No Retreat, No Surrender
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Corey Yuen |
| Produced by | Ng See-yuen |
| Written by | Keith W. Strandberg |
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| Music by | Paul Gilreath |
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| Distributed by | New World Pictures |
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Running time
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84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4.7 million |
No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1986 American martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen in his American directorial debut, and starring Kurt McKinney and Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film was released in the United States on May 2, 1986. McKinney plays Jason Stillwell, an American teenager who learns martial arts from the spirit of Bruce Lee. Stillwell uses these lessons to defend his martial arts dojo against Soviet martial artist Ivan Kraschinsky (Van Damme).
The film was written by Keith W. Strandberg after being contracted by Ng See-yuen, the owner of Seasonal Film Corporation, to write a script for them, despite having never written a script beforehand. Van Damme was cast in the film and caused problems on the set for continually physically contacting other actors and stuntmen during the fight scenes even after director Yuen told him not to. On its release, the film received negative reviews focusing on the story that some reviewers found was too similar to the 1984 film The Karate Kid.
Jason Stillwell is a young karate student and Bruce Lee fanatic who trains in his father Tom's dojo in Sherman Oaks, California. One night after a training session, the dojo is visited by members of an organized crime syndicate looking to take over all the dojos in the country. After refusing to join the organization, Tom's leg is broken by a Soviet martial artist named Ivan Kraschinsky, one of the boss' hired thugs.
The Stillwell family relocates to Seattle, where Jason meets R. J. Madison and they become good friends. Jason reunites with his old girlfriend Kelly Reilly, who lives in the neighborhood with her brother, local black belt Ian. Despite this, Jason has a hard time adjusting, as he and R. J. are constantly beaten and harassed by the local bullies led by an obese boy named Scott and arrogant martial artist Dean Ramsay. After getting beaten up and humiliated at Kelly's birthday party by Scott and Dean, Jason visits the grave of Bruce Lee and beseeches him for aid. Later that night, Jason and Tom have a heated argument over Jason's involving himself in fights. When Jason calls his father a coward for running away from the syndicate, Tom destroys some of Jason's Bruce Lee memorabilia in the garage. 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 falls asleep at the house, but is suddenly awakened by the ghost of Bruce Lee, 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 able to fend off several thugs who are assaulting his father in a parking lot.
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Wikipedia