The original Cliffhanger was released in 1993. It starred Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner and Rex Linn. I don’t want to call it a classic, but it was a fun summer blockbuster.
It was directed by Renny Harlin and ticked all the boxes for an action movie; main hero with a past, a good villain, suspense, Craig Fairbrass. On a revisit recently, it’s far from perfect, but it’s good fun.
Since it’s from 1993, the last decade, it needs an update. Good news, principle photography has started on a Cliffhanger reboot. There are a couple of images online from the new shoot. It’s taking place in Austria’s Dolomites.
The first thing you’ll notice to the main cast member. This reboot of Cliffhanger stars Lily James and Pierce Brosnan. The story is:
“In this reboot of Cliffhanger, seasoned mountaineer Ray Cooper (Pierce Brosnan) and his daughter Sydney run a mountain chalet in the Dolomites. During a weekend trip with a billionaire’s son, they are targeted by a gang of kidnappers. Ray’s older daughter Naomi (Lily James), still haunted by a past climbing accident, witnesses the attack and escapes. To save her family, she must confront her fears and fight for survival in the Italian Dolomites.”
(Sigh) That sounds like ‘girl boss saves the day’. Pointing out the obvious, but Brosnan is getting older, so I can’t see him doing much of the action. At least they don’t have a cliché like the main protagonist has a history that’s going to…oh, wait.
OK, so I’m being pretty negative here, hopefully they have a good director. You know how Liam Neeson has been churning out generic action movies of late? Well, a lot of them have been directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Collect-Serra did not do Taken, but he did do Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night and The Commander. He is also known for Jungle Cruise and Black Adam. He is the new director of this Cliffhanger reboot.
I know I should just report this and not put in my opinion, but it looks like Cliffhanger is DOA. Fiver says I’m wrong though and it makes over a billion at the box office, spawning sequel after sequel.
