No Retreat, No Surrender (1986) on Netflix
Jason Stillwell trains at his father Tom's dojo. A crime syndicate wants every martial arts school, and its fighter Ivan breaks Tom's leg when he refuses. The family moves to Seattle.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb5.6/1020,873 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes80%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jason Stillwell, a teenage karate student and Bruce Lee fan, trains at the dojo his father Tom runs in Sherman Oaks. One night a crime syndicate that wants to take over the country's martial arts schools comes to the dojo, and when Tom refuses to join, its fighter Ivan Krachinsky breaks his leg. Jason's attempt at revenge fails, and Tom tells his son that fighting solves nothing. The Stillwells move to Seattle, where Jason becomes friends with R.J. Madison and comes across his former girlfriend Kelly Riley, whose brother Ian holds the national karate championship. Local bullies led by Scott and Dean Ramsay beat and harass Jason and R.J.
Cast
- Ron Pohnelas Ian Reilly
- Peter Cunninghamas Frank Peters (as Pete Cunningham)
- Timothy D. Bakeras Tom Stillwell (as Tim Baker)
- Gloria Marzianoas Mrs. Stillwell
- Joe Verrocaas New York Agent (as Joe Vance)
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about No Retreat, No Surrender (1986)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast as the Soviet villain Ivan Kraschinsky in one of his earliest acting roles. Strandberg said they picked him out of a line: it was between him and another man who couldn't really move, so they went with Van Damme, who was quite a good martial artist.
- During filming, Van Damme performed a roundhouse kick on Pete Cunningham, rendering him unconscious. Timothy Baker said director Corey Yuen instructed Van Damme not to make contact with the other actors and stuntmen, but despite repeated warnings he continued, performing kicks on Baker during filming.
- Kim Tai-chung was a South Korean taekwondo expert who made his career in "Bruceploitation" films due to his resemblance to the late Bruce Lee, most notably doubling Lee in the 1978 version of Game of Death and playing his character's brother in Game of Death II.
- In 1993, Black Belt placed the film at seventh on its list of top-ten choreographed martial arts films. The magazine specifically praised Van Damme's jump kicks.
- The film was riffed live at a number of venues on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Tour by Joel Hodgson in 2019. It had also been riffed by RiffTrax on October 15, 2015.
