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Movies that feel like Cliffhanger (1993)

If you loved Cliffhanger, the closest films we have are Die Hard 2 (1990), Who Am I? (1998) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). All three share Cliffhanger's kinetic and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 5 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus and AMC and others, checked against today's data.

A year after losing his friend in a tragic 4,000-foot fall, former ranger Gabe Walker and his partner, Hal, are called to return to the same peak to rescue a group of stranded climbers, only to learn the climbers are actually thieving hijackers who are looking for boxes full of money.

πŸ… 67% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 6.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Renny Harlinkineticepictenseplayful

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If Cliffhanger hit the spot, these will too

Die Hard 2 poster
Die Hard 2
1990 Β· dir. Renny Harlin
πŸ… 68%β˜… 7.2action Β· thriller

Renny Harlin working the same nerve twice

The difference: Not nearly as epic as Cliffhanger

One year after his heroics in Los Angeles, John McClane is an off-duty cop who is the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. On a snowy Christmas Eve, as he waits for his wife's plane to land at Washington Dulles International Airport, terrorists take over the air traffic control system in a plot to free a South American army general and drug smuggler being flown into the US to face drug charges. It's now up to McClane to take on the terrorists, while coping with an inept airport police chief, an uncooperative anti-terrorist squad, and the life of his wife and everyone else trapped in planes circling overhead.

Who Am I? poster
Who Am I?
1998 Β· dir. Jackie Chan
πŸ… 70%β˜… 6.8adventure Β· action Β· comedy

Common ground: airplane

The difference: Sits closer to comedy than Cliffhanger does

A group of covert CIA operatives trailing a potential new energy source are double-crossed by corrupt agent Morgan, who causes a helicopter crash in remote South Africa. The sole survivor, suffering severe amnesia, is nursed to recovery by a kindly native tribe who call him "Whoami" after the question he keeps asking. With the help of a mysterious reporter Christine, Whoami pieces together his past and tracks the turncoat agent and his criminal cohorts.

Tomorrow Never Dies poster
Tomorrow Never Dies
1997 Β· dir. Roger Spottiswoode
πŸ… 58%β˜… 6.5adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Kinetic where it counts, epic underneath

A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world's superpowers against each other. Now James Bond must take on this evil mastermind in an adrenaline-charged battle to end his reign of terror and prevent global pandemonium.

Plane poster
Plane
2023 Β· dir. Jean-FranΓ§ois Richet
πŸ… 79%β˜… 6.5action Β· adventure Β· thriller

One thread runs through both: airplane

The difference: Made in the 2020s, in a different era of the craft

After a heroic job of successfully landing his storm-damaged aircraft in a war zone, a fearless pilot finds himself between the agendas of multiple militias planning to take the plane and its passengers hostage.

Ronin poster
Ronin
1998 Β· dir. John Frankenheimer
πŸ… 70%β˜… 7.2action Β· thriller Β· crime

The same two preoccupations: suitcase, and heist

The difference: Leans harder into crime than Cliffhanger does

A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.

The World Is Not Enough poster
The World Is Not Enough
1999 Β· dir. Michael Apted
πŸ… 51%β˜… 6.4adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Action built on tension, twice over

Greed, revenge, world dominance and high-tech terrorism – it's all in a day's work for Bond, who's on a mission to protect a beautiful oil heiress from a notorious terrorist. In a race against time that culminates in a dramatic submarine showdown, Bond works to defuse the international power struggle that has the world's oil supply hanging in the balance.

GoldenEye poster
GoldenEye
1995 Β· dir. Martin Campbell
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7.2adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Kinetic adventure, and it commits to that

When a powerful secret defense system is stolen, James Bond is assigned to stop a Russian crime syndicate from using it.

The Spy Who Loved Me poster
The Spy Who Loved Me
1977 Β· dir. Lewis Gilbert
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Both lean on scale more than on thriller

Russian and British submarines with nuclear missiles on board both vanish from sight without a trace. England and Russia both blame each other as James Bond tries to solve the riddle of the disappearing ships. But the KGB also has an agent on the case.

The Man with the Golden Gun poster
The Man with the Golden Gun
1974 Β· dir. Guy Hamilton
πŸ… 40%β˜… 6.7adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Action with a pulse of tension, in both cases

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Cool government operative James Bond searches for a stolen invention that can turn the sun's heat into a destructive weapon. He soon crosses paths with the menacing Francisco Scaramanga, a hitman so skilled he has a seven-figure working fee. Bond then joins forces with the swimsuit-clad Mary Goodnight, and together they track Scaramanga to a Thai tropical isle hideout where the killer-for-hire lures the slick spy into a deadly maze for a final duel.

Live and Let Die poster
Live and Let Die
1973 Β· dir. Guy Hamilton
πŸ… 67%β˜… 6.7adventure Β· action Β· thriller

Kinetic adventure in both cases

James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.

The Rock poster
The Rock
1996 Β· dir. Michael Bay
πŸ… 76%β˜… 7.4action Β· adventure Β· thriller

Thriller built on scale, twice over

When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the skills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.

The Perfect Storm poster
The Perfect Storm
2000 Β· dir. Wolfgang Petersen
β˜… 6.5drama Β· adventure Β· action

Another one that scratches it

In October 1991, a confluence of weather conditions combined to form a killer storm in the North Atlantic. Caught in the storm was the sword-fishing boat Andrea Gail.

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The best-reviewed films that share Cliffhanger’s defining feeling.