Interview with Keith W. Strandberg: No Retreat, No Surrender writer/producer

[mpm74]

In 1985, Hong Kong film mogul Ng See Yuen handpicked an aspiring writer named Keith W. Strandberg to produce a screenplay to No Retreat, No Surrender, a film that went on to become a cult classic, spawned two sequels, introduced Corey Yuen’s groundbreaking choreography to Hollywood and jump-started the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme.

In addition to screenwriting, Keith also started producing movies. Some of the titles under his belt include No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers, The King of the Kickboxers, American Shaolin, Superfights and Bloodmoon.

In this in-depth interview, Keith talks the films’ stars, interesting on-set incidents and much more! He even mentions a possible No Retreat, No Surrender remake.

Read the interview!

There's some interesting stuff in the interview. I appreciate your time in checking it out!

[QueMuchita]

Thanx, very good read!

[Guest Markgway]

Interesting, thanks.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Dude, thanks so much for that link.

That's a great article. Strandberg should write a book of his experiences. I'd love to read more behind-the-scenes info.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Yeah, great read.

[mpm74]

Thanks for taking the time to check it out. =D

I'm a big fan of all these movies, so I naturally got a kick out of it as well.

Justin Bateman in American Shaolin? lol How cool is that? The funny thing is I remember JCVD mentioning that he was responsible for bringing Corey Yuen to America... turns out, he was just just another guy off the streets trying to get a part!

[AlbertV]

Keith's interviews are always a great read...he used to run a website called OnTheSet.com, which he described his experiences on all the Seasonal Films he worked on and I remember the Vitali injury before NRNS3 and that was where I learned that Reese Madigan won the role of American Shaolin not only b/c of his acting, but he was a martial artist too - black belt in Shotokan Karate. Can you really imagine Jason Bateman in that role? (I recently learned Reese originally came from near my hometown, he lived in the next town over!)

Always great to read...thanks mpm

[PhillipKo]

Good interview. I read many of the stories before, but this the first time Roy Horan comes across badly. He always seemed nice, and I never heard bad stuff about him before. Was this just a case of "cannot have two tigers on one mountain?"

[mpm74]

Keith's interviews are always a great read...he used to run a website called OnTheSet.com, which he described his experiences on all the Seasonal Films he worked on and I remember the Vitali injury before NRNS3 and that was where I learned that Reese Madigan won the role of American Shaolin not only b/c of his acting, but he was a martial artist too - black belt in Shotokan Karate. Can you really imagine Jason Bateman in that role? (I recently learned Reese originally came from near my hometown, he lived in the next town over!)

Always great to read...thanks mpm

Wow, that must have been an interesting site. I remember KARATE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINES, they had this 4-page spread where they would talk about the latest low budget martial arts movie (they covered just about every Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Loren Avedon movie of the early 90's... I used to buy those magazines just for that article.

And you're welcome. I'm supposed to be meeting Keith for dinner when he comes out to Vegas in a couple of months. Should be interesting.

Good interview. I read many of the stories before, but this the first time Roy Horan comes across badly. He always seemed nice, and I never heard bad stuff about him before. Was this just a case of "cannot have two tigers on one mountain?"

I trust Keith's judgement, but the case is usually "cannot have two tigers on one mountain?" I'm sure it's typical amongst screenwriters, especially when there's more than one. But like he said in the interview, Ng See Yuen ended up keeping Keith in the long run, and probably for good reason. I could be wrong, but NRNS II was Roy's last film involvement with Seasonal.

Frankly, I wouldn't trust Roy, just based off his raw meat-eating role in TOWER OF DEATH. lol jk

[AlbertV]

I have to admit, the possibility of Keith wanting to write a reboot of No Retreat, No Surrender has been really burrowing in my head since reading this article. Of course, since the Cold War is over, they would have to go a different route in terms of villain.

Let's just say the NRNS reboot gets off the ground, who would you cast in the film?

[slinky]

I don't know, but i hope he brings people like he did before as in virtually unknown. And hope they blossom

[AlbertV]

I don't know, but i hope he brings people like he did before as in virtually unknown. And hope they blossom

He may be only 15 or 16 now, but I would eventually cast Leo Howard (star of Disney XD's Kickin' It and Sideswipe team member) as Jason Stillwell and probably Danny Chan as Bruce Lee's ghost...

Can't really decide on a villain fighter because I wouldn't know what direction it would go.

[D1 Ma]

He mentioned Roy Horan. I though it would be interesting to hear Roy Horan's story:

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/page.asp?aid=197&catid=88

[Neon Samurai]

Just finished reading this interview, simply an amazing read. Amazing insights and great stories all around!

[Cognoscente]

The unpublished masterpiece of Mr. Strandberg...

http://keithstrandberg.com/documents/ActionFilmMakingMasterClassComplete.pdf