I’ve had this on my watchlist since I saw it in blockbuster many years back and just didn’t get around to watching till now. RIP blockbuster. Well the film didn’t let me down, the rope was strong on this one and it was fun to watch and tense at times and definitely had me climbing with the great cast, action, picture and script. RIP Bill Paxton, he’ll live in his films.

Snow Covered Film Review With winter winding down I have been celebrating the last of a very long winter with some snow movies - Winter in Wartime, Alaska, and Vertical Limit. This film, like Alaska, I had watched when it first came out but didn’t really remember much of it, so I watched it again in a high def on my big screen and that of course makes a big difference when you are watching all the breathtaking scenery of mountain climbers battling the elements! This is a really exciting action film, and so far t I think has stood the test of time (it is now 13 years old!) Sure it is not perfect, I am sure it is full of inaccuracies and some of the effects at the begging were giveaway. But I like that at the heart of it is a brother stopping at nothing and putting himself in harms way to constantly save his sister. 7/10 (Good) Breakaway Daily http://breakawaydaily.com

It was a fun little foray into adventure/survival movies but like others have pointed out, there was very little character development so it was hard to buy into any of them. Additionally - and this is a big turnoff for me - the whole concept of what they were doing was just preposterous. I mean, I understand the DESIRE and the absolute DESPAIR and yes, I think in a similar situation, I probably would have attempted the rescue like they did here in the movie. But there comes a time when the elements win; that's all there is to it. And with everything that had transpired, the lack of time, the myriad of obstacles they faced, the setbacks, eventually nature claims its victims. It's a harsh reality but eventually, every one of these climbers would have succumbed to the harshness of the environment...if not the stupidity of the nitroglycerine. Whose brilliant idea was THAT? If you can unplug your brain for a couple hours and just enjoy a complete fallacy, this is watchable. Just be advised going in, it's too far-fetched to be an ounce of believable. Nonetheless, it was an okay film.

There was a surprising lack of suspense due to the filmmaker not building to dramatic events. This happened in a few different spots in the movie, including the conclusion, and it really threw the film noticeably off kilter.

Chris O'Donnell is stiff with no charisma in this film. Bill Paxton was criminally underutilized in his role. There was an overall lack of character development for most of the crew. The CGI does not hold up great. Luckily, the explosions are real, the avalanche scenes feel intense, and I'm a sucker for snowy mountainous landscapes. I wish this was campier.