Based on the script by QUAN Yongxian, Cliff Walkers is director ZHANG Yimou's first foray into the spy genre. Set the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, the film follows four Communist party special agents who return to China after receiving training in the Soviet Union. Together, they embark on a secret mission code-named "Utrennya". After being sold out by a traitor, the team find themselves surrounded by threats on all sides from the moment they parachute into the mis... (Full plot summary below)
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Based on the script by QUAN Yongxian, Cliff Walkers is director ZHANG Yimou's first foray into the spy genre. Set the puppet state of Manchukuo in the 1930s, the film follows four Communist party special agents who return to China after receiving training in the Soviet Union. Together, they embark on a secret mission code-named "Utrennya". After being sold out by a traitor, the team find themselves surrounded by threats on all sides from the moment they parachute into the mission. Will the agents break the impasse and complete their mission? On the snowy grounds of Manchukuo, the team will be tested to their limit.
Leave your thoughts about Cliff Walkers.
| The Film StageJared MobarakThe seasoned director does a good job mixing in some kinetic action too, whether a high-speed car chase or multiple instances of one person desperately trying to shake off his/her assailants in pursuit. |
| RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsIn many ways, Zhang’s latest is the coldest film that he’s made in a while, though it might also be his most alluring. |
| Screen DailyJohn BerraHe may not add anything new to the spy genre, but Zhang knows how to deliver a ripping yarn with the requisite panache. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreThere’s nothing in Cliff Walkers that we haven’t seen in many a prior spy tale, and it’s not a picture you’d single out for great acting moments. Clean up the blood, and you could call it almost old-fashioned. It’s still a corker of a thriller that keeps you guessing which Hero of the Revolution will sacrifice him or herself next. |
| The PlaylistAsher LubertoCliff Walkers quickly drops us into this winter wonderland, all whites, grays, and blacks, and delivers some of the most mesmerizing landscapes you’ll see all year. But for a film about undercover operatives, it lacks thrills, and it doesn’t give us any characters we can latch onto. |
| SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiIt’s a sturdy spy thriller from Zhang, a competent first outing in the genre for the filmmaker. But most of all, Cliff Walkers is safe. |
| The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe numerous action set pieces would be memorable even if the plot points didn’t eventually fall into place, which they do. |
| Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdonaThe story moves crisply, though with all the twists and the lack of introductions to the main players, it’s not easy to follow at first. The fights and chases are handled expertly (the “action director” is Jung Doo); they’re dynamic but believable and deliver emotional impact. |
| The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyEvery scene in Cliff Walkers will feel familiar: the close calls, the dead drops, the car chases, the poor man’s Hitchcockisms. |
| IndieWireDavid EhrlichWhile there are some riches to be found under the surface for anyone who feels like watching this with a flow chart, Zhang is so clearly seduced by the spell of his own movie magic that everything else feels like an inadvertent side effect. He’s on his side, and he’ll forge whatever strategic alliances he needs to in order to stay there. |
