If you are an action fan then director Renny Harlin (Long Kiss Goodnight) does'nt disappoint in this 1993 release of 'Cliffhanger'. Sylvester Stallone stars as Gabe Walker an experienced mountain climber and member of the 'Rocky Mountain Rescue' who leaves his home town after failing to save a close friend from falling to her death after a freak climbing accident. This accident is the opening scene of the movie and let me tell you it's so harrowing you won't forget it for a long time.

He returns months later still consumed with guilt over the tragedy to collect his belongings and in the hope that his girlfriend Jessie whom he'd left behind will go with him.

In the meantime in the skies above an attempted hijacking by international terrorists led by Eric Qualen (John Lithgow - 3rd Rock from the Sun) of a Government jet carrying $300 million goes wrong and the loot and bad guys crash into the mountains below. Walker and his partner Hal Tucker another member of the Rocky Mountain Rescue team answer the distress call sent out by the terrorists and head off into the mountains to rescue them. Once they arrive the terrorists hold Walker and Tucker at gunpoint and intend to use them to retrieve the money, Walker soon breaks free and the action begins. Although not a thought provoking movie, it is fun to watch none the less.

This DVD Edition is provided courtesy of Columbia Tri-Star pictures and contains both the The anarmorphically enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1) and Pan & Scan versions on opposite sides. The transfer is excellent in it's own right but I did'nt think it was exceptional as compared to previous DVD releases by Columbia Tri-Star. Not so much the issue of any pixelisation or other noticeable digital artifacts but I thought that the colour saturation was lacking. The colours did'nt seem to jump out of the screen at you and in some scenes appeared to be a little washed out. That said the colours however are natural looking and the brightness and contrast are spot on.

The cinematography is fantastic and the story suggests that it was filmed in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado but actually, the mountain scenes were filmed in Italy. The picture beautifully renders the surrounding scenery in all it's incredible detail in that you can almost smell the fresh alpine air. The Pan & Scan transfer version has been cropped somewhat terrible and only bears viewing if you absolutely hate a letterboxed image.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack has an enjoyable action movie mix with great directional effects and bass. The sound of the odd avalanche or two really must be heard to be believed. Also included is the usual matrixed Dolby Surround track, this is a little disappointing and does'nt use the rears much at all unlike movies such as Goldeneye but the sound is clean and well produced. The movie also comes complete with the French and Spanish language tracks.

As per the norm for Columbia-Tristar DVD releases the features are just about non-existent and only contain the usual chapter menus. Overall a great action movie and would look good in any DVD collection.

Languages: English, French, Spanish. Subtitles: Spanish. Region Coding: 1. Dolby Digital 5.1. P&S/Ltbx: Optimized for 16x9.