Point of No Return (1993)

Director:

John Badham

Writers (WGA):

Luc Besson (film La Femme Nikita)
Robert Getchell (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 March 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The Government gave her a choice. Death. Or life as an assassin. Now, there's no turning back.

Plot:

A gang of armed drug-addicts break into a chemist shop to try and steal drugs to fuel their habit. However...

Plot Keywords:

Assassin | Lethal Injection | Black Belt | Washington D.C. | California

Cast

Bridget Fonda	...	Maggie Hayward - Claudia Anne Doran - Nina
Gabriel Byrne	...	Bob
Dermot Mulroney	...	J.P.
Miguel Ferrer	...	Kaufman
Anne Bancroft	...	Amanda
Olivia d'Abo	...	Angela
Richard Romanus	...	Fahd Bahktiar
Harvey Keitel	...	Victor the Cleaner
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Beth
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Drugstore Owner
Mic Rodgers	...	Cop
Michael Rapaport	...	Big Stan
Ray Oriel	...	Burt
Spike McClure	...	Johnny D
Lieux Dressler	...	Johnny's Mom

Also Known As:

The Assassin (Australia) (International: English title) (UK) (USA) (video title)
Girl No. 5 (USA) (working title)
The Assassin - (Point of No Return) (UK) (DVD box title)
The Specialist (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

109 min | Germany:104 min (TV version) | Turkey:101 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) (uncut) (1993) | Finland:K-16 (DVD) (cut) (1999) | Finland:K-18 (original rating) (uncut) (1993) | Germany:16 (heavily cut) | Philippines:R-18 | USA:R (certificate #32163) | Argentina:13 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Norway:15 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Australia:M | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Bourbon Street, French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Michael W. Watkins]last guard at the gate during the escape.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the beginning of the movie Maggie was sentenced with the death penalty by a Washington DC judge, that's wrong because the death penalty was abolished in the year 1981 in that state.

Quotes:

Maggie: How about you kiss my ass right in the crack?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Soundtrack:

EVERGLADE

If you can get past the brutality you might enjoy it.

This IS a really brutal movie-I usually don't like violence in movies but in this case the violence was sort of neccessary for the overall subject at hand. Once I got past that, I really enjoyed this in a way that surprised me because it wouldn't be the type of pic I'd usally watch.

I think Gabriel Byrne is what made this movie. He was great as Bob and the chemistry between him and maggie/Nina was overwhelming. I think this was a movie made good by the cast. I thought Fonda and Byrne were incredible.

I wouldn't call this "dreary" as much as sometimes brutal with alot of violence. Still it's a good movie, I think besides the incredible chemistry between Byrne and Fonda the story was moving and makes you want to know what happens nest.

Harvey Keitel was positively creepy as the Cleaner! There are some really-well- for lack of a better term icky scenes in the movie but the acting is first rate and holds your attention.

There are some negatives to: to much violence that seemed kind of for shock value, after awhile it becomes a bit much:ok we get the idea. The AMMOUNT of shootings, explosions etc detracts from the wonderful acting and powerful story at hand, they could have minimized the brutality A LITTLE.

Also, Gabriel Byrne and Bridget Fonda should have had more scenes together, their chemistry is what made the movie. I understand, looking at imdb comments that this is a remake and I didn't know that before, but although this movie is very engrossing it doesn't get up to 10 status. Stil, it's defintely worth seeing if you have a strong stomach and haven't seen it.