Cliffhanger

 


 

A. The title


A CLIFFHANGER (literally "Hanging or suspended from a cliff") is a term borrowed from 1940's and 1950's cinema, when before the feature film they used to screen a half-hour series episode, such as "Buck Rogers", "Flash Gordon", "Tarzan" etc', ending at the most suspense-filled moment, where the hero was left "hanging by a thread" in some dangerous situation, and the viewers were kept in suspense until the next episode, in which they would have found out whether the hero survived (most likely he did).

B. Unbelievable Action Scenes

The man is running around the mountains in the snow and the frost in a T shirt for almost the entire Movie and he does not freeze; He falls into the water under the ice, the water freezes over him instantly (so much so that he can't get out), but he does make it out of there; He survives falls that wouldn't leave a single bone unbroken in the body of a normal person, yet he gets up and keeps on running as if nothing happened. Bruce Willis goes through the same agonizing escapades in the Die Hard Movies, and because he is not a physical type (unlike Stallone or even Schwarzenegger), he comes off a lot more believable, although he doesn't exactly collapse from loss of blood like any normal person after cutting his foot.


C. Janine Turner

In "Northern Exposure", there were sparks flying between her and Rob Morrow (Dr. Fleischmann) even though until the very last moment she couldn't make up her mind whether she loves him or hates him. The chemistry between them, whether positive or negative, was there. In this movie, there is no chemistry, even though they are supposed to be in love, and there are no sparks. It is not clear whether the fault lies with the actors or the director.

D. Other Actors

Hardly worth mentioning, except for John Lithgow ("The World According to Garp", "Harry and the Hendersons", "3rd rock from the Sun") who is excellent as the head of a gang of bloodthirsty murderers.

E. The stunts and all the rest

The flying stunts are complicated and complex, special photography effects and the spectacular scenery of the Grand Canyon area make this Movie for those who don't mind the other things.