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Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action-adventure film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone as Gabe Walker, a mountain climber and rescue ranger. The story begins with a tragic event: during a rescue operation in the Colorado Rockies, Gabe fails to save the life of Sarah, the girlfriend of his friend Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker). Consumed by guilt, Gabe leaves the ranger service and moves to Denver.
Eight months later, Gabe returns to the mountains to persuade his girlfriend, Jessie Deighan (Janine Turner), to join him. However, their reunion is interrupted by a distress call from a group of stranded climbers. Unbeknownst to Gabe and Hal, who respond to the call, it is a ruse set up by a group of international thieves led by the psychopathic Eric Qualen (John Lithgow). The thieves are searching for three suitcases containing $100 million in cash that were lost in the mountains after a botched mid-air heist.
Gabe and Hal are taken prisoner by Qualen's gang, which includes Kynette (Leon Robinson), Delmar (Craig Fairbrass), and Kristel (Caroline Goodall). The thieves force Gabe to climb a steep rock face to retrieve one of the suitcases, but he severs his rope to escape, leading to an avalanche that kills one of the thieves. Believing Gabe is dead, Qualen orders Hal to lead them to the remaining suitcases.
As the story unfolds, Gabe and Jessie work together to outsmart the thieves, using their mountaineering skills to evade capture and sabotage the gang's efforts. They recover the second suitcase and leave a taunting message for Qualen, leading to a series of intense confrontations. Gabe faces off against Kynette in a brutal fistfight and later kills Travers, a turncoat U.S. Treasury agent, through the ice of a frozen river.
In the climactic final scene, Qualen takes Jessie hostage and demands that Gabe and Hal surrender the last suitcase. However, Gabe outwits Qualen by shredding the money in the helicopter's rotors and tethering the aircraft to a cliffside ladder. With Hal's help, they shoot down the helicopter, and Qualen falls to his death. The film concludes with Gabe reuniting with Jessie and Hal, as the authorities arrive to take control of the situation.
Cliffhanger received mixed reviews but was praised for its action sequences and the stunning mountain landscapes. The film's blend of adventure, suspense, and high-stakes action made it a notable entry in the action genre of the 1990s