Details
Movie Description
As action director Martin Campbell's heart-pumping thriller VERTICAL LIMIT begins, an eagle glides gracefully over the stunningly filmed mesas of Utah. Its shadow falls on a vertical rock face being climbed by Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell), his father (Stuart Wilson), and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney). Suddenly a backpack hurtles by, followed rapidly by two climbers whose ropes tear the male Garretts from the rock face. The excruciatingly tense sequence ends in tragedy.
After this stunning opening, the action switches to the Himalayas, where tycoon Elliott Vaughn (Bill Paxton) has financed an expedition that will take him to the summit of K2--the world's second highest mountain. Annie is one of Elliott's party. In the face of a threatening storm, Elliott recklessly insists the climb should continue. The storm duly arrives and decimates the expedition, leaving Elliott and Annie stranded. Peter leads a group of climbers--including the grizzled Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn) and a French-Canadian nurse (Izabella Scorupco)--in a rescue attempt.
Campbell, director of photography Derek Tattersall, many daring cameramen, mountain climbers, avalanche specialists, and special effects technicians, along with veteran editor Thom Noble, deliver a beautifully filmed mountaineering thriller with even more heart-stopping moments than JAWS.
Industry Reviews
"The action scenes in VERTICAL LIMIT take cliffhanging to the highest peaks of excitement..."
USA Today - p.4E - Andy Seiler (12/08/2000)
"...The physical feats are inspiring, crowd-pleasing testaments to the stupendous extremes of human capabilities..."
Box Office - p.63 - Christine James (01/01/2001)
"...The best scenes give you a vicarious vertigo high..."
Entertainment Weekly - p.51 - Owen Gleiberman (01/05/2001)
"...The stunt work and David Tattersall's lensing catch moments of the adrenaline rush that is mountain climbing..."
Hollywood Reporter - p.14-39 - Kirk Honeycutt (11/29/2000)
"...Strongly acted and well crafted....VERTICAL LIMIT delivers with efficiency and craft..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (12/08/2000)
"...Campbell's tale of Himalayan derring-do does exhibit a fearsome kinetic energy and a rounded grasp of characterisation..."
Sight and Sound - Dan Leigh (09/01/2001)
"[T]he avalanches and stunts are watchable..."
Uncut - Chris Roberts (08/01/2001)
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