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:

Scott Glenn, Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton

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:

rescue | k2 | death | die hard scenario | urination | 

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Taglines:

This December. Fear will Fall. Courage will Rise.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Urdu

Release Date:

8 December 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Límite vertical

Filming Locations:

Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,507,845, 10 December 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$69,243,859

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$215,663,859

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

The toeless feet of character "Montgomery Wick" seen at the beginning of the film actually belong to mountaineer Mark Whetu, who lost his toes while spending a night outdoors above twenty-eight thousand feet during a 1994 attempt on Everest.

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Goofs

A climbing rope landing across the abdomen of the father with the force of two people on it would have severely injured him.

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Quotes

Malcolm Bench: You're all the bloody same, aren't you? Born-agains say I don't believe in Jesus, so I'll go to hell. Jews say I do believe in Jesus, I'll go to Hell. Catholics say I don't believe in the pope, I'll go to Hell. So any way you look at it, I'm in the shit.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

MacArthur Park
Written by Jimmy Webb
Performed by Chris O'Donnell and Stuart Wilson

User Reviews

So much money...so many goofs!

How can anyone spend so much money and make a picture like this? The effects were good but how many really stupid / bad things can happen in one film or one person's life. If only two of the many, many catastrophes that happened in the movie happened in real life it would be like lightning striking you twice. Everything that the actors did (pretending to be the best of the best climbers) seemed to go against them. Really, do you think a professional climber would leave his back pack where it could slide down the mountain? This is your life we're talking about. How about a nylon climbing rope that snaps two feet above the ground just after stopping a long fall. You can't see anyone's breath and it's cold up there. But the way, there aren't any open flame fires that I know of (unless the fuel contains it's own oxygen) anywhere near that altitude. Or how about a professional climber (who relies on good lungs) that smokes. Really, enough is enough!

If you can't think well you might like this movie but it you have some brains, no way! No real plot development - only special effects over and over and over...Unfortunately not even plausible special effects. Jumping a crevasse (didn't they know it was there before they took that route) and actually sticking to the other side. Come on!

I could go on and on but I won't. Nice scenery though. I like the actors but not in this movie.

Well, that's my take and thanks.