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:

Faked Death | Remake Of French Film | Remake | Hitwoman | Hitman

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

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (original rating) (uncut) (1993) | Philippines:R-18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 (DVD) (cut) (1999) | USA:R (certificare #32163) | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) (uncut) (1993) | Germany:16 (heavily cut) | 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:

Art Linson Productions

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the opening store robbery and subsequent firefight with the police, one of the officers is using a rifle to pick off the criminals. Each time he fires, the accompanying sound effect is that of a firearm that is equipped with a sound suppressor, when it's apparent none is attached to the end of the rifle's barrel.

Quotes:

Victor: I'm Victor. I'm the cleaner.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Touch of Satan (#10.8)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

ZYDECO BOOGALOO

Not really bad

As a remake this suffers badly in comparison with the original, La Femme Nikita. However, taken on its own, it's a passable action/thriller. Action junkies could do a lot worse at the rental store.

It's interesting how readily this translates from the French. The lifting of scene by scene impressed me with how similar Washington is to Paris. In fact, some of the action seemed more plausible in Washington than Paris. It might even be fun to try and figure out which French locations match the U.S. ones.

Still, given a choice - rent La Femme Nikita.