K2, a 28,250-foot mountain in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, is the setting for this adrenaline-pumping action-adventure. It’s a race against time when a retired mountain climber (Chris O’Donnell) leadsa rescue mission to save his estranged sister (Robin Tunney) and other members of her team who havebecome trapped on K2 after a deadly avalanche. Martin Campbell, the celebrated director of The Maskof Zorro and GoldenEye, delivers high-voltage action and exhilarating suspense in a film that pits man against his own limitations and the awesome power of nature’s uncontrollable elements.Finally, a movie for the REI set! For all those mountain-climbing aficionados who devoured Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and similar books (as well as the IMAX film Everest), Vertical Limit attempts to translate man-against-the-mountain adventure into compelling, albeit fictional, drama. And while the climbing action is pretty darn breathtaking, somebody forgot to put the brakes on the cliché machine while penning the screenplay. Two siblings (Chris O’Donnell and Robin Tunney) are mentally scarred by a climbing accident in which their father died to save them. She becomes a famous mountain climber (catch that Sports Illustrated cover?); he never climbs again, and becomes a National Geographic photographer. She agrees to accompany a shady billionaire (Bill Paxton) up the icy carapace of K2, the world’s second highest mountain; he just happens to be “in the neighborhood” when she starts. After the requisite argument, she sets out, but an avalanche strands her and the billionaire in some kind of underground cavern, and bad weather forbids a daring rescue. It’s up to her determined brother to bring her back, along with a ragtag team of rescuers that includes a French-Canadian babe, two wisecracking Aussies, and a crusty old sage (Scott Glenn) who has a few scores to settle.
It’s easy to pick out the rest of the story from here (though you probably didn’t count on that faulty nitroglycerine, now did you?), but Vertical Limit is less about the hackneyed plot than it is about putting its characters into increasingly dangerous situations and hanging them precariously over various mountainsides. It’s a credit to director Martin Campbell (GoldenEye) that the impressive action keeps the film moving along past the bordering-on-absurd plot twists. O’Donnell tosses his mane of fluffy hair admirably, but it’s still disheartening to see this once-promising actor turning into a pretty-boy stand-in; only Glenn manages to overcome his character’s predictability. Mountaineering enthusiasts will recognize a cameo by world-renowned climber Ed Viesturs, who as an actor proves that he’s… a very good mountain climber. –Mark Englehart
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March 9, 2010
#1
I will start off by saying i am ashamed to live in a dorm room with someone who owns Vertical Limit. On that note I could go on and on using vulgarities to belittle the movie. Instead I will do my best to explain to you what it is like to view Vertical Limit. Simply put it is like having three masked men jump you in the street, put you in a burlap bag and beat you with an iron baseball bat, again and again. And again. This movie is a slap in the face to rock climbers everywhere.
March 10, 2010
#2
This is the worst movie ever made, no wait it is the worst thing ever made. Satan himself would be ashamed of this movie. I had the misfortune to see this abomination and i was left wondering who was the target audience, cows?, pet rocks? mentally challenged goldfish? THe mountain climbing scenes in The Molemen where more convincing and had the abbed bonus of not featuring either Chris O’Donnell or Bill Paxton.
March 10, 2010
#3
It’s about a group of mountain climbers embarking on a journey. A member of the group is James Clesson and he is gay. After graduating from Cabrillo High his parents advice him to go to Los Angeles. There he meets some of his old friends and ex lover Andy Shipman. James is really egotistic and becomes the leader of the group. James and his friends embark on a journey called vertical limit. His friends abandon him because James’ sexual tension intensifies. He gets on his lavish ford explorer and heads towards Colorado. That’s all folks.
March 10, 2010
#4
I hate to break it to all the people who thought that this movie was bad because it seemed so unbelievable, but this movie is very realistic. Take it from a climber, everything that happened in that movie, CAN AND DOES HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. Granted, the idea that those things all happening all at once in a sequence of a day is not common. But the realism of the movie to any real climber is strong.
As for the acting, I agree, there were some short-comings on that front. I wasn’t too impressed with Chris O’Donnell, though I did think that Scott Glen did a wonderful job. Then again, how may real good actors are out there today…
If you are looking for a wild ride that is based on the REALITY of climbing and the danger that climbers face, this is a great movie. If you are looking for a movie that has superb acting and a super story line, look elsewhere.
March 10, 2010
#5
vertical limit has it all. A ction, suspense, comedy, and drama. that is why I rented this movie 6 times! Bill Paxton does a super job playing Elliot Vaughn and Chris O’Donnell should of got a academy award. This movie is th best movie I ever saw!