No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (1987)

No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (also known as Karate Tiger 2) is a 1987 martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen, and starring Loren Avedon, Matthias Hues, Max Thayer and Cynthia Rothrock. The film is a Hong Kong-American co-production. Despite its title, it does not have any narrative or character connection to No Retreat, No Surrender, as it plots an independent story. The film was originally released as Raging Thunder in the Philippines. It is the second film in the No Retreat, No Surrender franchise.

Plot:

In Moc Hoa, Vietnam, a group of prisoners are executed under the watchful eye of General Ty. Meanwhile, Scott Wylde, an American college student, visits the country to visit his former teacher and best friend Mac Jarvis, meeting Terry, Mac’s former lover, in the process. Terry tells Scott that Mac may be in Patpong, a seedy area of Bangkok. Scott leaves the gym and heads for his hotel, where he has dinner with his girlfriend Sulin Nguyen. During their date, Sulin’s father receives a disturbing phone call and leaves his house.

In the meantime, a group of thugs crash into Scott’s room and kidnap Sulin. Scott fights and kills the two thugs left behind to murder him. At Sulin’s house, he finds that her entire family except for her father has been killed. Scott is framed for the murders and drug possession. Despite Mr. Nguyen’s pleas, the American consulate suggests sending Scott to Singapore and keeping him detained for three months. He escapes, heading to Patpong.

Release:

The film was released in the Philippines as Raging Thunder by Asia Films on 5 November 1987. In the United States, the film was released on 27 January 1989. The U.S. version of the film cuts out the opening “firing squad” scene and goes right to the airplane landing in Bangkok with the title card superimposed. Some dialogue between Terry and Scott at the Muay Thai gym was also trimmed down as was Scott’s interrogation scene. All subsequent scenes involving Sulin’s father and the pimp at the motel were omitted from the U.S. version as well.

Production:

This film was originally intended to be a direct sequel to No Retreat, No Surrender, but safety concerns over filming in Cambodian jungles persuaded Jean-Claude Van Damme to back out of the project, and he convinced Kurt McKinney to do the same. McKinney added that film scheduling conflicts with Cynthia Rothrock and weather complications in Cambodia also delayed production constantly, prompting McKinney’s casting agents to secure his role on General Hospital. The story and characters had to be changed with McKinney’s character – Jason Stillwell (a Jeet Kune Do expert taught by the ghost of Bruce Lee) – transformed into Scott Wylde, a Tae Kwon Do expert played by Loren Avedon.