Synopsis: Eric Qualen (John Lithgow) is an International terrorist. Everything he does, he does in a big way. Today's heist is no different. $300 million dollars in $1,000 dollar bills is an incredible amount of money, especially if you can get it for free…well kinda free! Qualen's plan is to hijack a shipment of out-of-circulation currency in midair no less! The Federal transport carrying the money is unaware of his plans until it's far too late to do anything to stop this hostile takeover! However, the best-laid plans can always go awry. For a man who does things in a big way, the mistakes that accompany those plans have to be huge as well. In an unexpected turn of events, the cases containing the money are lost over a treacherous mountain range. While they are equipped with tracking devices, getting to them will be an enormous difficulty. Add to that the jet, they are flying in, loses power & crashes in the area of the same range. What's one to do in an instance like this? Call Rocky Mountain Rescue of course! Enter our heroes, Gabe Walker (Sly Stallone) has given up mountain rescue after he failed to save his best friend's(Michael Rooker) girlfriend from an horrific 4,000-foot plummet to her death. He's returned to gather his belongings & his girlfriend when the distress call is received by dispatch. Unwilling to allow his friend to scale these heights alone, Gabe goes to his unwelcome assist. Once they arrive on site, the reality of their situation sets in. Instead of helping wounded crash victims, they are now guides, enlisted at gunpoint to "fetch" the missing cases. In true Rocky…ahem, I mean Gabe style, Stallone exerts Herculean strength & resolve in combating Qualen & his band of not quite merry men! Action, adventure & suspense are on order with Renny Harlin's Cliffhanger!

Audio:

The newly remastered 5.1 digital platform used on the Cliffhanger SE is pretty intense. The actions scenes provide an incredible surround presence. The surrounds are "alive" throughout the presentation primarily due to the wind effect used to create the illusion of height. Additionally, there is sufficient small arms fire, explosions & soundtrack nuances to keep the viewer in the center of the playback. The center channel is crisp, with clean dialogue unencumbered with audio effects. Additionally, Stallone & Harlin provide a Director's commentary. In the one commentary I've heard with Harlin (Deep Blue Sea) I was left shall we say, non-plussed. That's not a reflection on his commenting abilities but, with Samuel L. Jackson providing additional commentary, everyone else would be upstaged IMHO. In any event the commentary on Cliffhanger Special Edition is done very well. Stallone's insights coupled with Harlin's background info & reflections is actually full of all kinds of behind the scenes info, special effects problems that were subsequently surmounted or abandoned & the difficulties they experienced filming at such heights (I.E.No Air!) Where Harlin & Stallone gave great insights & at times slightly comedic commentary, the Technical Crew picked up the slack & went deep into the creative talents used to establish the visual feats presented in Cliffhanger. Of special note, they talked at length regarding the creative techniques used to create the illusion of even greater heights than the crew worked at. Most notably, the camera angles used came from the bottom up to provide the sense of scale needed to pull the film off. In all, both commentaries are a good listen & provide rather entertaining/technical insights for Cliffhanger.

Video:

The anamorphic transfer of the film is nice but it does have far too many glitches in the way of flecks, & scratches for my taste.(visible only in the darkest of scenes) Understandably, it's an older film & it was not maintained as well as it could have been. The colors are for the most part rich & vibrant. The flesh tones however range from true to peaked. I am as a whole pleased with the video presentation but there are a few bits & pieces that I think could have been tweaked to make it an awesome rather than satisfactory video presentation.

Extras:

The Cliffhanger SE has some really great features. Firstly, the menus are very nicely animated & add another really nice element to a very nicely produced disc. Now onto the real meat of the SE: Deleted Scenes

There is one deleted scene involving a ridiculously long jump by Stallone onto a rock face that appears to be at least 2-300 feet away. Renny decided to cut the scene because it looked way too fake & boy was he right! It really looks as though Stallone is being propelled by a force not his own in his "Herculean" leap across the canyon. Each deleted scene is given great treatment by Renny as he gives an intro to the scene & then provides the audio commentary to explain why it was edited.

Special Effects : How it was done

This is a really cool segment in which three special effects shots are broken down & explained. The shots in particular are : The opening sequence with Sarah's fall which was done with blue screen with the camera being pulled above the actress & a dummy falling 4,000 feet to it's "death". The helicopter crash at the end of the film is reproduced here. The models used for the crash are shown in mid-assembly as well as in flight & definitely in the crash sequence. One of the cooler portions of the segment. Lastly, the mountain sequences are dissected. Identifying both stuntmen & the actual actors doing the stunts. Some of this info is revisited in the technical commentary but it's nice to see it in action as well.

Storyboard comparisons

Renny intro's each storyboarded segment coupled with the actual filmed scene. As extras go, this is my least favorite segment. While the storyboards are interesting in seeing the director's vision VS. the finished product, they really don't hold too much interest for me. However, if Storyboards are your thing, then this is your segment.

Photo Galleries

Publicity stills shot for the film are reproduced here. In both B&W as well as color. Some really nice shots.

Theatrical Trailer

In pretty poor shape, the trailer is given a lead in by Renny identifying the music selected for the trailer & the overall feel he was attempting to convey. It's a long trailer that boasts a classical score for a Stallone movie…definitely a first!

Making of featurette: Stallone on the edge

Filmed while on location for Judge Dread, Stallone, Harlin & the technical crew show in slight detail, setting up of scenes, special effects shots, & the enormous amount of time it took to pull this feature off. It's 30 minutes in length & does a great job summarizing the behind-the-scenes elements of Cliffhanger. The only drawback(very minor)is Stallone's awful attempts at humor! I think he could probably be funny if he just didn't try so hard to be funny. Bad…very bad!

Overall:

I have waited for the reissue of this for a long time. While it is absolutely a popcorn movie, it does have its moments! Lithgow is unintentionally very funny! His attempts at menace are fraught with an incredible degree of overacting! & where is his accent from anyway? That having been said, Cliffhanger is a fun movie to watch on a Saturday night! Invite some friends over & serve them this triple helping of action humor & adventure! All jokes aside, Cliffhanger is an entirely enjoyable romp through the genre!