Vertical Limit (2000)

A climber must rescue his sister on top of K2, one of the world's biggest mountains.

Director:

Martin Campbell

Writers:

Robert King (story), Robert King (screenplay),

Stars:

Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Scott Glenn

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris O'Donnell	...	Peter Garrett
Robin Tunney	...	Annie Garrett
Stuart Wilson	...	Royce Garrett
Augie Davis	...	Aziz
Temuera Morrison	...	Major Rasul
Roshan Seth	...	Colonel Amir Salim
Alejandro Valdes-Rochin	...	Sergeant Asim
Nicholas Lea	...	Tom McLaren
Rod Brown	...	Ali Hasan
Scott Glenn	...	Montgomery Wick
Steve Le Marquand	...	Cyril Bench
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Malcolm Bench
Izabella Scorupco	...	Monique Aubertine
Bill Paxton	...	Elliot Vaughn
Ed Viesturs	...	Himself

Storyline

A high-adrenaline tale of young climber Peter Garrett, who must launch a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K2, the world's second highest peak. Confronting both his own limitations and the awesome power of nature's uncontrollable elements, Peter risks his life to save his sister, Annie, and her summit team in a race against time. The team is trapped in an icy grave at 26,000 feet - a death zone above the vertical limit of endurance where the human body cannot survive for long. Every second counts as Peter enlists the help of a crew of fellow climbers, including eccentric, reclusive mountain man Montgomery Wick, to ascend the chilling might of the world's most feared peak to save her.

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Plot Keywords:

k2 | rescue | death | brother brother relationship | jumping from a helicopter | 

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Taglines:

The Mountain Will Decide.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense life/death situations and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Urdu

Release Date:

8 December 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Limite Vertical

Filming Locations:

K2, Karakoram Mountain Range, Pakistan

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,903,014 (UK) (19 January 2001)

Gross:

ESP 1,114,069,706 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Company Medien KG, Mountain High Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Daniels was offered a role but turned it down.

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Goofs

The depiction of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) is grossly innacurate. HAPE is usually a result of altitude sickness and can most commonly be prevented (or at least have a measure of prevention provided) by slow acclimatization to the higher altitude. It is not a guaranteed condition to every climber at a high altitude. Moreover, the consumption of water has little bearing on the onset of HAPE. And even if drinking water was a cause of HAPE, it is never made clear why the trapped climbers must melt the snow first, instead of just chewing it, or letting it melt in their mouths. Additionally, given Annie's and Tom's high-degree of experience, and previous statements regarding their proposed high level of safety, they would most certainly have insisted on climbing K2 with the aid of oxygen, the use of which also staves off HAPE.

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Quotes

Peter: Montgomery Wick. My dad told me about how Wick speed-summited in 24.
Skip: We're not Montgomery Wick. Even if we were, how long does that leave to get through the rock and ice? We don't even know their exact location. How long is that gonna take?
Peter: I won't let Annie die.
Skip: So what are we gonna do?

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Connections

References Cliffhanger (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Macarthur Park"
Written by Dick Jennings and Hank Mills
Performed by Dean Martin

User Reviews

Into Thin Air

In this high-octane action film, three climbers make stupid decisions at 26,000 feet, en route to the summit of K2, the world's second highest mountain. The climber's peril thus necessitates a rescue, which puts additional people on the mountain and at risk of dying. That's it. The story is thus fairly thin, but the filmmakers insert all kinds of natural and human obstacles, conflict, and difficulties to rev up the action and excitement.

The film's CGI creates compelling tension. We have the illusion of vertical scale, or perspective, which translates into a needed sense of vertigo. The sensation that the characters could, at any moment, fall to their deaths is the film's strength.

The mountain scenery is also nice, although it is sometimes wasted, because of the film's fast pace. Cinematography is quite good. And some of the scene transitions make the film flow really well.

Dialogue seems flat to me. Production design and costumes are adequate. Acting is largely irrelevant.

By far, the biggest flaw is the unrealistic amount of action. In the plot, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, from bad weather to avalanches to exploding nitro to human conflict and discord. It's all a bit much. But, that seems to be a problem inherent to outdoor action films. Directors cram in too much chaos.

Another minus is the background music, which is irritatingly nondescript. For a film set mostly in Asia, I could have wished for more indigenous music which, when combined with the majesty of the mountains, could have added emotional depth and a sense of mystery and awe.

"Vertical Limit" does have an emotional spine to its story, but that is secondary to the super action plot. Viewers who expect well thought out characters, meticulous plotting, or a subtle "theme" will need to look elsewhere. This film is strictly for people who like heavy-duty outdoor action.