October 18, 2009

Required Viewing: "No Retreat, No Surrender" (aka "Karate Tiger," 1986)

Easily--EASILY!--the most satisfyingly stupid film I have ever seen. There are the "bad" movies which are simply boring, then there are the "bad" movies which have a few brilliantly stupid moments peppered in with a lot of tedious plot, and then there is No Retreat, No Surrender. It is THE "bad" film against which I measure all other so-called "bad" films. It's never boring, the stupidity is relentless, all the characters are moronic, it only gets more ridiculous with repeated viewings, AND it's got Van Damme & Soul Man. It will never be topped. This particular cut is some weird international version, which I prefer. The US version (here's part 1) has slightly more integrity and a better soundtrack, but because there are so many fantastically stupid moments which appear only here, I now consider this the definitive version.

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