No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder (1987) Reviews

• Revenge of the 80's: The sequel.

  Captain_Couth2005-02-09

  No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder (1989) was a sequel only in name to the first film. Corey Yuen is back, Seasonal Films decided to make another film to the series. This time the movie's featured star is Cynthia Rothrock. The action is also co-directed by Hoi Meng. The movie takes place in Southeast Asia. A couple of commandos along with a female agent are sent on a deep cover assignment. Their mission is to take out a suspected Soviet clandestine operation. Whilst in Thailand they discover that their mission has become a whole lot more complicated than they could have ever imagined. The acting is not that great but it's adequate. Who's kidding themselves. Who goes to a movie like this and expect a cast full of thespians. The action set pieces are what we expect from the team of Hoi Meng and Corey Yuen, bone breaking action with a fair amount of blood letting. Cynthia Rothtock is phenomenal in her role. More action and less gabbing from her. If you like no nonsense action films then this one's for you. Others need not apply because you'll be turned away from the nonsensical plot and pedestrian acting. But the action scenes are excellent and fun to watch.

• Low Budget Mayhem

  bad_habitt2002-03-29

  This is one of the most amazing films you will ever see. It has some of the most marvelous directing and cinematography of action scenes ever recorded on film. Loren Avedon is simply matchless as a young humble American hero in his first movie. The story line is equally captivating and engrosses the viewer. The characters are straight out of a comic book with fantastic screen presence, dialogue and charisma that makes it impossible to take one's eyes of them. However where the film really succeeds, is in the technical aspect. The editing and pacing of the film is like none other. It is magnificently fused with a perfect film score that was works superbly and fuses so well with the film that it almost gives you goosebumps that something can be made so precisely and accurately to fit the emotions on the screen. Karate Tiger II proves that just because a movie is low budget, it doesn't mean that the people working on it aren't incredibly gifted and talented at their craft. As a regular avid film viewer, I feel very fortunate that I was able to view and experience this film. It is a sheer delight and should not be missed by anyone. One of the very best films out of the tens of thousands I've seen.

• Totally Awesome

  Volstag2005-01-17

  With a title like that, you know you're dealing with something special. No Retreat, No Surrender II (NRNS2), is a magical pastiche of poor dialogue, bad acting and frenetic martial arts action. NRNS2 is, verily, one of the ultimate Bad Movies for Bad Movie fans everywhere. On the one hand, the movie is entirely watchable -- due primarily to the entertaining fight and action sequences (very reminiscent of early/mid 80s, Hong Kong produced, kung-fu movies). On the other hand, it's chock full of cringe worthy dialogue -- delivered in the most hilariously stilted manner possible. This is generally the case when you cast martial artists as opposed to actors. Our story begins with fresh-faced Scott Wylde (Loren Avedon) arriving in Vietnam. For reasons obscure to me and my Bad Movie buddies, Mr. Wylde is obsessed with finding his friend, Mac Jarvis (Max Thayer). Apparently, Mr. Wylde thought the best course of action for finding his friend was to run around Vietnam yelling, "Mac! Mac Jarvis!" Mr. Wylde bumps into Terry (Cynthia Rothrock), who -- as it turns out -- is an ex-girlfriend of Mac. If memory serves correctly, she informs Scott of the present whereabouts of Mr. Jarvis. At this point, things turn sour for Mr. Wylde. His Vietnamese girlfriend, Sulin (Patra Wanthivanond), is kidnapped by the nefarious Vietcong -- because her father just happens to be a local bigwig. This sets the stage for Scott to rescue his girlfriend, and beat-down a whole mess of Bad Guys in the process. Mr. Wylde eventually joins forces with cigar (and scenery) chomping Mac Jarvis. Together they make their way to Cambodia (IIRC). As you can imagine, their travels are beset by a host of enraged Vietcong. In addition to the VC, Scott and Mac must administer an Country Ass Whopping' on the local Buddhists (who, unbelievably, favor ropes as their primary weapon of choice). Sulin, meanwhile, is introduced to her primary captor, Yuri (Matthias Hues) -- a monstrous Russian with an undeniable German accent (Matthias Hues is German). Yuri demonstrates his brutality by summarily executing a couple malcontents. One of them is forced into a large pool teeming with hungry alligators (or is it crocodiles?). Oh, the horror! From here the plot develops in a thoroughly predictable manner -- Scott and Mac hewing their way through jungle and assailant until they reach Yuri's compound. During their journey, they join forces with Terry -- who, for reasons incomprehensible to me, insists on wearing a large yellow sweatshirt over her workout gear. We found the interplay between Scott, Mac and Terry to be eerily similar to Star Wars. Specifically: Mac is Han Solo, Scott is Luke and Terry is Princess Leia. It might sound strange, but watch the movie and tell me I'm not right! Mac and Scott develop a truly bizarre plan to attack the compound. The (hilarious) centerpiece of their attack features M60s being "auto fired" via the aid of several Budweiser cans (that Mac had the foresight to pack through the Vietnamese/Cambodian jungle). Anyway, our heroes launch their attack. The VC come running out of their barracks, into a hail of enfilading M60 fire (featuring empty beer can technology). The VC keep charging, and the M60s keep firing. The end result is a whole mess of dead VC. Eventually Mac, Scott and Terry encounter Yuri. As you can imagine, a serious kung-fu fest ensues. Ultimately, however, Yuri is bested by the combined might of his three assailants. His demise is, perhaps, the Greatest Bad Movie Death of All Time. Get this: Yuri is dragged, by his neck, in a Jeep being driven by Scott. Scott slingshots Yuri into the pool of alligators. Yuri, not one to be intimidated by enraged reptiles, begins pulling the jeep towards the pool. Scott, sensing his impending doom, leaps from the jeep -- first making sure that the gas tank is full. Yuri then pulls the jeep on top of himself, while being gnawed on by alligators. Scott, for the coup de grace, shoots the gas tank which causes the jeep to explode! Poor Yuri becomes food for worms. This is probably the only movie in cinema history that makes the attempt to explain why a jeep would explode! Normally, any vehicle, in any movie, can explode for any reason whatsoever. We found this particularly amusing since, a half-hour previous to this point, the movie depicted several dozen canvas tents exploding. Were they full of gas as well? Oh well. The end result is totally hilarious and totally awesome. I highly recommend this movie to anyone with a predilection for terrible movies. Bad Movie Score: 8/10 Good Movie Score: 6/10

• And the fun continues...

  sveknu2006-02-14

  Despite being a sequel, this has nothing to do with the first movie. There's a whole new cast, and a brand new plot. A quite good one, actually. No Retreat, No Surrender 2 is the perfect example of pure 80's fun. It has lots of really cool fighting, fun background music and almost everything else we all know as bad (but really entertaining) 80's action stuff. The last fifteen minutes of the movie are excellent. Movies with totally evil Soviet military bases are always fun! And Matthias Hues is perfect as an evil Soviet military. The last fight between him and Loren Avedon must be considered as a classic. Same score as the first movie: 7 out of 10!

• Not related but good!!!

  AlbertV791999-10-27

  This sequel has nothing to do with the original film, but is connected that American kickboxers fight Soviet killing machines. This marked the debuts of Loren Avedon and Matthias Hues. The only flaw in the film was the short fight between Cynthia Rothrock and Hwang Jang-lee. If this was longer and Hwang didn't have any padding, the fight would've been spectacular. The finale between Avedon and Hues is blistering, especially when Avedon unleashes his awesome kicking. Pretty good for martial arts fans to enjoy!!!