Cliffhanger (1993)
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82% of critics liked it
(33 reviews) -
47% of users liked it
(165,981 ratings)
In Cliffhanger, Sylvester Stallone plays Gabe Walker, a member of a mountain-climbing rescue team. Gabe is haunted by an incident from his past when he couldn't save the girlfriend of his best friend, Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker), from falling to her death. As the story begins, Gabe has left… More In Cliffhanger, Sylvester Stallone plays Gabe Walker, a member of a mountain-climbing rescue team. Gabe is haunted by an incident from his past when he couldn't save the girlfriend of his best friend, Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker), from falling to her death. As the story begins, Gabe has left mountain-climbing rescue work and has set up business in Denver. He returns to the mountain rescue office to persuade his lover, Jessie (Janine Turner), to quit and come back to Denver with him. While he is begging Jessie to head out to Denver, things are happening in the skies overhead. A gang of professional crooks headed by psychotic Eric Qualen (John Lithgow) has hijacked a U.S. Treasury plane carrying millions of dollars. But the plane crashes, and the bad guys find themselves stranded on top of a mountain with the money (put into three cases) scattered around the wreckage and with no way to get down off the pinnacle to retrieve the cases. They put in a phony distress call that is received by the mountain rescue team. Gabe agrees to take part in one last rescue attempt, and they head up to help rescue the thieves. But Qualen has plans for the rescuers -- to force them to climb through the dangerous snow-covered peaks to find the three suitcases of cash. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Directed By
- Renny Harlin
- Genres
- Action & Adventure
- In Theaters
- May 28, 1993 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
We are not at Cliffhanger for realism; we're there for the cliffhanging, and there's plenty of it.
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Despite the don't-look-down Olympian settings, Cliffhanger's spirit is brutal and earthbound. The movie is like one of those computer-designed simulator rides that whip you around until you're dizzy and aching but don't actually take you anywhere.
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Todd McCarthy, Variety
Cliffhanger lives up to its title as a two-hour rollercoaster ride that never stops.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fun for the undemanding, but Stallone's 'comeback' should have been much tighter.
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Rita Kempley, Washington Post
A predictably thick-headed, occasionally plodding bacchanalia of blood, grunts and testosterone.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Cast
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Sylvester Stallone
as Gabe Walker
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John Lithgow
as Eric Qualen
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Michael Rooker
as Hal Tucker
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Janine Turner
as Jessie Deighan
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Rex Linn
as Travers
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Caroline Goodall
as Kristel
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Leon
as Kynette
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Paul Winfield
as Walter Wright
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Ralph Waite
as Frank
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Craig Fairbrass
as Delmar
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Denis Forest
as Heldon
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Michelle Joyner
as Sarah
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Max Perlich
as Evan
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Rosemary Dunsmore
as Treasury Secretary
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John Finn
as Agent Michaels
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Zach Grenier
as Davis
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Scott Hoxby
as Agent Hayes
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Jeff McCarthy
as Pilot
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Bruce McGill
as Treasury Agent
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Kim Robillard
as Treasury Jet Pilot
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Vyto Ruginis
as Matheson
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Don S. Davis
as Stuart
- Mindy Marin
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Gregory Scott Cummins
as Ryan
