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Action/Adventure
2 hrs. 05 min
Rated PG-13 for intense life/death situations and brief strong
language.
Starring: Bill Paxton, Chris O'Donnell, Izabella Scorupco,
Robin Tunney, Scott Glenn.
Directed by Martin Campbell.
Produced by Lloyd Phillips, Martin Campbell and Robert King.
Written by Robert King and Terry Hayes.
Distributor: Columbia Tristar
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As action-director Martin Campbell's heart-pumping new thriller
VERTICAL LIMIT begins, an eagle glides gracefully over the stunningly
filmed mesas of Utah. Its shadow falls on a vertical rock face being
climbed by Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell), his father (Stuart Wilson),
and sister Annie (Robin Tunney). Suddenly, a backpack hurtles by,
followed rapidly by two climbers, whose ropes tear the male Garretts
from the rock face. The excruciatingly tense sequence ends in tragedy.
After this stunning opening, the action switches to the Himalayas,
where tycoon Elliott Vaughn (Bill Paxton) has financed an expedition
that will take him to the summit of K2--the world's second highest
mountain. Annie is one of Elliott's party. In the face of a threatening
storm, Elliott recklessly insists the climb should continue. The
storm duly arrives and decimates the expedition, leaving Elliott
and Annie stranded. Peter leads a group of climbers--including the
grizzled Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn) and a French-Canadian nurse
(Izabella Scorupco)--in a rescue attempt. Director Martin Campbell,
director of photography Derek Tattersall, many daring cameramen,
mountain climbers, avalanche specialists, and special effects technicians,
along with veteran editor Thom Noble, deliver a beautifully filmed
mountaineering thriller with even more heart-stopping moments than
JAWS.
Viewer Comments
"Movie screens has lacked mountaineers since 1993's unsurpassable
'Alive' and no-brainer 'Cliffhanger'. So 'VM' is an example of perfect
timing. In a survey managed by the Box Office Guru ("Which
December release are you looking forward the most?"), contenders
got cca. 200, while 'Vertical Limit' got more than 2000 (!) votes."
"The engine of the movie is director Martin Campbell's outstanding
achievement. Though Robert King's ('Red Corner') and Terry Hayes's
('Dead Calm') screenplay has it tiny flaws (e.g. nitro-glycerine),
Campbell cuts in time and never misses. He was the only good thing
in 'Escape from Absolom/No Escape' and the one who once again infused
life into the 'James Bond' series with 'Goldeneye'. Not to mention
'The Mask of Zorro', another surprise blockbuster from 1998."
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