Released in 1993 Cliffhanger is a wild ride that I feel has aged really well and is just as much fun today as it was back then. Cliffhanger is a Sylvester Stallone led action movie and I remember this being a pretty big deal when it was released. A funny story I have about this movie is that I was actually excited to see this in the theatre. It was advertised heavily and I was a big Stallone fan so seeing it in the theatre was a no-brainer.
How to Download Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger was released on May 28, 1993. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Sylvester Stallone, you need to see him in First Blood or Rocky.
The Movie Review
However, I had started high school at the end of summer in 1993 and one of the new kids in my class and I bonded over the fact he had a pirate copy VHS of Cliffhanger! That was how I initially saw Cliffhanger, a less than great quality pirate copy VHS! The thing is, back then I could deal with the poor picture quality and still have a great time. These days if the HDR is a little off I am freaking out big time!
When you describe what the plot of Cliffhanger is, it sounds like an average action thriller. We have Sylvester Stallone playing the role of a mountain rescue guy called Gabe. Gabe along with his girlfriend, Jessie tries to rescue their friends Hal and Sarah, but the rescue goes wrong and Sarah dies, with Hal blaming Gabe for this. This leads Gabe to want to quit working for the mountain rescue department and when he returns to work several months later, it is just to collect his belongings and quit.
An Intense Rescue Mission
When Gabe goes back, a call comes in on the radio about a group of hikers that are stuck up on the mountain. Jessie persuades Gabe to go and try to help, but there are no people needing to be rescued! They find the insane and awesome John Lithgow, playing the role of Eric Qualen and this whole thing was a ruse.
There was a big plot that would see Qualen and his friends get a hundred million dollars of uncirculated bills! However, the plane these crooks and the money were on was shot down by an FBI agent and now all that money is up in the mountains and they need Gabe and his crew to get it for them or they will kill them! This puts Gabe head to head with these crooks as he tries to save himself and his friends that they have taken hostage.
Cliffhanger is just a blast to watch! This movie is so much fun, it has some great fight scenes and action scenes and the mountain setting is so cool. The thing is, while it is an action thriller, this movie has a great cast. Stallone is Stallone, but this is one of the most fun Jon Lithgow roles he has ever done, he is so over the top and crazy that you can tell he was having a blast making this movie.
Complicated Relationships and Subplots
I also want to mention Michael Rooker who is Hal. Hal and Gabe have a great and complicated relationship and this is a nice little extra subplot that the movie has. You think for sure it is going one way, but it may surprise you with the way it all ends up. The talented cast here really sells you on this story.
One thing I do want to talk about as I am not sure when I will ever get to talk about this again is that Cliffhanger was one of the games that made me want a Sega Mega CD back in the day. Granted the game is garbage, but the use of FMV and those “3D snowboarding sections blew my mind back in 1993.
For Christmas last year, I got Cliffhanger on 4K and I was so excited to see how all that snowy mountain scenery would look and I am pleased to say that it looks incredible! I may sound like a snob, but I could never go back to watching this in SD after seeing it in 4K! Cliffhanger is a fantastic thriller/action movie that you will have a super fun time watching.
