Vertical Limit Reviews

This was the coolest movie when I was 11 years old and I still have to say that it's a lot of fun and delivers adrenaline with an icy cold fury. It's like an unofficial companion to Cliffhanger; this deals with a similar case of rock climbing guilt. There are so many crazy stunts, unwarranted destruction and deadly situations that it's hard not to get wrapped up in the story and feel the power of snow terror running down your spine. Chris O'Donnell fares extremely well as his action star self, something that must've been hard to achieve post-Batman & Robin. Bill Paxton also works well as the movie's diabolical villain who somehow manages to outshine a natural disaster. With incredibly well shot action sequences, great pacing and fun characters, it's hard not to find something to enjoy about this.

Vertical Limit is an exciting Mountain Climbing, action packed guilty pleasure. The acting isnt great and the special effects are average at best but the storyline is well delivered and will have you hanging on the edge of your seat throughout.

Twists and turns are what power this movie forward as we follow a rescue mission up K2, against the elements and against time as Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell) tries to save his sister.

Its the opening sequence that hooks you in though as its probably one of the most effective and emotionally draining opening scenes I've seen in a very long time. Very powerful and a great way to start the movie.

As said, this is a guilty pleasure and Bill Paxton is always worth a watch!

"That's a bloody great idea. Smoking next to the nitro. Although, bro and I always hoped that you'd blow us. "

This movies tagline...Hold your breath... really describes what i did in parts of the movie. The climbing teams experience many life and death instances, beginning with the opening scene,and i thought the films cinematography was beautiful .there were lots of explosions, avalanches, people hanging from a cliff kind of thing. just a shame that, after its stunning opening, it begins to drag a bit

Chris has to overcome his fears and do a daring rescue in this survival movie. Good story.

A ok action film in snow. Bill Paxton can?t act but it never seems to matter!

A group of rock climbers including a well known billionaire, Annie (Robin Tunney), and a guide, all go climbing in order to reach the top of the towering mountain called K2. Unfortunately, they get caught up in a storm, which traps all three of them in a cold and icy place. It's up to Annie's brother (Chris O'Donnell) and a few other volunteers to try their best and rescue the three that are trapped. But it won't be easy because not only do they have to worry about heights, but there are also other hazards such as frostbite and avalanches that are lurking around the corner.
Going mountain or rock climbing is something I know I couldn't do, but I waited a long time to see "Vertical Limit" because I like action movies and I was expecting it to be a great one. It is suspenseful and it has decent special effects (but not great ones), but it's also very predictable and it could've been a lot better in almost every way, especially in the plot, action, and script categories.

I recommend anybody to at least watch "Vertical Limit." It's not bad for a disaster movie and it's worth watching, just don't expect it to have a strong plot or script. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001. This was one of those movies that had a nature side that I thought I'd love, but it didn't deliver nearly as much as I wanted it to.

A rather bland thriller that relies way too much on coincidence.
It's surprisingly well crafted, and the acting isn't too bad. But then the story elements feel cheesy and stupid. It's never a good sign when a movie has nitroglycerin in its plot, cuz you know that nitro is going to explode when the plot requires it to. The rest of the story feels hammy and stupid. Why couldn't they have made this a simple rescue movie? That would have been way more entertaining.

Montgomery Wick: "Peter, do you know where you are? Above 24,000, you're at the vertical limit, you're already dying. Look at you. You can hardly stand. If you think you can stop me, go ahead."

A high-adrenaline tale of young climber Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell), who must launch a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K2, the world's second highest peak. Confronting both his own limitations and the awesome power of nature's uncontrollable elements, Peter risks his life to save his sister, Annie (Robin Tunney), and her summit team (Bill Paxton and Nicholas Lea) in a race against time. The team is trapped in an icy grave at 26,000 feet - a death zone above the vertical limit of endurance where the human body cannot survive for long. Every second counts as Peter enlists the help of a crew of fellow climbers, including eccentric, reclusive mountain man Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn), to ascend the chilling might of the world's most feared peak to save her.

This movie is the most boring, pretentious, uninteresting piece of shit that I've ever laid my eyes on. The character development is almost non-existent, the acting is horrible especially that lead girl, talk about cardboard performances. The story had potential but its the execution that failed miserably. The awkward plot scenarios, appalling camera angles and ridiculous dialogue. Chris O' Donnell can pass off as a lead actor but always he stars in atrocious movies like this. Bill Paxton's role as the supposed villain/entrepreneur will just make you laugh unintentionally. His reason for climbing K2 is pretty stupid. They're calling it a publicity stunt in the film but I think its a stupid way to promote your airline company. There are some boundaries to such things.

Towards the end of the film, I was almost half asleep, the supposed high wire tension just made me even more sleepy, at that time I just wanted it to be done and over with.

I remember when I was a youngling when I saw this for the first time on VHS, I totally loved this film but now, its totally different. I hated it the second time around. I guess times change.

1/5

I didn't expect that this movie could do an adrenaline push-up for me, I thought it just a usual sports movie that telling about mount climbing... The story itself just ordinary, some people want to climb the top but they got flushed away by a snowstorm and then the rescue team comes along to save them but not all people can be saved... The view that sold in this movie was spectacular, makes you want to do a little mount climbing after watching this movie... Even that I get a little disappointed because not all of the effects are real, I captured some scenes with a snowstorm in it, just a part of the National Geographic or something like that I think... But after all, it's a pretty good movie.. Really pump your adrenaline by watching this...

So dumb....

This is another one of those movies that I always end up watching every time I stumble across it on tv.

Not as good as Cliffhanger but resonably enjoyable mountain set action film.

What an exciting outdoor adventure of the risk rescue at K2. And I like Izabella Scorupco's climbing abilities the best - brave woman only in a rescue group and she's hot.

A mountain adventure.

There are a few neat shots in here, but the performances are tired and the dialogue is utterly lame. It doesn't feel like anything worth noting actually happens.

Has a surprisingly high body count, but we never get attached to any of the characters - so it's all for naught.

pretty good in a corny way

spectacular scenery

People climb, people die, and then they do some more climbing, nothing especially wrong, nicely made, but nothing really driving you to want to see it again.

[font=Arial][color=darkred]New heights are explored in the mountain climbing expedition that is 'Vertical Limit'. A group of climbers must perform a rescue mission on the second highest mountain in the world or risk losing the lives of their friends and loved ones. With a set-up like this you would assume it would have a lot of great action. Well, yes and no.[/color][/font]

[font=Arial][color=darkred]'Limit' stars Bill Paxton (talented but has poor film choices) as the usual corporate villain, Chris O'Donnell (untalented with poor choices) as the tortured rock climbing hero, and Robin Tunney (marginal with HORRIFIC choices) as the overly ambitious climbing sister to O'Donnell. This isn't all the subplots though -- oh no! We get a pair of wise cracking pot head brothers, a religous Pakistani serviceman, a military base, and a grizzelled loner that everyone thinks is crazy until we finally realize he's the best mountain man of them all. By the time it takes to establish all of these subplots, plus others I've failed to mention, we haven't even gotten to the damn mountain yet. Rule #1 of a mountain climbing movie: Get on the bloody mountain within an hour of the movie starting![/color][/font]

[font=Arial][color=darkred]The plot is overly cornball and excessively redundant. By the time you actually see the loner's long lost wife frozen in a wall of ice and looking like a figurine from the Matell 'Barbie' catalogue you will know the ends this film will go.[/color][/font]

[font=Arial][color=darkred]The experts of rock climbing are all young and seemingly frat house rejects. Why in every film must the experts in any field of scientific research be frat house party animals? How about some realism there and make them all middle aged balding white males. Well... I guess that would be less of a draw.[/color][/font]

[font=Arial][color=darkred]Director Martin Campbell has a great knack for establishing tight thrills and strong suspense. Campbell is clearly the strong point of this picture. When the action is running it's plumb with excitement and great visceral visuals of the scenery. The only problem is that the action scenes are seperated by long stretches of characters coughing or wheezing and terribly cheesy dialogue. If the story is technically built around the action sequences why do we have to devote so much time to it then? It's a waste of Campbell, a true action talent.[/color][/font]

[font=Arial][color=darkred]'Limit' is rigid with expendable cut-outs designed to be its people. The characters are shoe-string and so is the plot but the action, when allowed to actually happen, is first rate. However, I do exclude a series of scenes where Tunney and Paxton are trapped in an ice cave that resembles more of your grocer's freezer than a Himylaian peek. The 12 year-old behind me kicking my seat figured it all out good enough. I think that says enough.[/color][/font]

[font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: C-[/color][/font]