CLIFFHANGER
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1993 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Can Rockies rescue ranger Sylvester Stallone recover from a trauma, and get it together enough to clobber nasty super-criminals trying to recover three suitcases of stolen money that fell out of a plane over the Rockies? Hint: Stallone co-authored the screenplay. Lots of action, lots of cliche, a few stunts. Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4).
Sylvester Stallone is back in a pure action, non-comedy role. He had tried breaking out into comic roles in OSCAR and STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT. OSCAR I like to spring on unsuspecting people since it really is about the funniest comedy I have seen in the last ten years, though probably not due to Stallone's efforts. On the other hand, STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT is reputedly just awful. So Stallone is back in a sort of mountain-climbing equivalent of DIE HARD that might have been called FALL HARD. Stallone himself co-authored the screenplay with Michael France, undoubtedly to make sure the story gave audiences exactly what they wanted--breath-taking stunts tied together with brain-numbing cliche.
Stallone plays Gabe Walker, a Rocky Mountain rescue ranger who was once great but lost his nerve after a horrible traumatic experience on a wire high over a valley that should have been called Macho Grande. Gabe is back in the Rockies a year later, testing to see if he can get together with his woman friend Jessie (played by Janice Turner), patch things up with a buddy (played by Michael Rooker), and pull his life together. Just at that moment a plot to steal $100,000,000 is falling apart overhead. John Lithgow plays Qualen, a British master criminal with an accent that occasionally fades. Qualen heads a team of killers who intended to hijack the cash but ended up accidentally dropping it in three suitcases over the Rockies and who now want the rescue rangers to retrieve the suitcases.
Of course, the real stars of the film are the three S's: Stallone, scenery, and stunts. While some of the scenery really is the Rockies, some is the Italian Alps near Cortina D'Ampezzo, and some is sets. The stunts, which I will not describe so as not to spoil them, are impressive, though not really too different from those you would probably think of if you were scripting a similar story. Trevor Jones's score bears a marked resemblance to his score for THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.
This is about what you would expect Sylvester Stallone would be releasing in the summertime. It is nearly two hours of action and familiar plot against a less familiar setting. I give it a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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