Cliffhanger

Annotation for KRRR! 2025 by Radomír D. Kokeš

The year 1993 brought a new impetus to Sylvester Stallone's career – and it needed it, because after Rocky V, Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, the nineties didn't seem to be his decade, so to speak. This, however, was taken away thanks to the pair of films Demolition Man (1993) and Cliffhanger (1993), both of which marked Stallone's return as an action star in two different positions: a cynical policeman who doesn't fit in with anything – and a vulnerable hero against his will, who must overcome personal trauma and face a seemingly insoluble situation: he must, against his will, participate in the search for suitcases with millions of dollars on several mountain peaks (don't ask), face the imminent threat to his loved ones, and deal with a gang of corrupt people and murderers led by an unpredictable madman.

Cliffhanger combines several attractive and well­‑functioning factors: (a) the then still (relatively) innovative Die Hard plot about a (relatively) ordinary man who has to face a gang of killers, (b) the attractive setting of the mountain giants, (c) the wit of Renny Harlin, who already had good experience with Die Hard in the snow, having made the excellent Die Hard 2, in which Bruce Willis fights a bloodthirsty mercenary unit at a snowy Christmas airport, (d) the rather Rocky­‑esque than Rambo­‑esque charisma of Sylvester Stallone, who manages to appear civilian despite his musculature and scant clothing in sub­‑zero temperatures – and his more or less successfully concealed alpha­‑boyishness is also well balanced by John Lithgow's demonically deranged villain.

The film begins with one of the most impressive opening scenes of the 1990s – shot so well that its faithful parody at the beginning of Ace Ventura 2 is just as effective. And after a short psychological break with a somewhat whining hero (of course, temporarily) deprived of his masculinity, the film doesn't really stop. A whirlwind of climbing attractions, escapes, shootouts and fights on the edge of the abyss comes. There is still no shortage of breathtaking stunts and practical effects that combine miniatures, optical illusions and a real environment, where the Rockies are actually represented by the Italian Dolomites. Cliffhanger remains a pure­‑blooded blockbuster of its time – rough, full of adrenaline and with heights that will make your head spin even after more than thirty years.