NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER
US, 1986, 90 minutes, Colour.
Jean- Claude Van Damme.
Directed by Corey Yuen.
No Retreat, No Surrender is a martial arts story - touches of The Karate Kid and its genre, along with the Chuck Norris, Jean- Claude van Damme action movies.
The film is set on the west coast of America, focuses on Jason, a young man whose father is a martial arts expert who is pressurised by the Mob. They move to Seattle, set up a school, Jason befriends a young black man and together they build-up his ability to be a champion (and the black man is a rap champion). However, the Mob catches up with them - especially in the form of martial arts champion, Ivan: Jean- Claude van Damme as a villain before he became a star in his own right.
The film runs to formula - and presents the aspects of martial arts and their ability to discipline and train, the young American hero avenging wrongs, the build-up to the final competition and fight. (Some sequels were made - using the title of the original, if little else.)
1. Interesting and entertaining martial arts story? The Karate Kid and its tradition - variations on a theme? The martial arts, training and discipline? The use of martial arts for defence rather than for vengeance? Competitions and the finale?
2. American west coast locations, Los Angeles, Seattle? Homes, clubs? The choreography for the martial arts sequences? Musical score?
3. The title, the focus on Jason and his father? The final confrontation?
4. Jason, the young American hero, relationship with his father, martial arts training, his father being victimised, the move to Seattle, relationship with his parents, settling in? Friendship with RJ and their companionship, training? The friendship with the girl, the clashes with the other young men? The fat man and his mean behaviour? The training, his father's not wanting him to train? The love for Bruce Lee - going to his grave? The vision? Being trained by Bruce Lee and taking on his mantle? RJ's success in rap? Ivan and the confrontation? The competition - and Ivan's brutality, Jason going into the ring and winning? His father's pride?
5. Jason's father, his work in Los Angeles, the school, the pressure put on him, the violence, his moving away, running the school, severity towards Jason, their clashes, the reconciliation? The family sequences?
6. The Mob boss, the pressures, money deals? The strongarm tactics and the violence? The hospitalisation of Jason's father? Their finding the group in Seattle, putting on the pressure? Ivan, the fights, his brutality in the ring? The confrontation with Jason?
7. The young people in Seattle, the girlfriend, the friends and rivals, school, the clubs? The fat boy and his bad behaviour?
8. The background of Bruce Lee and the popularising of martial arts in the United States? His being invoked like a saint, his apparition, helping Jason? The development of the martial arts American hero of the '80s?
