No Retreat, No Surrender
McKinney moved to Hollywood in the mid-1980s and found fame within few months. He auditioned for the lead in "American Ninja" (1985) but was turned down due to his youth. Instead his film debut would come playing Jason Stillwell in 1986 martial arts film "No Retreat, No Surrender", which also starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails and Tai Chung Kim. The movie grossed $5 million at the US box office (and spawned two sequels). Although this success was moderate compared to similar movies of the time, such as the "Rocky" series, "The Karate Kid" series, or even "The Last Dragon", it remains a cult classic film to many people around the world. 1987's "No Retreat, No Surrender 2" was originally intended to be a direct sequel to this film, but safety concerns over filming in Cambodian jungles persuaded Van Damme to back out of the project, and he convinced McKinney to do the same.