Yes, it's a cheesy B movie, but for once, that's the point

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	• No Retreat No Surrender [VHS] Kurt McKinney, Jean-Claude Van Damme Starmaker Entertainment, 1990 average customer review:based on 54 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"This time, it will be different, Russian"

The "No Retreat, No Surrender" movies, for all their entertainment value, really are one of the strangest film series ever made for the fact that they began as one thing and ended up as something entirely different: even if you're not willing to count as far as The King of the Kickboxers [VHS] and American Shaolin:King of Kickboxers 2 [VHS], you've got to keep in mind that what began as a coming-of-age tale directed by Corey Yuen (The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk) and featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme as a villain ended up being a completely different story about completely different characters in a completely different setting as little as four years later. Only the enthusiasts know why...but what everybody ought to know is that the original outing is certainly worth tracking down for fans of cheesy 80s nonsense and awesome kung fu.

The story: Jason Stillwell (Kurt McKinney, "General Hospital") is the Bruce Lee-idolizing son of a karate master who is forced out of his dojo by a crime syndicate backed by a powerful Russian martial artist named Ivan Kraschinsky (Van Damme, Bloodsport). After relocating from LA to Seattle, Jason finds himself humiliated at every turn by a community determined to make him miserable; but when all seems lost, he's visited by the ghost of Bruce Lee, who offers him personal instruction to become the martial artist he'll need to be to survive both bullies and a returning Ivan.

Jut by reading that summary, you ought to get a feeling of how undoubtedly weird this movie is. It's my belief that director Yuen used this film as a kind of creative outlet beyond what's decent for a movie: I think he took all the cool ideas that he had been unable to utilize in other movies, coupled with everything he thought was hip in the US at the time, and threw them all together amidst some cool fight scenes. That, at least, would explain the presence of Bruce Lee's ghost (played by former stand-in to the real Lee, Tai Chung Kim), the nonsensical and completely useless disco scene in which Jason's friend RJ (J.W. Fails) is dressed like Michael Jackson, and the overall 80s-in-overdrive feeling that permeates the movie. Very, very bad acting from everybody involved is further offset by illogical exchanges ("Don't worry; I'm nobody's lunch!") and a general feeling of everything in life revolving in one way or another around martial arts.

Of course, the martial arts in question certainly are worth devoting attention to: there are about six real fights in the movie, and despite not being Corey Yuen's best work, they go to show why the director is one of the best there is when it comes to what he does. To list them chronologically, Jason's father (karate champion Timothy Baker) fights an invading thug and Van Damme, McKinney is confronted by Peter Cunningham (Above the Law) in a one-sided but very technical exhibition match, Jason and his father take on a group of alley thugs wherein McKinney really begins to shine with some awesome kicks, a series of three fights wherein Van Damme takes on Dale Jacoby (Ring of Fire), Cunningham, and tang soo do expert Ron Pohnel (the third of which is probably the best fight of the movie), and the final emotional confrontation between McKinney and Van Damme. I don't think it's an exaggeration to claim that prior to this movie, most Americans had never experienced kung fu quite like this; even though some fights aren't as fun as others, the collection is about as good as it gets for this kind of show, Van Damme's full leg splits included.

Whether or not you should be interested in buying the film depends on your tolerance of cinematic cheese and whether or not you're willing to accept it, either as a complementary side or a grain of salt, alongside the action scenes. Rest assured, "No Retreat, No Surrender" has earned its cult status many times over, but unless you're willing to grasp the significance of all of the film's flaws and strengths as a cumulative package, you ought to look somewhere else for you kicks (and punches).

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Good

The shipment was good. It came fast and was in good condition. Was very happy.

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No retreat, no surrender satisfied

I bought "No retreat, no surrender" for a friend. He is most satisfied with the product. Thank you. Pierre

Yes, it's a cheesy B movie, but for once, that's the point

I don't think anyone who starred in this movie made it big, outside of Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was one of several inferior knock-offs of the "Karate Kid" concept to be churned out during the mid-1980's, and in spite of everything holds its own as an entertaining B movie.

Concerning the story of one Jason Stillwell, it follows the spirited young martial artist on the expected journey of self-empowerment. In this case, both Jason and his father receive humiliating beatings in their own dojo to start the movie, and promptly move from Washington State to California. It's worth mentioning that doing the beating is Jean-Claude Van Damme, in what is, I think, one of his first visible roles. Though Russian political communism was about to die, it was still safe in 1986 to villify the Russian strongman as evil. I think this was a tired stereotype even then, and Van Damme is not in reality Russian, though the filmmakers still manage to get some mileage out of this scenario.

Additionally, instead of Mr. Miyagi hanging around to pull Jason up by his bootstraps, this movie features a supernatural version of Bruce Lee. I appreciate the surrealistic twist, and the actor playing the departed Mr. Lee does an admirable job.

This will never be mentioned as a great movie by any stretch, but its power is that it doesn't try to be anything other than what it is. It is a reminder that the B movie can, in fact, be very entertaining.

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One of the best martial arts movies ever made!

Jason, a dedicated Karate student and a big fan of Bruce Lee, sees his Karate sensei (his own father) get beaten up and injured by a Russian martial artist (Van Damme) who is working for a gang trying to recruit him. His father decides to leave Los Angeles and go live with his family in Seatle. In Seatle, Jason faces lots of trouble from Karate bullies and finds himself helpless. He visits Bruce Lee's grave and asks him to help him. Bruce Lee's spirit visits Jason and starts training him into becoming a powerful martial artist.

This movie is quite a classic. I might have seen it over 100 times when I was a little kid. This is one of Van Damme's earliest films when he was still not famous. He sure did a wonderful performance and he was a really good "bad guy".

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