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
2.
As action director Martin Campbell's heart-pumping 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 his 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.
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.
3.
Young climber Peter Garrett (Golden Globe nominee Chris O'Donnell) must launch a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K2, the world's second highest peak. Confronting both his own limitations and the awesome power of nature's uncontrollable elements, Peter risks his life to save his sister, Annie (Robin Tunney), and her summit team (Bill Paxton and Nicholas Lea) in a race against time.
Years before, brother and sister were devastated by a horrific climbing accident. Peter made a split-second decision to cut their father's rope to save his sister and himself. In the aftermath, Peter isolated himself as a nature photographer; Annie chased her father's dream to climb the world's highest peaks.
Now, she is trapped in an icy grave at 26,000 feet— a death zone above the vertical limit of endurance where the human body cannot survive for long. Every second counts as Peter enlists the help of a crew of fellow climbers, including eccentric, reclusive mountain man Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn), to ascend the chilling might of the world's most feared peak to save her.
4.
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) leads a rescue mission to save his estranged sister (Robin Tunney) and other members of her team who have become trapped on K2 after a deadly avalanche.
Martin Campbell, the celebrated directed of The Mask Of 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.
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