Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger is a nail-biting action film set in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. The film's opening, which is crudely parodied in "Ace Ventura - When Nature Calls", shows the cause of the trauma of the hero, mountain rescuer Gabe Walker. During a rescue operation Gabe fails to save his colleague Hal's girlfriend from death. Reproaches from himself and Hal make Gabe run away, only to return to take his girlfriend Jessie with him. Jessie, however, will not be persuaded, and instead Gabe gets mixed up in a dramatic rescue situation in which the people in distress turn out to be a gang of robbers whose sophisticated mid-air heist has gone wrong. The money, divided among 3 cases, now lies scattered on high, inaccessible mountain peaks. Qualen, the villains' ruthless leader, puts Gabe and Hal to work retrieving the money. Gabe, however, manages to slip away along the way with the intention of getting hold of the cases before the villains do.

The entire action takes place on the steep cliffs, which presents a considerable challenge to the film's stuntmen, a task they accomplish splendidly. Cliffhanger is in danger of becoming monotonous, but fortunately the film keeps its length under 2 hours. A little too much blood and violence for my taste, but at least you are left in no doubt that the villains are vicious murderers.