Reprinted by permission
from Lights Out magazine
Copyright (c) 1993, Bruce Diamond
All rights reserved


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        Ŀ
          CLIFFHANGER:  Renny Harlin, director.  Michael France    
          and Sylvester Stallone, screenplay.  Screen story by     
          Michael France.  Based on a premise by John Long.        
          Stars Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker,  
          Janine Turner, Rex Linn, Caroline Goodall, Paul Win-     
          field and Ralph Waite.  TriStar Pictures.  Rated R.      
        

                        ** Reviewed by Bruce Diamond **
                      (from the June issue of LIGHTS OUT)


          Go for popcorn or whatever after the first ten minutes,
     because by then you've already seen the most exciting moments of
     CLIFFHANGER, the Sly Stallone starrer that's supposed to be his
     mega-hit this summer.  Here's a hint -- it ain't gonna happen,
     despite a strong opening weekend.  Some wags have already tagged
     this movie as "DIE HARD on a mountain," and while there's some
     truth to that description, you'll find that it doesn't hold true
     for the length of the film.

          Director Renny Harlin also directed DIE HARD 2, which is
     where the comparison is coming from.  Unfortunately, the same
     weaknesses he exhibited in DIE HARD 2 (when compared with John
     McTiernan's DIE HARD, the first film) are on display here.  At
     least with DIE HARD 2, he had a halfway-clever script and a
     compelling villain to work with.  There's no humor in CLIFF-
     HANGER, at least not that I could find, and John Lithgow's
     villain is scenery-chewing at its worst.  He's almost as bad here
     as he was in last summer's Hitchcockian stinker, RAISING CAIN.
     Sporting what seems to be a South African accent, Lithgow's
     dialogue, after the first half hour of exposition, is reduced to
     endless variations on, "You bahstid."  At one point, after dis-
     covering that Stallone (playing rescue ranger Gabe Walker) has
     survived yet another attempt on his life, he says into a walkie
     talkie, "Walker, you're a bahstid, but you're a resourceful
     bahstid."  I can only assume that these lines are the result of
     Stallone's wholesale rewriting of the script.  They're definitely
     on a par with, "Yo, Adrienne!"

          I pray we eventually see the end of the Hollywood blockbus-
     ter, the "high concept" film, soon.  If you checked the credits
     in the box before this review began, you'll have noticed that
     CLIFFHANGER is "based on a premise by John Long."  Based on a
     premise?  This has all the smell of a "high concept" thrown out
     during a power lunch with studio executives.  "How's this?
     Stallone on a mountain!  What do you think?  Can't miss, eh?"
     And whoever this John Long is (sounds like a pseudonym, doesn't
     it?), he gets paid his "premise" money, the star and director are
     signed, and THEN the script gets written.  I'm willing to bet
     that's exactly how the deal went down.

          Gabe quits the Rocky Mountain Rescue Team when something
     goes wrong during a rescue.  His lover, Jessie Deighan (Janine
     Turner), convinces him to get back on the mountain to rescue some
     hikers who have lost their way.  Hal Tucker (Micheal Rooker),
     Walker's former partner, joins him in the rescue, even though he
     still blames Gabe for what happened.  What neither rescuer knows,
     though, is that the hikers are actually criminals looking for
     some lost U.S. Treasury money, led by Eric Qualen (Lithgow).
     The band of criminals is pretty run-of-the-mill, although they
     all seem to have ODed on testosterone before making the drop.
     They are all, to the person, rude, egotistical, and basically
     playing the same character.

          The scenery and the aerial photography are tops, and the
     only reason to see CLIFFHANGER.  If you want really exciting
     mountain climbing scenes, stay home and rent K2 from last year.

     RATING:   3 out of 10
