NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2: RAGING THUNDER

Released in 1987 following the unexpected success of NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER the year before, which happened to include the theatrical debut of Belgian screen actor, martial artist, and fight choreographer Jean-Claude Van Damme and also directed by Corey Yuen, NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2 was intended to be a direct sequel to the first film but actually began life as a different film called RAGING THUNDER. When the original film’s stars chose not to return, the story and characters were altered to form a completely new narrative. Even though no elements of the story remained to connect it to the original film, the title was changed to NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2, or NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2: RAGING THUNDER. The film was also released in parts of the world as KARATE TIGER 2.

The story begins in Vietnam, where American college student Scott Wylde (Avedon) arrives looking for his former teacher and best friend Mac (Thayer). A former lover of Jarvis’ named Terry (Rothrock) tells Scott that Mac is likely in Patpong, a seedy area of Bangkok, Thailand. After dinner with his fiancé Sulin, a gang of tough types crash into Scott’s room kidnapping Sulin. Scott is detained by local authorities and sent to the airport to board a plane for Singapore. He escapes and heads to Patpong, where he locates and recruits Jarvis to help him invade Cambodia to rescue his fiancé. Scott learns that Sulin’s father was a famous Vietnamese general who, for the sake of his family, reneged on a lucrative deal with the Soviet militia. The next day Scott and Jarvis are ambushed by Thai police; however, Terry swoops in and rescues the pair in a helicopter. Scott, Mac, and Terry arrive in Cambodia threatening all out war in hopes of rescuing poor Sulin.

The music for NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2 was composed by David Spear, a prolific composer, conductor and orchestrator. Spear composed the bulk of his music for NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2 using piano/keyboards, bass, guitar, drums, and an EVI—an electronic valve instrument using the Boehm fingering system utilized by most woodwind instruments. Spear and multiple reels of tapes were flown up to Vancouver along with all of the hand-written orchestrations and hand-copied parts for the final orchestra sessions.

David Spear began his career orchestrating many film scores for Elmer Bernstein including AIRPLANE, ANIMAL HOUSE, HEAVY METAL and GHOSTBUSTERS. After his Broadway debut as Music Director of MERLIN, THE MAGICAL MUSICAL, Spear wrote scores for three Academy Award nominated films: RAINBOW WAR, BALLET ROBOTIQUE, and THE COURAGE TO CARE. He composed the music for the Emmy Award winning National Geographic documentary, SURVIVING EVEREST. One of his first major scores was for the 1981 vampire thriller FEAR NO EVIL, composed in collaboration with the film’s writer/director Frank LaLoggia. He led the Indianapolis Symphony for the 2008 premiere of THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT featuring Ice-T and the Ron McCurdy Quartet. A dedicated educator, Spear served as faculty at Berklee College of Music (1991-1995), USC Thornton School of Music (1995-2006), NYU (2009-2013), and at Portland State as 2017 Artist-in-Residence. His work in academia and industry thrives on decades of creative collaboration with many notable artists, directors and scholars.

Dragon’s Domain Records presents NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER 2, featuring music composed by David Spear for the very first time on compact disc. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by author and composer Brian Satterwhite, with the participation of the composer.