Category: Cliffhanger

Renny Harlin Didn’t Want Sly for Cliffhanger

Craig / / 2011, Cliffhanger

On August 21, 2011, Worst Previews posted an interesting article titled “Renny Harlin Never Wanted Sylvester Stallone for ‘Cliffhanger'”.  Here are some tidbits…

  • Renny Harlin: “[The studio] said to me, we want Sylvester Stallone to star in this movie. And I said, ‘no way.’ I don’t know who I was picturing for it, Kevin Costner or somebody, but they wanted him because they did ‘Rambo’ with him. This was at a point where he had just made ‘Oscar’ and ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot,’ both disastrous comedies and his career was in the toilet. And I said, ‘no way, I don’t want him.’
  • Renny Harlin: “So I have a private lunch with him, and he tells me how badly he wants to play this part. And he says, ‘I know I screwed up making those comedies, and I know people find me laughable now. But I really want to prove something, I want to do something real, I want to make this film.’ And I said, ‘I can’t name one director who has come out of a movie with you looking good. You always take over, and no one remembers who the director was. And that’s not what I’m looking for, I want this to be my movie, I want to hire someone who does a great job and works with me.’ And he says, ‘That’s exactly what I want. I promise if I do this movie, I will do exactly what you want me to do.”
  • Renny Harlin: “We talked some more and I really took a liking to him. He was really smart, very charming. At the end of the lunch, I said, ‘Ok. If we have an understanding, I’m gonna tell you the first thing I’m gonna do. I’m gonna change the opening scene in the movie. Because in the opening scene, he’s a rescue worker, he’s very heroic. But if you’re playing the part, I want you to fail, and I want you to kill the girl.’ And he was like, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘I am gonna change the scene so that you fail, and you kill this girl in the opening scene.’ He took a deep breath and said, ‘Alright, you’re the director, if that’s what you want, let’s do it.’ I changed the whole opening scene so that he would fail.”

Congrats to Worst Previews for a well done piece!

 

 

Cliffhanger: All Time Best

Craig / / 2011, Cliffhanger, Honors

On January 31, 2011, Screenjunkies.com posted their list of The 10 Best Mountaineering Movies of All Time.  Coming in at #1 was…

#1   “Cliffhanger” Sylvester Stallone is a professional mountaineer who ends his career after he drops an inexperienced climber off a climbing cable. But he’s back in business to protect the area from a bomb threat and save kidnapped victims at the same time.

Click on the link to see the full post.

“Cliffhanger” – One of the Best

Craig / / 2010, Cliffhanger, Honors

On November 11, 2010, MMN.com posted a piece by Matt Hickman called: “Mountain Phew: 5 Pulse-Raising Movies that Involve Climbing Very Steep Hills.” “Cliffhanger” made the list at #3…

#3 “Cliffhanger” (1993) Sylvester Stallone saves the day when he foils a massive heist being carried out by a nefarious group of thieves — lead by John Lithgow, but of course — trying to get their hands on $100 million in uncirculated cash. Sound like a generic heist thriller? It kind of is. However, the film’s stunning, stunt-worthy, and Stallone-appropriate setting, the Rocky Mountains, made “Cliffhanger” a box office smash.

To see the classic “Cliffhanger” trailer as well as the other four choices, click here.

AMC: Top 5 Sly Stallone Movies

Craig / / 2010, Cliffhanger, Cop Land, Demolition Man, Rambo, Rocky

On April 30, 2010, the AMC Movie Blog posted their choices for The Five Best Movies of Sylvester Stallone.  Here are their choices and a little of the rationale for selection:

5.  Demolition Man: …Nothing about this movie should work — dated jokes about Taco Bell, a ridiculous time-travel setup — but it work it does, from start to finish. Credit Stallone’s amusing fish-out-of-water performance…

4. Cliffhanger: …Die Hard on a mountain, Cliffhanger is as cool as it sounds… Stallone reminds us why he’s one of the best action stars ever. He radiates intensity.

3. Copland: …Stallone turned his career around with this serious (and underappreciated) drama…

2. Rambo: No. We’re not talking about the original — that’s First Blood. We’re not even talking about Rambo: First Blood II, the sequel. While we love those both, this bare-bones, bloody action film ranks as one of the best flicks in years..

1. Rocky: Not just Stallone’s best but also one of Hollywood’s best…

If I were making the list Rocky Balboa would have been near the top forcing Demolition Man off the list.  And while it may not be one of Sly’s Top 5 best, Get Carter still is one of my favorites.  To see AMC’s whole post with all of their comments as well as some Stallone movies that nearly made it to the Top 5, then click here.

Empire Talks to Sly

Craig / / 2009, Cliffhanger, Death Wish, Poe

On October 1, 2009, Empire, posted “Stallone on Death Wish Remake plus Cliffhanger Remake and Poe Biopic”.  Here’s a bit of what Sly had to say:

  • On a “Death Wish” remake:  “I’m thinking about it… It’s a classic morality tale, where you take a civilised man and take away everything that matters to him so he becomes primitive again.”
  • On “Poe”:  “I keep telling my producer Avi Lerner, ‘Make Edgar Allan Poe!’ He says, ‘Does he have a gun?’ ‘No, he doesn’t have a gun’, ‘Can he throw a knife?’ I say, ‘No, he writes poetry!’
  • Will Sly play Poe?:  “Of course, I’m not playing Poe. ‘Yo, Poe!’ It won’t work! It’ll be some young actor because he dies at 39, but it’s gonna happen.”
  • On a proposed “Cliffhanger” sequel: “I hear they’re gonna remake it… You know you’ve been around when they start to remake your own movies when you’re still alive.”

You can read the full article here. [Gerardo Moreno made the teaser photo which first appeared on the StalloneZone here.]

“Cliffhanger 2” Speculation

Craig / / 2009, Cliffhanger

Will Sly return to the role of Gabe Walker for “Cliffhanger 2”? There’s renewed speculation that it could become a reality. Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net attended a screening of the 1987 cult classic “Monster Squad” and in attendance were the film’s writer, Shane Black and director, Fred Dekker. During the Q&A session, Dekker said he was currently working on the screenplay to “Cliffhanger 2”.  Unfortunately, Dekker didn’t elaborate on the screenplay, so we don’t know much else.  

“Cliffhanger 2” could be written as a starring vehicle for Sly, it could be written as a reboot with a cameo by Stallone, or even with totally new characters.   One of the things that was shocking about the original was that it opened with a failed rescue and what could have been a major character died.  They wouldn’t kill off Gabe in the opening would they?  Of couse, that, like most everything else in FirstShowing.net’s post and SlashFilm.com’s follow up is pure speculation.

Cliffhanger 2, Too?

Craig / / 2008, Cliffhanger
On February 16th, 2008, Hollywood.com reported that Sly was in negotiations to bring back Gabe Walker from “Cliffhanger” in a sequel tentatively titled “The Dam.” This is a concept that has been around for a while, but perhaps the time is right for Walker’s return. For the full story, click HERE. – Craig