What is "point of no return"

n. 1 (context aviation English) The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin. 2 (context idiomatic English) The point in any journey, process, or sequence of events when it is no longer possible to reverse course or stop the process.

n. a line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment [syn: Rubicon]

The point of no return (PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is physically impossible, prohibitively expensive, or dangerous. A particular irreversible action (e.g., setting off an explosion or signing a contract) can be a point of no return, but the point of no return can also be a calculated point during a continuous action (such as in aviation).

Point of No Return (also known as The Assassin) is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film Nikita.

Maggie Hayward ( Bridget Fonda) is a young, violent and unstable drug addict found guilty of murdering a police officer, and is sentenced to death by lethal injection. Her death is faked, and a secret government agent named Bob ( Gabriel Byrne) informs her that she is to become an assassin. She is given a makeover and training that transform her into a beautiful woman, and she is also trained as a killer. Her career as an assassin goes well at first. Then, after a mission goes awry, the agency sends in Victor ( Harvey Keitel), a "cleaner," to kill everyone and destroy the bodies.

Point of No Return is an episode from the third season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.

The point of no return is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action.

Point of no return may also refer to:

• Point of no return (computer games), a concept in computer games
• Point of no return, in air navigation, the point at which a plane no longer has enough fuel to return to the airfield from which it departed or any designated alternates.

Point of No Return [5' 00"] is a " ballet for tape (stereo)" composed by Juan Maria Solare. It was designed in Worpswede from January 24, 2002 to January 28, 2002, with details released on March 14, 2002, and made in Cologne at the composer's studio from September 29 to October 5, 2005. Its first performance was on April 13, 2003 at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt, Germany, in the frame of the concert "Begegnung mit Lateinamerika - Elektroakustische Musik" ("Encounter with Latin America - electroacoustic music" in German), on the 57th day of the Institut für neue Musik und Musikerziehung (Institut for New Music and Music Education). It was a mixer in 8-canals by the composer.

It was broadcast on Radio Fabrik ( Salzburg, FM 170.5), on June 13, 2004 in the program "Lyrik und Musik aus Lateinamerika" produced by Dr. Luis Alfredo Duarte Herrera. It was also broadcast by the WDR in June 2005 during a program on electroacoustic music of Latin America prepared by Torsten Eßer. It premiered in Argentina during a concert by "Imaginario Sur" of the Instituto Universitario Nacional de las Artes on August 18, 2004 at the La Manufactura Papelera, Buenos Aires. It won the first prize at the 2nd "Concurso Promociones Electroacústicas" organized by the Federación Argentina de Música Electroacústica (Regional Buenos Aires) together with the Conservatorio Nacional and the Instituto Tecnológico ORT in September 2005. It was also performed at the Conservatorio Nacional in Buenos Aires on October 7, 2005, in Santa Fe, Argentina in November 2005 within the frame of the 20th Reunión de Música Electroacústica and on December 12, 2002 at the Hochschule für Musik Köln in Cologne, in the cycle Aula Konzerte.

Point of No Return (Traditional Chinese: 西關大少) is a 30-episode TVB drama broadcast between November 2003 and December 2003. It is a story about a family shipping business and various love triangles set in Guangzhou, China, in the 1920s. This series again saw Julian Cheung and Charmaine Sheh as an on-screen couple after their partnership in Return of the Cuckoo (2000), and as with previous occasions, their on screen chemistry was praised by audiences.

Point of No Return is the debut studio album from singer Shareefa and was released on October 24, 2006. It debuted at #25 on the Billboard 200 with over 37,000 copies sold in its first week released.

"Point of No Return" is the title of the second single taken from the Nu Shooz album Poolside. The song spent one week at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in September 1986. It also peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #36 on the R&B chart in the U.S., as well as topping out at #48 on the UK singles chart. The song was mixed by Shep Pettibone.

"Point of No Return" is a single by Exposé, released on March 11, 1985. Written and produced by Lewis Martineé, the single was originally released in 1984 on the Pantera label with Alejandra Lorenzo (Alé) as the lead singer. The single was re-recorded in 1987 with Jeanette Jurado as the lead vocalist and included on the group's debut album, Exposure (1987).

Point of No Return is an album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1962.

As the title reflects, the album contains Sinatra's final recorded songs with Capitol Records before permanently moving to his own Reprise Records label to achieve more artistic freedom with his recordings.

Indeed, he had already begun recording with Reprise as early as 1960 and had already recorded Ring-A-Ding-Ding, I Remember Tommy, and Sinatra Swings by the time these sessions occurred. He recorded this album in a hurried two-day session in September 1961 to fulfill his contract.

The album was still a special occasion, reuniting Sinatra with Axel Stordahl, the arranger and conductor who helped Sinatra rise to stardom in the 1940s. Sinatra rushed through the sessions to fulfill his obligation to Capitol, something which Stordahl said upset him. Stordahl also arranged the vocalist's first Capitol session back in 1953, so his presence gave a sense of closure to the Capitol era.

In an interesting side note, Sinatra recorded a different version of "I'll Be Seeing You" only months apart during the very same year on I Remember Tommy for Reprise.

The point of no return is a concept in computer games.

In computer games, there are two main forms of scripting events that move the plot forward. In linear games, the player must perform one specific task after another, such as jumping a series of barrels floating in a pool, defeating an intermediate villain before the head villain, or opening a series of stairway doors, floor after floor, that have puzzle locks. Nonlinear games permit the player to wander around an area, finding another passage that doesn't involve jumping, defeating the boss one already has the weapons and spells for first, or solving each puzzle as it comes to mind.

More complicated games have some periods of linear play and some of nonlinear play. In these, one has a nonlinear playing field to wander around, but the game will eventually have to revert to a linear script to enable the player to execute a series of ever harder movements, ever powerful bosses, or ever difficult puzzles after another, so as to get a feeling of mounting accomplishment. So at some point in the game design script, the player cannot go back to the period of nonlinear play.

This is the point of no return for computer games. Its importance lies in the possibility that the player might reach it without fully exploring the nonlinear playing field to get items which would be necessary to completing the game, which would result in an unwinnable game state.

The point of no return can apply to both the final moments of a game, i.e. just before the last section of gameplay; or to moments which alter the game’s area, causing areas which could previously be accessed to become unavailable. In other words, it can apply both to the game as a whole, and to aspects within it.

Some games allow the player to continue after completion of the main quest. In this situation, the point of no return refers to the point after which the game does not allow the player to explore the rest of the game world before completion of the main story objective.

Point of No Return was a Broadway play starring Henry Fonda. It was written by Paul Osborn, based on the novel of the same name by John P. Marquand.

Prior to its Broadway opening, Point of No Return had its world premiere in New Haven on 29 October 1951. It then moved to the Colonial Theatre in Boston for three weeks beginning 6 November 1951 and then two weeks at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia beginning 29 November 1951.

Point of No Return ran at the Alvin theater (now the Neil Simon Theatre) from 13 December 1951 – 22 November 1952.

Point of No Return was a vegan, straight edge metalcore band. The band started in 1996 as a side project of Self-Conviction members, in São Paulo, Brazil. The band's lyrics were focused on " Third World struggles" and animal liberation issues. Point Of No Return first CD, "Centelha" (Sparks), was released by Liberation Records in Brazil and Catalyst Records in US. Their sound was describe as a mix of Earth Crisis metal mosh with death metal elements. The band had three singers, like their North American counterpart, Path of Resistance. The band toured Europe twice, in 2000 and 2002, and toured Argentina in 2001. After a seven months break and a supposed "last show" in Argentina, the band came back with a new album in 2002, "Liberdade Imposta, Liberdade Conquistada" (Imposed Freedom, Conquered Freedom). The songs were more deep and melancholic, but also with a strong influence from bands like Cro-Mags, Judge and Napalm Death. The lyrics, this time completely in Portuguese, dealt about political and social issues. Point of No Return played its last show in 2006.

Point of No Return is the debut album by the jazz group the World Saxophone Quartet released on the Moers Music label in 1977.

The album features a live performance by Hamiet Bluiett, Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake and David Murray recorded in June 1977 at the 6th International New Jazz Festival in Moers.

Point of No Return is the first album by Systems in Blue, released in 2005. It contains 13 songs, such as " Magic Mystery", released as single in 2004.

"Point of No Return" is a single released by the German music group Systems in Blue in 2005. It is the title track of Systems in Blue's first album Point of No Return.

Point of No Return is a 1995 Australian film about an ex soldier who escapes from prison to investigate his brother's murder.

Point of No Return is the sixth studio album by Grammy-nominated R&B singer Keyshia Cole; it was released on October 7, 2014, by Interscope Records and served as Cole's final album with the label. The album features production from various music producers including Tim Kelley of Tim & Bob, Mike Will Made It, DJ Mustard, WillieDonut, Amadeus, Stargate and features guest appearances by 2 Chainz, Juicy J, Gavyn Rhone, Wale, August Alsina, Faith Evans and Future. The album has had unsuccessful sales, selling less than 45,000 copies and being Cole's lowest selling album to date. Point of No Return received mixed reviews.

Point Of No Return is an EP recorded by the thrash metal band, Havok. It was released May 22, 2012 through Candlelight Records.

"Point of No Return" is a song by German eurodance group Centory. It was released in August 1994 as the lead single from their only album, Alpha Centory.