No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (1987) - A Review

 

The unexpected sequel to a martial arts classic. It goes in a very different direction!

No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (also known as No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder and Karate Tiger 2) is an American/Hong Kong martial arts action movie released in 1987. It stars Loren Avedon, Cynthia Rothrock, Max Thayer, Matthias Hues, and Hwang Jang-Lee. No Retreat, No Surrender 2 was directed by Corey Yuen Kwai, with martial arts choreography also by Yuen, and assisted by Mang Hoi, King Lee King-Chu, and Ma Chin-Ku.

Loren Avedon as Scott Wylde. Loren really kicks butt in this movie!

In No Retreat, No Surrender 2, Loren Avedon plays Scott Wylde, an American martial artist who goes to Vietnam to visit his fiancee Sulin (played by Patra Wanthivamod). Sulin comes from a wealthy family, and her father was involved in a war conflict. The night of their date, Sulin is kidnapped, and Scott finds out that he's been framed for her entire family's (except her father's) murders! He escapes custody and finds his friend and master  Mac Jarvis (played by Max Thayer), a Vietnam veteran and arms dealer. Together with his helicopter pilot Terry (played by Cynthia Rothrock), they go to Cambodia where Sulin is being held by Yuri (played by Matthias Hues), a Soviet General who leads an army of Vietnamese soldiers.

Cynthia Rothrock (as Terry) giving Matthias Hughes (Yuri) a piece of her mind!

As you could probably tell by the plot description, No Retreat, No Surrender 2 is a sequel in name only to the first movie. Kurt McKinney and Jean-Claude Van Damme were supposed to star in this, but Van Damme was concerned about the safety of filming in the Cambodian jungle. He persuaded McKinney to drop out of the movie as well. Schedules never lined up for McKinney and the filming, so he left the project. Loren Avedon was then hired to take on the lead role, and the script was changed accordingly (though it is said that this was originally supposed to be a totally different movie not related to the first No Retreat, No Surrender).

Whereas the first movie was like The Karate Kid or Rocky IV, this movie is more like Rambo or the Missing In Action movies. There is a lot of of military combat in this, in addition to the martial arts fight scenes. Loren Avedon does well in his debut film. His acting gets better as the movie goes on (though there is a lot of awkward dialogue he has to say), but his fight scenes are top-notch. He is a really underrated martial arts movie star. I called him the 'Caucasian Jackie Chan' back in the day. Cynthia Rothrock is also great in this; she gets a lot of dialogue and she gets to show how much of a butt kicker she is. Max Thayer as Mac Jarvis is great in this; best actor in the movie and he's pretty funny. Matthias Hues is properly menacing as the final boss, and you really hate him for the jerk he is! The story is kind of basic, but hey, we're here for the action, aren't we?

The fights in this are fast and hard-hitting!

The fight scenes in No Retreat, No Surrender 2 are the best thing about this movie. Then again, if you enjoy military combat, gunplay, and explosions, you'll be greatly satisfied. The action is a bit more violent than in the first movie, but it isn't graphically gory. Loren Avedon has some great fight scenes; the kidnapping scene is our first introduction to his prowess. A fight at the temple is also great! His final fight scene against Yuri is awesome as well. Yuri is a powerful monster, and Scott has to use everything he has to defeat him. Cynthia Rothrock has a fight against the legendary Korean superkicker, Hwang Jang-Lee. Though the fight is pretty short, it is awesome. Matthias Hues does well as the powerful Yuri, even though he is not a trained martial artist. That's the greatness of Hong Kong choreography back then, they make non-martial artists look credible without editing and camera tricks.

So, should you watch No Retreat, No Surrender 2? I would say, yes. It has the debut of the great, underappreciated Loren Avedon, it has Cynthia Rothrock kicking butt, it has crazy Hong Kong martial arts fight choreography, and it has lots of guns and explosions. It has something for everyone! Just remember, this movie has nothing to do with the first No Retreat, No Surrender. As an aside, it was nice to see this movie again after not having seen it since the late 1990s. It's better than I remembered!

Reviewed by David Williams