No Way Back is a 1995 American action film written and directed by Frank A. Cappello. The film stars Russell Crowe, Helen Slater, and Etsushi Toyokawa. The film was released in 1996 in the United States.
| No Way Back | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Frank A. Cappello |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Aki Komine Joel Soisson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Richard Clabaugh |
| Edited by | Sonny Baskin |
| Music by | David C. Williams |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia TriStar Home Video |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Japanese |
Plot
editWhen an undercover FBI agent with a secret agenda (Kelly Hu) murders the skinhead son (Ian Ziering) of high-ranking crime boss Frank Serlano (Michael Lerner), the mafioso retaliates by kidnapping the son of Zach Grant (Russell Crowe), the FBI agent in charge of the botched undercover sting.
Simultaneously, Yuji (Etsushi Toyokawa), wanted dead by the yakuza for forthcoming legal testimony, breaks free from Grant's supervision during a trans-Atlantic flight. He forces their airplane, along with Mary (Helen Slater), the ditzy stewardess accompanying them, to make an emergency-landing. In an attempt to free Yuji from the gaze of the yakuza and regain custody of Zach's child from the mafia, the three crash survivors go off of the grid and set into motion a dangerous plan that could quickly facilitate their untimely demise.
Cast
edit- Russell Crowe as FBI Agent Zack Grant
- Helen Slater as Mary
- Etsushi Toyokawa as Yuji Kobayashi
- Michael Lerner as Frank Serlano
- Kyūsaku Shimada as Tetsuro
- Ian Ziering as Victor Serlano
- François Chau as FBI Agent Gim Takakura
- Kelly Hu as Seiko Kobayashi
- Andrew J. Ferchland as Eric Grant
Production
editThe film was produced after the success of American Yakuza prompted Overseas Filmgroup to move forward on another film centering around the Yakuza.[1]
Release
editNo Way Back was first broadcast on HBO on December 20, 1996 before being released on home video on June 17, 1997.[2] [3]
Reception
editDenise Lanctot of Entertainment Weekly rated it D+ and wrote that it would have made a better video game.[4] Scott Hamilton and Chris Holland of Radio Times rated it 1/5 stars and called it a "preposterous crime thriller".[5] R.L. Shaffer of IGN rated it 5/10 and recommended that fans of the stars watch their other films instead.[6] Ian Jane of DVD Talk rated it 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "A wholly mediocre thriller, No Way Back will be of passing interesting to Russell Crowe fans and those who enjoy low budget action movies but outside of that group, it'll probably fall pretty flat."[7]
References
edit- ^ "AFM Notes". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- ^ "Miramax dances in 'Rain'". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- ^ '"No Way Back (1996)". tcm.com. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
- ^ Lanctot, Denise (1996-06-20). "No Way Back". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- ^ Hamilton, Scott; Holland, Chris. "No Way Back". Radio Times. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- ^ Shaffer, R. L. (2009-06-25). "No Way Back Blu-ray Review". IGN. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
- ^ Jane, Ian (2009-06-29). "No Way Back (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2015-10-06.