Main cast: Chris O’Donnell (Peter Garrett), Bill Paxton (Elliot Vaughn), Robin Tunney (Annie Garrett), Scott Glenn (Montgomery Wick), Izabella Scorupco (Monique Aubertine), and Nicholas Lea (Tom McClaren)
Director: Martin Campbell

Woohoo. Vertical Limit seems like a Cliffhanger rip-off when I first look at the movie poster, but it’s a pretty decent adrenaline rush of a movie on its own. It’s full of hokey acting and hokier lines, but the movie’s special effects and all are wonderfully vertigo. Scared of heights? Watch this movie and get a cardiac arrest.

Of course, the movie has to have that plot thing, but it’s kept to a minimum. Peter and Annie are two height-loving death-defying siblings who have drifted apart after an accident ended with Peter obeying their father’s command to let the latter die. Now, Annie accompanies capitalist scumbag Elliot Vaughn and mountain climber guide Tom McClaren up K2. But they fall down a hole and oops, here comes Tom and the Himalaya Dirty Dozen to the rescue. Among the team is Montgomery Wick who plays the super guru to Peter role.

Bombs explode, people fall down screaming down down down and down ravines, and the clock keeps ticking. Will Annie and gang die before Peter’s crew reach them in time? Ooh, the suspense!

O’Donnell, Tunney and company all turn in competent performances, a bonus as the movie don’t really need anything more than their presence, really. The main stars are the avalanches, the biting ice, the magnificent and lethal beauty of the snow-covered mountain landscapes, and of course, the scream of the doomed idiots as they claw desperately at the edge of the ravine before plummeting down – byeeeeeeeeeeeeee….

Vertical Limit is thrilling ride, and as a big plus, it’s well-acted too. Nice.