Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Cliffhanger 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 4, 2023

Sony has widely released a UHD SteelBook packaging variant for the 1993 Action film 'Cliffhanger.' The disc offers a new transfer with Dolby Vision color grading and new supplemental content. It is not the same disc found in the 2019 UHD release. See below for a review of the new video and supplements and the 'Special Features and Extras' section of the review below for more on the SteelBook's look and feel.

After a tragic accident that costs the life of a young woman, Rocky Mountain Rescue climber Gabe Walker (Sylvester Stallone) leaves the idyllic snow-capped country for the big city and a search for answers. Months later, Gabe returns on the same fateful day as a botched midair hijacking of a U.S. Treasury flight escorting $100,000,000 in three cases equipped with homing beacons. The assailant's plane having crashed, the survivors call in a phony report of hikers stranded in a terrible winter storm to lure a rescue team to come to their aid, lead them through the frigid and dangerous terrain to the cases, and secure their financial futures. Gabe is talked into joining the rescue party by former colleague Jessie Deighan (Janine Turner), and he soon after meets up with bitter fellow rescue climber Hal Tucker (Michael Rooker) who still blames Gabe for the death of his girlfriend, the same tragedy that pushed Gabe away several months earlier. Nevertheless, the two are forced to put their differences aside when they fall victim to the criminals' scheme; lead hijacker Qualen (John Lithgow), a Treasury agent turned traitor named Travers (Rex Linn), and several other heavily-armed criminals force Gabe and Hal at gunpoint to lead them to the money. Through unbearable weather and frozen terrain, only a veteran climber's ingenuity, guile, and a lot of luck will lead Hal and Gabe out of the mountains alive.

For a full film review, please click here.

Cliffhanger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony ascends Cliffhanger to the UHD format yet again, this time with Dolby Vision color grading. There are certainly some differences to explore. The old HDR UHD looks a little more garish, at times, especially comparing the red rescue helicopter seen very prominently at the 7:29 mark. The red on the new Dolby Vision disc appears just a bit fuller and more lifelike. It's a touch more vivid on the HDR disc, but not quite as full and accurate. The differences are not dramatic, but still evident. The blue sky in the background is likewise just a degree different, offering on this new disc a shade deeper and more accurate blue. Some shots and elements prove to be a little more obvious in terms of grading differences. Take a shot outside the Denver Mint at the 34:30 mark. Vividness is slightly subdued on the new Dolby Vision disc, but the gain is in color depth and accuracy. The Dolby Vision disc, in this shot, looks a slight bit more yellow/green, an observation that seemed to hold anywhere I conducted a direct A-B comparison, which also includes the vast amounts of bright white snow seen throughout the film. Generally observing, the Dolby Vision disc turns down brightness for added color fullness, and that fullness usually makes a fairly dramatic impact on the overall image stability and quality.

Just watching the film, though, and not worrying about comparisons, audiences will find this new Dolby Vision grading to be of great value on its own merits for color vividness, boldness, and accuracy. While the differences are not always absolutely stark and striking, they are oftentimes fairly dramatic and make a "good" HDR grading a "better" Dolby Vision presentation. As for the rest of the image, there does not appear to be a dramatic difference or significant upgrade in terms of clarity, sharpness, grain management, or anything of the sort.

Cliffhanger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For this UHD release, Sony includes what appears to be the same Dolby Atmos soundtrack found on the previously issued UHD. For convenience that review is repurposed below:

Cliffhanger's Dolby Atmos soundtrack is the perfect complement to the largely impressive new video presentation. Helicopter rotors sound -- and feel -- as if they are slicing through the theater as the rescue chopper maneuvers through the mountain range and settles onto an adjacent peak to secure the other end of the rescue line in the film's opening moments. It's the first of many fully engaging sonic extravaganzas that take full advantage of every speaker in the configuration and every square inch of theater real estate afforded to it. Whirring machinery inside the Treasury department in the next scene offers a compelling immersion into the environment. The Treasury plane rumbles through, and above, the stage at the 19-minute mark, followed by wonderfully balanced but very prominent din from inside, including jet engine hums and rattling compartments that are the perfect sonic signature for the jet as it lumbers high above the earth. Action scenes are many and each is a delight. There is full stage engagement as a plane crashes in chapter five. Debris and snow are flung to and fro, the scene a symphony of chaos that begins the bloody and relentless pursuit for the three missing cases full of cash. That scene, and many others, deliver some prodigious, seat-rattling bass that's amongst the deepest and most intense one will find in an Action film. Gunfire is punchy and authoritative, too. The overhead channels support a number of the film's most prominent effects, including an avalanche in chapter seven and immersive reverb in a cave later on in the film. Musical fidelity is terrific and, like every other sonic component, there's no shortage of stage stretching length and depth. Dialogue is perfect. This is a reference Atmos track.

Cliffhanger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sony's previous UHD release of Cliffhanger included no extras, but this new issue includes a select number of deleted scenes. The included Blu-ray is identical to that released back in 2010 and of course contains all of the supplemental content from that original release. Below is a list of what's included. For full supplemental reviews, please click here. This UHD does ship with a Movies Anywhere digital copy code.

UHD Disc:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 9:44 total runtime): Included are "Tell Me What to Do;" Where to Start; The South Wall; "We've Got Guests;" "Where's the Helicopter?" (Alternate Version); Fetch; Ice Climb; Up For It; "Let's Go;" False Step; Chimneying, Pt. 1; Chimneying, Pt. 2; King's Leap, Pt. 1; King's Leap, Pt. 2; Hal Rescues Gabe; Divide and Conquer; and "We're Going Down!".

Blu-ray Disc:

• Audio Commentary: Director Renny Harlin and Actor Sylvester Stallone.
• Audio Commentary: Technical Crew including Editor Frank Urioste, Co-Visual Effects Supervisors Neil Krepela and John Bruno, and Production Designer John Vallone.
• A Personal Introduction from Renny Harlin
• Deleted Scenes
• Stallone on the Edge: The Making of Cliffhanger
• Special Effects
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.

The SteelBook packaging offers a matte finish. The front features Gabe hanging off a cliff by one hand. Additional mounts appear behind him in the distance, and a helicopter is flying near the SteelBook's center. The film's title appears along a cliff face at the very top, center in red. The rear panel features Gabe running from a low-flying red rescue helicopter. The spine is black with the film's title in red, center. A Sony Pictures logo appears in white at the bottom.

Inside, the digital copy code is tucked underneath the left-hand-side tabs. The two discs, one UHD and one Blu-ray, are situated on the right in staggered-stacked formation. The inner print is a two-panel spread that features Gabe, standing on a peak, holding a backpack in his left hand, his back to the frame, staring down an approaching helicopter which is on the left. Much of the panel is simply empty sky.

Cliffhanger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cliffhanger is certainly a guilty pleasure Action movie of the highest order. It still holds up to repeat viewings three decades after its release and it screams to be watched on the largest screen possible. This 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD disc will offer the best image on any size screen, presenting the film with newly improved and stabilized colors in conjunction with a handsome filmic veneer and excellent image quality overall. The Atmos track is excellent and the new deleted scenes are a welcome bonus. the SteelBook is very nice, too. Very highly recommended!