Bill Paxton's Survival Thriller From A James Bond Director Is A Must-Watch On Netflix

He might be responsible for "Green Lantern," but Martin Campbell also directed two of the best James Bond movies ever made. In fact, the New Zealand director has made a lot more than celebrated 007 outings and misguided superhero duds. In 2000, for instance, he directed "Vertical Limit," a survival thriller starring Chris O'Donnell and Bill Paxton that was met with a tepid response upon its initial release, but is worth seeking out now on Netflix.

After directing 1995's "GoldenEye," Campbell had a jarring introduction to the James Bond fandom. That is to say the director was hammered with questions by aggrieved fans at a convention following the film's release. Those fans were seemingly upset with pretty much every choice Campbell had made in "GoldenEye," yet 30 years later, the film remains a highlight of the Bond franchise. Even if you weren't a fan of Pierce Brosnan's debut in the tux, Campbell surely redeemed himself in 2006 with "Casino Royale," the best James Bond movie ever made. With that film alone, the man cemented his standing as one of the great Bond directors and almost earned preemptive forgiveness for "Green Lantern."

Aside from 1998's "The Mask of Zorro," however, Campbell's non-Bond films haven't made as big of an impact. That doesn't mean they're not worthy of attention, though. Take "Vertical Limit," for example, which if nothing else is an interesting entry in the Campbell canon as it debuted just before the Jason Bourne-propelled gritty reboot trend of the early 2000s really took off. As such, it has none of the more grounded action that made "Casino Royale" so refreshing and exhilarating. Instead, its action is over-the-top, but knowingly so, making for an exciting if sort of ridiculous thriller.

After "GoldenEye," Martin Campbell was offered the chance to direct more James Bond movies but declined, preferring to wait until a new actor took on the mantle of 007. What did he do instead? Well, there's the aforementioned "The Mask of Zorro," which was a big success in 1998. Then, there was "Vertical Limit," a 2000 survival thriller that wasn't quite as successful but made a decent profit and impressed a few critics.

The film stars Chris O'Donnell as Peter Garrett, a former climber who retires after a fateful trip during which he was forced to cut his father's safety rope to save himself and his sister, Annie Garrett (Robin Tunney). But he's quickly pulled back into action after Annie embarks on a climbing expedition on K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, and becomes trapped in a crevasse. Bill Paxton, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 61, plays billionaire Elliot Vaughn, who funds the K2 expedition and joins Annie on her climb alongside experienced mountaineer Tom McLaren (Nicholas Lea). After the group becomes trapped, Peter assembles his own crew to mount a rescue mission. That crew includes seasoned climber Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn), who has unfinished business with Vaughn following the mysterious death of his wife on K2 some years prior.

The film was released in December 2000 and was a solid hit, earning $215.6 million at the box office on a $75 million budget. That's almost as much as the $250.3 million made by "Zorro." Alas, the movie didn't have anywhere near the same cultural impact.

In 2000, James Bond was in a strange place. It would be a couple of years before Matt Damon and "The Bourne Identity" overhauled the action genre and introduced the grounded tone that came to dominate movies of the era. As such, Bond was gearing up for one of his silliest outings yet and the worst 007 movie ever made according to IMDb: 2002's "Die Another Day." Martin Campbell had nothing to do with that film, having turned down repeated offers to return to the franchise. Had he taken up EON Productions on their offer, it's not entirely clear that "Die Another Day" would have been any less silly — especially if "Vertical Limit" is anything to go by.

Critics at the time were divided on Campbell's mountain climbing thriller, which currently bears a 49% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert was a fan, giving the film three stars and describing it as "strongly acted and well crafted" even if it was full of "obvious formulas and pulp novel conflicts." Wesley Morris of the San Francisco Chronicle, however, was less impressed, writing that the film "doesn't just operate at the height of ludicrousness; it also puts marshmallow Chris O'Donnell in the business of saving lives." Some reviewers echoed his critique of the film as a silly clichéd action thriller, but others actually enjoyed that aspect.

It might not be the finest mountain climbing movie ever made, then, and certainly isn't the most realistic, but "Vertical Limit" remains an underrated survival movie that will definitely increase your heart rate. The film is currently available to stream on Netflix in the United States.