Point of No Return (The Assassin) poster & wallpaper
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Bridget Fonda, Gabriel Byrne, Dermot Mulroney, Miguel Ferrer, Anne Bancroft ... see more see more... , Harvey Keitel , Olivia d'Abo , Richard Romanus , Lorraine Toussaint , Geoffrey Lewis , Clark Heathcliffe Brolly , John Capodice , François Chau , Lieux Dressier , Frank Girardeau , James Handy , Robert Harvey , Gary Kasper , Calvin Levels , Jodie Markell , Michael Rapaport , Bill M. Ryusaki , Jan Speck , Carmen Zapata , Kenny Endoso , James Herbert , Harry Perry , Ray Oriel , Mic Rodgers , David Sosna , Peter Mark Vasquez , Michael Runyard , Lee Dupree , Bonnie Timmermann , Joe J. Garcia

Director John Badham's remake of French action thriller La Femme Nikita moves the action to the U.S., where Maggie (Bridget Fonda) is a strung-out Washington, D.C. drug addict who kills a policeman in... read more read more... a pharmaceutical-induced haze. Sentenced to death, Maggie is rescued by a shady operative, Bob (Gabriel Byrne), who offers to save her life if she'll become a covert government assassin. Maggie agrees and trains for a life as a professional killer under a new name, Claudia. Her classes include weaponry, martial arts, explosives, and even social graces under the tutelage of Amanda (Anne Bancroft). Claudia is transformed into a classy sophisticate and is assigned to Venice, California, where she falls for J.P. (Dermot Mulroney), an attractive photographer who lives downstairs. Claudia's highly dangerous job soon interferes when she's ordered to carry out a series of clever assassinations, including a hit in a restaurant and a hotel bombing. When one particular killing goes horribly wrong, she gets some assistance from Victor the Cleaner (Harvey Keitel), a disposal artist who may have also been ordered to get rid of Claudia. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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50% liked it

29,408 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

22 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: John Badham

Release Date: March 19, 1993

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DVD Release Date: August 19, 2003

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Stats: 875 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (875)

  • jmanard52
    March 22, 2007
    jmanard52
    I was a sucker for Fonda her. But this was actually a decent american version of the awesome french la femme nikita. Gabriel Bryne is awesome in this version.
  • phubbs1
    May 6, 2012
    phubbs1
    Even though its regarded as a poor remake of the original french film, this is still a good action film. Fonda is supremely sexy as 'Nina' the woman turned around to an assassin, its pretty violent and there's plenty of gun play with steamy scenes.
    Keitel is great as the cold cl... read moreeaner, his scene is very unnerving and chilling really, no emotions that man.

    Bancroft is perfect as the classy elegant female who must teach 'Nina' to become a lady and deadly at the same time and Byrne is good as her boss in his usual stoic manner. It is kinda dated now of course but it still works well, nothing too amazing but its a solid action thriller, Fonda makes it for sure.
  • ythelastman89
    August 24, 2011
    ythelastman89
    Point of No Return is a prime example of a remake that exists for no reason. It's literally a carbon copy of the original, but set in the US. Even the apartment has the same broken roof panels. There's just no reason I can see why they wanted to make the same exact movie over aga... read morein. It's not like the cast is all that explosive; Bridget Fonda is just average at best. There's nothing interesting being done visually or content-wise in this that in any way makes it stand out. The only benefit to this version in the context of an American audience is you don't have subtitles, which is apparently enough of a reason to pour millions of dollars into a project. To Say this is bad is wrong, it's just extremely mediocre and pointless. Any human being with half a brain can see that compared to the French version it's just a lame copy. It also has a cheeseball ending thrown in to top it all off.
  • Redlats
    July 11, 2008
    Redlats
    American version of La Femme Nikita. It has been a while since I've seen the Nikita series, so I can't do a lot of comparing. The story is somewhat bland. Druggy rehabilitated as government killer does her job. However she falls in love and wants out of her assassin role.
  • mjgildea
    April 18, 2007
    mjgildea
    Fucking painful! Keitel as the cleaner was the only high point. It reminds me why the early 90s were awful.
  • jjnxn
    April 1, 2007
    jjnxn
    for those looking for something mindless and violent here it is
  • garyX
    March 10, 2007
    garyX
    Mechanical Hollywood remake of La Femme Nikita (which wasn't that good anyway.)
  • sanjurosamurai
    January 24, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    pretty decent flick
  • nuheart
    January 5, 2007
    nuheart
    This is the odd exception where I enjoyed the remake more than the original. La Femme Nikita was just kind of annoying.
  • deano
    November 19, 2006
    deano
    The remake of "Le Femme Nikita" is fantastic and the first-time I ever see Bridget Fonda in action. Her best action scene is on her first mission in the restaurant.

View All Point of No Return (The Assassin) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Rob Gonsalves
September 22, 2007
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Hollywood, in its infinite wisdom, figures it can make better American pulp than the French can. As it turns out, Hollywood is right. Full Review

Michael Dequina
January 2, 2004
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

A remake faithful to the film upon which it is based and an intelligent, thrilling action film with a real story and solid acting. Full Review

Carlo Cavagna
November 26, 2003
Carlo Cavagna, AboutFilm.com

Totally unnecessary, sterile remake of LA FEMME NIKITA.

MaryAnn Johanson
October 29, 2003
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

bah. rent the French original

Brian Mckay
March 19, 2003
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

An okay remake of the better LA FEMME NIKITA. Captures the spirit, but not the intensity.

Rob Vaux
August 13, 2002
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

Fonda looks great in that little black cocktail dress, but this studio remake robs the terrific original of its soul.

Bob Grimm
July 26, 2002
Bob Grimm, Las Vegas Mercury

Bridget looks great, but the film is hackneyed.

Chris Hicks
January 1, 2000
Chris Hicks, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Point of No Return is violent, loud, profane, angry, nasty and, in terms of its plot, often quite ridiculous. In other words, it has all the makings of a box office hit. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 7, 2011
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

Todd McCarthy
March 26, 2009
Todd McCarthy, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Point of No Return (The Assassin) Trivia

  • Which Movie is also known as "Point Of No Return" and stars Bridget Fonda?  Answer »
  • This is an almost verbatim remake of the French film Nikita.  Answer »
  • Point of No Return (with Bridget Fonda as an assassin) was a remake of a foreign movie. What nationality was the original?  Answer »
  • What film was released in the Uk as The Assassin under which other name in the USA?  Answer »
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