Movie Info:
Writer: Frank A. Cappello
Director: Frank A. Cappello
Cast: Russell Crowe, Helen Slater, Etsushi Toyokawa, Michael Lerner, Kyusaku Shimada, Kristopher Logan, Kelly Hu, Andrew J. Ferchland, Ian Ziering
Rating: R
Studio: Sony Pictures

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: December 20, 1996
DVD Release Date: June 16, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $18.49

I am almost torn in my decision (or lack thereof) to tell you to run screaming for the hills rather than watching this movie. No Way Back goes by in a blur. The characters are, for the most part, uninteresting and unrelatable. You understand that there is a struggle and that things need to be done to save lives, but you really don’t care. It’s impossible to care with writing as bad as this. In fact, studios should think long and hard before letting Frank A. Cappello have any of their cash. He’s definitely not worth it.

Being fair, I will state that Cappello wrote Constantine, which was by far his biggest hit. He didn’t direct that though and I think that this is where this goes from bad to worse. As bad a writer as he may be, he’s worse when it comes to directing.

I was shocked to find that Cappello is not listed as a producer for this because it’s just plain awful. Everything about it sucks. This film only has one redeeming quality. Helen Slater is the only thing that makes this movie worth watching. I remember watching The Legend of Billie Jean over and over when I was younger. I absolutely loved that movie and loved Slater because of her part in the film. She is actually the main reason that I wanted to review this. Something told me that if all else failed Slater would make it watchable. Boy, was I right on that one. I don’t think she saved the movie, but she made it bearable if nothing else.

I’ve been a fan of Russell Crowe for awhile and generally like his work. I could be nice and say that he tried his best, but I think the more accurate thing to say would be that he’s come a long way. It’s hard to give your all when your script calls for nothing. If nothing else, I am sure that No Way Back taught Crowe to pick his roles better.

Despite having just watched this, as I draw closer to writing the plot of the film, I honestly have to think about what happened. That is because the film is that uninteresting. There aren’t any characters to care about here. There aren’t even that many to take an interest in at all. Most of the characters are incredibly cliche and one-dimensional. The other ones don’t get enough screen time to count.

The No Way Back Plot
Zack Grant (Russell Crowe) is an FBI agent that is anything but conventional. He’s bordering on the edge of rogue, but has yet to make the official leap. In the initial first moments on screen he is seen prepping a rookie agent (Kelly Hu) to go undercover. She will be pretending to be a hooker and she will be going into a group of white supremacists. The leader (Ian Ziering – yes, the one from Beverly Hills 90210) ordered up a hooker, but if it’s up to Grant he won’t be able to enjoy her. He’s loaded her up with something to induce vomiting to get her out of the house. She just has to go in, excuse herself to the bathroom, drop a transmitter, and start gagging so she can leave. Sounds simple, but she opts for killing all the skinheads, the leader included (poor Ziering only had a ten minute role if that) and then herself, leaving Grant without many answers as to what happened.

Grant has no one to blame but himself on this one and the agency is none too happy. It leads him to Japan to try and figure out why his mission went so wrong and who his undercover agent really was helping, since it wasn’t him. This takes him to notorious crime boss, Yuji (Etsushi Toyokawa). The two board a plane as Grant plans to bring him back to see justice is served. On the plane, Grant is bombarded with niceness at the hands of a stewardess, Mary (Slater) that assumes his rudeness is because he’s afraid of flying. When she learns that it’s just that he wants to be left alone, she realizes he has a psychological problem, but his attitude still bothers her.

None of this matters much though because Yuji manages to get away and hijack the plane. Grant has to make sure to find him and bring him in. Things get sticky because he is wanted by a bigger crime boss (Michael Lerner). Grant’s son has been kidnapped and unless they get Yuji they are going to kill him. This leads Mary and Grant on the hunt for Yuji to find him, keep him, and exchange him to save Grant’s son.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
From what I can tell Sony didn’t spend a long time thinking that this was going to be worth a blockbuster release. The specs for No Way Back include 1080p with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It appeared that this was just one of those releases they put out because it has Russell Crowe in it in what could be his most embarrassing film to date. Needless to say, there are a few issues here.

I noticed some glare and color bleeding along with some noise. Apart, none of these would be too much to complain about heavily (minus the color bleeding which was annoying), but together they were far more noticeable. There was a softer feel to this picture. Detail had moments of good clarity, but nothing ever truly wowed me. Sadly, No Way Back ends up being passable, but when it comes to Blu-ray passable is not good enough.

The audio is provided in a Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Again, the results here are passable. Things like volume toggling aren’t an issue, but the quality is just too bland to be called good. Much of the sound rests in the front channels and there lacks a dynamic feel to the sound. Explosions aren’t overly impressive, nor is the gunfire. You won’t have any problem hearing anything but it’s likely that you won’t be impressed by what you hear, so you can take that for what it’s worth. No other languages are included in this release and the only available subtitles are in English and English for the Hearing Impaired.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
The only bonus features available are some BD Live features and previews before the movie and through the previews tab. The only before the movie preview is The International. Through the previews menu there are previews of Lakeview Terrace, The Da Vinci Code Extended Cut, S.W.A.T., 88 Minutes, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Felon and Revolver.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
No Way Back is no one’s shining star when it comes to their movie careers. This reminds me of one of those movies that people do when they are starting their careers. In the case of Russell Crowe and American cinema that is somewhat true. However, Helen Slater had already been Supergirl and Billie Jean Davies. How do you go from Supergirl and Billie Jean to an uppity, psychology know-it-all stewardess?

I just don’t understand it personally. This isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s far from the best. I think Sony felt the same way, considering the lack of bonus features they offered in this bare bones release. If you need to see this I recommend renting it. Otherwise, don’t bother unless you want to shake your head for a few hours, trying to wonder what the hell happened to Billie Jean.

Overall Rating:

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