Vertical Limit is the action adventure film of the Winter Season. A pleasant surprise of action and tension, it is all disaster and special effects and very little convincing story. In fact, some parts of the storyline are cheesy, but the non-stop thrills will keep you glued to your seat.
The film starts off with a very dramatic scene on the side of a mountain. The Garrett family are all mountain climbers and it seems just like another day thousands of feet above the ground when unexpected tragedy occurs. Then we flash forward to four years later. Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell) is a National Geographic photographer taking photos near the base of K2, the world's second highest peak. Then he catches word that his sister, Annie Garrett (Robin Tunney) will be near the peak soon and will be climbing it. It turns out he and his sister are no longer as close as they were at the beginning of the film. Regardless, she has apparently done very well as there we see her face on the cover of a Sports Illustrated magazine as Peter puts it down. At this point, Vertical Limit turns into a classic disaster movie but with much more thrills and action. There is the greedy billionaire, Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton) who wants to climb the mountain at any expense so that he can wave to his new airline as they fly overhead. There is the experienced old timer Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn) with warnings of changes in the weather. And still, they continue up the mountain, even against brother Peter's advice.
For some reason, this film reminded me of The Perfect Storm, the other big scale disaster film of this year. Perhaps it is the sense of impending doom the film conveys. In Vertical Limit we know they are heading towards some kind of disaster on the mountain. Then it hits and the rescue mission begins. There are plenty of little twists that make for explosive excitement, namely the plan that Peter has to save his sister involving nitroglycerine. Without the nitroglycerine this film would not have been anywhere as near as exciting!
The acting in this film is decent. Chris O'Donnell is perfect for the role he plays, just a regular kind of guy that wants to save his sister. Scott Glenn is exceptional as Montgomery Clift, a man who lost his wife to a storm on the mountain. The scenery is sometimes breathtaking, sometimes fake looking. The story is a little weak in most areas, and too obviously concocted for the sake of sentimentality in some parts. The twists are mostly predictable, but what makes this movie still enjoyable is Director Martin Campbell's (The Mask of Zorro, Golden Eye) excellent manipulation of the audience with drama, action, adventure and tension.
By far, Vertical Limit is the better action filled adventure drama being released this weekend of December 8th. Despite having a story that lacks originality and becomes predictable at times, you never stop having an exciting time experiencing this movie.
Back to:
© 2000 camiloarenivar@yahoo.com