cliffhanger remake

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Messages 21 - 40 of total 45 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Anastasia

Mountain climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:20am PT
Will they use the same bolt grappling thing ming jig gun? I love that! I want to walk around Yosemite with it, proudly show it off at the bridge.

healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:28am PT
Hopefully we have evolved to glue-on splat guns by now - and genetically modded and unbreakable spider silk ropes (still waiting for that one myself)...
Fluoride

Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:38am PT
I still love that he's placing bolts in the rock with his handy gun but he has no draws or ROPE to clip into them with. It's so random. What's the bolt for if you're freesoloing?

Then again this whole movie was one giant "WTF" after another.

healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:43am PT
As I understand it, the rigging crew on both CH and VL did attempt to chime in with more realistic suggestions and scenarios - particularly on VL after the CH experience - and were totally shutdown both times.
Anastasia

Mountain climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:53am PT
What!? It wasn't real?
Mojomonkey

climber
Philadelphia, PA
Dec 30, 2009 - 09:08am PT
Cliffhanger is awesome! And it's the only way you can really appreciate the scene in Ace Ventura, Pet Detective when the raccoon's harness comes undone and Ace (Jim Carrey) can't save him.

That poor raccoon.
TwistedCrank

climber
Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom
Dec 30, 2009 - 10:57am PT
"Congo," which I might add would round out a great double feature of shlock

Add "Basic Instinct" or "Show Girls" and you've got a triple feature for the ages
JoeSimo

Trad climber
New York
Dec 30, 2009 - 11:33am PT
Hollywood has just run out of ideas period. As evidence by the trailer for this "masterpiece"
http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/frozen/

Not sure whats worse a cliffhanger remake or a movie about people stuck on a chairlift with wolves underneath them.
TwistedCrank

climber
Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom
Dec 30, 2009 - 11:54am PT
In Idaho we hunt wolves for sport and besides, it's the American thing to do. Most snowboarders I know carry a piece - it's a gang thing.

That just shows how hokey the premise is behind "Frozen"

Next.
Chief

climber
Dec 30, 2009 - 12:23pm PT
K2, Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit were definitely dismal attempts at realistic portrayals of climbing or decent screenplays. I worked on all three and these pictures indulge in the usual cliches and misconceptions about technical mountaineering and to the educated, are quite laughable. The same could be said for much of the fodder the film industry churns out to distract the masses from their bleak lives.

Here's another perspective on Cliffhanger. In early 92, a group of some of the worlds best climbers were flown First Class to Milan and on to Cortina D'Ampezzo in the heart of Italy's Dolomites to rig and climb for for a living. The lobby of the Hotel Alaska was quite a sight at breakfast time.
Mike Weis led a crew that included The Bird, Dave Scultz, Brooke Sandahl, Earl Wiggens and Barry Blanchard to name a few. Wolfgang and Ron were doubling the actors and The Kloeberdanz Kid was running a brownie for 2nd Unit. Imagine these guys swaggering around, festooned in full regalia, bristling with radios and crap, waiting for Weis to lead them off to the waiting Hueys for another day at the office. I was agog at the spectacle.

A bunch of us, myself included, had never been to Europe much less been put up in a three star hotel. We were handsomely remunerated, had pockets full of per diem, flew our girlfriends over and had an awesome adventure that lasted four months. There were debacles, near misses, new romances (and some trashed ones), great restaurants and as the weather got better, Sunday cragging.

For most of us, Cliffhanger was our version of the airplane we just missed that spring in Yosemite. It was a windfall most climbers can only dream of. Cliffhanger started careers, paid off mortgages, bought houses, funded a bunch of climbing trips, caused divorces, started lasting love affairs and friendships and left me with fond memories of one of the best times I've ever had.

Perry

ps. Rigging the racoon spoof for the Pet Detective was the ultimate capper to Cliffhanger. Total mirth and mayhem.
JoeSimo

Trad climber
New York
Dec 30, 2009 - 12:41pm PT
As much as I make fun of Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit I always find myself watching them whenever I come across it on tv. I watched cliffhanger a few days ago on FX. They are just so bad they are good. Plus the scenery is awesome.
Fluoride

Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
Dec 30, 2009 - 12:45pm PT
Chief - who was Stallone's stunt double for the opening scene where he's soloing that roof on the tower?

Also, who were the stunt doubles on the Tyrolean, any of you guys? Did they really rig one that high up...since it was pre-CGI time?

Oh man, now we've got an insider's view of Cliffhanger! This could be fun.

I know Renny Harlin was an amazing hack of a director but had a lot of clout back then. Were a lot of the stupid things like the "bolt gun" his idea?
Chief

climber
Dec 30, 2009 - 12:58pm PT
I'm pretty sure Wolgang did that roof scene as he did most of the climbing doubling for Sly. I recall one of the challenges Ron and Wolgang faced was having to bulk up for their characters. As most people know, shortly after Cliffhanger was finished, Wolfgang was tragically killed after falling asleep at the wheel of his car. He was one of the most gracious people I ever knew.

Gia rode the wire for the big fall scene and I recall we dropped her about 400'. That was filmed practically and plate shots were taken to the stage for tighter principal coverage. CG work was in it's infancy and there were some cumbersome motion control rigs, pretty obvious matte work in the BG and some wire removal. Apparently a lot of the work on stage in Rome (I wasn't there) utilized rear projection onto mirrors for background scenery.

I don't know who came up with the bolt gun idea. Most of us couldn't read a call sheet, much less a script and didn't really care.

Renny Harlin was a bit of a wildman and a fun director. Weis, Schultz and I worked for him on Cutthroat Island (biggest box office loss ever?) and Long Kiss Good Night and we were treated well.
Josh Nash

Social climber
riverbank ca
Dec 30, 2009 - 01:05pm PT
no I'm really jonesing to see this movie again. I was 13 when I first saw it and it sorta planted a seed. I remeber sitting there thinking how much I would love to climb one day. 15 years later I got around to it.
Fletcher

Trad climber
The beckoning silence
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:21pm PT
Those are some great tales, Chief! Thanks... it was a good thing and more for those involved.

Since when do the majority of Hollywood movies reflect reality as we know it in the mundane sense? Do people go to romantic comedies because that's what their lives are really like? Or is it just some fun escapism and fantasy? I suspect action adventures with climbing in them are much the same. Reality is not as important because it's not often very entertaining (for the audiences they are targeted to). And it's those audiences who paid the bills so our climbing pals could have had such a fun and at least momentarily lucrative time of it!

Anyhow, when you are watching Cliffhanger with your mother-in-law or Uncle Ned from Iowa, isn't it more fun when they think you use bolt guns too? :-)

Eric
Tom

Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
Dec 30, 2009 - 03:51pm PT
Vertical Limit is my favorite Three Stooges episode.
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
Dec 30, 2009 - 04:06pm PT
K-2 is my all time favorite, the dialogue between the two actors, the whole "killer mountain" stuff was a hoot!
The opening scene, rock climbing and (if my memory serves me correctly) they top out on some mtn? so funny, ... totally unrealistic....

loved the whole totally hokeyness of it all!
Fletcher

Trad climber
The beckoning silence
Dec 30, 2009 - 05:05pm PT
I think I own most of these movies here. I should have a "bad climbing movie" film festival someday. I keep buying them from Chessler mostly, so it's for a good outfit. If I do, I better provide a lot of booze to anesthetize the guests to the ridiculousness.

Vertical Limit is especially absurd amongst the absurd. But I remember Scott Glenn hamming it up pretty nicely as a Bridwell-esque character.

And Ed Viesturs small bit part is good reason why most climbers should be behind the scenes doing rigging stunts, etc. ;-) Timmy O'Neill excepted, of course. That guy's gonna get an Oscar some day!

Eric
Fletcher

Trad climber
not very much, recently.
Apr 21, 2010 - 04:30pm PT
Time to revive this thread:

Everything you ever needed to know about Vertical Limit in a couple of minutes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3LIwdKCQEE

Eric
Roxy

Trad climber
CA Central Coast
Apr 21, 2010 - 04:34pm PT
as long as they don't bring the "bolt gun" back...as Hollywood cool as that was.
Messages 21 - 40 of total 45 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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