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No Retreat, No Surrender More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 84 reviews in total |
23 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
Cheesey 80's action brilliance!!!!!!!!!, 10 May 2002
Author:
bouncywolf from Melbourne, Australia
From the stilted dialogue, through the ridiculous storyline, the amazing disco sequence and a rousing finale the sheer spirit of this FUN FUN FUN movie shines through. Forget all the computer generated fights of today, this how it was and should be. Over the top, funny, satisfying and possible. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and more's the shame.
20 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Classic, 21 June 2005
Author:
solomonkain from United Kingdom
Before watching the movie I had in my mind that this was just going to be another dodgy movie but with a bit of van damme thrown in. How wrong. This movie truly is a classic, the cheesy music, (especially the end credits) brilliant montage scenes and especially the fighting itself. This isn't your traditionally badly choreographed Van Dammeesque movie but a very well done job. The fight scenes a lengthy and extremely enjoyable, and everyone in the movie can kick and punch very well. The main character Kurt McKinney (Jason) turns up the style later in the movie by pulling off some unbelievable training exercises, such as his two-finger one handed push ups! OK - so the acting is very ropey - but who cares! If you're looking for an enjoyable evening in and a self motivational movie - this is the one!
16 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
One of the greatest 80s-movies ever, with a terrific soundtrack!, 30 August 2004
Author:
BoDuke-3 (BoDuke@web.de) from Mayen, Germany
"No Retreat, No Surrender" is one of the greatest films I've ever seen. It's surely not very demanding or high-grade, but that doesn't really matter at all. It gives you such a great feeling of the 80s with all the typical clothes, sayings and especially the fantastic music. I like the story of the underdog becoming the winner. The film tells in a very simple way to never give up. It also has a pretty funny side. It is the only film known by me, with two different soundtracks. The US-version is different to the European one. I like the last one more, with the great song "Hold on to the vision" by Kevin Chalfant. It was unfortunately never available on CD or in any other way. Together with the great 80s-movies "BMX Bandits" and "Stand by me" this film is one of the most important movies of my childhood and also youth. When I saw "No Retreat, No Surrender" ("Karate Tiger" in Germany) for the first time, it was the reason for me to join a Karate Dojo for 4 years! I think that's it... this movie rocks!!! 80s 4ever!
16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Revenge of the 80's: Jean Claude Van Damme, Superstar., 9 February 2005
Author:
Miyagis_Sweaty_wifebeater (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
No Retreat, No Surrender (1985) was a Seasonal Films production that
was filmed in the United States. Corey Yuen was the director and Hoi
Meng was the co-action director. This film marked the Western debut of
future superstar Jean Claude Van Damme. This was also the first of
three official No Retreat, No Surrender films.
A kid witnesses his dad being brutally beaten by a group of thugs and
their new fighter, a big mean Soviet kick-fighter (J.C.V.D.) The kid
does what anybody else would do if they saw their own dad nearly beaten
to death, swear a blood revenge against those who put him in traction.
There's one problem, the kid can't punch his way out of a paper bag and
his fighting skills are virtually non-existence. What's a kid to do?
Turn to a higher power! Will that be the stuff needed to beat down the
mean Red fighter and avenge his father?
The fight scenes are realistic looking and bone crunching. The
direction is real good and the acting is okay. A Hong Kong style movie
made in America. J.C.V.D. is pretty scary and mean looking in his big
debut. He'll make a bigger splash in his first true success Bloodsport.
If you enjoy old school kung fu movies where the son has to avenge his
father with a blood oath, then this one's for you. Followed by No
Retreat, No Surrender 2.
18 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
This movie has helped me through some hard times, 23 April 2001
Author:
dark1714 (dark1714@aol.com) from California
I most start this off by saying, I think this is one of the best movies every made, its in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. I watched this movie like everyday after shcool when I was a kid. its great.. its so entertaining, and never gets old. it has a great story, great action scenes, great music, and memereble lines and characters. I still watch this movie all the time. When lifes at its low points, and I'm feeling down, when I watch this movie, it gives me the inspiration to not give up and keep pushing on. I love this movie, its got me through some hard times.
19 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
After three or more beers, this movie is flawless., 12 June 2005
Author:
dcmccants from United States
I don't know where to start with this cinematic masterpiece. When I
first saw it(a million years ago) I thought it was so laughably bad
that I enjoyed watching it. Then recently I had a few drinks then got
the great idea of watching it again. I couldn't pull myself off of the
floor from laughing so hard. Geez, the sound, video quality, acting,
editing, EVERYTHING about this movie is bad. There should be a warning
on the cover suggesting that viewers prepare themselves for the
possibility of laughing themselves into a stupor.
Anyway, this movie is freaking great. Check this movie out without
hesitation. If you watch it sober, you'll laugh at it normally, but
when you got a few in ya, the laughs don't stop. You hear that punk,
she KNOWS whos the best!!!
14 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
This is an outstanding film, 3 April 2000
Author:
chrnaess from Larvik, Norway
No Retreat, No Surrender was a fantastic film which is one my absolute
favorites. It reminds of the equally great The Karate Kid and Rocky 4
starring Sylvester Stallone.
These three films came out during the mid 80`s and as we know most of the
finest film was made from 84 to 90, No Retreat, No Surrender was no
dissapointment.
When i rented it the first time when i was 12 me and my brother watched it 7
times in one day.
The film is full of comedy and moving moments and the subject of martial
arts is right down my alley, all around this is an outstanding picture that
has all the right elements. The fact that most of the players are unknown
doesn`t make a difference, they fit right in this film.
Kurt Mckinney is very fine in the lead role.
9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
fantastic martial art flick from the eighties', 6 May 2005
Author:
kai-tangvik from Norway
Just finished viewing no retreat,no surrender whom i borrowed from by good friend "Thorstein" today.The last time i watched it was approximately ten years ago on a lousy video tape,and seeing it on DVD gave me a hell of a ride.We all know that these movies lack about everything a movie lover craves,but the intensity and the choreography of the fighting is just plain awesome! I too see the similarities ti Rocky 4 with the Russian fighter etc,but remember that Ivan grabbed Jasons girl by the hair,wouldn't you step into the ring to defend your girl? Simultanously i have to say that our belgium phenomen has delivered the film-histories best side-kicks.Worth the whole movie by itself! Beside "American warrior" this is the greatest martial art movie of all time!Sorry Jet Li!And once again thanks to my dear friend Thorstein(who simply adores van damme)for lending me this one!
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
A feelgood movie with great action,a true video classic., 17 June 2002
Author:
andreas v hansen (dragonpants@hotmail.com) from Dombaas, norway
No retreat No surrender is an early crossover between Hong Kong and
American
film making. Produced by legendary producer Ng See Yuen (Drunken Master ,
Snake in the eagles shadow) and directed by a master of action movies
Corey
Yuen Kwai ( Fong Sai Yuk 1 & 2,My father is a hero).It follows the
traditional pattern with our main character trying to be a hero and really
wanting to be a hero,but keeps failing.He gets humiliated, then seeks the
help of a martial arts master.Receives the training he needs from his
master
and reaches a high level of skills within very little time.
In the end he gets to show off his skills,get his revenge, and save the
day
all at the same time.
This is a classic pattern for a lot of Kung Fu movies, and it is here
adopted in to a 1985 American teenager kind of movie. It has all the
1980's
cool elements it needed to be the badest movie around when it was new.The
fight scenes are nicely performed, extremely well shot with a tight
editing
job.Which makes the fight scenes the best in any american movie of that
era.Better than any fight scenes shot in Hollywood today,but still can't
compare to the standards of true Hong Kong cinema.
No Retreat No Surrender has bad acting and may appear cheesy to many
people.Then again the things that make it cheesy are some of the things
that
make it great.
Note.
As far as I know there are two different versions of this movie.One with
more dialog and less action and one with more action and less dialog.The
preferred one is ofcourse the one with the most action. You can tell them
apart by the color of the opening and end credits.
-Red, being the good version
-yellow,being the bad version
As far as Im concerned if you see the yellow version you might as well not
watch it. The red version is definitely what No Retreat No Surrender is
all
about . The yellow one is to me just watered down crapy replacement.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Karate Kid style martial arts extravaganza, 5 July 2005
Author:
dominicrimmer from United Kingdom
Quite possibly the funniest film of all time. Outrageous performances from all of the cast. J.W. Fails as RJ is one of the most unmissable performances of the 80's. In terms of films that are so bad that they are good, it doesn't get any better than this. This film also has some pretty damn good fight scenes, with some nice choreography from the ever reliable Jean Claude Van Damme. It spawned a series of excellent sequels. 2,3,and 4 are all stupendously awesome, however, in spite of being sequels they have no ongoing story lines or characters. Number 5 is pretty good, but with no story line of any kind, it fails to be as satisfying as the others.
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