Rating: 
Summary: Nice landscape, shame about the movie
Review: When I sat down to watch 'Vertical Limit' I wasn't expecting rocket science, I was expecting a long list of clichés bad acting and special effects. This I got, but for an action movie there aren't nearly enough thrills. It starts with Peter (O'Donnell) and Annie (Tunney) having to cut their father loose after a climbing accident. Although Peter is too scarred by the incident to climb ever again, Annie goes on to become world-famous and her next challenge is K2. After an incredibly slow build-up, they finally face the mountain with predictable results. Yes, trying to get to the top despite that big storm brewing was not a good idea, and Annie and to other climbers get stuck in a chasm. Peter and a team of rescuers go up after them. Plot wise this is it, but the plot's not really the problem.The acting is all formulaic, but it's the blatant disregard for human life which is perhaps most baffling in a film with such a low rating as this. Between the lot of them, they manage about five nitroglycerene explosions up in the mountains, so many in fact that this becomes a by-numbers movie more than anything else. Plus, by the ending where Peter finally gets to rescue Annie it's difficult to feel sorry for two people that literally have a death count behind them. Given this, in a way it's quite a perturbing movie, but it's still just basically big and dumb. There's plenty of stunning landscape, along with wide sweeps over the mountains in hope that the audience won't notice the movie itself. Plus, the special effects are very impressive but as we simply don't care what happens to the characters it's all pretty redundant really.
Rating: 
Summary: High on action.
Review: Surprisingly competent mountaineering adventure. Without belaboring the plot (much of which doesn't stand up to serious scrutiny), suffice to say that it's about an attempt to rescue 3 mountain climbers stranded in a sort of bottomless pit on the upper reaches of K2. Jacking up the suspense is the deadline factor: more than 2 days at such high altitude will cause pulmonary edema, so our 6 rescuers have to find the victims quickly. Director Martin Campbell ratchets things up a bit more with the canisters of nitroglycerine each rescuer is carrying (who knows why; just enjoy the suspense) -- exposure to sunlight and the canisters'll go ka-blooey. Perhaps it's because of the setting, but *Vertical Limit* seems much better photographed than the majority of action pictures out there -- no small consideration when one has to deal with the inevitable hamfistedness of the dialogue that comes with this territory. But there's still too much CGI for my taste. Admittedly they're getting better and better at this stuff, but you know some of what you're seeing was composed on an iMac. It becomes glaringly obvious when the action goes too far; e.g. when Chris O'Donnell jumps about 20 feet over a canyon, or when a helicopter hovers near the edge of a cliff as it's disembarking our rescuers. ...Just for once I'd like to see an action movie that uses real stuntmen doing real stunts. To be fair to *Vertical Limit*, you get more of that than what's customary these days.
Rating:
Summary: Full of Stunts, and typical seat of your pants movie
Review: If you like movies for the plot, do not rent or buy this one. This movie is set on edge of your seat, sweaty palms action. Plenty of special effects and stunts. The movie starts out that way, with Peter and Annie Garrett, along with their father climbing the side of a monolith. Some amatuer climbers above them lose their grip and fall down the face of the cliff, catching on to the Garrett's line. Too much weight is pulling their hook out of the crevice, and the father tells Peter to cut the rope, and of course this sends Daddy to his death, but saves the siblings. 3 years later, the brother and sister meet in Pakistan near K2. She is a famous mountain climber, he a photographer for National Geographic. She is their to take a millionaire, played by Bill Paxton up K2 to officially start his new airline. Led by an experienced climber, they get caught in bad weather at 26,000 feet. Then an avalanche hits killing all but three. Peter sets about a rag-tag group of climbers to rescue them. Time is against them and they take nitro-glycerin with them for explosives. Of course, this brings about tense moments on the mountain. If you like people getting blown up, falling from cliffs, and jumping from one mountainside to another, this movie is for you. Definitely not a thinking person's movie. Just sit back and enjoy the action.
Rating:
Summary: It [was not good]! I hated Giving it 1 Star! Too Good For It!
Review: 2 Words!
Don't Bother!
A predictable and boring film! The only saving thing at all is the beautiful cinema-photography!
Other than that, you get villians who are stereotypical-evil guys!
Your star who has self-doubts about a decision he made in the past and involved the death of someone he loved, (Can we say, Cliffhanger? A much better film actually.), and unbelievable (As in foolish!) stunts! The hero jumps off one side of a cliff, drops to the other with two ice axes in his fists and we are supposed to believe he can not only leap that far, but hang on to the axes while they somehow, dig into the sides of the stone cliff! Yeah, right!
I have a problem with Hollywood films that ask us to suspend reality to that extent! I could have gone on, but you get the idea! Stay away!
If you like this film, your mind is very small....
Rating: 
Summary: Thrills and chills overcome absurd story. Style triumphs
Review: Some critics have complained that the storyline in Vertical Limit is silly. I think they miss the point. This is a thriller, pure and simple, and on that level it is excellent. I think it must be quite difficult to make a movie that both pumps up the audience's adrenaline and tells a meaningful story that makes perfect sense. A few years ago I decided that this kind of picture succeeded if the action didn't totally defy logic, if the excitement was sustained and, if the plot was easy to follow. Vertical Limit easily meets these requirements. So what if the story is banal and absurd? So was Twister's. Such films serve the same purpose as thrill rides, and that purpose has nothing to do with education or enlightenment. The movie opens with a terrifying sequence. Peter [Chris O'Donnell] and his sister, Annie [Robin Tunney], are rock climbing with their Dad. Suddenly, some novice climbers above them fall. In the ensuing melee, the father is killed. Annie blames Peter. Four years later, the siblings are still cool towards each other. Peter has given up climbing and become a nature photographer, but Annie has become a professional mountaineer. Peter runs into her in Pakistan where Annie is working for Elliot Vaughn [Bill Paxton], a billionaire who is obsessed with climbing K-2, the highest mountain in the world. The expedition turns into a disaster when an avalanche sweeps Elliot, Annie and another climber into a cave, where they are trapped. Peter assembles a rescue team, which must endure wind, cold, icy precipices and more avalanches. They take along some nitroglycerine, which proves to be unstable and adds even more danger. If they don't hurry, the stranded trio will die, partly because the oxygen is very thin at 26,000 feet. Admittedly, the plot itself gets very thin at times. For example, why would they take nitroglycerin into an area where avalanches are your worst nightmare? Because this is an action-adventure movie, and such fare demands explosions. To me, the plot holes are inconsequential. Like Jaws, Twister, Independence Day and Armageddon, the story is just on outline to build the action on. It occurred to me while watching Vertical Limit that a viewer's involvement in a thriller increases when the subject matter involves things he or she is fearful of. There are three elements in the movie I find the thought of dreadful. Often when I am out in the cold, I wonder what would happen if I couldn't find a warm place. In certain situations, I think there is not enough air to breath. I don't have a fear of heights, but, oddly, I do have a great fear of falling. Vertical Limit takes place in zero degree weather on an icy, slippery mountain, so naturally I found it to be both frightening and fascinating. As thrillers went in the year 2000, this flick was at the top of the heap. Or the mountain.
Rating:
Summary: Worst I have ever seen.
Review: I foolishly turned on the TV in a motel last week and saw part of Vertical Limit. The totally improbable twists of plot invented soleley for the purpose of squeezing in another, and another, and another, and another, impossible cliffhanger suspense buildup, are an insult to real mountain climbers and ridiculous beyond imagination. The characterization is impossibly amateurish, the screen writing unbelievably ridiculous, and even the emotional tensions are so unrelated to reality, that I cannot understand how anyone could have spent good money to film this abortion...I really don't want to know. I am sure the ending is as meaningless and ridiculous as the rest of the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: Wow! Just WOW! This was intense from start to finish. The characters are forced to respond quickly to various life-threatening decisions - then live with the actions they took. One such response tears a pair of siblings apart for many years, until one of them again faces the ultimate danger, and it's up to the brother to attempt to save her. This movie has it all... family bonds and troubles, a cruel manipulative villain, and the dangers of Mother Nature. This is not just a "nature movie" or "mountain climbing" movie, though that is the action from beginning to end of this film... it's a very emotional and action-packed movie, with a variety of characters to upset the balance of any situation. It's tense and bone-chilling to the very end! I highly recommend this!!!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but of course unrealistic
Review: Frankly, this movie is quite entertaining, and while it doesn't bost the greatest acting talent on one hand, and doesn't tax the talent that has on the other, it's a well-shot, well paced adventure with a fairly predictable story-line and outcome.
Of course, there are a multitude of 'issues' with this picture that would make any mounaineer's hair stand up, but as simple entertainment, it's alright. Beautiful scenery shot mostly in New Zealand. By the way there is no such thing as the 'New Zealand Alps'. The one and only 'Alps' are a great mountain system in south central Europe, forming an arc some 1200 km (750 mi) long from the Gulf of Genoa to the Danube River at Vienna.
Rating:
Summary: POS
Review: OK, I'll be nice and start with what I DID like about the movie. The photography was stunning. The pictures of mountains in Pakistan and B.C. were just breathtaking. Thats about it folks, the rest of the movie is just awful. It starts out with a rediculous climbing tragedy in the desert where a family of "experienced" climbers are blundering their way up a huge sandstone pillar of sorts. Not to be too picky, but my little sister could have done a better job making the "cimbing" scenes more realistic. From any actual climber's point of view this movie only exists for comic relief. The tragedy ensues when an "ametuer" group of climbers who were above the family (why they were climbing right underneath anyone is beyond me) falls and knocks the family off the rock. Two of three cams (enough to keep a plane from taking off!) fail somehow (maybe because they were all in the same tiny crack, haha) and the son must sacrifice his dad for the lives of himself and his sister. How corny is that? The movie continues through poorly planned and laughable circumstances, and somehow powerful explosives get involved (how cool is that!). In the end, four rescuers die to rescue one stupid girl. Two fatty thumbs down! Lousy, but funny!!
Rating:
Summary: Cliffhanger - Without The Blatant Violence!
Review: This is a great movie, good storyline, with spectacular mountain scenery. The movie was shot in the alps of New Zealand. (Good to see other parts of the world - other than the United States - being showcased!) The plot is quite predicatble, with a multi-millionaire setting out on this quest to conquer K2. There is also a rift between a brother and sister, which is explained in the opening sequence of the movie. This rift needs to be closed up by the close of the movie, and is. The leading rescue guide also has a personal score to settle, with the millionaire who finds himself in trouble! And so the story goes..... This movie is definitely worth seeing. It is action packed, without the gore and violence so prevalent in today's movie scene. The extras on the DVD, including the makings, and some reference material on mountain climbing above the vertical limit, is brilliant, and makes for great viewing. Whilst my wife and I do not have thousands of DVD's, this one is the most requested when we ask people what they want to watch. Consequently, we have seen it about 9 times! I still enjoy it, even although I can almost quote it word for word. A great flick!
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