The Nguyễn dynasty was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which was preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruled the unified Vietnamese state independently from 1802 to 1883 before being a French protectorate. During its existence, the empire expanded into modern-day southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos through a continuation of the centuries-long Nam tiến and Siamese–Vietnamese wars. With the French conquest of Vietnam, the Nguyễn dynasty was forced to give up sovereignty over parts of southern Vietnam to France in 1862 and 1874, and after 1883 the Nguyễn dynasty only nominally ruled the French protectorates of Annam as well as Tonkin. They later cancelled treaties with France and were the Empire of Vietnam for a short time until 25 August 1945.
The Cambodian Civil War was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea against the government forces of the Kingdom of Cambodia and, after October 1970, the Khmer Republic, which had succeeded the kingdom.
Kurt Robin McKinney is an American actor and martial artist. McKinney played Jason Stillwell in the 1986 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender.
Michael "Max" Thayer is an American movie actor, sometimes credited as Michael R. Thayer. He is mostly known for playing lead roles in several B-movies and action films such as Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, Planet of Dinosaurs and No Retreat, No Surrender 2.
Hwang Jang-lee is a Korean martial artist and actor best known for his Hong Kong martial arts films. He is a ninth-dan grandmaster in Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo who began training in 1957. Prior to his acting career, Hwang was a martial arts instructor for the Korean military in Vietnam.
No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1985 martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen in his American film directorial debut. It is the first title in the No Retreat, No Surrender franchise, whose plot lines and characters are mostly unrelated. It stars Kurt McKinney, with a supporting cast of Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails, Kathie Sileno, and Kim Tai-chung. The film was released in Italy on October 20, 1985, and in the United States on May 2, 1986. McKinney performs as Jason Stillwell, an American teenager who learns martial arts from the spirit of Bruce Lee. Stillwell uses these lessons to defend his martial arts dojo against Soviet martial artist Ivan Kraschinsky.
The King of the Kickboxers is a 1990 martial arts film directed by Lucas Lowe and starring Loren Avedon as Jake Donahue and Billy Blanks as Khan.
The 1970 Cambodian coup d'état was the removal of the Cambodian Chief of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, after a vote in the National Assembly on 18 March 1970. Emergency powers were subsequently invoked by the Prime Minister Lon Nol, who became effective head of state, and led ultimately to the removal of Queen Sisowath Kossamak and the proclamation of the Khmer Republic later that year. It is generally seen as a turning point in the Cambodian Civil War. No longer a monarchy, Cambodia was semi-officially called "État du Cambodge" in the intervening six months after the coup, until the republic was proclaimed.
The Nguyễn lords, also known as the Nguyễn clan, were a feudal nobility clan that ruled southern part of Đại Việt during the Revival Lê dynasty and ancestors of Nguyễn dynasty's emperors. The territory they ruled was known contemporarily as Đàng Trong and known by Europeans as Kingdom of Cochinchina and by Imperial China as Kingdom of Quảng Nam, in opposition to the Trịnh lords ruling northern Đại Việt as Đàng Ngoài, known as Kingdom of Tonkin by Europeans and Kingdom of Annam by Imperial China in bilateral diplomacy. They were officially called King of Nguyễn in 1744 when lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát self-proclaimed himself to elevate his status equally to Trịnh lords's title known as King of Trịnh . Both Nguyễn and Trịnh clans were de jure subordinates and fief of the Lê dynasty. However, The de jure submission of the Nguyễn lords to the Trịnh lords ended in 1600.
The Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút was fought between the Vietnamese Tây Sơn forces and an army of Siam in present-day Tiền Giang Province of Vietnam on January 20, 1785. It is considered one of the greatest victories in Vietnamese history.
Roy Horan III was an American actor and martial artist best known for his Hong Kong martial arts films. Horan played Lewis in the 1981 martial arts film Game of Death II, and Priest/Russian in the 1978 martial arts film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, opposite Jackie Chan. He was a student of Hwang Jang-lee, who appeared with Horan in several films.
No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers is a 1990 American action film directed by Lucas Lowe and starring Loren Avedon and Keith Vitali. While financed by Seasonal Entertainment, it does not have any narrative or character connection to No Retreat, No Surrender or the sequel, both directed by Corey Yuen.
The Siamese–Vietnamese War of 1841–1845 was a military conflict between the Đại Nam, ruled by Emperor Thiệu Trị, and the Kingdom of Siam, under the rule of Chakri King Nangklao. The rivalry between Vietnam and Siam over the control of the Cambodian heartlands in the Lower Mekong basin had intensified after Siam had attempted to conquer Cambodia during the previous Siamese–Vietnamese War (1831–1834). Vietnamese Emperor Minh Mạng installed Princess Ang Mey to rule Cambodia as a puppet queen regnant of his choice in 1834 and declared full suzerainty over Cambodia, which he demoted to Vietnam's 32nd province, the Western Commandery. In 1841, Siam seized the opportunity of discontent to aid the Khmer revolt against Vietnamese rule. King Rama III sent an army to enforce Prince Ang Duong's installation as King of Cambodia. After four years of attrition warfare, both parties agreed to compromise and placed Cambodia under joint rule.
Mạc Thiên Tứ, also known as Mạc Thiên Tích or Mạc Tông, was a Vietnamese leader who ruled Hà Tiên from 1735 to 1771 and from 1773 to 1777. He was called Mo Shilin in Veritable Records of Qing dynasty.
The Principality of Hà Tiên, or the Hà Tiên Protectorate, was a principality of Chinese settlers ruled by the Mạc (Mo) clan at the Gulf of Thailand, in modern-day southern Vietnam and Cambodia. It was originally de facto independent, but later became a vassal state of the Siamese Rattanakosin Kingdom and the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty in the 18th and 19th century prior to its annexation by the latter in 1832. Along with Phố Hiến, Hoi An, and Saigon, Hà Tiên was a major Chinese community center and important hub of Ming loyalist networks in premodern Indochina.
The Tây Sơn wars or Tây Sơn rebellion, often known as the Vietnamese civil war of 1771–1802, were a series of military conflicts that followed the Vietnamese peasant uprising at Tây Sơn that was led by three brothers Nguyễn Nhạc, Nguyễn Huệ, and Nguyễn Lữ. These revolutionary forces grew and later overthrew the ruling Vietnamese elite families and the ruling dynasty. The Tây Sơn leaders installed themselves as rulers of Vietnam that held power until they were overthrown by Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, a descendant of the Nguyễn lord who was previously overthrown by the Tây Sơn. The war ended in 1802 when Nguyễn Phúc Ánh defeated the Tâ
The Siamese–Vietnamese War (1771–1773) was a war between Siam of the Thonburi Period in the reign of King Taksin and the Nguyễn Lords of Cochinchina or Southern Vietnam. The war also involved Cambodia and the Hà Tiên polity, which were allies of the Nguyen Lord.
Loren Rains Avedon is an American martial artist and actor best known for his portrayal of Jake Donahue in The King of the Kickboxers and Scott Wylde in No Retreat, No Surrender 2.
The French conquest of Vietnam1 (1858–1885) was a series of military expeditions that pitted the Second French Empire, later the French Third Republic, against the Vietnamese empire of Đại Nam in the mid-late 19th century. Its end results were victories for the French as they defeated the Vietnamese and their Chinese allies in 1885, the incorporation of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and finally established French rules over constituent territories of French Indochina over Mainland Southeast Asia in 1887.
The Last Kumite is a Kickstarter-funded 2024 low-budget martial arts film. It is directed by Ross W. Clarkson with a soundtrack by Paul Hertzog and Stan Bush. It is an homage to popular action movies of the last century.
