No Retreat, No Surrender

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No Retreat, No Surrender
Film poster for No Retreat, No Surrender
Directed by	Corey Yuen
Produced by	Ng See Yuen
Written by	Corey Yuen Ng See Yuen Keith W. Strangberg
Starring	Kurt McKinney Jean-Claude Van Damme J.W. Fails Kathie Sileno Tai Chung Kim Kent Lipham Ron Pohnel Dale Jacoby Peter “Sugarfoot” Cunningham Timothy D. Baker Gloria Marziano
Music by	Paul Gilreath
Editing by	James Melkonia Mark Pierce Allan Poon
Distributed by	New World Pictures Seasonal Film Corporation
Release date(s)	United States: 2 May 1986 (1986-05-02)
Running time	85 minutes 94 minutes (DVD version) 79 minutes (1986 video release)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$ 400,000
Box office	Domestic: $ 4,662,137 Foreign: $ 12,884,100 Worldwide: $ 16,546,237

No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1986 American martial arts sports film written and directed by Corey Yuen his American directorial debut, and starring Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Tai Chung Kim.^[1]

Plot

Jason Stillwell (Kurt McKinney) is a young karate student and Bruce Lee fanatic who trains in his father's (Timothy D. Baker) Los Angeles dojo. One night after a training session, the dojo is visited by members of an organized crime syndicate. After refusing to join the organization, Jason's father has his leg broken by a Russian martial artist named Ivan Kraschinsky (Jean-Claude Van Damme), the hired thug of the boss.

The Stillwell family relocates to Seattle, where Jason meets R.J. Madison (J.W. Fails) and they become good friends. Jason's girlfriend, Kelly, also comes to visit him. Despite this, Jason has a hard time adjusting and is constantly harassed by the local bullies. Fed up with the beatings, Jason visits the grave of Bruce Lee and beseeches him for aid.

That night, Jason and his father have a heated argument which results in Mr. Stillwell destroying some of Jason's Bruce Lee memorabilia. Distraught, Jason consults with R.J., who suggests that Jason move all of his training gear into an abandoned house nearby. Exhausted from the move, Jason inadvertently falls asleep at the house, but is suddenly awakened by the ghost of Bruce Lee (Tai Chung Kim), who appears to Jason and begins to train him. Under Lee's tutelage, Jason goes from a below average fighter to a superior martial artist, at one point easily fending off several thugs attempting to assault his father in a parking lot.

Later, an annual full contact karate tournament is held featuring teams from Seattle and New York, which Jason and his father attend. Before the contest can get underway, however, the crime syndicate interrupts and makes a wager that none of the Seattle fighters can defeat Ivan. While the first two fighters are easily dispatched by the Russian, Ivan's last opponent, Kelly's brother Ian, makes an impressive showing, forcing Ivan to resort to dirty tactics to defeat him. With her brother helplessly entangled in the ring ropes, Kelly tries to stop Ivan by hitting him with a chair, but the Russian easily disarms her and grabs her by the hair. Spurred into action, Jason charges to the ring and attacks Ivan, much to the delight of the crowd. Utilizing his advanced training, Jason is finally able to conquer his nemesis and earn the respect of his peers.

Cast

• Kurt McKinney as Jason Stillwell
• Jean-Claude Van Damme as Ivan Kraschinsky the Russian
• J.W. Fails as R.J. Madison
• Kathie Sileno as Kelly Reilly
• Tai Chung Kim as Ghost Bruce Lee
• Kent Lipham as Scott the Fatboy
• Ron Pohnel as Ian Reilly
• Dale Jacoby as Dean Ramsay
• Peter “Sugarfoot” Cunningham as Frank Peters
• Timothy D. Baker as Tom Stillwell
• Gloria Marziano as Mrs. Stillwell

Reception

Viewers have divided opinions concerning this movie. Some claim that the movie contains bad acting and heavily borrows the motivational "underdog to champion" theme from films such as The Karate Kid (1984) and Rocky (1976).^{[2] [3]} The film is also considered a cult classic,^{[citation needed]} especially among buffs of martial arts films or nostalgia fans. Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan stated in the audio commentary to another Corey Yuen film, (Ninja in the Dragon's Den), that Corey had watched The Karate Kid, liked the movie, but thought that the fight sequences could have been a lot better. At the time of the release, Jean-Claude Van Damme was still an unknown actor.

There are two versions of the film, an American version and a roughly re-edited British VHS version that is widely considered to be demo-like in many aspects. Both contain completely different theme songs; "Hold On To That Vision" written by Frank Harris and featuring Kevin Chalfant and Joe Satriani and "Stand On Your Own" by Joe Torono, the latter sounding a lot like it could have been a demo track for the former. The musical scores are also greatly different. The British version featured slow generic studio stock music while the full uncut and complete versions featured typical Hong Kong stock music "borrowed" from three Hong Kong films, such as Police Assassins, Project A and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow.

Sequels

The two sequels to No Retreat, No Surrender do not continue the storyline of the original and do not feature any of the original cast of the film.

DVD release

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

On June 14, 2004, DVD was released by Universal Studios at the UK in Region 2.

On August 14, 2006, No Retreat, No Surrender Trilogy DVD was released, until re-release in 2009.

On November 12, 2007, Jean-Claude Van Damme four movie collection DVD was released and including three action films they were: Hard Target, Sudden Death and The Quest.

On September 20, 2010, Jean-Claude Van Damme ten movie collection DVD was released and including nine films they were: Nowhere to Run, Hard Target, Street Fighter, Sudden Death, The Quest, Double Team, Knock Off, Universal Soldier: The Return and Desert Heat.

See also

• No Retreat, No Surrender 2
• No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers

References

External links

• No Retreat, No Surrender at the Internet Movie Database
• No Retreat, No Surrender at AllRovi
• Morris' NRNS Page
• Frank Haris Music