I had high hopes for this film after seeing the thrilling opening sequence in Monument Valley, Utah; but, alas, it was not to be.

THE STORY: A famous female climber gets stuck in an ice cave with two others near the top of K2, the second highest mountain on Earth. Her brother, who has sworn off climbing because of his father's climbing death, has no choice but to assemble a team to rescue the trio.

WHAT WORKS: As already mentioned, the opening sequence is excellent, the locations are great (the New Zealand Alps), the story pretty much keeps your attention (until the absurdities really mount up -- pun intended) and both Robin Tunney & Izabella Scorupco are deliciously beautiful.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: As the story continues the believability decreases severely. In fact, the crisis/suspense/action sequences are so EXTREME and strung so close together (especially as the movie proceeds) they tend to make you bust out laughing -- the very OPPOSITE reaction the creators wanted. By the very end the ridiculous overkill made me lose interest in whatever story was supposed to be there.

FINAL ANALYSIS: I was hoping for something unexpectedly great like "The Edge," but ended up with a fun but ultimately shallow time-waster. For comparison, "Cliffhanger" is "Apocalypse Now" next to "Vertical Limit."

GRADE: C.

I enjoyed Vertical Limit. One thing I would have done differently, as a director, is to eliminate the explosives. Blowing a hole at the top of the crevass that your friends and family are at the bottom of is folly, and even if you do feel the need to bring explosives (in avalanche country), use something relatively stable, like dynamite.

Dynamite would have been readily available, for it is used to mine Himalayan salt in Pakistan. Certainly, the man with the millions of dollars could have afforded some. The exclusion of explosives from the scenes would have contributed to a more believable Himalayan adventure (think Into Thin Air).

The story line was good, and I appreciated the strong, complex dynamics and connections between the brother and sister, and between the two siblings and the rescue team leader. While Vertical Limit strove to expose the harsh realities of technical climbing (especially at K2), however, it lost some steam by being very lax in re-creating the conditions that would have been met by the climbers, even at K2's Base Camp at 18,645 feet.

No one was even wearing hats at the alcohol-ridden "barbecue" at Base Camp, the night before the climb. It would have been blisteringly cold, between -20 and -50 farenheit. No professional climber would have been drinking alcohol at that time.

On the mountain, in the raging storm, the climbers did not even have the sense to pull the Cord-Locs on their hoods tight: Snow would have accumulated inside their hoods and parkas, then melting. There were some scenes when protective face masks were used, and that was excellent.

Chris O'Donnell's character makes a terrific leap onto a snowy cliff face. I am not entirely certain that the jump would have been possible in real-life, but just maybe. They should have made the jump less-ambitious and more believeable.

Although I am glad that there were not one but two women in the rescue team, in reality, they would have not been allowed: Women just don't have the brute force necessary to haul 200-pound guys down the mountain (or up on a rope).

While I am tempted to say that it is unrealistic that the veteran and renowned ascent team leader and National Geographic photographer (also a highly-experienced climber) could be cajoled into continuing the ascent after the severe storm warning had been issued to them, we have seen bad decisions in the past by real-life alpine team leaders,culminating to disaster.

Although it may seem that I am being very critical of Vertical Limit, my score of 8 shows that I am willing to forgive the sins that Hollywood felt compelled to commit. The strong inter-personal dynamics, memorable characters, strong story line in-general, and clear, bold decision making in the screenplay made this film worth watching. Heroism is always a welcome theme in the movies I watch, and in Vertical Limit, everyone's a hero in his or her own way.

Scott Glen's character as the rescue team leader and sage mountaineer was superb.

Don't get me wrong. This is marvelous action, with unique locations, smart plot, and perfect directing. The climbing scenes are excellently made, I never felt overabundant, or originally any CGI. Obviously, a lot of efforts was spent behind this movie, rather gem. However, some points bugged me. Let's see how bad they are.

First off: the way the second act was written. The movie kind of remakes the Seven Samurai story, yet for nothing but killing most of them, as if they were there for just getting killed! No doubt that the movie overused the matter of the nitroglycerin bombs, and badly. Yes, they're a good thrill element, but not to an extent where the Pakistani army doesn't know how to save them, or the Pakistani general doesn't see their leakage under his foot, or the movie uses them as Freddy is used in Nightmare on Elm Street's movies!

Chris O'Donnell is talented, however not that charismatic, and doesn't fit action movies so much. In fact, hiring him with the lovely Robin Tunney, whether was for cutting down the budget, or as a chance to experiment new stars back then, proved to be something not that successful. And after 10 years, both of them ended up in TV shows like NCIS: Los Angeles and The Mentalist.

Although I don't think, for a second, that a helicopter's fan can only cut off a sleeve of someone while getting centimeters close to her. But, for the sake of an action scene, I'll forget about this. Nevertheless, I won't forget that the movie's evil man, played by Bill Paxton, returns to the same place where he went into big accident a few years ago, near to the man who he killed his wife! Cheeky? Maybe. Odd? Full Yes!

I liked that, finally, a Muslim character was shown in a Hollywood movie without the forever usual character (ruthless barbarian terrorist!). I suppose that was for putting wildly different characters together. Especially when that character, of a Pakistani religious soldier, joins forces with an Australian nihilist playboy. Btw, the Islamic prayer's moves weren't done rightly. Clearly they needed an expert for that on the set.

Izabella Scorupco is no less than great. I don't know, and eager to know, why she was exiled from movies? Because within nearly 20 years, after her first starring role in Golden Eye, she made something like 5 movies! Being a James Bond girl was sure a problem more than a blessing. It's embarrassing that even when she got work, like in here, it was with Golden Eye's director, Martin Campbell. As if no one else wants to work with her! She even was offered the lead female role in The Mask of Zorro (1998), for the same director, but turned it down. Otherwise, she doesn't like acting!

So, I'm a big fan of this movie, its script, and directing. But, in the same time, I hate some points, on their top is the sense of laziness at the second act's writing; it's where this fine action leaned toward being an easy slasher. The final verdict: The bad points turned out to be light, and this is a real classic movie. The authentic trailer is one of the best as well.