--
Sang Kim | "How come we play war and not peace?"
ki...@panix.com | "Too few role models."
| -- Calvin & Hobbes (Bill Watterson)
It means that Kevin Costner was, after all, Yuri.
Hyunsuk Seung
hse...@anat3d1.anatomy.upenn.edu
Oh, nothing. It just takes everything you thought you knew and turns it inside
out, that's all. Are you KIDDING??? What's the importance? He's a SPY! It's
called a "major plot twist"--or, more appropriately, a "kick in the face".
--Vince
That reminds me. When this movie came out, several well-known critics got
all bent out of shape because they thought the ending was unfair. I, for
one, really got a kick out of it.It's funny how some of the know-it-all
film critics rave on and on about how there are too many predictable films
in Hollywood. Then, when one comes out with a real kicker of a twist at the
end, they dismiss it as unfair. Yikes!
Mark B. Bendiksen
ma...@bendiksen.tamu.edu
And the twist at the end wasn't totally unfair either, for the movie's
opening scene begins with Kevin Costner reporting to his Russian
superiors. A great flick!
Hyunsuk Seung
hse...@anat3d1.anatomy.upenn.edu
>And the twist at the end wasn't totally unfair either, for the movie's
>opening scene begins with Kevin Costner reporting to his Russian
>superiors. A great flick!
That's the surprise of the movie.. In the beginning, it appears that
when Costner arrives in Washington and checks into his old apartment,
the landlord seems to be nothing more than just that.. In the end, the
landlord turns out to be his superior and that Costner is in reality
the rumored "Yuri" that most suspect never existed...
I not even sure at that point in the beginning of the movie, Costner
(Yuri) even knows that the landlord is his Russian spy superior..
.
.
.
...
[spoiler about the plot twist at the end of _No Way Out_ deleted]
>That reminds me. When this movie came out, several well-known critics got
>all bent out of shape because they thought the ending was unfair. I, for
>one, really got a kick out of it.It's funny how some of the know-it-all
>film critics rave on and on about how there are too many predictable films
>in Hollywood. Then, when one comes out with a real kicker of a twist at the
>end, they dismiss it as unfair. Yikes!
Well, anyone who complained about the ending of _No Way Out_ was just
whining, it was a fine ending, in keeping with the tone of the whole
movie.
That said, a twist ending has *nothing* to do with whether a film (or a
book) is predictable. If you can see every plot event coming a mile away
for the whole two hours and then there is an arbitrary surprise in the
last 30 seconds, it would still be a predictable movie. I did not,
however, find _No Way Out_ to be predictable at all. The whole movie was
lots of good fun and the ending was *perfect*, IMO.
-------------------------------
Brent Hutto
hu...@SMTC.engr.scarolina.edu
WHAT? WHAT? Did you COMPLETELY miss the whole movie? he was a
very very clever spy for the USSR!!! The whole point is you think he is going
to be caught as a spy because of circumstances but in fact he WAS the spy.
Yikes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Dempsey (410) 338-1334
STScI/PODPS
One of the symptoms of an aproaching nervous breakdown is the belief that
one's work is terribly important. - Bertrand Russell
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Actually, what I meant was that the movie first starts off with Kevin
Costner reporting to two Russian superiors in a room with a camcorder
running, AND THEN the film flashes back six months earlier. So, in
the end when he turns out to be Yuri, it's back to the reporting scene
in the beginning.
Hyunsuk Seung
hse...@anat3d1.anatomy.upenn.edu
The movie had nothing whatsoever to do with spies.
> The whole point is you think he is going
>to be caught as a spy
He wasn't going to be "caught as a spy" because he wasn't hunted as
a spy. He was hunted because he's the guy-who-was-fucking-sean-young
and-could-be-conveniently-blamed-for-her-murder.
The spy thing was just an excuse.
They could just as easily have sought him because, ...uhm...
he's the guy who shot Kennedy. Yeah, that's it.
And then, in the end, Lo and Behold, Jumpin' Jeezus!, he really
did shoot Kennedy.
Big deal.
Personally, I thought the ending sucked. It was completely irrelevant
to the story.
> because of circumstances but in fact he WAS the spy.
>
>Yikes.
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Robert Dempsey (410) 338-1334
>STScI/PODPS
>
>One of the symptoms of an aproaching nervous breakdown is the belief that
>one's work is terribly important. - Bertrand Russell
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>>at the end?
>It means that Kevin Costner was, after all, Yuri.
I was confused about this also. I thought that Yuri
was made up to cover Gene Hackman's role
in the murder.
Sue *
right, but at the beginning you have no idea who is really debriefing him
or why. You assume....but then you are wrong
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Dempsey (410) 338-1334
STScI/PODPS
"The only uniform CCD is a dead CCD." C. D. Mackay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yuri was made up. Costner was, after all, a spy...not Yuri, but a spy.
So the whole time that Hackman and friend were pretending to track a
spy while really looking for Sean Young's other lover (Costner's
character) it turns out that they were really closing in on a real spy
that they didn't even know existed.
--
Frank Peters - UNIX Systems Programmer - Mississippi State University
Internet: f...@CC.MsState.Edu - Phone: (601)325-7030 - FAX: (601)325-8921
> In article <1993Jul16...@stsci.edu> dem...@stsci.edu writes:
>>
>>WHAT? WHAT? Did you COMPLETELY miss the whole movie? he was a
>>very very clever spy for the USSR!!!
>
> The movie had nothing whatsoever to do with spies.
>
Nothing whatsoever? Wrongo. he was trying to get close to her because he was
a spy, there was the beleif there was a Yuri inside and he might be compromised
(exposed) due to her death, and in the end he was Yuri. That is a hell of a
lot to do with spies!
>
>> The whole point is you think he is going
>>to be caught as a spy
>
>
> He wasn't going to be "caught as a spy" because he wasn't hunted as
> a spy. He was hunted because he's the guy-who-was-fucking-sean-young
> and-could-be-conveniently-blamed-for-her-murder.
>
right, I mispoke there
> The spy thing was just an excuse.
>
no, it was an important subplot
>
> Personally, I thought the ending sucked. It was completely irrelevant
> to the story.
>
Again you missed something then. Kevin Costner was too slick and not
fully motivated to do all he did UNLESS he really had soemthing to hid and
was more than just a naval officer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Dempsey (410) 338-1334
STScI/PODPS
"The only uniform CCD is a dead CCD." C. D. Mackay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the movie, there was a long time rumor circulating among the
intelligence folks that a Russian spy named "Yuri" was operating
within the Pentagon circle, and Gene Hackman's role just blamed Yuri
as the "suspect" who killed his mistress, so he can weasel out of the
crime he commited.
Hyunsuk Seung
hse...@anat3d1.anatomy.upenn.edu
Even though we probably don't need "No Way Out" Spoiler warnings anymore ...
>>>It means that Kevin Costner was, after all, Yuri.
>>
>>I was confused about this also. I thought that Yuri
>>was made up to cover Gene Hackman's role
>>in the murder.
>
>In the movie, there was a long time rumor circulating among the
>intelligence folks that a Russian spy named "Yuri" was operating
>within the Pentagon circle, and Gene Hackman's role just blamed Yuri
>as the "suspect" who killed his mistress, so he can weasel out of the
>crime he commited.
... thinking all along that it was a red herring. So Costner got put
on the trail of "Yuri", who was a Pentagon UL - to divert attention
from Hackman's killing his mistress.
And at the end, Costner turned out to have been Yuri all along.
God, I loved this ending...
--Craig
--
Craig S. Richardson (cri...@eskimo.com - formerly eskimo.celestial.com))
GM - Pullman Sleepers (OBFBL), Seattle Rainiers (IFL)
GM/Manager - Tacoma Black Adders (IBL) - "The Future Begins Tomorrow"
(shameless woof): finger cri...@eskimo.com for update of my NABA stats
I think he did know his landlord was his "controller".
Remember Costner's pay-phone call at the pentagon, he must have been
talking to the landlord?
__________________________________________________________________________
:o:The World According to Mike Schneider: :o:
:o: *Roger Moore was the best James Bond Schneider :o:
:o: *All B&W movies should be colorized @ :o:
:o: *Batman The Movie sucked cup.portal.com :o:
:o: *Part three was the best Godfather movie :o:
:o: *Rejects what he doesn't understand :o:
:o: *Hated Robin Williams in Aladdin :o:
:o: *Cholesterol is good! It lubricates your veins :o:
:o: *If one saves one dollar everyday for a year, :o:
:o: you will end up with $365.00 :o:
:o: *Doughnuts are brain food :o:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
As far as I'm concerned, this is the only movie that's just as interesting
the 2nd time you see it as it was the 1st. The 2nd time it's a whole
new movie because you're seeing it with a different perspective.
I love finding friends who haven't seen it, then renting it so I can
watch their reaction at the end. It's the best ending of any movie I've
seen. In my opinion, of course. :^)
--
====================================================================
Cherie Slasor | Harris Semiconductor
Phone: (407) 724-7607 | P.O. Box 883, MS #62B-022
c...@mlb.semi.harris.com | Melbourne, FL 32902-0883
Is this some kind of joke post? Oh well, I'll bite.
Mega-spoiler for "No Way Out" ahead...
The entire point of this film is the search for the KGB mole in the
pentagon. They play this as "everyone knows about the mole (I think they
nickname him Uri), but no one knows if he really exists or is simply a
Pentagon 'urban myth'". Now when Hackman kills his mistress accidently,
he has to blame someone else, so when he discovers she was seeing
another man (Kostner) they invent the story that it is Uri the Russian
mole they are looking for. As it turns out - it WAS Uri! So all the way
through we the audience thought Kostner was only hiding his romance with
Sean Young to save his career, when in fact it is because he was a
Russian spy! Now that is a mega-twist in the tail!
+---------------------+------------------------------------------+
| Gary Bradley | "You receive a love letter from me and |
| ORACLE Corp, UK | you're f*cked forever!" |
| Edinburgh, SCOTLAND | - Frank Booth ("Blue Velvet") |
+---------------------+------------------------------------------+
| Email: gbra...@uk.oracle.com |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| G O D D A M N T H E C E N S O R M A N |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
I enjoyed the movie (which I first saw on Cable a number of years
ago with no idea of the ending), and I don't remember any of the
reviews of the film at the time, but I do recall that the ending
didn't really seem justified in terms of Costner's motivations
and actions up to that point, if you review them with the knowledge
that he is actually the russian spy. In particular, I remember
thinking it didn't make sense for him to try saw hard to save
the black model's life. unfortunately the film is not really
fresh in my mind... I later discussed this with an acquaintence
who is a script editor (was this a disney film? i.e. touchstone??)
and she agreed and acknowledged that the plot was illogical.
good movie, though.
Well, given that the model knew that he was the man seeing Sean Young's
character, he had to get to her before they did; not only to "save her life",
but to keep her from possibly spilling the information. [Although I have to
grant that the two might have just killed her without asking any followup
questions...]
mikel
I don't see what's so illogical about No Way Out. The movie did a
fine job of how Americanized Tom/"Yuri" (Kevin Costner) have become
over the years. If you remember, "Yuri" was sent from USSR during his
teens. The friction between an KGB agent who grew up in Russia and
that who grew up in USA was intelligently portrayed in my opinion.
Also, the idea of the entire movie being a flashback was really neatly
executed. I'd almost forgetten about it towards the end.
Hyunsuk Seung
hse...@anat3d1.anatomy.upenn.edu
Hyunsuk Seung
hse...@anat3d1.anatomy.upenn.edu
So, was his affections sincere as the bathroom scene would suggest,
or was it all an act?
jtc
>I think the real reason why critics and script writers have been
>uncomfortable with No Way Out is because it is one of those rare films
>where the Soviets are portrayed as the good guys while US the bad
>guys. Any opinions?
_Hunt for the Red October_ had good Russian guys .. well, they defected.
_Telefon_ starring Charles Bronson and .. and.. that English actor who
played the Blofeldt in the James Bond movies and was the president in
_Escape for New York_ .. that was a movie about a KGB agent trying to
stop a rogue Stalinist from starting a war. I'm not sure how well it was
received, however.
> As far as I'm concerned, this is the only movie that's just as interesting
> the 2nd time you see it as it was the 1st. The 2nd time it's a whole
> new movie because you're seeing it with a different perspective.
I agree. Like _Dead Again_ and _The Crying Game_, they are *wonderful*
to see again after you know the spoiler.
Greg Bole bo...@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu
----------------------------------------
"Bubbles, bubbles everywhere, and not a drop to drink!"
Gene Wilder in _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_
Yes I agree it is just as good seeing the movie a second time, because I
could spot the clues which indictated he was Uri.
For example: The fact he was a big tipper to the cab driver, bell boy, and
the charter boat guy; symbolized his socialist sympathies to the common
working man. Also his anger with the Special Forces thugs from Central
America symbolized his eastern block sympathies with the marxist freedom
fighters of El Salvador. And of course his russian landlord was a clue.
Terrific film--one of my favourites. I think Costner was "told" to be
Sean Young's lover in the beginning, but ended up really caring for her.
This would explain his anger at being told to leave through the back door
when Gene Hackman showed up, and his discomfort afterword when he was
informed that she died, IMHO.
Lynn
--
*****************************************************************
We're one, but we're not the same
We hurt each other, then we do it again
_ONE/U2_
Lynn Walker wal...@ingres.com
*****************************************************************
His private reaction upon learning of Susan's death seems to suggest that
he did in fact care for her. I imagine he was playing her at first, but
fell for her along the way.
*My* question: was was Yuri ordered to play lover to the mistress of a
highly-ranked Washington official?
------- ------- -------
Captain Frank A. Lauro "I have a rendezvous with death, Frank."
Commanding Officer "You have a rendezvous with my ass, motherfucker!"
USS ALEXA NCC-1764-D -- Mitch Leary and Frank Horrigan, IN THE LINE
(fla...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu) OF FIRE (1993)
Donald Pleasance.
Actually, I think Hyunsuk is on to something -- in a sense, the end
of _No Way Out_ implies a successful mole in a hopelessly corrupt
bureaucracy. As cynical as some people think Hollywood is, quite
often it backs away from such devastating portrayals of our
government ... there is always a benevolent, more powerful person
who takes care of things in the end.
--
| "Let me blow that up for you again." |
| -- Gen. Colin Powell, referring to a photo of the Iraqi Intelligence |
| Service headquarters, previously hit during the Gulf War |
Daniel A. Hartung -- dhar...@chinet.chinet.com -- Ask me about Rotaract
JFK got almost universal critical acclaim. The only people who didn't like
JFK were columnists like George Will and Charles Krauthhammer. It protrayed
the US government much worse than No Way Out could have imagined.
>l...@fraser.sfu.ca (Keith Meng-Wei Loh) writes:
>(spoilers)
>
>>hse...@anat3d2.anatomy.upenn.edu (Hyunsuk Seung) writes:
>>>I think the real reason why critics and script writers have been
>>>uncomfortable with No Way Out is because it is one of those rare films
>>>where the Soviets are portrayed as the good guys while US the bad
>>>guys. Any opinions?
>Actually, I think Hyunsuk is on to something -- in a sense, the end
>of _No Way Out_ implies a successful mole in a hopelessly corrupt
>bureaucracy. As cynical as some people think Hollywood is, quite
>often it backs away from such devastating portrayals of our
>government ... there is always a benevolent, more powerful perso
Yes, but Hollywood also likes a good conspiracy as well. Witness
_JFK_. _The Manchurian Candidate_ might count except that there
is the KGB element there. There was that film a couple years ago
with James Spader and um the fellow who was in _The Grifters_
about a power hungry young politician running for a congress spot
somewhere. Of course, we had Sam Neill as Satan's son running for
President in one of the _Omen_ films.
And not only the 'fictional' kind (*big smilie okay?*)
either. There's the classic _All The President's Men_. I think it's
true, however, that Presidents are generally treated too well. I
doubt that any of the left-liberal types in Hollywood (another
*big smilie here*) could bring themselves to really paste Ronald
Reagan as well as he deserves. Nixon, yes. What was that Nixon
film? _Badge of Honour_? Yah, Nixon probably gets more movie heat
than any president. Most of the time Presidents have been revered
quite a lot. The many secret service movies and war movie benedictions
given by the 'presidents'.
Most movies which are critical of the American government usually blame
certain arms but not the system per se. The CIA is a big target, for
example, but not overall foreign policy. In _Salvador_ the ambassador
is the agonizing liberal type who is convinced by the army and CIA aides
to support the fascist regime.
Ah yes, he broke the rules of being a Russian Spy:
o Never let your guard down
o Never let her out of your sight
o Never fall in love
Tsk tsk, Kevin... It's deja vu all over again...
>*My* question: was was Yuri ordered to play lover to the mistress of a
>highly-ranked Washington official?
I assume the first "was" should be "why", in which case, perhaps by playing
lover he could coerce information from her that she might get from her high-
ranking Washington official, I suppose...
Or, maybe the Russkies just wanted nude photos of the two together, I dunno.
Gosh, I need some sleep,
Scott
---
By day, sim...@bnr.ca, by night, rec.sport.hockey Ottawa Senators Contact
TODAY'S .SIG: [Pay heed, for this quote/word/fact may alter your very being!]
|"This movie is *so* drastically wrong, its pathos and comedy are *so* badly|
| misplaced, that you could not, in your fantasy of what it might be like, |
| improve on what it really is. 'Oh my God!'-- that's all you can say." |
| -- Harry Shearer on "The Day The Clown Cried" |
)-> In case it's not obvious, BNR and I may or may not share these views. <-(
Eric Anderson
de...@virginia.edu