# Cliffhanger (1993 film)
**Cliffhanger** is a 1993 American action film directed by [Renny Harlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/renny-harlin) and starring [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone) and [John Lithgow](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-lithgow), in which a mountain rescue climber becomes embroiled in the failed midair heist of a U.S. Treasury plane flying through the Rocky Mountains.[1](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/) Released by TriStar Pictures on May 28, 1993, it earned more than $250 million worldwide and received three Academy Award nominations.[1](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger) • [3](https://www.desktodirtbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Climbing-Movies-Guide.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 28, 1993 (theatrical), TriStar Pictures; rated R for violence and language[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html) |
| Director and writers | Renny Harlin; screenplay by Michael France and Sylvester Stallone, screen story by Michael France based on a premise by John Long[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html) |
| Principal cast | Sylvester Stallone (Gabe Walker), John Lithgow (Eric Qualen), Michael Rooker (Hal Tucker), Janine Turner (Jessie Deighan)[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cliffhanger-1993) |
| Filming | April 11 to August 19, 1992, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and Durango and the Rocky Mountains, Colorado[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106582/locations/) |
| Box office | More than $250 million worldwide; $80.5 million in the United States[1](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger) |
| Awards | Three Academy Award nominations: Best Sound, Visual Effects, and Sound Effects Editing[3](https://www.desktodirtbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Climbing-Movies-Guide.pdf) |
| Production companies | Carolco Pictures, Le Studio Canal+, Pioneer, in association with RCS Video[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The film opens with a rescue that fails. Gabe Walker (Stallone), a climber with the Rocky Mountain Rescue team, goes out on a steel cable to save Sarah, the girlfriend of his friend and fellow ranger Hal Tucker (Rooker), after her harness breaks on a narrow peak. He grips her arm, but she slips from his hold and falls 4,000 feet to her death.[1](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/) • [7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59493-CLIFFHANGER?cxt=filmography) Gabe quits the team and leaves the mountains, returning eight months later.[1](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/)
A distress call then draws Gabe and Hal back to the same peak to help what appear to be stranded climbers. They are in fact the survivors of a midair hijacking: a gang led by the international terrorist Eric Qualen (Lithgow) has lost $100 million taken from a Treasury Department jet when their plane crash-landed in the Rockies, and they intend to recover the scattered cases with the two mountaineers held at gunpoint. Gabe escapes, and the rest of the film is a cat-and-mouse battle across the snowy peaks.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/05/28/movies/70ea8f76-ccca-462b-aea8-d440980c0491/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger)
## Production
[Carolco Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/carolco-pictures) acquired the screenplay from [TriStar Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/tristar-pictures) script reader Michael France, who was writing under the pseudonym "Jay Garrick," in an announcement dated September 10, 1991.[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59493-CLIFFHANGER?cxt=filmography) Stallone later rewrote France's original script and shares the screenplay credit.[9](https://www.deseret.com/1993/6/3/20087284/film-review-cliffhanger/) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html)
**Locations.** [Photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/photography) took place in [Cortina d'Ampezzo](https://www.edgepedia.org/cortina-dampezzo) in the Italian Dolomites from April 11 to June 2, 1992, with the crew then moving to Cinecitta Studios in Rome until filming was completed on August 19, 1992; the hijack and aerial photography were shot in Durango and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59493-CLIFFHANGER?cxt=filmography) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106582/locations/) The Italian Alps doubled for Colorado, and director Harlin said he found them prettier than the Rockies.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html) • [8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/05/28/movies/70ea8f76-ccca-462b-aea8-d440980c0491/) The Denver Mint premises were recreated at a site in Rome.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106582/locations/)
**Production problems.** Shooting was delayed by several incidents that caused budget overruns of several million dollars. In July 1992 Stallone lacerated his hand performing a helicopter-climbing stunt; after stitches he quickly returned to work, but the wound became infected and the schedule was rearranged to shoot scenes without him. In early August 1992 five gunmen stole $180,000 from the film's Cinecitta production office, a figure a trade paper the same day estimated at $250,000. Equipment was also lost when it slid down the Cortina mountainside, and in October 1992 a fire broke out at Boss Films in Venice, California, during production of the final visual effects sequence, which featured a model helicopter exploding into a mock foam cliff.[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59493-CLIFFHANGER?cxt=filmography)
**Stunts and effects.** Reviewers singled out the practical work: Roger Ebert, the longtime [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic, wrote that many of the most hazardous stunts were obviously not faked, and that the stunt performer who makes the mid-air transfer between two planes deserved a gold medal.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cliffhanger-1993) Climbers interviewed by the Los Angeles Times judged many of the mountain scenes impressively real even though the surrounding plot was, in their view, absurd.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-02-ca-42466-story.html) The end credits acknowledge that the Black Diamond harness used in the film was altered to create the accident depicted.[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59493-CLIFFHANGER?cxt=filmography)
## Release and reception
The film was screened at the 1993 Festival de Cannes in the Special Screenings section.[11](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cliffhanger/) It opened in the United States on May 28, 1993, and earned $20.4 million during the [Memorial Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/memorial-day) weekend.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger) • [12](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59493?mobile-app=true&theme=falseCampfire) It went on to gross $80.5 million domestically and more than $250 million worldwide.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger) • [1](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/)
Critical response was divided between the action and the story. Ebert gave the film a positive review, writing that while there was not a moment in the plot he could believe, the movie delivers what it promises as a machine for thrilling audiences.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cliffhanger-1993) Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called the stunts state of the art but found the dramatic texture undernourished, and argued the extended beatings deserved an NC-17 rather than the R the film received.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 67% Tomatometer from 57 reviews and a 53% audience score.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger) It received three Academy Award nominations, for Best Sound, Visual Effects, and Sound Effects Editing.[3](https://www.desktodirtbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Climbing-Movies-Guide.pdf)
In the United Kingdom the cinema version was cut to 111 minutes 30 seconds to receive a certificate, and the 2008 home entertainment release passed with all previous cuts waived.[13](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/cliffhanger-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yotixmdm)
## Legacy and remake
In 1994 TriStar announced a sequel, *Cliffhanger 2: The Dam*, with Stallone returning as Gabe Walker against terrorists who seize the [Hoover Dam](https://www.edgepedia.org/hoover-dam); the project stayed in development until 2008, was revived with Stallone, and was dropped again. A remake announced in 2009, centered on a group of young climbers and scheduled to film in 2010, never moved ahead.[14](https://as.com/meristation/cine/pierce-brosnan-sera-la-damisela-en-apuros-en-este-reboot-de-un-clasico-de-sylvester-stallone-n/)
The property was eventually reworked as a reboot without Stallone. Directed by [Jaume Collet-Serra](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaume-collet-serra), it stars [Pierce Brosnan](https://www.edgepedia.org/pierce-brosnan) as an expert mountaineer running a luxury chalet in the [Dolomites](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolomites) with his daughter, and Lily James; filming began in Austria on October 31, 2024.[14](https://as.com/meristation/cine/pierce-brosnan-sera-la-damisela-en-apuros-en-este-reboot-de-un-clasico-de-sylvester-stallone-n/)
## References
1. [Cliffhanger (1993), Sylvester Stallone official site](https://sylvesterstallone.com/film-tv/cliffhanger/)
2. [Cliffhanger, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1044214-cliffhanger)
3. [Mountaineering and Climbing Movies Guide](https://www.desktodirtbag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Climbing-Movies-Guide.pdf)
4. [Kenneth Turan, "Not Much Plot to Hang Onto," Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1993](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-28-ca-40628-story.html)
5. [Roger Ebert, "Cliffhanger," May 28, 1993](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cliffhanger-1993)
6. [Cliffhanger (1993) Filming & Production, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106582/locations/)
7. [Cliffhanger (1993), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/59493-CLIFFHANGER?cxt=filmography)
8. [Rita Kempley, "'Cliffhanger': Sly Stallone Needs Alp," The Washington Post, May 27, 1993](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/05/28/movies/70ea8f76-ccca-462b-aea8-d440980c0491/)
9. [Chris Hicks, "Film review: Cliffhanger," Deseret News, June 3, 1993](https://www.deseret.com/1993/6/3/20087284/film-review-cliffhanger/)
10. ["Making a Movie Out of a Mountain," Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1993](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-02-ca-42466-story.html)
11. [CLIFFHANGER, Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/cliffhanger/)
12. [Cliffhanger, AFI Catalog (box office history)](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59493?mobile-app=true&theme=falseCampfire)
13. [Cliffhanger, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/cliffhanger-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0yotixmdm)
14. [Pierce Brosnan cast in the Cliffhanger reboot, AS MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/cine/pierce-brosnan-sera-la-damisela-en-apuros-en-este-reboot-de-un-clasico-de-sylvester-stallone-n/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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