Cliffhanger (1993)

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Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight) directs Sylvester Stallone in this serviceable, high altitude actioner about a mountain rescue team that gets embroiled with deadly thieves searching for money they’ve lost in the snow-topped Rockies during an airplane heist. Janine Turner (Northern Exposure) and Michael Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) play Stallone’s estranged team members, both bitter at him for a past tragedy that opens the movie. The friction between the characters is cloying, but thankfully falls by the wayside once the action kicks in. John Lithgow, a national treasure, dons the mantle of big-baddie — but someone should have told him to nix the British accent. Cliffhanger doesn’t break the action mold in the slightest, but Stallone is a reliable star to carry this sort of movie, the panoramic photography is breathtaking, and Harlin proves he can stage action spectacle with the best of them.

Oscar Nominations: Best Sound, Sound Effects Editing, Visual Effects