Vertical Limit

I enjoyed Vertical Limit. One thing I would have done differently, as a director, is to eliminate the explosives. Blowing a hole at the top of the crevass that your friends and family are at the bottom of is folly, and even if you do feel the need to bring explosives (in avalanche country), use something relatively stable, like dynamite.

Dynamite would have been readily available, for it is used to mine Himalayan salt in Pakistan. Certainly, the man with the millions of dollars could have afforded some. The exclusion of explosives from the scenes would have contributed to a more believable Himalayan adventure (think Into Thin Air).

The story line was good, and I appreciated the strong, complex dynamics and connections between the brother and sister, and between the two siblings and the rescue team leader. While Vertical Limit strove to expose the harsh realities of technical climbing (especially at K2), however, it lost some steam by being very lax in re-creating the conditions that would have been met by the climbers, even at K2's Base Camp at 18,645 feet.

No one was even wearing hats at the alcohol-ridden "barbecue" at Base Camp, the night before the climb. It would have been blisteringly cold, between -20 and -50 farenheit. No professional climber would have been drinking alcohol at that time.

On the mountain, in the raging storm, the climbers did not even have the sense to pull the Cord-Locs on their hoods tight: Snow would have accumulated inside their hoods and parkas, then melting. There were some scenes when protective face masks were used, and that was excellent.

Chris O'Donnell's character makes a terrific leap onto a snowy cliff face. I am not entirely certain that the jump would have been possible in real-life, but just maybe. They should have made the jump less-ambitious and more believeable.

Although I am glad that there were not one but two women in the rescue team, in reality, they would have not been allowed: Women just don't have the brute force necessary to haul 200-pound guys down the mountain (or up on a rope).

While I am tempted to say that it is unrealistic that the veteran and renowned ascent team leader and National Geographic photographer (also a highly-experienced climber) could be cajoled into continuing the ascent after the severe storm warning had been issued to them, we have seen bad decisions in the past by real-life alpine team leaders,culminating to disaster.

Although it may seem that I am being very critical of Vertical Limit, my score of 8 shows that I am willing to forgive the sins that Hollywood felt compelled to commit. The strong inter-personal dynamics, memorable characters, strong story line in-general, and clear, bold decision making in the screenplay made this film worth watching. Heroism is always a welcome theme in the movies I watch, and in Vertical Limit, everyone's a hero in his or her own way.

Scott Glen's character as the rescue team leader and sage mountaineer was superb.

It's not the painfully thin story line, predictable plot or shallow stereotypical characters featured in this movie. It's not even the constant stream of amazingly improbable events, which give you the feeling the director hopelessly underestimated the reasoning abilities of his audience.

What left me disappointed and even a bit annoyed after seeing "Vertical Limit" is the absolute and total failure of this movie to capture any of the real thrill, excitement and hardship involved in scaling the world's second highest mountain.

Books like Jon Krakauers' "Into thin Air" and movies like David Breashears' "Everest" prove that you don't need helicopter rotor blades threatening to dismember climbers or unstable nitroglycerine that explodes if exposed to sunlight to create an exciting story. When Martin Campbell decided to deny the audience any sense of the real technical, physical and emotional challenges of climbing K2, and therefore had to resort to action-movie style heroes, villains and explosions, he left behind a movie too unconvincing, for me to enjoy.

I'm surprised by all the hostility shown toward this movie on IMDb. Had I read the reviews here, I would have skipped this well-made and entertaining film. For one thing, it was a pleasure to see an action movie that didn't involve guns and shooting - enough of that nonsense. Instead, this film is full of spectacular scenery, good looking actors and actresses, and some unexpected insights into issues of morality, judgment and sacrifice. As far as the accuracy about details of climbing, I couldn't care less. This is not a how-to movie. And as for the wisdom of transporting nitroglycerin across dangerous terrain, check out Henri-Georges Clouzot's masterpiece, "The Wages of Fear" or its excellent remake by William Friedkin, "Sorcerer." Neither one of these great films was hampered by such a questionable premise. I highly recommend "Vertical Limit" for exciting escapism.

I can't believe how many people pick on this movie! It's a movie...and movies are meant to entertain. I thought it was a good story line, very suspenseful & emotional. Yes, there was a lot of unbelievable problems that arose, and maybe the acting wasn't all that great. Chris O'Donnell is very cute to look at, but I have to admit he's not the best actor out there. Scott Glenn is great in every movie he is in. The rest of the actors were OK. I just don't see why this movie was picked on so much. I don't watch movies so I can pick on them, I watch them for entertainment..and I was entertained by this movie. I would recommend it to anyone who is wanting to see an edge-of-your seat, emotional movie.

When I saw this shortly after it came out on DVD, it got high marks just for the spectacular sound alone. It had some of the best rear-speaker sound I had ever heard. It was a showpiece for DVD players at the time.

The movie is interesting with it's main fault being a common one: overdone action at the end. Along the way, however, it has many almost jaw-dropping scenes and some spectacular mountain scenery which looks great on the sharp DVD transfer. The stunt work in here is also incredible. Martin Campbell, the same director who did The Mask Of Zorro and Goldeneye, is good at producing eye-popping action scenes.

The dialog at times is juvenile, but it could have been worse. The profanity was lower than expected, too. How accurate is it concerning mountain-climbing? Probably like most films: totally inaccurate, at least that's what a mountain- climbing expert told me, and I believe him.

All in all, however, a far better film than I expected.....strictly for the entertainment.