No Retreat, No Surrender 2

No Retreat, No Surrender 2
Directed by Corey Yuen
Produced by Roy Horan
Written by Maria Elena Cellino
Roy Horan
Keith W. Stranberg
Starring Loren Avedon
Matthias Hues
Max Thayer
Cynthia Rothrock
Music by David Spear
Cinematography Ma Kam Cheung
Nicholas Josef von Sternberg
Edited by Allan Poon
Kevin Sewelson
Distributed by Shapiro-Glickenhaus Home Video
Release dates
  • 5 November 1987 (1987-11-05) (Philippines)
  • 27 January 1989 (1989-01-27) (United States)
Running time
 104 min. (DVD version)
97 min. (USA version)
Country Hong Kong
United States
Language English

No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (also known as No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder) is a 1987 Hong Kong-American martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen, and starring Loren Avedon, Matthias Hues, Max Thayer and Cynthia Rothrock. Despite its title, it does not have any connection to No Retreat, No Surrender, as it plots an independent story. The film's original title is Raging Thunder.

Plot

In Moc Hoa, Vietnam, a group of prisoners are executed under the watchful eye of General Ty (Hwang Jang Lee). Meanwhile, Scott Wylde (Loren Avedon), an American college, visits the country to visit his former teacher and best friend Mac Jarvis (Max Thayer), meeting Terry (Cynthia Rothrock), Mac's former lover, in the process. Terry tells Scott that Mac may be in Patpong, a seedy area of Bangkok. Scott leaves the gym and heads for his hotel.

At the hotel, Scott is harassed by a pimp, but once he makes his way into his room, he calls his girlfriend Sulin Nguyen (Patra Wanthivanond). That night, the couple goes out to dinner. During their date, Sulin's father (Perm Hongsakul) receives a disturbing phone call and leaves his house. A group of thugs crash into Scott's room and kidnap Sulin. When two thugs who stay behind attempt to kill Scott, he fights them off, ultimately killing them. Scott heads to Sulin's house, where it is revealed that her entire family (except her father) were killed. Scott is framed for murder and drug possession. Despite Mr. Nguyen's pleas, the American consulate suggests sending Scott to Singapore and keeping him detained for three months. Scott escapes and heads to Patpong.

At Patpong, Scott finds Mac at the Super Star bar arm wrestling with a local man. When Mac wins, his opponent attempts to go after Mac with a broken bottle. Scott intervenes and is reunited with his teacher. At the bar, Mac learns of Scott's recent activity and becomes concerned. When the duo go to dinner at a local marketside area, they are threatened by the thugs who kidnapped Sulin. When one of the thugs is forced to tell them where Sulin is located, they learn Sulin is taken to Cambodia. Mac and Scott head towards Mac's private warehouse, an artillery factory. Mac tells Scott of Sulin's father's history. Mr. Nguyen was a Vietnamese general who for the sake of his family, stopped a deal with a Soviet militia. Mac becomes convinced that the Soviets have joined forces with the Vietnamese army and have set up base in Cambodia. Scott decides he must rescue Sulin.

The next morning, Mac and Scott prepare as they await a helicopter. However, on their way out, they are surrounded by the Thai police. With the aid of Terry, Mac and Scott narrowly escape by helicopter.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Soviet Army, Yuri (Matthias Hues), has arrived. A Chinese refugee is amongst the recent prisoners of war and is challenged by Yuri to fight for his freedom. Yuri uses his brute strength to defeat the fighter. However, he tells the Chinese fighter he can walk away. As the fighter begins to leave, Yuri shoots him twice then grabs him. He throws him into a pit full of alligators, where the fighter unceremoniously dies. Yuri meets Sulin and threatens to send her in the pit if her father doesn't arrive soon.

When Scott, Terry, and Mac arrive in Cambodia, they seek assistance with Colonel Tol Nol (Nirut Sirijunya), an old customer of Mac's. When Mac offers artillery in exchange for help, Tol Nol refuses. However, Scott makes a deal on a new tank and Tol Nol accepts under the condition that Terry stays behind as well. Tol Nol's camp is then bombed with Scott suffering an injured arm in the process. The next day, Scott, Terry, and Mac travel by foot and come upon a Buddhist temple. When the monks are revealed to be spies, the trio use their martial arts skills to fend them off. The Vietnamese army arrive and kidnap Terry and supposedly kill Scott and Mac with a rocket launcher. However, Scott and Mac survive the blast and head towards rescuing Terry and Sulin. Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen is murdered by a mysterious assassin hiding in a manhole in Bangkok.

Later that night, Scott and Mac begin to secretly hide explosives and other weaponry in the Soviet camp. The next morning, Sulin and Terry are intended to become the latest victims of the alligator pit. Scott, noticing what has happened, uses his crossbow to begin the full-fledged assault. Mac heads towards rescuing Terry and Sulin. All the forces except for Yuri are killed. When Scott heads towards his friends, Yuri arrives with a machine gun. Terry, fearing for Scott's life, sacrifices her life to save Scott when she is gunned down by Yuri. Scott distracts Yuri with an arrow to his arm. As Mac attempts to save Terry, he finally professes his love for her. However, it is too late as Terry dies.

Scott and Yuri begin to fight with Yuri's strength getting the best of Scott. Scott, in an effort to lure Yuri away, hides in his office. When Yuri follows, he notices no one is inside. That is, until Scott jumps off a platform and begins to use his kicking skills on Yuri. Yuri catches Scott's foot and throws him to his desk and moves it towards Scott's legs to crush them. However, Scott grabs a painting behind him and crashes it on Yuri's head. Scott begins to fight and throws the Soviet flag around Yuri's head and ties a rope around his neck. Scott ties Yuri to a jeep and drags him to the alligator pit. When Yuri attempts to pull Scott in the jeep, an alligator gets Yuri and Scott jumps out of the jeep in time. Scott finds a machine gun and blasts the alligator pit. He is reunited with Sulin but is given the news that Terry is dead. Together, Scott, Sulin, and Mac, holding Terry, walk away to the camp.

Cast

Production

This film was originally intended to be a direct sequel to No Retreat, No Surrender, but safety concerns over filming in Cambodian jungles persuaded Jean-Claude Van Damme to back out of the project, and he convinced Kurt McKinney to do the same.[1] The story and characters had to be changed with McKinney's character - Jason Stillwell (a Jeet Kune Do expert taught by the ghost of Bruce Lee) - transformed into Scott Wylde, a Tae Kwon Do expert played by Loren Avedon. Matthias Hues was also cast as the new Russian character. Loren Avedon did not follow Jean Claude's example and stayed on after this film fulfilling his three-picture contract.

The film is also known as Karate Tiger 2 and Raging Thunder. It was followed by No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers, which again featured Avedon in the lead role but is unrelated in terms of plot and characters.

DVD release

The movie has never been released on Region 1 DVD, and as of December, 2009, no plans have been announced for a Region 1 DVD release. It has however been readily available on Region 4 DVD and Region 2 DVD in both Australia and Europe since 2005.

References

  1. ↑ "The Kid-Free Weekend: Episode 17 - Kurt McKinney Calls KFW!". www.thekidfreeweekend.com. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
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