Customer Reviews

No Retreat No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The third and final entry to the "No Retreat, No Surrender" series (that is, if you don't count The King of the Kickboxers and a couple after that) begins, surprisingly, with a quote from Mao Tse Tung: "Power comes from the barrel of a gun." One must assume that this line is delivered with tongue-in-cheek intent, seeing as the NRNS series - one of the best martial arts movie collections ever made - focuses very little on gunplay and predominantly on first-class hand-to-hand acrobatics. Perhaps producer Ng See Yuen wasn't very fond of Mao and sought to prove that theory wrong in this flick, or maybe he thought it was just a cool quote. Whichever way you read it, it doesn't impact the movie as being a stellar addition to an awesome series built on the best kung fu the western world has never seen.

The story: when CIA veteran John Alexander (Joseph Campanella, Ben) is murdered by a well-funded terrorist organization, his two feuding sons go about their own ways to track down his killers. Company man Casey (Keith Vitali, Revenge of the Ninja) must work through the restrictions of the CIA to get to the bottom of the matter, while karate instructor Will (Loren Avedon, No Retreat No Surrender 2) must realize his limitations before his lone wolf attitude gets him killed. Eventually, the two of them must resolve their differences and remember how to be brothers again to get through the investigation alive.

Soon enough, it's obvious that the storyline of "Blood Brothers" isn't going to be as insane as its predecessors'. Sure, the terrorists all contend not to be Americans but are betrayed by not having any accents and are led by a Native American albino (Rion Hunter), but the weirdness of plot mostly stops there. Writer Keith Strandenberg no doubt repressed himself greatly for this film. Never worry, for there's plenty more to laugh at in the form of the trademark atrocious acting we've come to expect from these films. Legendary karate fighter Keith Vitali takes the cake in this department: at first glance, he's no worse than Avedon, Hunter, or Wanda Acuna as his flip-floppy girlfriend, but he has the bad luck of needing to dramatically announce things which most people think to themselves in their head, announcing his thoughts for the whole world to hear as though he were a cartoon character. What a weirdo.

Of course, the action scenes save the day. Tony Leung (Ip Man) replaces Corey Yuen as the series' fight choreographer, and while he had yet to develop his style as it would be displayed in later films, he filled Corey's shoes adequately with approximately five fights (and a couple quickies) that still exceed the expectations of most American film fans. In total, there's probably less fighting in here than any other film of the extended series (with the exception of American Shaolin), but we're nevertheless treated to some praise-worthy flips, flying kicks, and the fresh martial talents of Mr. Rion and authoritative martial artist Mark Russo as his top henchman. The final fight - featuring Avedon and Vitali against Hunter and Russo - is an uninterrupted five-minute brawl in which all four men really get to show off in an airplane hangar. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: why guys like these never headlined in Hollywood is beyond me, since what they do with their fists and feet surpasses anything the big studios put out.

In the end, "Blood Brothers" is a bit less fun than the rest of the series because it lacks the insanity that made the other films cult classics. Film-fu purists, however, ought to be falling over eachother to get their hands on this. Yes, even with but a three-star rating, this one's worth buying a VCR for until it's released on Region 1 DVD.

First let's get something out of the way: NO RETREAT NO SURRENDER 3 has nothing at all to do with either NRNS or it's "sequel" NRNS2, which also had nothing to do with the original film aside from sharing the title that is. The second and third films however, DO share the same star in the person of Loren Avedon but he's playing a completely different character. Here he's Will Alexander an obsessed martial artist, brother to Casey (played by karateka Keith Vitali) and son of John Alexander, both CIA veterans although DAD has been retired from The Company for a few years. The two brothers have a history of animosity and Dad (played by noted actor Joseph Campanella) hopes to get them to reconcile at his birthday party with what Will calls his latest "Rediscover the Family" plan.

However Evil is afoot in the shape of an old enemy whom Dad has continued investigating even after his retirement, and I think we all know where this is going since revenge is the lifeblood of martial arts flix. Yep. The night of the party Dad gets offed by a group of assassins headed up by none other than that very same man--an albino named Franco (Rion Hunter). Will and Casey of course, have had a big argument and stomped off in separate directions in fits of pique, but later return to find Dad dead and obviously blame each other. Predictably they can't agree about how to handle the situation; Will wants to go all Lone Wolf, while Casey wants his blood letting to be done through the proper channels, and they part ways again. Will the brothers be able to mend their broken relationship and work together to find their father's killer and see that justice is done? Are you kidding me?

Unfortunately Casey learns that The Company has a strict No Relatives Involved In Revenge Policy that he doesn't agree with, so he must changes his plans. After a certain amount of snooping around ( about 2 minutes real time) he manages to find the Top Secret files on Franco (which were about as hard to get hold of as copies of "The Auto Trader") and learns that Franco's operations are based in Florida. Casey is suddenly overwhelmed with an urge to visit the Sunshine State. But since Casey isn't the brightest bulb in anybodies lamp, Will sees the files too and beats him down to the Gulf Coast and cruises around 3 counties before Casey can even say "Duh". What happens after they get to Florida is lots of silly fun and good ol' kung fu action as Will tries to track down Franco, Casey tries to track down Will, and they both try to thwart the kidnapping of the Minister from Mozambique while everybody else in the state of Florida seems unaware that the President of the U.S. is also flying into Tampa International that day! (TIA ably played by St.Pete/ Clearwater Airport) Perhaps the real reason I love this movie as much as I do is because so much of it was shot within 10 miles of my apartment, and some of it even closer than that. I mean who would ever have thought that Corey Yuen would just pack up everything and schlep it over to Pinellas County for God's sake?! Not I. I still get a kick out recognizing the various sites they used as they appear on screen--"Oh look, there's Ric Martin's dojo! Isn't it cool they make it look like it's out in the country rather than just a free floating building in the parking lot of a strip mall?" And so it goes.

Okay so maybe that means I'm not the most unbiased eye when it comes to this one, but it really does have some good things going for it. It does have a slight sense of humor for one thing, always a plus with me. And the choreography was the best thing we had ever seen white guys do at the time. I'm not kidding you here. Tony Cheung (IP MAN) was giving these guys some terrific, eye-catching old school stuff and they were all doing him proud. Avedon was impressive indeed--loose and fast. Vitali kept up but showed that a lot of time in the ring doesn't always translate well to the screen, and the villains, especially Hunter and Mark Russo (a well known martial artist himself) were worthy adversaries.

Keep your eyes peeled for COLBERT REPORT'S Assif Mandiv small role as a terrorist.

Not as hysterically bad as the first two movies but still a laugh-fest, NRNS 3 brings back Avedon (though he plays a different part) and teams him with Keith Vitali as two brothers, one of them is a C.I.A. agent with MacGyer-like problem solving abilties and the other is a karate teacher with a bus stop inside his dojo. When their dad gets iced by the goofiest super-villian ever, the brothers go their seperate ways on a mission of revenge.

Vitali tries to smooth things over with his estranged girlfriend while Avedon enlists the help of his old drinking buddies. Things get intense when a double agent sets them up and Avedon is forced to kidnap some goofy-looking African Embasaddor. In one of the funniest things I have ever seen, Vitali's girlfriend starts shooting at Avedon because he neglected to inform her that he is his brother. Well, I don't want to give it all a way but if you love bad action movies, this one is a hoot.

The 1st 2 No Retreat No Surrender were the best of "they are so bad they are good action movies". The 3rd in the series becomes "they are so bad they are, well, bad". Straight out, the final fight is a 4 minute excite. The rest of the movie is painful.

NRNS3 stars Loren Avedon and Keith Vitali, playing 2 brothers who can never seem to get along. Apparently their father, who works for the CIA, killed the son of a man named Franco. Franco gets his revenge and kills their father. The 2 brothers travel to Florida, seperately, where they eventually hook up to get back at Franco.

The story has the possibility to be interesting in NRNS 3, but that would require a better script, much much better acting, and not so much cheese. Unfortunately this movie is loaded with it all. The result is an hour and half that seems like 3 hours, just waiting for that promising final fight.

Fortunately, the final fight is fast and furious. Franco (and his 2nd in command) take on the 2 brothers at an airport. The fight is unrealistic, but is fun and well choreographed. If not for the fight, this movie would completely bomb.

I guess if you are desperate to complete the NRNS series, go ahead and get number 3. Otherwise, get it and fast forward to the end.

Deffinitly pick up no.2 before this one.

Okay first off if this is a purchase you are considering because you love to own horrible movies and find perverse pleasure in seeing decent actors do their best with the worst scripts in history...solid five. It gets no worse. The only thing that is actually great about the film is that it is a highly memorable fight scene in the end. As far as most memorable fight scenes, this is up their with far better movies finale. Not that it is realistic but the choreography is totally outstanding and entertaining, one of the best I think. The rest of the movie is adequately acted by Kieth Vitali and Loren Avedon both of whom are always the bright spots in lousy flicks because they really do well no matter the Godforsaken plot. This plot is something along the line of-okay it's pretty much the same elements in almost all martial arts b-movies just mixed around enough to not directly copy everybody else. Plot holes- oh they're big. Pointfulness-oh who needs it. Plenty of fancy footwork-plenty. At one point as the two brothers stand over their dead father[cia guy, man of course] Kieth says something like '' this happens in our line of work.'' and honest to God almost as close as I can remember [just watched it today] Loren Avedon says through childlike tears and words '' Not to him, cuz he was my father and I loved him.'' Wow. Having an eight year old boy right this script was not a good idea. You should be atleast fifteen to right a decend b-movie martial arts flick. FIFTEEN PEOPLE! Work with me here. Also someone to be named dies via shotgun to his cheekbone. Huh? His head didn't even move for crying out loud! I know none of this is supposed to be realistic. Some of the best ones who aren't supposed to be great due to crappiness are still unrealistic but this movie-just wow. In all of these flicks which I grew up on like probably most of us, the idea is to creatively do one thing. Bring non-ballistics combat to the forefront of the action with the most likely non-gun situation. Since every yahoo since the 1800's has been able to get their hands on a user-friendly multi-shot gun of some sort, you've got to think of all the reasons why they can't or shouldn't or wouldn't apply this ability in a situation where people want to hurt other people. Some movies do a great job of this, this one is one of those where it just makes no sense. Even worse then their attempt at drama like the 'he was my dad' thing, is their attempt at comedy. It's like when your six years old and you ''come up with'' a joke that you improv before you actually figure the joke out and it lasts twenty minutes and people are staring at you with the most uncomfortable smile you may ever see. Okay that is their comedy. It is only funny when you laugh at the movie, not with it. If you laugh with it,... guess what? Your sense of humor is dying. It's not dead yet, but it is sickly. So if you want a great great movie-1 star for Kieth and Loren's presence and one for the final fight scene-and if you want a great horrible movie-five stars all the way.

Franco is the greatest martial artist in this movie. His amazing tactical fighting skills surprise even himself. This is a great movie if you like spectacular fighting sequences. The main bad guy Franco is a very special actor with a very special hairstyle.