John Lithgow is no stranger to playing villains. The actor has played a number of standout roles over the course of his fifty-plus-year career, particularly excelling and gaining notoriety for his memorable supporting characters. In addition to providing the voice of the villainous Lord Farquad inShrek(2001),Lithgow played villain charactersinRicochet(1991),Bombshell(2019),Blow Out(1981),Raising Cane(1992), and theDexterTV show. He also appeared as a larger-than-life villain in a 1993 movie starring Sylvester Stallone.
Stallone has been a fixture of the action genre for decades, getting his start withRockyin 1976 and continuing to play the iconic boxer in a handful of sequels. He’s also known for playing tortured veteran Rambo, of course, a role that dates back to 1982’sFirst Blood. Since then, Stallone has appeared in action movies likeCobra(1986),Demolition Man(1993),Judge Dredd(1995),The Expendables(2014),Bullet to the Head(2012) andEscape Plan(2013). His 1993 collaboration with Lithgow, however, remains a standout entry in the action genre.
John Lithgow Names Cliffhanger’s Eric Qualen His “Corniest” Villain
But Eric Qualen’s Death Scene Stands Above The Rest
Lithgow reveals that he thinksCliffhangerfeatures his “corniest” villain role, but that it also features his best death scene. Directed by Renny Harlin, the action film features Stallone starring as Gabe Walker, a Search-and-Rescue mountain climber who finds himself tangled up in the heist of a U.S. Treasury plane when suitcases full of cash get lost in the Rocky Mountains. Sporting a posh British accent,Lithgow’s Eric Qualen serves as the movie’s central antagonist, a man who will stop at nothing to recover the missing cash.
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In a recent interview withVarietyin which he attempts to guess his lines from movies over the course of his career, Lithgow looks back fondly on his time as Qualen inCliffhanger. The actor says that,though Qualen is his “corniest” villain role, it remains a career highlight because of his climactic battle with Stallone, which takes place in part on top of an upside down helicopter as it hangs from the side of a mountain. Check out Lithgow’s comment onCliffhangerbelow:
“My corniest villain but it’s survived the test of time, and with Sly Stallone. The big climax is a huge fight to the death with Sylvester Stallone on the belly of an upended helicopter sort of harnessed to a mountain rock face 30,000 feet above sea level. And, at the end, after pummeling each other, this huge battle royale, the helicopter comes loose and falls all the way down and crashes. The best death I’ve ever had. Doing a big fight scene with Sly Stallone, that’s top of the food chain.”
Our Take On Lithgow’s Villain In Cliffhanger
The 1993 Movie Remains An Action Standout
Cliffhangermay now be more than 30 years old, but it remains one ofStallone’s best-ever action movieswith some truly remarkable set pieces. Lithgow is hamming it up as Qualen, but it works in the context of the movie.Cliffhangercame only five years afterDie Hard, andthe movie is clearly an attempt to recapture the dynamic between a resilient everyman and a slick criminal that was present between Bruce Willis' John McClane and Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber.
ACliffhangerreboot is now in the workswith Lily James starring and Jaume Collet-Serra directing.
ThoughCliffhangermay not be quite as strong a film asDie Hard, it certainly succeeds when it comes to thrills, andQualen is a villain who is easy to root against. As Lithgow says, the final set piece involving the helicopter is also a unique stage for a climactic fight sequence. Even though it would be hard to call Qualen Lithgow’s best character or most iconic villain,Cliffhangerdefinitely remains a top film for both Lithgow and Stallone.
