Barnes & Noble

When you’re climbing the world’s most dangerous mountain, attempting to reach the Vertical Limit, those goosebumps you feel aren’t just due to the cold. That’s the lesson learned by thrill-seeking tycoon Bill Paxton, who hires young but experienced climber Robin Tunney to guide his party to the nearly unreachable, snow-packed summit of "K2." Paxton’s recklessness first endangers and eventually strands the group, forcing Tunney’s brother, Chris O’Donnell, and grizzled mountain man Scott Glenn to attempt a perilous rescue. The characters in this picturesque, gripping adventure are easily recognizable types, but director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro) elicits nuanced performances which make them seem relatively fresh. Glenn rates kudos for his clever underplaying of the taciturn veteran whose participation in the rescue mission conceals a secret agenda, and Paxton shows range as the initially personable industrialist who gradually succumbs to base instincts after being trapped in an icy crevasse. Breathtaking locations, nimble camerawork, and daredevil stuntwork combine to make Vertical Limit an enormously satisfying action flick. The DVD features commentaries by Campbell and co-producer Lloyd Philips, along with an HBO First Look featurette, production notes, and a look at similar search-and-rescue operations. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Family differences and personal grudges add drama to an already tense situation as the lives of a team of mountain climbers hang in the balance in this action drama. Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell) and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney) are the children of Royce Garrett (Stuart Wilson), an avid outdoorsman and climbing enthusiast who died when an accident left all three hanging from a single rope; Royce ordered Peter to cut him loose to save the lives of his kids, even though he knew it would mean his death. Years later, Peter has given up climbing and become a respected nature photographer, while Annie, who holds Peter responsible for her father's death, is a famous world-class mountain climber who is hired by Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton), a self-made billionaire, to help him scale K2, a mountain in the Himalayas that's the second-highest peak in the world. In the midst of the climb, dangerous weather strikes, and Elliot, Annie, and their crew find themselves trapped in a cavern that's been sealed tight by an avalanche. Peter, who is near K2 working on an assignment, quickly organizes a crew of expert climbers to save Annie and the other mountaineers, who must work under a tight deadline before the trapped climbers run out of air. Peter's partners in the rescue include beautiful medic Monique (Izabella Scorupco), radical climbers Cyril (Steve Le Marquand) and Malcolm (Ben Mendelsohn), disciplined Pakistani crewman Kareem (Alexander Siddig), and Montgomery (Scott Glenn), an eccentric outdoorsman who has a score to settle with Elliot. While backgrounds were shot on location in Pakistan, most of the climbing sequences in Vertical Limit were actually filmed on mountain ranges in New Zealand. Mark Deming

Washington Post

Possibly the most suspense-charged mountain-climbing movie ever made. Desson Howe

Product Details

• UPC: 043396050662
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Français
• Time: 2:04:00
• Sales Rank: 15,012

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Vertical Limit /into Thin Air / Cliffhanger

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