Cliffhanger / YMMV

Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Underneath the exterior of a typical blockbuster action movie, it can be seen deep down as a fable about facing down and standing up to bullies, whom Qualen and his gang show the most traits of.
Awesome Music: Trevor Jones's stirring score, especially the seven-minute-plus end title version of the main theme.
Base-Breaking Character:
- Travers. Some give him credit for the astonishing, world record-breaking aerial plane transfer at the beginning of the film, while some despise him for acting like a whining and ill-tempered Jerkass Big Bad Wannabe throughout the film up to his Sanity Slippage and Villainous Breakdown.
- Although most people enjoyed John Lithgow's mostly Cold Ham performance as Big Bad Eric Qualen, he was criticized for his inauthentic-sounding English accent, especially when next to native English-thespians Fairbrass and Goodall and this was way before Lithgow's much more lauded role as Winston Churchill in The Crown decades later after this movie.
Catharsis Factor: Considering what a bunch of murdering assholes they all are, it's very satisfying to see Qualen's gang get what's coming to them.
Complete Monster: Eric Qualen is a military intelligence officer turned infamous terrorist who is defined by sadistic cruelty. Trying to steal $100 million, killing three agents and one pilot, and casually tossing an injured minion off his plane, he loses three cases full of money and crashes his plane into a mountain. Taking Gabriel "Gabe" Walker and his friend Hal Tucker as hostages to help him find the cases, Qualen tries making Walker freeze to death by removing his coat and plans to kill him once he comes back. Qualen has his men try to murder two teenagers who accidentally stumble upon him, succeeding in killing one and mocking Tucker about it. Qualen coldly shoots his lover and pilot Kristel to ensure that he'll be the only person alive to pilot the helicopter to safety, planning on killing Tucker as well, and later kidnaps Walker's girlfriend Jesse to drop her in the ravines if Walker won't give him the case. When the helicopter hangs on a deep chasm, Qualen attempts to make the helicopter fall to take Walker with him.
Damsel Scrappy: Jessie, it even warranted a Razzie nomination for her portrayer Janine Turner, who looked lost in her role as her, turning in an unconvincing performance.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Frank, who happens to be the kindest character in this film. He's a painter-wannabe that has spends the rest of the film trying to locate Walker, Tucker and Jessie, which makes his Dropped a Bridge on Him death a Tear Jerker.
- The teen thrill-seekers Brett and Evan, who both act as the film's Plucky Comic Relief duo, which makes Brett's death a Tear Jerker as well.
- For the villains: The Co-Dragons (Kynette and Delmar) can be considered more menacing and interesting villains than the film's main Big Bad:
  - Kynette, for being a martial artist filled with Nightmare Fuel who's able to nearly give a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Walker, being so badass in scenes as the film's Scary Black Man (such as the Slow Motion death of Brett caused by him and his Pre-Mortem One-Liner towards Walker). Special mention goes to the character being played an actor who's also a singer who, on the same year this film was released, had also appeared in another snowy terrain film, but was a Disney family film, and was able to give an intimidating and menacing performance as The Dragon.
  - Delmar eventually became popular amongst some film viewers who are also video gamers, due to a form of Retroactive Recognition of the character being played by Craig Fairbrass, who would later become known for his voice acting in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trilogy, especially his performance as Ghost from Modern Warfare 2. Some viewers see Delmar as an Evil Counterpart Foil to his actor's later Call of Duty characters due to some similarities they share ^note Aside from this fact and the comparisons, Delmar is also singled out for being a badass himself, like his Slow Motion kill of Frank, his self-mentioned background as a former soccer player, and his unique soccer-kicking torture of Tucker.
- FBI Agent Matheson, thanks to him for being Made of Iron and for kicking off the film's plot with his Not Quite Dead act which helps foil Qualen's robbery at the beginning of the film.
Evil Is Cool:
- You gotta give the villains credit for pulling off the sheer awesome stunt in the plane-to-plane transfer (especially the Jerkass mole Travers, who is the one to slide down the cable connected to the planes). The stunt has been even entered in the Guinness World Records, as the stuntman doubling for Travers, Simon Crane, crossed between two planes at an altitude of 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and ended up with a million dollar paycheck as a result.
- More specifically, the villains are all a Hate Sink gang for their cruelty and general mean-spiritedness, but there are some exceptions despite also being despicable:
  - Kynette, for being the most intimidating and formidable henchman out of Qualen's group.
  - Delmar, basically due his actor Craig Fairbrass receiving Retroactive Recognition for his later voice acting in the Call of Duty game franchise and comparisons made by some viewers between Delmar and the games' characters portrayed by Fairbrass, as well as his Hidden Depths as an ex-soccer player that contribute to his Curb-Stomp Battle against his hostage Tucker.
  - Once you get pass the Razzie-nominated Fake Brit accent, John Lithgow would qualify too.
First Installment Wins: An odd example of this occuring within a single movie. At least one contemporary critic noted that the opening scene is so memorable, horrific, and intense, that the rest of the movie suffers by comparision.
Fridge Logic: While it provides the movie with enough mooks for Walker to take down one by one, you have to wonder why Qualen needed at least five heavily armed mercenaries whose sole role during the airplane heist would have been nothing but to sit around if it had gone according to plan.
Harsher in Hindsight: The moment Walker drops Sarah and she starts to fall is eerily similar to a video of a man desperately trying to climb out of the burning floors of the World Trade Center and eventually losing his grip.
He Really Can Act: Anyone these days who are familiar with his more recent heroic and likable performances in video games such as Modern Warfare and Battlefield V and mostly recently as Chef Zeff in the Netflix show One Piece would be quite surprised at Craig Fairbrass's range, as he plays an utterly monstrous and despicable character in this film.
Ho Yay: Qualen and Travers spend the movie bitching at each other.
Travers: Get off my back, Qualen.
Qualen: Off? I haven't even got on it yet.
Iron Woobie: Walker. He is overcome with grief from his failure to save his best friend's girlfriend; captured by Qualen's goons, who strip him of his jacket and bolt gun, leaving him vulnerable to the cold; and finds himself a living target for the villains to hunt down.
Jerkass Woobie:
- Tucker, as he out of grief blames Walker for his failure to save Sarah, whose death and Walker's inability to save her he had to bear witness to first hand. He becomes more of a Butt-Monkey later in the film when he's forced to be a guide for Qualen's posse, bullied around, and Forced to Watch them kill two of his colleagues before being on the receiving end of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown given by Delmar.
- Travers, who is bossed around by his fellow goons throughout the film and is a Big Bad Wannabe who attempts to be The Starscream when he can't take lack of respect anymore before Qualen gets the upper hand. What Travers goes through during the film contributes to his eventual Sanity Slippage (which is lampshaded by Qualen to Travers when speaking to him for the last time) and Villainous Breakdown when Walker outsmarts him. However, that doesn't excuse the fact he's a downright total Jerkass through and through with a severe Lack of Empathy, so he is not that sympathetic.
Love to Hate: While most of the Moral Event Horizon actions and Jerkass behaviors of the terrorists fall into a Hate Sink (especially when it comes to killing off a Plucky Comic Relief and a beloved Cool Old Guy or just being outright mean-spirited towards their enemies and each other), you got to admit, the acting of Leon and Craig Fairbrass comes off as somewhat badass when it comes to playing the Co-Dragons, from Kynette's martial arts-laden No-Holds-Barred Beatdown given to juggernaut Stallone, to Fairbrass's soccer game wisecracks when torturing Tucker to give him a unique, slow, and agonizing death. Even though they're meant to be a Hate Sink like the rest of their posse, they border on Evil Is Cool, especially the presence of Craig Fairbrass. Also, sure John Lithgow's character's accent earned him a Razzie nomination, but his witty and erudite performance is still enjoyable.
Memetic Mutation: The commercial for Cliffhanger's Licensed Game has earned itself a memetic following due to ending with what many consider to be one of the funniest Pre-Asskicking One Liners.
"Eat this, you gravy-sucking dooooog!"
Moral Event Horizon:
- Kynette crosses it when he coldly shooting and killing some teenagers, alongside beating down Gabe Walker.
- Delmar crosses it ruthlessly shooting down an elderly man, alongside torturing Hal Tucker.
- Eric Qualen crosses it when he treacherously guns down his own partner to save himself.
- Travers alarmingly crosses it when he goes through a breakdown, declaring himself insane to Qulen and that he will hunt down Gabe if it's the last thing he does.
Narm:
- In about half the death scenes, you wonder if Renny Harlin thought he was making an Oscar Bait Tear Jerker rather than an action movie.
- Frank's facial expression during the failed rescue scene at the beginning looks more like he's grinning maniacally at the situation, when it's supposed to be a grimace.
- According to Stallone: "...the director's cut was met with a lot of disapproval at the screening and received some alarmingly low scores. Mainly because the stunts were absurdly overblown. For example, the average man can jump maybe twelve feet across a gorge, and the stunts had me leaping maybe three hundred feet or more, so situations like that had to be pared down and still then were fairly extreme..."
Narm Charm: Walker defeating Kynette with a well-timed Groin Attack.
One-Scene Wonder: For a character with limited screen time, Sarah provided a memorable impression.
Retroactive Recognition:
- Tucker is played by Merle and Yondu.
- Delmar is played by Gaz/Ghost/Wallcroft/Chef Zeff.
- Travers is played by Sgt. Frank Tripp.
Signature Scene: The opening scene where poor Sarah falls to her death.
So Bad, It's Good: John Lithgow's "British" accent is simultaneously the best and worst part of the movie.
Spiritual Adaptation: Due to some plot similarities, this film is the closest thing to a Setting Update remake of either World War II Propaganda Machine flicks Northern Pursuit or 49th Parallel (the former featuring A-list star Errol Flynn as The Hero, much like how Stallone is in this one, while the Villain Protagonist of the latter is played by a British actor named Eric who bares similar facial features to John Lithgow, who plays this movie's Big Bad, an Evil Brit also named Eric).
Suspiciously Similar Song: Trevor Jones's score for this film sounds similar to Michel Legrand's score for Ice Station Zebra (listen here and here for a comparison).
Tear Jerker: Sarah's horrifying demise, Walker's grief, and Frank's murder.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Some viewers may feel this way in regards to Frank, the movie's resident Cool Old Guy, especially when suffering a Dropped a Bridge on Him death after spending the entire screen time trailing Walker, Tucker, and Jessie just to find and rescue them.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The NC-17 cut gave off this effect due to the grisly violence seen on screen, making the film borderline grimdark seemingly for the sake of shock value, hence the Re-Cut to avert this problem.
Too Cool to Live: Matheson, Kynette, Frank, and Delmar.
The Woobie: Poor Sarah and Frank.

YMMV / Cliffhanger

Edit Locked