Richard Long shares his views, well his huge man crush, on 1986's martial flick, NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER, which features the first onscreen performance on Jean Claude Van Damme. I'm not a huge fan of this film but Richard is and his review has prompted me to revisit it. Check out Richard's review after the jump...
Written By Richard Long
I
can clearly remember one day in the 80’s and being with my dad in
our favourite place in the world, the Video Store. It was a warm
summer afternoon and my mum was away on a day trip somewhere, so my
dad was left to look after me. Most kids might have been taken to
the beach or the park but my dad decided the video rental shop was
the perfect place to go, and I don’t regret it.
I
was desperate to see Karate Kid and upon entering the shop I remember
seeing it on the shelf of new releases and above it multiple copies
of a film called ‘No Retreat No Surrender’ which my dad seemed to
take an interest in. Back home I found Karate Kid boring and filled
with too much drama. Then we watched my dad’s choice of ‘No
Retreat No Surrender’. Afterwards I loved the movie obsessively.
It was before Kickboxer and before Van Damme became a star.
Years
later I decided to re-watch NRNS after a friend gave me it for my
birthday. I didn’t have high hopes. Even Van Damme seems to hold
the film in a low regard nowadays. Yeah, and Street Fighter was high
brow?
When
I watch an action movie, first off I want the good guy to win, yet be
challenged. I want the hero to be a likeable and everyday sort of
guy. Then I like a bit of slapstick and comedy. Besides NRNS, my
favourite action movies to date are China O’Brien, American Ninja,
Robocop, Running Man, Top Squad, Kickboxer, The Raid and Lethal
Weapon.
So,
onwards to NRNS. The film is about a kid called Jason (Kurt
McKinney) whose dad runs a karate dojo. When told by the criminal
underworld to use the dojo as a front for organised crime the family
leave sharply and retreats to Seattle where Jason practices karate
and his dad works in a bar. After Jason gets bullied and the same
villains that wanted his father’s dojo turn up, Jason has a visit
from the ghost of his hero Bruce Lee. Cue the training montages and
kicking Van Damme’s ass.
No
Retreat No Surrender is a simple tale, of bullying and standing up
for what’s right. It’s a light hearted movie. There are no
guns. The criminal characters (including Van Damme’s) are without
depth, we never find out what sort of organised crime they run. The
violence isn’t gory or dark even if the image of a nunchuck was cut
from the original release by the BBFC. For example, when Jason’s
dad gets his leg broken, he manages to bend it and rub it before
declaring ‘I think it’s broke.’ But that’s the beauty of
this movie; it doesn’t take its self seriously. Its strong suit is
its comedy. Kent Lipham is amazing as bully Scott, who is without
real motives but hysterical every time he’s on screen.
Sure
it is inspired by ideas and concepts from other movies like Rocky and
even Karate Kid. But by using lots of montages, cheesy pop songs, and
break dancing, its pace is fast and uplifting.
The
acting is bad. Let’s not pretend otherwise. Minus a few actors
it’s as wooden as a wooden man. Jason’s dad pauses for too long
between lines, and the break dancing actors in the club actually look
at the camera but, it has a warmth and charm to it. The film didn’t
have much budget and it’s clearly an underdog. I expect fans of
this film are the same ones who cheered for Grease 2, Teen Wolf and
Road House. All films I hold in high regard despite what Mark
Kermode might think.
Now
I prefer to write personal reviews of films and don’t tend to
mention details concerning DVD specs and editions. However, I think
there are some details worth mentioning.
I
gather there are two versions of the film. One is the original UK
VHS edition and the other is the US version. The differences are
plenty but the most noteworthy are different opening credits, perhaps
because the US version was originally called ‘Karate Tiger.’
Other differences are editing, dubbing, and several scenes. Also,
and oddly, the theme song from the UK edition being the wonderful and
catchy ‘Stand on Your Own’ is replaced in the US version with
‘Hold on to the Vision’ although this is also a great song. On
iTunes there are even two different soundtracks.
Interestingly
Universal released the US version here on DVD and added deleted
scenes which angered lots of people who wanted the original VHS cut.
I personally can’t remember the UK VHS version so I am not too
concerned but a double disc set would be nice. For the differences
see IMDB as there are plenty. Along with the cuts the BBFC made to
the original VHS version. Yeah, back in the 80’s the BBFC really
did have an issue with a poster being shown in the film that showed
Bruce Lee holding nunchucks.
Also
noted is the sad passing of Kent Lipham (Scott) and Kim Tai – Chung
(Bruce Lee). I found it pretty upsetting reading Kent’s hopes and
ambitions to get back into acting. He seemed to update IMDB regular
until his death in 2008. A close family member said ‘’Thank you
for all your interest in Kent’s work and taking the time to let him
know what you thought. Judging by the words he posted here (IMDB) it
was very special to him’’
So,
I have said enough about this movie and if you haven’t seen it yet
I can’t recommend it enough. My closing thoughts about this film
are simple. Watch this film and hopefully it will make you smile and
it will make you laugh, for both the right and wrong reasons. I took
No Retreat No Surrender to my heart a long time ago, and after
watching it again, I was surprised to see it had never really left.
No comments:
Post a Comment