No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)

Waste of time

Must See Movie...

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a decent little martial arts flick very much in the Hong Kong mould – although it's an American movie, there's a lot of Chinese talent behind the scenes which means that the varied fight scenes are identical to the ones you'll find coming out of Hong Kong during the same period. The film this directly reminded me of was Yuen Biao's ABOVE THE LAW, for example. It's the third in a series of films that seem to get slightly better as they go along. The first was a fun take on the KARATE KID story, the second used a Rambo-era Vietnam backdrop for the action, and this one is just a stand alone action flick.The first thing I noticed was that the acting is absolutely diabolical – the worst of the series, and among the worst I've seen even in this genre. Keith Vitali is a more than able fighter but his attempts at emoting are frankly atrocious – and it's little wonder that he didn't go on to star in much after this. Loren Avedon, returning from the last film, is better, but not on the level of a Van Damme or Seagal in their heyday. Not that it matters much – the supporting cast are bad enough to make Vitali and Avedon look good on occasion, with the exception of Rion Hunter, the weird-looking bad guy who plays this thing down to a tee. Wanda Acuna, in comparison, the Puerto Rican love interest, is awful.But anyway – who watches these flicks for the acting? I certainly don't – it's all about the action, and that's where NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 3: BLOOD BROTHERS triumphs. The fight scenes come thick and fast and are expertly choreographed to best show off the genuine skills of the participants. They can be funny (Avedon pretending to kill his brother) and they can be violent (the last, extended bout which doesn't disappoint at all) but the key thing is that they're all good – even the brief ones. They're also packed with stunts, from the usual 'guys smashing through windows' stuff to that effect I love, where somebody is kicked and spin around and around, incredibly fast, in the air before hitting the ground. Weapon play, shoot-outs, and the classic two-versus-one climax – I loved every bit of it.Okay, so the story is pretty weak when it comes down to it, although the opening murder of the father was sufficiently violent to have me shocked and rooting for the good guys to kick some backside. The film meanders in places, and comes across as very dated in terms of the fashions, the haircuts, and the mannerisms, but hey, it was still the '80s when they filmed it. BLOOD BROTHERS is nothing more than a popcorn action flick and works very well for what it is.

Wow. Just wow. This film and its video cover easily have the greatest tagline of any film, in the greatest series of movies ever. Putting this film into words does not do it justice. Loren Avedon is one of the most amazing action heroes of all time. The fact that his career during its success period only featured 3 amazing and mesmerizing movies, it's like he was Bruce Lee, in the way that he was so amazing for such a short period of time and he gave the art away. See it, but see it as a film enthusiast, starting from hiring it at the video store after studying and looking over the video cover, then come home and put it in the vcr on a summer evening. You will have an experience that only the most fortunate people on earth experience.

I've seen this movie before, but most recently over-dubbed in Spanish (I do not speak the language). It is honestly one of the funniest movies I've ever seen when you don't understand a word. Then again, this was on at about 2am, so I may have been deliriously tired, but inspired enough to write this review at 4am. The acting is beyond horrible - but the scenes with the white haired terrorist were so over the top that I laughed until I cried. Besides being the silliest looking bad guy, he appears to be playing right to the camera. This is worth it just for the laughs, though there are brief segments of reasonably talented martial arts moves - only to be ruined by any attempt at acting.

This film is the best of the three No Retreat, No Surrender films. This is your typical revenge movie, but it involves two rival brothers, played by martial artists Keith Vitali and Loren Avedon. At first the brothers totally hate each other, but then their father's death brings them together as they take on the terrorists responsible for their father's murder. The fight scenes are a thrill-a-minute, the highlight being in a garage with Avedon and Vitali teaming up to fight terrorists. This is in fact the best of the three and I strongly recommend you see this film!