Cliffhanger

Renny Harlin front loads the picture. Stuntman Simon Crane crossed on a line between two aircraft at 15,000 feet for 1 million dollars, logged by Guinness as the costliest aerial stunt ever performed. Harlin jumped off a cliff in a harness to show the crew he trusted the rigging. The story is set in the Colorado Rockies, but most of the rock on screen is Italian: the bulk of the shoot was in the Dolomites around Cortina d’Ampezzo, with some work in Durango. The money came from four countries: American, French, Italian and Japanese companies were behind it. Stallone’s climbing double was Wolfgang Güllich, a pioneer of sport climbing, who died in a road accident on 31 August 1992, about a year before the film opened; Ron Kauk is credited beside him. In the opening, the person Gabe fails to save is not his friend but his friend’s girlfriend Sarah; he returns 8 months later. The Academy nominated it for Sound, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects, and all three went to Jurassic Park. A good fit if you accept tension built on whether the next handhold holds rather than on plot, and are untroubled by John Lithgow talking through every scene. Not for viewers whose stomach turns when the camera looks straight down into empty air.