Brainwaves: Karate Tiger USA

In this edition of Brainwaves I am going to play a little game of “What if”.

More specifically what if the American produced martial arts movies that were released in Germany under the Karate Tiger banner were brought together as an epic 10 disc Blu-ray collection released here in the United States. I would be all in on such a collection and so would countless other martial arts movie lovers like me.

I would go so far to say that this collection would be Germany’s greatest contribution to American culture since the hamburger.

And what a collection it is, let’s take a look…

Disc One – No Retreat, No Surrender

The first Karate Tiger movie was actually the movie released in the United States as No Retreat, No Surrender. It features Kurt McKinney as Jason Stillwell, a young martial artist who is trained by the spirit of Bruce Lee. The movie also features an early role for Jean-Claude Van Damme as the evil Russian Ivan Krachinsky. This movie also reminds you that it is an 80’s movie as it features breakdancing!

Disc Two – No Retreat, No Surrender 2

Despite not having any returning cast members from the original, a sequel to No Retreat, No Surrender was made in the United States and that sequel was called No Retreat, No Surrender 2. That same movie was released as Karate Tiger 2 in Germany. Van Damme and McKinney may be out but Loren Avedon, Cynthia Rothrock and Matthias Hues bring plenty of fighting action to this sequel, that again has literally NOTHING to do with the original… but that will be a common theme as the Karate Tiger series goes on.

Disc Three – Kickboxer

Yep! Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to the Karate Tiger series in Karate Tiger 3 – Der Kickboxer. This is of course the same movie as one of JCVD’s  early hits in the United States, Kickboxer. The film features one of Van Damme’s greatest foes in the form of Tong Po (played by real life Van Damme buddy, Michel Qissi). This film may be most famous for Van Damme’s drunken dance scene.

Disc Four – Best of the Best

Released in Germany as Karate Tiger IV: Best of the Best, this one features a Tae Kwon Do tournament between the top American team and the top Korean team. The film stars Eric Roberts and Phillip Rhee and unlike the later sequels in the Best of the Best series, this movie focuses heavily on the martial arts and not things like white supremacist groups or Russian counterfeiters.

Disc Five – The King of the Kickboxers

Loren Avedon makes his return to the Karate Tiger series with one of his best movies, The King of the Kickboxers or as it was known in Germay, Karate Tiger V – König der Kickboxer. This one is my favorite Loren Avedon flick ever and features the great Keith Cooke as Prang (trainer to Avedon’s Jake Donahue) and Billy Blanks as the badass villain known as Khan!

Disc Six – Kickboxer 3: The Art of War

Sasha Mitchell had taken over the lead role from Jean-Claude Van Damme in Kickboxer 2: The Road Back. (Van Damme opted to make Double Impact instead). Mitchell reprised his role as David Sloan in Kickboxer 3: The Art of War. The third installment of the United States Kickboxer franchise would become the sixth installment of Germany’s Karate Tiger series entitled Karate Tiger VI – Entscheidung in Rio. This one features David Sloan and Master Xian travelling to Rio for a kickboxing exhibition against Martine (Ian Jacklin) and his shady manager.

Disc  Seven: To Be the Best

Karate Tiger VII – To Be the Best introduced Michael Worth to the Karate Tiger series. This one has a similar theme to Best of the Best (which was probably why they released it as To Be the Best in the States) with two teams of martial artists representing their respective countries competing against one another. Eric Kulhane (Michael Worth) is on the team representing the United States along with his brother Sam (Phillip Troy Linger). The team is coached by Eric and Sam’s father, Rick Kulhane (Martin Kove). The captain of Team Thailand (the heavy favorites to win the kickboxing competition) is Hong Do, played by martial arts movie veteran, Steven Vincent Leigh. Leigh’s image is actually featured on the cover of the Karate Tiger VII release.

Disc Eight: Fists of Iron

Michael Worth became the first action hero to star in back to back Karate Tiger releases. Known in the United States as Fists of Iron (or the alternate title Enter the Shootfighter), the movie was released simply as Karate Tiger 8 in Germany. Karate Tiger 8 would also see the return of Matthias Hues, who plays kickboxing champion Victor “The Destroyer” Bragg and the man that Worth’s character, Dale Hartwell, must defeat to avenge the death of his friend. The movie also stars Marshall Teague as the puppet master who pulls Bragg’s strings. If this Blu-ray collection was an actual thing, it is the two Michael Worth movies that would have me clicking that pre-order button.

Disc Nine: Superfights

Karate Tiger 9 was released in the United States as Superfights. This would mark the first movie in this set that I personally have never seen. It features martial artist Brandon Gaines in his only movie role. Gaines plays Jack Cody, a young man who dreams of competing in the Superfights. The movie also features Keith Vitali (Revenge of the Ninja) and an early movie role for pro wrestler turned actor, Rob Van Dam.

Disc Ten: Champions

The 1998 movie Champions was released as Karate Tiger 10 in Germany.  Champions features a retired fighter, William Rockman (Louis Mandylor), who is drawn back into the world he once dominated, the world of Terminal Combat. Since Rockman left, the sport was forced to go underground as the government banned it due to the brutality involved. The film also stars Danny Trejo, Ken Shamrock and Larry B. Scott from Iron Eagle fame.