Cliffhanger (1993)

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers (WGA):

John Long (premise)
Michael France (screen story)

Release Date:

28 May 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Hang on!

Plot:

A botched mid-air heist results in suitcases full of cash being searched for by various groups throughout the Rocky Mountains.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Mountain | Rockies | Heist | Snow

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Gabe Walker
John Lithgow	...	Qualen
Michael Rooker	...	Hal Tucker
Janine Turner	...	Jessie Deighan
Rex Linn	...	Travers
Caroline Goodall	...	Kristel
Leon	...	Kynette
Craig Fairbrass	...	Delmar
Gregory Scott Cummins	...	Ryan
Denis Forest	...	Heldon
Michelle Joyner	...	Sarah
Max Perlich	...	Evan
Paul Winfield	...	Walter Wright
Ralph Waite	...	Frank
Trey Brownell	...	Brett

Also Known As:

Cliffhanger - l'ultima sfida (Italy)
Cliffhanger, traque au sommet (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

113 min | UK:112 min

Country:

Italy | France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (35 mm prints) (Europe) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints) (USA)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-18 (original rating) | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:12 | Philippines:R-18 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Norway:15 (cut theatrical version) | Norway:18 (uncut) | UK:15 (uncut version, re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:15 (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Carolco Pictures

Trivia:

Christopher Walken was originally cast as Qualen but left the production before filming began, so John Lithgow was cast at the very last minute.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In several scenes where Qualen is flying the helicopter, he is either pointing a pistol or handing keys to Jesse. Helicopters are an intense two hand operation, especially in the hover, as the aircraft is shown doing several times. There are two controls, the cyclic and the stick, and he is shown taking his hand off the cyclic, which you could not do, particularly in a hover.

Quotes:

Eric Qualen: Kill a few people, they call you a murderer. Kill a million and you're a conqueror.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Mosters vs Aliens/The Haunting in Connecticut/12 Rounds (#1.5)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

DO YOU NEED SOME?

Good and Bad

Every time a movie comes out which features rock climbing and mountain travel/rescue, I cringe with anticipation, notepad in hand, and annoy all my friends with my nitpicking. So, let me get that out of the way first. I counted approximately 100 factual and technical errors related to geography, climbing, mountain travel and rescue. Let's just say it was atrocious, though not as bad as "Vertical Limit".

Viewed purely as a mindless action flick, I must say I was entertained. The film was visually stunning with engaging action sequences. The acting was superb- those poor bastards did all they could with their ridiculous characters and inadequate, clichéd script. Cheers to Lithgow, Stallone, and Rooker in particular.

I could be pretentious and pick the whole damn thing apart, but I think Renny Harlin did exactly what he set out to do- entertain.