✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
United States, Italy, France · 1993
Rated R · 1h 52m
Director Renny Harlin
Starring Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner
Genre Action, Adventure, Thriller
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A year after losing his friend in a tragic 4,000-foot fall, former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner, Hal, are called to return to the same peak to rescue a group of stranded climbers, only to learn the climbers are actually thieving hijackers who are looking for boxes full of money.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by
As directed by Renny Harlin (the director of Die Hard 2), Cliffhanger passes the principal tests of an action movie - it has truly awe-inspiring stunts and special effects and many of its suspense sequences will leave you with your heart in your mouth.
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
For all its technical sophistication, this movie is as blaring and unambiguous as a picture book for the very young.
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
It's an eroticism of nastiness -- triple-X fare for dirty old men in raincoats. If you resist this sleazy gorefest, you'll be right to feel proud of yourself.
The New York Times by Elvis Mitchell
All of the performers are upstaged by the film's breathtaking backdrop, and by the fast and furious way Renny Harlin, the director, approaches action sequences.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
The dialogue is routine, frequently punctuated by cliches, and the character-building scenes do little more than waste time.
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
On the other hand, the brutality and sadism it delivers at every opportunity, which we're supposed to take for granted as part of the "fun," left me feeling that any civilization that can create such an entertainment may not deserve to survive.
Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten
It grabs you by the viscera in the opening prologue and for the next two hours rarely lets go.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
Despite the don't-look-down Olympian settings, Cliffhanger's spirit is brutal and earthbound.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Movies like this are machines for involving us and thrilling us. Cliffhanger is a fairly good machine.
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