Too much of everything

Admirable film.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Although Jean-Claude Van Damme's image takes prominence on the cover of the DVD (front and back), the Belgian martial arts star only shows up briefly at the very beginning of the film, and for the entertaining finalé; the real 'star' of No Retreat, No Surrender is the lesser known Kurt McKinney, who plays young, headstrong karate student Jason, who, with a little help from break-dancer RJ (J.W. Fails) and Bruce Lee's ghost (Tai Chung Kim), helps defeat the New York gangsters who have been seizing control of the country's dojos for use as fronts for their criminal activities.While the lack of Van Damage in the majority of the film could be off-putting for some, anyone who enjoys a large dollop of 80s cheeze should definitely stay on board...Directed by Cory Yuen, No Retreat, No Surrender only proves mildly satisfying as a martial arts movie, with just a few unmemorable fights between Jason and local bullies before his inevitable showdown with hired heavy Ivan Kraschinsky (Van Damme). However, when the feet and fists aren't flying, the film is side-splittingly funny, with lousy performances (McKinney is much better at kicking than acting), a dumb plot (clearly inspired by The Karate Kid), ridiculous characters, the silly supernatural element, and hilarious 80s music and fashion unintentionally making this a lot more enjoyable than it really has any right to be.The film's dumbest, and therefore most entertaining moments include a hilarious nightclub scene that sees RJ busting some moves in full Michael Jackson regalia, and the unforgettable sight of Jason training with RJ perched on his lap (their friendship clearly being taken to the next level).

This is more of a comment on the reviews rather than a review of the movie. This is one of my favourite movies of all time and like so many other people have said it helped me through my childhood. Everyday after school i would come home and watch No Retreat, No Surrender on our VHS machine. I just wanted to say how happy i was to read so many reviews saying exactly how i felt about this movie. Sure it has some of the worst acting for it's time but that just added to it's charm. Movies like No Retreat, No Surrender, Iron Eagle, Just One of the Guys, Lost Boys and the Wraith and music by Roxette, West End Girls (English Girl Band) & Michael Jackson, this was my 80's and i miss it terribly.Cheers :-)

Not much to be said for this typical 80s action flick, except for the the jaw-dropping fight at the end. A young man and his dad, a Lo Angeles dojo owner, move to Seattle after some New York mob types injure the dad and take over his dojo. In Seattle (where they apparently have palm trees), the kid, who knows a little karate, takes a beating from some local karate bullies and ends up training with the ghost f Bruce Lee, whom the kid worships. Yep. That's what I said. The ghost of Bruce Lee. This leads to a final confrontation with one of the New York hoods who hurt his dad. Van Damme is that hood, and he is only in the film for about five or 10 minutes. Basically a ripoff of The Karate Kid. Skip all but the last seven or eight minutes of the film. Your jaw is guaranteed to drop, if you're a martial arts fan. The legendary Corey Yuen directed this no-budget B movie.

Let me begin by saying that the evil boy was too comic to be evil. And the mike, while being so visible, was too evil to be comic !The acting is dead in this movie. I don't know why everybody was smiling all the time?! The movie's Bruce Lee is a shame. Anybody adores the man must feel rage for the idiot way he's honored in this. Kurt McKinney looked like a young Jim Carry yet dull. The actor who played his father looked 2 years older than him (you can't give birth while you're 2 !). So according to this cast; I couldn't tell who was funny and who wasn't, because frankly they were all FUNNY !The direction is beyond the Razzie, it's more primitive than (Foxy Brown). On second thought (Foxy) shines as a classic compared to this ! There are just cadres with people somehow talk and move in them. The smell of arty is anywhere but here. Yet, the black rectangles, to cover the mike's many appearances, proved to be something I didn't watch in any cinema to date !I kept telling myself during the whole movie; was that (The Karate Kid), released one year earlier to great success, but with no budget, no artwork, and lousy Bruce Lee's impersonator instead of Mr. Miyagi ?! It's now proved that the director of (No Retreat..), Corey Yuen, had watched (The Karate Kid), liked the movie, but thought that the fight sequences could have been a lot better. So why not remaking it within 2 years of it, with better fight sequences and worse EVERYTHING ! FYI it was released in Europe under the name of (Karate Tiger) ! I couldn't stand what's called authentic fighting, since the movie itself was evicting me successfully. To tell you the truth I went laughing all through it. I recalled (Be Kind Rewind – 2008), as if I was watching one of its Sweded versions; which were cheesy remakes of famous Hollywood movies, unbelieving its homemade-like movie-making. It's a rare time when such a movie with low quality spawns sequels like that (4 till 1992). So why did people, in 1986, love this Sweded Karate Kid ?!In fact, it was the age of the American Martial Arts movies. After being used to be made in Asia of the 1970s, it turned into a fashion in America of the 1980s. Rocky (1976) started it, then the boom came with The Karate Kid (1984), American Ninja (1985), No Retreat, No Surrender (1986), Bloodsport (1988), Best of the Best (1989), Kickboxer (1989), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) with, save Kickboxer, at least 2 sequels for every movie. Regardless of any artistic level, the Americans, in that era, were desperately hungry for this type of movies. Because after many hippie existential anti-heroes in the 1970s, there was a need for a tough hero, who acts more than thinks. Notice too that it's mostly starring teens, which is a Star Wars & E.T. effect that clicked rightly. And it mirrored a desire for different taste of action, the Martial Arts, as something else the usual goods of Hollywood back then. Add to that a possible extra reason; concerning how during the 1970s the Asian Martial Arts movie had established some kind of fan base in America, so by the mid-1980s it was about time to produce it yet by American money and talents.On the other hand it assures that sometimes, some desperate times, success has nothing to do with things like artistic level. Or maybe the 1980s was the time of innocence, so simply the innocent viewers loved an innocent movie; not "one for the 1980s" in my book though ! Because when I watched (No Retreat..) for the first time, in 2011, while being in my thirties I got turned off utterly, seeing nothing that could intercede for it. It's for an American-teen-in-the-1980s exclusively I think ! P.S : It's hard to believe that its director, Corey Yuen, partially directed (The Transporter – 2002). Not too hard when you know that he handled the martial arts and action sequences only !