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After the dismal failure of his comedy outings "Oscar" and "Stop, or My Mom Will Shoot", Stallone badly needed a hit. As his film career to date had proved, audiences would only respond to Sly confronting impossible odds, and generally taking a hell of a beating before a redeeming victory. "Cliffhanger" has all those ingredients and remains one of the best action thrillers of the 90s.
The opening 10 minutes contain more tension than most action blockbusters can muster in their total running time. Director Renny Harlin hits the viewer hard with a bravado scene that's tough to top. Sly mounts a rescue bid to get the girlfriend of his mountain-climbing mate Hal to safety. As we all know it goes horribly wrong, but it's a credit to Harlin that he squeezes such excitement out of it anyway.
It's also a very efficient way of getting Stallone back into the type of situation he revels in. Obviously he's filled with remorse, gives up on climbing, breaks up with girlfriend Janine Turner, and moves away. Furthermore, his former mate Hal (Michael Rooker) is unstinting in laying the blame on poor old Sly. What he needs is a plane full of bad guys to crash into a mountain so that he can return to the cliffs and redeem himself. And lo! Harlin delivers such a situation in spectacular style.
Aside from having to battle against Mother Nature, Sly also has to take on a bunch of villains led by a snarling John Lithgow. It's a great combo and Stallone tackles everything in his path with gusto, putting in the type of performance that was missing from "Lock Up" and "Tango & Cash". And Harlin really makes the most out of the high altitude locations, while never forgetting to keep the pace up rather than rely on the vertiginous scenery.
Read a review of the DVD.
