Customer Reviews

No Way Back [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This Russell Crowe film is one of his least known works. One should realize it is not in the same caliber as his other great films, but one that should be appreciated as strictly an action hero performance instead. "No Way Out" was not a theaterical release, instead it debuted on cable televison. It has the typical elements of a made for t.v. movie fare; weak script and storyline, minimal character development, and strictly action-driven. However, Russell Crowe turns this film around from your typical action genre movie to a well-paced and well-acted film on his part. This is the first role of Crowe's where he plays a father and a widower. It is ashame there was not enough of an established relationship between father and son. However, it was so adorable to see the character of Zack Grant talk to his son as if an adult and have his son call him by his first name. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised by this different kind of film, character, and performance by Russell Crowe in his fourth U.S. film. You will notice how far he has come in his present film career!

While clearly not big studio fare this fun little film sneaks up and takes you by surprise. Director Frank Cappello moves an interesting set of characters along in a fun and engaging way that is far above what you expect in this kind of low-budget genre piece. Cinematography is especially good and the movie has a slick and stylish look. Effects and action sequences are modest, but well done. The film never seems to take itself too seriously, which is a big plus at this level. I highly recommend this one, but I liked "American Yakuza," the previous effort by this same director-producer-cameraman team even better. Check them both out.

I'm a big fan of Russell Crowe's work, "L.A. Confidential" and "Proof" are among my favorite films. Having said that, I have to place "No Way Back" in the "what was he thinking?" category. Okay, it's a low-budget, made-for-cable action film, and I shouldn't have hoped for too much, right? Well, I've come to expect Russell Crowe to pull a riveting performance out of even a weak script or a two-dimensional character - just watch "The Quick and the Dead" or "Virtuosity" for evidence of that. Unfortunately, Crowe's Zack Grant was flat and uninteresting and the character of Mary, played by Helen Slater, was simply excruciating. The only performance in the whole film worth watching was Etsushi Toyokawa as "bad guy" Yuji. He brought some complexity and subtlety to what could have been just another flat character. The bottom line? Skip this one, even if you're a big Crowe fan. Trust me.

This is not Crowe's best OR worst movie. I found a lot of heart in this story of a father trying to save his son, by going against his bosses, to surrrender an alleged murderer to the father of his victim. Good shoot out up front, good one in the middle, good ending. Great AZ location shoot!

Helen Slater added much humor to a serious story, and Russell plays well with her character. Gives him a chance to smirk and crack wise. (Note the KIWI Mary carves for Zack).

Anyone notice how there always seems to be some reference to Australia or NZ in every Crowe non-Australian or NZ movie? Worth a look for the Crowe fan. I love the long hair & beard.

I am constantly amazed at his abilities as an actor. I fell in love with Russ watching LA Confidential, and was determined to seek out every movie he's been in. I really enjoyed No Way Back as it falls into one of my fave movie genres - the action/drama/organized crime and police type films. His NYC accent was convincing, and his intensity, as always, put this film into the "I'll watch this over and over again" category for me. There was a perfect mix of drama and action, with just a touch of comedy.

I'm glad I bought it from Amazon!

I actually missed this film altogether from cable to VHS to DVD, but once I saw a Blu release I thought it might be worth a shot. This film must have had a place in the 90s action genre library, but it had no place being saved here (in HD) other than to record Crowe's earlier works.

The film content is laughable, and the amount of flubs and mistakes were the highest I have seen in virtually any 90s film of this genre. So I skipped finding everything wrong and instead went for a quality review on the Blu end. Admittedly, this movie has loads of opportunity in creating a nice reference for Blu display testing; The deserts, skylines, color contrasts (especially that red flight attendant outfit against the sandy backdrop) and big action are ripe for being a sleeper. Instead Sony went the low budget way and did little to clean it up. The picture looked the same as the upscaled DVD, and the TrueHD was uneventful. The CGI failings somehow became even more prevalent, so maybe there was some edge enhancement done or an equivalent that ended up not producing a competent reference. I would have to say the opening sequence with Kelly Hu was actually the best test (red lipstick, pale skin makeup contrast). Was strange seeing the 747 fly below the Twin Towers, and then even worse seeing it fly through the mountains like it was a Cessna....anyway.

No special features and not a recommendation unless maybe you never got the DVD.

While I am a huge fan of Crowe's... this was NOT one of his better performances.

There is plenty of action, more than average suspense but the dialogue is lacking greatly.

Phrases and sentences that just don't make a lot of sense permeate the entire script. More specifically, I found myself saying "would they REALLY say that in this situation???".

Russell drops in and out of his "American" accent, which is a painful reminder of the fact that this is one of the earlier films in his now stalwartly coral of films.

STILL, that all being said... if you are collecting the lot of them... it is worth the purchase if not for anything other than to be able to see just how far he has come.

Enjoy!

OK, so it's not the best movie ever made, but NO ONE can second guess Crowe's ability to put himself inside a character until the viewer forgets who he really is. (like that fact that he's an Aussie, and NOT from Jersey.) I think the absurd character 'Mary' was a little (OK, a LOT) too 'flighy' of a flight attendant for my tastes, but let's just forget about her, OK? Also, was it possible for yuji to have a more annoying and difficult to understand voice? Oh well, overall, I enjoyed this movie, but that's mostly because I am such a HUGE Russell Crowe fan! (Also, the kid who played Crowe's son was just so gosh darned cute! )

I like this movie simply because it was entertaining. There's no deep drama, brainiac prose or intense emotional scenes here. It's just a story about your average cop with a major attitude problem who has a somewhat strained relationship with his 7(?) year old son. The reasons as to why there's a seeminly lack of affection from this single father to his son is explained through poignant flashbacks. The movie is LA Confidential meets Rush Hour. I found Crowe's character humorous, simply because he's so grumpy and prickly, one wonders if it's possible for anyone to be that rude! The ending is uncharacteristically endearing for a movie of this genre. Definitely a must see for Crowe fans.

I have almost all of Russell Crowe's movies, but unfortuneatly this may be his worst. Everything about it goes against what Russell prides himself in making a movie. His charactar's dialogue is contrived and unrealistic. He is famous for battling directors when it comes to the integrity of his charactar, but he didn't win this battle. His co-star Helen Slater played a stupid girl with stupid lines, again a co-star's charactar the Russell must have had little patience for. I can overlook a bad movie and still enjoy Russell, but I wasn't able to in this one.