The producer's first watch was enthusiastic despite barely knowing the film. Too much new content discourages younger audiences from revisiting older action; Cliffhanger ranks above Rambo for him, alongside affection for Cop Land. — Craig Horlbeck
The invited producer regrets that peak nineties action stars preceded current effects technology; contemporary Rock films are considered weaker. The subsequent mixed-speaker quarterback analogy is not attributed exclusively to him.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Abandoned projects; Carolco financing; physical-condition list; Dolomites; plane stunt; glove; hand injury

In the discussion (13)

Approx. transcript time · 00:21:13Read transcript

Bartholomew versus Neff reportedly paired Stallone and John Candy in a John Hughes feuding-neighbors comedy before collapsing.
Isobar reportedly involved a genetically created monster escaping on a train, with Stallone and Kim Basinger attached and successive departures by Ridley Scott and Emmerich.
Gale Force reportedly cast Stallone as an ex-Navy SEAL fighting pirates during a hurricane.
Harlin reportedly received three million dollars; four million went to writers, including a rejected erotic-thriller rewrite by Joe Eszterhas.
Cliffhanger reportedly followed the cancellation of Gale Force, with Harlin retaining his fee.
The rabbit’s survival reportedly required a100,000-dollar Stallone-funded reshoot after test screenings. The claim a rabbit was actually killed on camera is unverified speaker assertion.
The absurd forty-foot cliff jump was reportedly removed after trailer audiences laughed at it.
Carolco reportedly surrendered much of the revenue rights to finance production, stopped twice for inability to pay crews, overspent by 40 million and took a 2 million salary sacrifice from Stallone, leaving little benefit from the hit.
Stallone's reported top-three physical-condition films are RockyIV, Cliffhanger and RamboIII; RamboII is a wrong guess and Cobra misses the list.
Mountain filming reportedly used the Italian Dolomites near Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Simon Crane’s million-dollar plane crossing is reported as a record aerial stunt; failure to enter the second plane required an edited close-up.
The opening glove reportedly would not slip despite oversizing and Vaseline because Stallone held too tightly, eventually yielding the desired take.
Stallone reportedly injured his hand on a soundstage cliff but described it publicly as a climbing injury.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 00:24:01Read transcript

Ebert gave three stars and called the film a fairly good machine for involving and thrilling viewers; no scale is spoken.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Henchman profit shares; Delmar’s soccer ability; bats; Hal revenge ending

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 00:56:16Read transcript

Questions imagine terrorist profit shares and whether underlings should expect betrayal: Travers and Qualen might each take a third, while lesser henchmen receive percentages or are killed before payment. These are hypotheses, not explicit film contracts.
Delmar's actual soccer ability is questioned because repeated kicks fail to finish Hal; minor-league/club or teenage-level ability is imagined.
The cave bats raise questions about bite risk and damage, with uncertainty explicit and First Blood as another Stallone cave comparison.
A proposed alternate ending has Hal throw Jesse off the mountain to even the score, setting up a villainous-Rooker sequel.
Throwing Jesse into helicopter blades would escalate the hypothetical ending further, and both speakers favor the outrageous bookend.

Casting What-Ifs

David Bowie; Christopher Walken; Dana Delany

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:04:49Read transcript

Bowie reportedly declined the first offer for Qualen.
Walken was reportedly cast but left before filming, and Lithgow joined late.
Walken is preferred hypothetically as a colder villain and more plausible physical opponent; the timing of True Romance is corrected from two years earlier to the same 1993 release year.
Dana Delany reportedly declined Jesse; Turner is preferred as the eventual choice.

Recasting Couch

Bullock; Snipes; Gibson; Newman; Tommy Lee Jones

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:11:00Read transcript

Bullock is proposed as the romantic lead.
Snipes is proposed instead of Leon.
Gibson replacing Rooker would create two huge male leads, though it provokes objection and guilt.
Newman is proposed as Frank.
Tommy Lee Jones is proposed as Travers, with more background and material required.
Jones could also replace Lithgow.

Picking Nits

Hal’s reversal; frostbite; missing headgear; climbing realism; Denver Mint; physique; small crew; travel jumps

In the discussion (9)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:34Read transcript

Hal changes quickly from hatred to protecting Gabe.
Gabe surviving in a T-shirt without freezing and everyone lacking headgear seem implausible.
The second stoner’s fate remains unclear despite Frank rescuing him.
A gunshot dispersing all the coyotes seems too easy.
A climbing critic reportedly objected to the unrealistic piton-firing gun.
The Denver Mint produces coins rather than the film’s paper currency.
Stallone's bodybuilder physique seems wrong for a climber, whose lower weight and sinewy build would make repeated pull-ups more plausible.
A late nitpick questions the tiny rescue staff and absence of younger recruits.
Characters cover enormous mountain distances implausibly fast, including reaching the distant hut and warming with only a thin thermal.

Best Double Feature

Poster unavailable

Shoot to Kill

Picked by Bill Simmons

Poster unavailable

Drop Zone

Picked by Kyle Brandt

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:30:30Read transcript

Shoot to Kill is a pairing for its related mountain premise.
Drop Zone is another pairing for an era action film with Wesley Snipes.