What did you think of "Vertical Limit"?   Good. See it on the big screen. 76% 673   Bad - don't see it. 15% 129   Wait to rent it 9% 79 Total Votes   881

Grade: B-

Verdict: For extreme movie-goers.

Details: Starring Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney and Bill Paxton. Rated PG-13 for language and life-threatening situations. Two hours, 2 minutes.

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Review: If you are A) afraid of heights or B) claustrophobic, you don't want to go anywhere near “Vertical Limit.”

Sort of “Cliffhanger” meets “The Wages of Fear,” this high-altitude thriller has its ups and downs — both literally and dramatically. The opening scene alone is enough to leave you breathless. Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell) and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney) are climbing a sheer rock face with their dad (Stuart Wilson) when something goes wrong. The three are left dangling from a very high place on a very thin rope. At this point — and we're only about five minutes into the picture — acrophobes will probably be under their seats.

Cut to three years later. Peter, now a professional nature photographer, has decided he'd rather shoot mountains than climb them. But Annie has stuck with it and become one of the world's top female climbers.

Somehow they both end up in the same corner of the Himalayas. Annie's there at the behest of an arrogant billionaire (Bill Paxton) who wants to climb K2, the second highest peak in the world. He's not just in it for the thrills; the assault is part of a publicity stunt to launch his new airline. Naturally, disaster strikes. Annie, the skanky entrepreneur and their injured expedition leader (Nicholas Lea) are trapped in an icy cavern at 26,000 feet. If they're not rescued in 36 hours, they'll die.

Peter heroically mounts a rescue mission. Among his recruits: a French-Canadian nurse (Izabella Scorupco) who happens to look like a supermodel; a stalwart Pakistani (Alexander Siddig); two stoner Aussie brothers (Ben Mendelsohn and Steve Le Marquand); and Scott Glenn looking like the Old Man of the Mountain.

And as if the avalanches, bad weather and 36 hour deadline aren't enough, they're all carrying cannisters of highly explosive nitroglycerin. Director Martin Campbell (“The Mark of Zorro”) certainly knows his way around heart-pounding action scenes. It seems like someone is always dangling from somewhere on one of those tiny little ropes. But it's almost as if Campbell felt like he had to make up for the undernourished script and cliched characters. He puts us in one life-threatening situation after another after another. It's like being on a roller coaster that's all huge drops and whiplash turns.

Still, action is what this movie does best. Just remember, you may reach your limit long before “Vertical Limit” does.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Cox News Service

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