Posts Tagged ‘Kurt McKinney’

No Retreat No Surrender (1985) was at the time a rare hybrid of Hong Kong and U.S.A.– an attempt to bring Asian Martial Arts movies to American audiences. It was written by Keith Strandberg and directed by Corey Yuen (Dragons Forever, Yes, Madam) in his English language debut. (Yuen would go on to have a successful career in the west from No Retreat 2 to working on Jet Li‘s American movies like Lethal Weapon 4, Romeo Must Die & The Expendables as well as effectively launching Jason Statham as an action star with The Transporter.) It also notably had remaining vestiges of 70s Bruceploitation genre by inexplicably having a main character being trained by a ghost of Bruce Lee (Kim Tai-Chung aka Tong Lung.)

Directed by Oliver Harper (In Search of the Last Action Heroes) documentary features interviews not only with the likes of No Retreat producer Ng See-yuen, original cast members such as Kurt McKinney, J.W. Fails, Peter “Sugarfoot” Cunningham as well as sequel’s Cynthia Rothrock and Matthias Hues but also with famous fans such as Scott Adkins(Undisputed, Ninja). The only one missing is The Muscles from Brussels himself, Mr. Van Damme.

As of now movie is over 40% financed on Kickstarter and if you want you can pre- order it right here. I have no doubt this will get to 100% in no time.

Earlier this year we reported about David “Bolo Jr.” Yeung‘s casting in the 80’s and 90’s Martial Arts tribute The Last Kumite but now we have something even better, the first trailer for the movie.

Released today via ComingSoon.net The Last Kumite trailer promises everything from the deadly duels to the classic training montages with (almost) all the actors you remember from the old VHS rental days, actors like: Cynthia Rothrock (No Retreat, No Surrender 2), Billy Blanks (The Kings of Kickboxers), Matthias Hues (Dark Angel), Michel Qissi (Kickboxer) and Kurt McKinney (No Retreat, No Surrender).

And the hero Rivers is played by the German action star Mathis Landwehr (Lasko – Die Faust Gottes).

So, without further ado, let’s take a trip back down the memory lane and enjoy one Last Kumite:

…with an extra dose of Blanks!

Who says you can never go home again.

The Last Kumite will be an action packed old school fighting movie in the style of Bloodsport, Kickboxer and No Retreat, No Surrender.

Directed by Ross W. Clarkson (Undisputed 2 & 3) movie will be starting a bevy of 80s and 90s Action Movie luminaries like Michel Qissi (Kickboxer), Abdel Qissi (The Quest), Cynthia Rothrock (No Retreat, No Surrender 2), Billy Blanks (The Kings of Kickboxers), Matthias Hues (Dark Angel) and even Kurt McKinney (No Retreat, No Surrender) making his action movie return.

The movie will be about Michael Rivers (Mathis Landwehr), who is a skilled martial artist and is forced to fight in an illegal fighting tournament in order to save his daughter.

Stunt coordinator is the German Martial Arts sensation Mike Moller(One Million K(l)icks).

And in the latest news they will be joined by none other than David Yeung aka Bolo Jr.– son of the original Bloodsport villain Tang Po (Bolo Yeung). Like his father before him David is a former bodybuilder and an excellent Martial Artist to boot! This casting couldn’t be more perfect for this movie and I really hope they use David‘s talents to the fullest extent.

For those who can’t wait to support The Last Kumite, it’s on Kickstarter right now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thelastkumite/the-last-kumite/