Vertical Limit

There are very few mountain climbing movies out there that fall into the action film category, and the few that there are pretty decent to watch. Martin Campbell, who gave us The Mask of Zorro and Goldeneye, so he knows how to film high action sequences, directed this one. Although here there is more suspense then action, but at times its so gripping that your left on the edge of your seat with baited breath. With a cast that includes Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton and Scott Glenn, you're given a movie that doesn't shortchange you on substance.
A young climber must put together a rescue effort up K-2, the world's second highest peak, to save his sister and her team before they die from exposure to the elements. The action sequences throughout the film are well placed and very well choreographed, there are times, and camera shots, that will easily bring on vertigo from the images of the heights that they get to. Some of the scenes are just breathtaking, being that close to the top of the world and being in mortal danger you can truly see and feel the loneliness and futility of the situations.
When this first came out it was suppose to be a action vehicle for O'Donnell's career, but because of the way it was shot, and the way the story is laid out, you never knew who was actually the star of the film besides the mountain. This would be a fun movie to watch in the middle of summer with the temperature around 90; it would be nice to see the snow and ice, you'd at least get the feeling of being cooled off.