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Vertical Limit
A young climber launches a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K-2, the world's second highest peak, to save his sister and her summit team in a race against time.

Starring Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton...  View more >

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Reviews Summary


Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Dec 10, 2000
VERTICAL LIMIT was a great movie! The plot is really good, there's always some suspsense in the air. Right when you think it's done......BAM! something else happens.

A great movie for action-adventure seekers. This is the kind of movie that is best when seen on the big screen-so go see it now!
[--- See Now! ---]by  
Dec 10, 2000
Wonderful. A real rollercoaster ride that the audience seemed to love being on. Not uncommon at all to hear gasps and unsolicited expletives from those around you. It was superbly acted, beautifully filmed and the special effects and stunts where breathtaking.

One warning...those who are afraid of heights may want to think twice.
[--- Good ---]by  
Dec 28, 2000
Definitely worth seeing on the big screen. Good action movie with some breath taking stunts. You have to check your brain at the door, because some of the situations seem contrived at best, but the sequences & the performances by the actors keep you interested. Good escapism fare.
Jan 3, 2001
The Tag Line for this movie is 'Hold Your Breath' Maybe it should have been ‘Take Your Breath Away!’ Because if you see it while it's on the Big Screen you'll find it doing just that!

Personally I found it to be pretty intense though lacking somewhat in plot development such as the un-necessary inclusion in the story for the rescue teams to carry Nitroglycerine. (Hollywood apparently insists we ‘Need’ spectacular explosions in EVERY movie)

It also suffered a little from some quite flat characters; although there were exceptions provided by Ben Mendelsohn and Steve Le Marquand who provided us with some good injections of humor.

Most of this is excused and almost made up for by some terrific cinematography and absolutely astonishing action from the very first minute. Whatever you do, don't be late to your seat.

Overall though, a great adventure movie and certainly one of the more thrilling edge-of-your-seat, escapism type movies for a while.

8/10 glenk@foxit.com.au (Feel free to contact me)

Unauthorized publication or distribution without the consent of Glen Kimberley is actively encouraged. (As long as you let me know) I will not track you down, kill your family, rape your dog, burn your house down or bang a supermarket trolley into your car door.
[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 5, 2001
This movie is long and boring. There were a few good moments where you hold your breath and hang on to your seat but there definitely weren't enough of those scenes. The story was long and dull. I was really hoping this was going to be a good movie.

If you do see it, go while it's on the big screen. The scenery and the few "breathless moments" were the only things worth watching but won't be any good just seeing them on a video.
[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 31, 2001
In "Vertical Limit," director Martin Campbell (Goldeneye) gives us a concentrated dose of high altitude adrenaline. Like so many Hollywood productions today, the plot is so basic that it seems to be tailor-made for the comprehension of Forrest Gump. Peter and Annie Garrett played by the preppy Chris O'Donnell (Batman Forever, The Bachelor) and the pouty Robin Tunney (End of Days, Supernova) are emotionally troubled siblings who went their separate ways due to the death of their father in an extreme family outing.

The two reunite three years later upon K2, the "tougher to climb than Everest" mountain where Annie is part of an expedition team funded by an arrogant capitalist played by Bill Paxton (Twister). She gets trapped with the only 2 surviving members of her team with no hope but to slowly die on K2. Armed with canisters of highly explosive nitro-glycerin, Peter leads 5 unlikely mountain climbers to the rescue. Their intention is of course, to "blow" their way to the survivors with absolutely no consideration for the rest of the snow-capped Himalayas. The spectacular opening scene looks virtually identical to the one from "Mission Impossible 2" and the rest of the story, down to the gratuitous happy ending, is yawningly predictable.

The brother sister relationship between O'Donnell & Tunney is unconvincing, spurred by the fact that both are as bland as rice crackers. Nonetheless, O'Donnell serves well as the wholesome American hero in the perfect apple pie manner. Tunney is splendidly ornamental which is characteristically consistent with her previous film roles. Despite O'Donnell and Tunneys' acting potential, both are reduced to play stereotypically uninspiring roles in "Vertical Limit." Upon a brighter note, Scott Glenn is solid in his role as Montgomery Wick, a hard veteran mountain climber with a mysterious agenda. With a hairstyle Vidal Sassoon would condemn, the physical appearance of this mountain king has an uncanny resemblance to the long lost twin of the rocker, Iggy Pop. Glenn stands out in his role as the reclusive toeless yeti but I felt his mumbling recitations from the Tibetan Book of the Dead was somewhat pretentious for a B-movie, albeit one with a multi-million budget. Bill Paxton is at his B-movie's best as Elliot Vaughn, a self-indulgent billionaire and "bad-guy" in the film who has an ego bigger than the mountain he is climbing. Vaughn is unsubtly modelled on Richard Branson which makes me wonder who Mr. Branson pissed off at Sony Pictures.

Although "Vertical Limit" does not have masculine take of "Cliffhanger" nor the relentless human spirit of "Alive," it has explosive action and stunts that are unparallel in films of this genre. The seamless editing of the action scenes is worth every penny to see on a big-screen but any film which is spearheaded by action and stunts is hardly a worthy drama. However, even the most memorable action scene where O'Donnell leaps across a cliff armed with only a pair of pickaxes for a wall landing was a little beyond belief. I imagine, in reality, the scene could only be safely performed by Wily E. Coyote from "The Road Runner Show"!

This was definitely not a "human spirit soaring to the heavens" romantic portrayal of mountain climbing, in fact the film graphically depicts all combinations of the sport's potential negative outcomes. I continue to remain completely baffled by people who have compulsions to scale dangerous mountains. Surely there are safer substitutes to test your own limits, say, timing yourself whilst holding your breath in the bathtub?

For much of the film, I found myself eagerly anticipating the action sequences but the rest was all too much like sitting through a dreary commercial break. The tension between the characters appears all too casual, failing to explore the depths of human emotion during a catastrophic crisis. The film does not deliver its full potential because the drama fails to reach the heart and it left me feeling quite unsympathetic towards the issues addressed.

Take my advice, after consuming vast quantities of alcohol and switching the air-conditioner to full sub-zero blast, everything becomes quite plausible as with all good mindless entertainment.
[--- See Now! ---]by  
Feb 9, 2001
Five words: Great, Excellent, Superb, Extraordinary, and Fantastic.

I watched this with a very "interactive" crowd, which supplied appropriate "ooh"s, "aah"s, "Haha"s, and "Eww"s.

The use of nitroglycerin was not "unnecessary." They plan on using to blast the survivors of the avalanche out of any rock they may be buried beneath.

Go see this movie as soon as you can. (Advice for the weak-hearted: When Peter Garret takes off the female doctor's glove, close your eyes until a couple seconds after the mass "Eww" dies down)
Feb 13, 2001
"Vertical Limit" will tell you that mountain-climbing is a dangerous sport and this film proves it to be just that. The film follows a group of men who must save a group of hikers who had fallen inside a cave.

There's plenty to marvel at as the group of rescuers come upon one roadblock after another. Limit is an edge of your seat thrill ride. Just do me one favorite, Don't look down!
Jul 21, 2003
The action is why you see a film like this, and it doesn't disappoint. The helicopter scene will have you on the edge of the back of your seat!

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