No Retreat, No Surrender (VHS U.S. Version)

The following video is the unfortunately rare VHS U.S. Version of “No Retreat, No Surrender”.

Not to be confused with the so-called "Expanded International Cut", which is actually the original version of the film: I consider this re-cut U.S. version of “No Retreat, No Surrender” to be the true definitive version.

This is the story of a young man… a major Bruce Lee fanatic… who had the heart of a warrior, and a spirit that was bigger than the universe.

His potential was so great, that no human being in the entire world, not even his father who was a Karate Expert (and his Sensei), was capable of bringing out his full potential.

If it took having to visit him through “spiritual apparition”, through God’s Grace and authorization, only Bruce Lee himself was capable of teaching this very worthy student.

This young man.... is Jason Stillwell.

Unfortunately, even if this was Corey Yuen’s first American directorial debut, this U.S. Version of "No Retreat, No Surrender" was NOT the original version of the film. It was a cut version of the original that was considerably different, and, to me, should’ve been the original.

God Bless “New World Pictures” who saw the great potential of this film, and decided to re-cut the film, taking out unnecessary scenes and clips - that should’ve never been there in the first place - plus, they re-scored the film and the theme song.

This version of the film even had a much better-suited intro, using a very nice silhouette of Bruce Lee, with Chinese characters on both sides of him. I DO thank Corey Yuen for allowing that introduction to happen.

I think that "No Retreat, No Surrender" - especially this version - did such a great job in portraying Bruce Lee and his philosophies with accuracy and integrity. It is a wonder, to me, why this film was one of the very few Bruce Lee-type films that was able to get authorization to film at Bruce Lee's grave-site (respectively).

Yes, Bruce Lee's dubbed voice in this version was a lot deeper than how Bruce Lee's voice really sounds (plus, I do admit that the man who dubbed Bruce Lee’s voice in the original version was closer to how Bruce Lee’s voice really was). However, to me, the voice used in the U.S. version is very forgiving. As a matter of fact, and maybe it is because of the voice that was portrayed in the U.S. version, the chemistry between Bruce Lee and Jason Stillwell was a lot stronger in this version than how it was portrayed in the original version.

This particular version of “No Retreat, No Surrender” was only released on VHS and Laserdisc (I’m not sure if it was on Betamax).
Unfortunately, and for some unknown reason, it never had a DVD release, nor a Blu-Ray release. It stopped after the VHS and Laserdisc.
That is, until 2017, thanks to, in the highest of respect, a company called “Kino Lorber”, who took on the task to finally release this version to us on DVD and Blu-ray.

Prior to that, it WAS released on DVD and Blu-Ray, but it was only the original version. In other countries, it was retitled: “Karate Tiger”.
The only way you could’ve owned the U.S. version on DVD and Blu-Ray, was if you either bought the VHS, and ripped a copy to a blank DVD or Blu-Ray, or you found a website that did it for you.

There WAS a U.K. version of “No Retreat, No Surrender” that used the U.S. version as a template. Unfortunately, there were scenes even cut out in THAT version, due to the strict U.K. censorship laws.

Original nor not, one of the greatest highlights of this movie... was “Jean Claude Van Damme”. :)))

For some unknown reason, Jean Claude Van Damme has never ONCE talked about his role in this movie in any interviews.

Out of all the films that he has done, especially "Bloodsport" (which I love), to me, “No Retreat, No Surrender” is still the best film Jean Claude Van Damme ever did. He was absolutely AMAZING in this movie!!! The irony about this, is that he was only in the beginning of the film, and the climax of the film. However, as small of a part as it was, it was not forgotten.

This was the first American martial art film that used the Hong Kong style choreography. Prior to that, even if it was very common in Hong Kong to see that kind of action in their movies, nobody in the United States, in 1986, had ever seen that kind of action before in an American motion picture. That’s what made this film innovative.

For those of you who have not seen this film, and for those of you who HAVE seen this film (The original "Karate Tiger" version): in all humility, I would highly recommend that you see this "U.S. version" before making any final conclusions.

Personally, this U.S. version of the film deeply inspired me. This was actually the first version of the film that I saw, before I found out 2 decades later, thanks to Youtube, that the U.S. version was not the original.

It was my Grandfather who introduced me to this film (the U.S. version) when I was 13 years old, in the summer of 1994. After I saw this for the first time, I was immediately hooked to this film.

It was also because of this film, that I began to exercise like a fiend; and I also began eating stubbornly healthy. Those devotions continue to this day. :)))

When I find myself physically and mentally slipping away in life, which has happened so many times over the years, I go back to this movie. It then gives me gasoline to get back into shape.

Overall, out of all the films that I have seen and loved (and there are many), the U.S. version of “No Retreat, No Surrender” is still, by far, in my top 5 favorite films of all time.

I am very very proud to share with all of you this U.S. version, that personally I hope will one day obliterate all the versions that were made – including the original.

With all-due respect, I really hope that the copyright owners will allow this uploaded video to stay on without it getting blocked, especially when they are the ones getting monetized for this – which is fine with me.

If you want to own this particular version of “No Retreat, No Surrender” on DVD and Blu-ray, go to Amazon or ebay, and type in the following numbers in the search: 738329206383. That is the film’s UPC code.

Once you enter it, it will take you directly to the film’s page. Of all the “No Retreat, No Surrender” DVD and Blu-ray versions that are out there, that edition - the "Kino Lorber" DVD and Blu-ray edition - are the only editions that contain this U.S. version.

I really hope that more companies, such as “Shout Factory”, will come forward, buy the rights to the U.S. version, and release their own editions. The more the merrier.

I really hope you enjoy this special upload. :)))

Also, stay tuned for an upcoming “Video Podcast Episode” where I will explain further about everything that I have said above about this version of the film.

As Bruce Lee says to Mr. Longstreet:
“May it be Well with you.” :)))