds on video and DVD to gain a '15' certificate. Chief victim was the scene where Delmar beats up Tucker, but other cuts included aggressive strong language and other moments of violence. However the 2008 DVD release was passed '15' with no cuts made ^[13].

The scene where Hal's girlfriend, Sarah, falls to her death, was spoofed in the films Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Spy Hard.

This is the only TriStar-distributed Carolco production which the former studio has retained the American rights to (and therefore not owned in America by Carolco successor StudioCanal), and thus Sony Pictures remains responsible for American home video and television distribution.

Remake

In May 2009, it was announced that StudioCanal (international rightsholder to the original) would be overseeing a remake of Cliffhanger. Neal H. Moritz was set to produce, with filming due to begin in 2010.^[14]

See also

• List of American films of 1993
• Cliffhanger (the video game)

References

1. ^ "Troubled Route to Pirate Epic 'Cutthroat'; Movies: As the swashbuckling adventure starring Geena Davis, directed by her husband, Renny Harlin, opens this weekend, financial woes surround its release.". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-12-21/entertainment/ca-16222_1_renny-harlin. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
2. ^ "Making a Movie Out of a Mountain : Climbers Give High Marks to 'Cliffhanger's' Realistic High-Altitude Action Sequences". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-02/entertainment/ca-42466_1_high-country. Retrieved 2010-11-08. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Clemmensen, Christian. Cliffhanger soundtrack review. Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Cliffhanger". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2586/year/1993.html. Retrieved August 24, 2009. 
5. ^ "The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/66th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-22. 
6. ^ "Cliffhanger". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/cliffhangerrhowe_a0afbf.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-02. 
7. ^ "Cliffhanger (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger/. Retrieved July 1, 2010. 
8. ^ "Rocky's Mountains". Chicago Tribune. May 28, 1993. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-05-28/entertainment/9305280020_1_gabe-climbing-sequence. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
9. ^ "Cliffhanger". Chicago Sun Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19930528/REVIEWS/305280301/1023. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
10. ^ [1]
11. ^ [2]
12. ^ "`Cliffhanger' grabs the largest opening for a non-sequel on any Memorial Day weekend. `Made in America' opens in second place.". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-01/entertainment/ca-42182_1_memorial-day-weekend. Retrieved 2010-10-27. 
13. ^ http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/c2fb077ba3f9b33980256b4f002da32c/02e2d8f9d51c19e48025745d003d75ab?OpenDocument
14. ^ By (May 13, 2009). "StudioCanal remounts 'Cliff' - Entertainment News, Cannes News, Media". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=story&id=1061&articleid=VR1118003577&cs=1. Retrieved May 14, 2009. 

External links

• Cliffhanger at the Internet Movie Database
• Cliffhanger at the TCM Movie Database
• Cliffhanger at AllRovi
• Cliffhanger at Box Office Mojo
• Cliffhanger at Rotten Tomatoes