Alejandro Valdes-Rochin, Alexander Siddig, Augie Davis

A climber must rescue his sister on top of K2, one of the world's biggest mountains.

Flixster Users

46% liked it

54,634 ratings

Critics

47% liked it

107 critics

PG-13, 124 min.

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Release Date: December 8, 2000

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DVD Release Date: May 22, 2001

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Stats: 1,504 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,504)


  • November 11, 2009
    Chris has to overcome his fears and do a daring rescue in this survival movie. Good story.
  • September 25, 2009
    A ok action film in snow. Bill Paxton can?t act but it never seems to matter!
  • January 16, 2009
    A rather bland thriller that relies way too much on coincidence.
    It's surprisingly well crafted, and the acting isn't too bad. But then the story elements feel cheesy and stupid. It's never a good sign when a movie has nitroglycerin in its plot, cuz you know that nitro is goi...( read more)ng to explode when the plot requires it to. The rest of the story feels hammy and stupid. Why couldn't they have made this a simple rescue movie? That would have been way more entertaining.
  • January 1, 2009
    Great thriller. Shares a director and action style with Bond, but the characters are far from him, so the suspense is intensified.
  • October 6, 2008
    Montgomery Wick: "Peter, do you know where you are? Above 24,000, you're at the vertical limit, you're already dying. Look at you. You can hardly stand. If you think you can stop me, go ahead."

    A high-adrenaline tale of young climber Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell), who m...( read more)ust launch a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K2, the world's second highest peak. Confronting both his own limitations and the awesome power of nature's uncontrollable elements, Peter risks his life to save his sister, Annie (Robin Tunney), and her summit team (Bill Paxton and Nicholas Lea) in a race against time. The team is trapped in an icy grave at 26,000 feet - a death zone above the vertical limit of endurance where the human body cannot survive for long. Every second counts as Peter enlists the help of a crew of fellow climbers, including eccentric, reclusive mountain man Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn), to ascend the chilling might of the world's most feared peak to save her.

    This movie is the most boring, pretentious, uninteresting piece of shit that I've ever laid my eyes on. The character development is almost non-existent, the acting is horrible especially that lead girl, talk about cardboard performances. The story had potential but its the execution that failed miserably. The awkward plot scenarios, appalling camera angles and ridiculous dialogue. Chris O' Donnell can pass off as a lead actor but always he stars in atrocious movies like this. Bill Paxton's role as the supposed villain/entrepreneur will just make you laugh unintentionally. His reason for climbing K2 is pretty stupid. They're calling it a publicity stunt in the film but I think its a stupid way to promote your airline company. There are some boundaries to such things.

    Towards the end of the film, I was almost half asleep, the supposed high wire tension just made me even more sleepy, at that time I just wanted it to be done and over with.

    I remember when I was a youngling when I saw this for the first time on VHS, I totally loved this film but now, its totally different. I hated it the second time around. I guess times change.

    1/5
  • November 20, 2009
    Una pelicula que a nadie le gusto... y que a mi si me gustó mucho.
  • October 26, 2009
    I think I wouldn't be interested in this movie (it is a bit clichéd), but Nicholas Lea is in it, so...
  • October 21, 2009
    If your looking for a fun action adventure film then check this movie out. Stars Chris O'Donnell as a mountain climber who must climb one of the world's largest mountains to save his sister. The film is full of action sequences. That is what makes this such a fun film. The acting...( read more) overall is decent and with a solid story made for a entertaining film. Worth a watch.
  • September 16, 2009
    Intense and cool, but occasionally. Nice moments here and there.

    44/100
  • September 7, 2009
    3.5 of 5 stars for this action/drama movie. It ain't no "Eiger Sanction", but, still it is a good climbing movie. A bit long and a bit slow with some quick action scenes embedded, it has too many unrelated things happening. Bottom line, brother tries to rescue sister while climbi...( read more)ng on K2. Throw in some military types some nitro and some bad climbing weather and you have it. Oh, remember, never store your nitro in the sun, it goes boom!

Critic Reviews


December 8, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Made from obvious formulas and pulp novel conflicts, but strongly acted and well crafted. full review

View more Vertical Limit reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • carla223
    November 12, 2008
    Totally hilarious!
  • JesusOnlyKnows19
    November 14, 2006
    This is a really good movie. Of a friendship broken between a brother and sasister after the death of the father. But how when the sister becomes thretened they become reunited. This movie is a very good movie.
  • jbpelican
    August 4, 2006
    What sets this apart from other survival movies is that this shows all the injuries (and deaths) with shocking reality. You dont really expect it, when a guy tumbles down a hill (probably slipping on an armidillo) you think he will go over a bit of a bump and hurt his leg. But when his leg gets caught between 2 boulders and his body goes over, then abrubtly stops due to the ample CRUNCH of his bones, you go, ooooooooohhh, and cringe. Because it was unexpected ya see? Vertical Limit has genuine adrenaline, and cool injuries, definately worth watching.

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Vertical Limit Trivia


  • Name the actor/actress who starred in the craft, empire records & vertical limit.  Answer »
  • She's been in Vertical Limit, End Of Days And The Craft.  Answer »
  • name the actor~ Vertical Limit (PG-13, 2000) U-571 (PG-13, 2000) Mighty Joe Young (PG, 1998) A Simple Plan (R, 1998)  Answer »
  • IN WHAT MOVIE DID CHRIS O'DONNELL, BILL PAXTON, ROBIN TUNNEY, AND SCOTT GLENN PLAY IN?  Answer »

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