And now for something completely different.
Corey Yuen's No Retreat, No Surrender. This is a film that is infamous for being so-bad-it's-good, but really, it's a fantastic save-the-rec-center martial arts flick that is a ton of fun for all ages.
Jason is a martial arts fanatic in '80s Seattle. When a Russian crime syndicate threatens to take over his dojo, it's time to fight back, but the only way to win, is to go through Ivan "The Russian Butcher" Kraschinsky. The only problem, The Russian Butcher is a monster and Jason doesn't stand a chance without some serious training. Lucky for him, he is visited by the spirit of his hero, Bruce Lee, in the evenings and Lee inspires him to stand up to the challenge. What follows is an amazing series of training montages, fights, and a brutal showdown with the Butcher that will have you on your feet.
Yuen trained as a child with the Seven Little Fortunes, the famous Peking Opera troupe that birthed legends like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao. He acted in a ton of martial arts films in Hong Kong before becoming a director. No Retreat, No Surrender was one of his first films, though he would go on to become one of the most recognized action directors in the world after films like Righting Wrongs (Above the Law), The Legend I & II, then finally making it big back in the US with The Transporter.
However, it isn't Yuen's face that sells No Retreat, No Surrender. It isn't even the star of the film, Kurt "Jason" McKinney. It's The Russian Butcher, Jean Claude Van Damme, in his first feature role. Van Damme isn't in the movie much, maybe ten minutes, but he definitely makes an impression. Personally, I love McKinney and his go-for-broke performance as a disciple of ghost Bruce Lee, it's endearing as hell. This movie is a ton of fun.
The Disc:
KL Studio Classics' Blu-ray of No Retreat, No Surrender is another of their middling A/V efforts, but nothing to sneeze at. The film looks decent enough in its original aspect ratio, and the sound is decent. '80s film stock notoriously doesn't age well, and the film suffers from less than pristine source materials, but nothing too off-putting. Audio is similarly effective but not exuberant.
The disc does excel by including both the 85 minute US cut and the 94 minute international version of the film. The longer cut doesn't add action, rather improving on the story surrounding the action, and since the run time is still well within the acceptable range for this kind of film, it is worth checking out. We also get an audio commentary from the screenwriter Keith Strandberg, as well as an interview with McKinney in which he describes the audition process and production, which focused far more time and energy on the fights than the story.
I love this movie. It looks goofy by today's overly serious standards, but No Retreat, No Surrender is a ton of fun. Check it out.