Vertical Limit

I had high hopes for this film after seeing the thrilling opening sequence in Monument Valley, Utah; but, alas, it was not to be.

THE STORY: A famous female climber gets stuck in an ice cave with two others near the top of K2, the second highest mountain on Earth. Her brother, who has sworn off climbing because of his father's climbing death, has no choice but to assemble a team to rescue the trio.

WHAT WORKS: As already mentioned, the opening sequence is excellent, the locations are great (the New Zealand Alps), the story pretty much keeps your attention (until the absurdities really mount up -- pun intended) and both Robin Tunney & Izabella Scorupco are deliciously beautiful.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: As the story continues the believability decreases severely. In fact, the crisis/suspense/action sequences are so EXTREME and strung so close together (especially as the movie proceeds) they tend to make you bust out laughing -- the very OPPOSITE reaction the creators wanted. By the very end the ridiculous overkill made me lose interest in whatever story was supposed to be there.

FINAL ANALYSIS: I was hoping for something unexpectedly great like "The Edge," but ended up with a fun but ultimately shallow time-waster. For comparison, "Cliffhanger" is "Apocalypse Now" next to "Vertical Limit."

GRADE: C.

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.

While mountaineering is one of the most exhilarating of sports it has produced little good fiction, and few good fictional movies, though there have been some excellent documentaries ('The Man who Skied Down Everest', the Imax 'Everest' film, for example). Somehow, when it comes to fiction, the clichés take over, and this film, with some genuinely gorgeous camera-work and impressive stunts, is full of them. The wealthy megalomaniac determined to conquer K2 at any cost, the climber who lost his nerve when his father was killed who pushes himself into action to save his sister, stuck in a crevass high up the mountain with the moneyed one, the bitter old man of the mountains who is essential to the rescue, the guide who has sold out, It's all there. One does expect some improbability of plot in a film like this, but the thought that someone might cart Pakistani Army liquid nitro-glycerine in back packs to the top of K2 to blast a crevasse open really was a bit much.

Apart from a very attractive opening sequence in Utah (Monument Valley, I think) the film was shot in the New Zealand Alps, with a few clips of the genuine Karkoram Himalaya spliced in. For this viewer, it brought back pleasant memories of climbing in the University holidays around the Southern Alps. But climbing is a dangerous sport; on one trip I was accompanied by four people, all of whom subsequently died in separate climbing accidents (one on Makalu, next to Everest). There is a fair amount of special effects malarky (no-one, not even Temuera Morrison pretending to be Pakistani, would fly an old military helicopter so close to a mountain wall at 21,000 feet), but there are also some genuinely stirring shots.

Unfortunately, the acting for the most part matches the script. Chris Connelly, good at sensitive young men, is wrong for the brother bent on rescue (it's more of a part for Bruce Willis), and Bill Paxton is only moderately menacing as the ruthless Richard Branson-style billionaire. In fact the only decent piece of acting is Scott Glenn's Wick, the veteran with attitude. The'comic' Australian climbing brothers, Ces and Cyril, or whatever their names were, were profoundly embarrassing – I guess Ben Mendelsohn will be hoping no-one will recognise him with a balaclava on his head. There were also lackluster performances from the two female leads, Robin Tunney and Izabella Scorupco. One of them, Scorupco, is an ex-Bond girl ('Goldeneye') – the casting people obviously didn't realise she was going to be spending the entire movie wrapped up in Gore-Tex. There's no sex at high altitude – it's too damned cold and anyway survival takes precedence over procreation.

I think Roger Ebert got it right on this one – a 'B' movie with an 'A' movie budget. There are all sorts of anomalies – the lack of visible water vapour issuing from the climbers, their sprightly behaviour even after hours at 26,000 feet, the use of north wall hammers to attack a rock/ice pitch, the miraculous helicopter piloting – but somehow the magnificence of those great peaks comes through. The worst thing about a movie like this is that it portrays the mountains as hellish, which is far from the truth. What is it the psalm says 'I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my strength'? Climbing is one thing I have never regretted doing, and it would be a pity if people were put off the sport by stuff like this. Actually I think the people who do attempt peaks like K2 would see this film as preposterous, overblown Hollywood brown smelly stuff, and they'd be right. But there is some nice scenery.

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.

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.