Contrived, but still fun!

I just got done watching this shit for the first time since . . . well hell, I think since I saw it with my girlfriend in the theater. That was 17 years ago.

Here's what I'll say. . . It has one serious problem: Way too much of the movie feels artificial, whether that means the overly-Hollywood contrived plot elements or the handful of scenes that are supposed to be on a mountain but are obviously on a soundstage.

BUT! (There's always a "but," isn't there?)

There are also a lot of scenes that REALLY ARE shot up in the mountains and the result ends up being some pretty awesome cinematography in beautiful natural settings. And that, combined with a handful of thrilling action sequences, along with the natural cinematic quality of mountain climbing, are enough for me to go ahead and give this one a recommend for anyone who enjoys either movies set out in the natural world or anyone who enjoys big summer blockbusters.

But Ebert really said it better than I can so I'll quote this excerpt from his review:

"Vertical Limit is not so much a sincere movie about the dangers and codes of mountain climbing as a thriller with lots of snow. At that, however, it is pretty good, and I can recommend the movie as a B adventure while wondering what kind of an A movie might have been made from similar material."

I'll give this one a 7/10.