Bypassing rar passwords?

Is there any way of getting the files in a rar archive without having to brute-force the password? Even if I had a fast PC it would take me way too long.

At some point Winrar must compare the Entered Password with the Real Password, but does that occur at a level that one can monitor?

The file in question is a self-extracting .exe, and you need the password to get the files inside.