Vertical Limit (2000)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Martin Campbell

Writers (WGA):

Robert King (story)
Robert King (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 December 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

This December. Fear will Fall. Courage will Rise.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Rescue | K2 | Death | Parricide | Urination Scene

Awards:

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

Cast

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 (as Steve le Marquand)
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Malcolm Bench
Izabella Scorupco	...	Monique Aubertine
Bill Paxton	...	Elliot Vaughn
Ed Viesturs	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Vertical Limit (Germany)
Vertical Limit - In größter Gefahr (Germany) (TV title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | Urdu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

K2, Karakoram Mountain Range, Pakistan

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The actors performed many of their own stunts.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Wick's dead wife was wearing her wedding ring on a string around her neck. When Wick finds her, he simply pulls the ring off the string; presumably, the string had deteriorated with time.

Quotes:

Annie Garrett: That was a hell of a thing you did up there. Anybody else would have given up.
Peter: Not everybody.
Annie Garrett: He'd be proud of you. Angry, but really proud.
Peter: Get some sleep.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Surviving 'Vertical Limit' (#7.22)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Macarthur Park

The year's finest beats 'The Perfect Storm'

'Vertical Limit' is a real surprise and could be a winter smash, a sleeper hit that no-one's expected. It's an up-to-date version of the traditional disaster movies that much more powerful, entertaining and exciting than this summer's 'The Perfect Storm' or any of the year's blockbusters and wannabes.

I saw 'VM' at a special screening held by its Hungarian distributor. During the opening credits one of my colleague said: "I bet this one'll fall into the <straight-to-video> territory." Fortunately he wasn't right: the opening sequence was so intense and energetic that took every present critic breath away. And then everybody catch that breath simultaneously. And that was the way it went till the very end.

Mountaineer (Robin Tunney) and millionaire (Bill Paxton) are bound to the top of K2, the second highest mountain in the world, and buried alive by an avalanche. While they are fighting for life, Tunney's cliffhanger brother (Chris O'Donnell) put together a rescue team of volunteers. And the climbing is getting started...

Movie screens has lacked mountaineers since 1993's unsurpassable 'Alive' and no-brainer 'Cliffhanger'. So 'VM' is an example of perfect timing. In a survey managed by the Box Office Guru ("Which December release are you looking forward the most?"), contenders got cca. 200, while 'Vertical Limit' got more than 2000 (!) votes.

The engine of the movie is director Martin Campbell's outstanding achievement. Though Robert King's ('Red Corner') and Terry Hayes's ('Dead Calm') screenplay has it tiny flaws (e.g. nitro-glycerine), Campbell cuts in time and never misses. He was the only good thing in 'Escape from Absolom/No Escape' and the one who once again infused life into the 'James Bond' series with 'Goldeneye'. Not to mention 'The Mask of Zorro', another surprise blockbuster from 1998.

'Vertical Limit' has a typical disaster-movie casting: no stars but recognizable faces. Here are Chris O'Donnell, whom Hollywood has almost buried alive after 'Batman and Robin', Bill Paxton, who plays small roles in big movies, Robin Tunney ('End of Days', 'Supernova'), whose performance could be a breakthrough for her, and last but not least Scott Glenn, whose part would probably be played by Sean Connery if 'VM' were an A-star vehicle.

Will 'Vertical Limit' be a winter blockbuster despite lacking for A-listers? Sure it will. Skip the others and get this to take your breath away. 9/10