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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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1993-06-15
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4KB
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81 lines
Reprinted by permission
from Lights Out magazine
Copyright (c) 1993, Bruce Diamond
All rights reserved
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 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