Customer Reviews

Best of the Best

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

You can usually determine the success of a film by the number of sequels it has spawned. In THE BEST OF THE BEST, the most recent count is four, but it is in only the first that the electricity that director Robert Radler focused becomes apparent. It is not the plot that marks this martial arts movie as several notches above its competition, nor is it just the well-choreographed fight scenes, although they are here pretty spectacular too. The key is that the cast blend well together so that the audience actually cares about their collective fates. Talent and earnestness in front of the camera make even the non-fight scenes linger in the mind. There are no single Hollywood stars who dominate, although James Earl Jones as the coach of a Korea-bound Karate team and Eric Roberts as his top fighter come close. The magic of the film is how each of these two stars bounce off each other in ways more personal and emotional than physical. Jones is your typical no-nonsense sports coach who, in order to preserve his integrity, is even willing to suspend his best fighter whom he deems as having broken one of the team's rules. There is a subplot of another Jones-coached fighter, well played by Korean martial arts star, Phillip Rhee, who must fight in a vicious tournament the very same man who killed his brother in the same tournament some years earlier. The first half of the movie is the talky part that centers on the conflict between Jones and Roberts. Sally Kirkland is wasted in a walk-on role as an eye candy inspirational coach who tells each fighter to ignore their pains by focusing only on 'a good place.' The second half brings the action squarely to the tournament where each American must tangle with his Korean counterpart. The matches are not only physical; they also represent an emotional and psychological battle that leaves the audience in the stadium and the audience watching the video wondering just who are the favorites. The conclusion is eminently satisifying, even if the final scene is drenched in sappy pathos. Still, THE BEST OF THE BEST is well-named for it makes you think about the tournament long after the stadium in Seoul has closed for the night.

I first saw this movie when it first came out, and believe it or not i can still remember the story line and the impact it had on me as a person having only seen it once,MAYBE TWICE,this movie greatly inspired me with the message it sent. But you have to watch the whole thing, especially the last 30-45 minutes of it to really grasp what that message is. Few movies(as a grown man)have ever made me angry, want to stand up and cheer, and shed tears at the same time. if you want to see a movie with people beating each other up and killing each other just for the fun of it, then this is not the one for you, but if you enjoy a good show of competition and sportsmanship,with some "on the edge of your seat action" and a heartfelt message contained therein then i defineitly absolutley recomend this one. Lets just say you might not pay much attention to your popcorn bowl!

One inspirational movie that you'll never forget. A movie that never recieved the credit that it deserved.Watch it, true heart felt movie with great action.

A movie like Best of the Best deserves alot more credit and box office than it got. The movie is well paced and very well acted but its the ending that makes it a great movie. Not many films realy capture the basic goodness of human beings but Best of the Best does. You can dismiss a movie like this as 80's fluff but all I can say is the ending moves me to tears every time and Im not ashamed to admit it at all.

Forget the cheesiness, bad acting, and keep a bit of an open mind and Best of the Best is an amazing martial arts movie. Most martial arts movies we watch only for the fighting, but in Best of the Best you will actually begin paying more attention to the character relationships and the story itself. This movie actually has one of the best stories I have ever seen in a martial arts movie including one of the most surprising endings I have seen. As for the fights, they are good and the training scenes are as well, again, its more about the emotional aspect that is entertaining. The competition at the end of the movie, the U.S. karate team versus the Korean team, has the best fight scenes and lasts a good 20 minutes of the movie. Once again, its the emotion throughout the scenes that will captivate you the most.

In terms of fight scenes and action, this is not my favorite movie. In fact, Best of the Best 2 has much much cooler fights. But for a story that is original and actually has more meaning than the typicall martial arts movie, this is the Best of the Best.

It would be fair to say of this film, being made almost twenty years ago, with a pretty low budget, it holds it's own, despite it's weak script. The acting, anchored by the always brilliant James Earl Jones along with Eric Roberts and cast, is fine. But the film might not be too entertaining for a martial arts film fanatic. Unlike Best of the Best II, which I definitely recommend, the fight scenes here don't come as frequent and aren't as graphic as what might be seen in your average martial arts flick. But it's worth every minute to see Phillip Rhee's mesmerizing skills at work. Check it out.

BEST OF THE BEST started out as a humble, moderately made martial arts flick in the mold of ROCKY in 1989. Suprisingly, it spawned four sequels and became arguably one of the best martial arts series of all time.

Tryouts are being held for the U.S. Karate team (although it would have been more accuarate to call it the U.S. Tae Kwon Do team, but the writers just got lazy) to go up against the formidable South Korean team. When the team is selected the members include Vetran fighter Alex Grady (Eric Roberts); Korean-American Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido instructor Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee); Stocky Texan Travis Brickly (Chris Penn, who, with all the martial arts movies to his credit, one might call an American Sammo Hung); Buddhist Virgil Kelly (John Dye); and Italian Sonny Grazo (David Agresta). They are all under the ruthless command of Coach Couzo (James Earl Jones), whose training methods seem to make the oppurtunity to be on the team seem almost not worth it to the altheles. But they manage to pull themselves together and truly become a team, ready to face off with the Koreans.

Alex Grady is the veteran fighter who had to retire from competition due to a shoulder injury. As a single father to a son who will also study martial arts, Joining the team is a dream come true for Alex. However, the real center of the story is Tommy Lee. Easily the most skilled member of the team, and winner of numerous previous competitions, he soon learn's that his opponent in the tournament, Dae Han (Simon Rhee, Phillip older brother) once killed his brother in competition. Thirsting for revenge and afraid for his life, Tommy has to summon all his courage to compete.

The fight choreography is suitably impressive. The tryouts for the team provide all the actors with an opportunity to show what their made of. However, given that BEST OF THE BEST is a competitive martial arts movie, it's nice to have an actual saloon brawl in the show thes guys in action in a real world confrontation. Roger Ebert called this scene, "an utterly unnecessary and useless waste of time - yours, mine and the movie's." I think it's a spectacular display of fight choreography, showing that the martial arts really can and do work in the real world.

But the best is saved for the tournament with the Koreans. Of the five matches here, it's not surpirsing that Phillip's match with elder brother Simon is the best. This is also where the movie gets it's most brutal. Mind you, this was in 1989. We hadn't quite moved into the age of filling fight scene's with "WHOA!!!" and "OOOHHHHHH!!!" moments (though we had by the time BEST OF THE BEST 2 came out), but this is the from the time when blows sunk into the audience for their realism.

BEST OF THE BEST lives up to it's title, and it's nowhere near as predictable as critics who don't like martial arts moves would have you believe. An even better sequel, BEST OF THE BEST 2, followed in 1993, but that is no reason to pass up on seeing this original classic that served as the catlyst for the BEST OF THE BEST saga.

Best of The Best is a decent little Martial Arts sleeper about a USA Martial Team competing in a tournament. The main plot centers on Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) trying to get revenge for his brother after he was killed in the same tournament. Eric Roberts also stars as a down out father also trying to be in the tournament because as he says "it's all I know how to do). James Earl Jones is even in this as the coach of the team. his primary motivation being that he was the coach for the team that Tommy Lee's brother was in.

That kinda gives some respect to Best of The Best, it's got a pretty decent cast and the last person you'd expect find in this film is James. However, the acting is amazingly terrific in this. Robert Radler knows how to film some gripping scenes and gives us enough material to feel sympathy for Tommy Lee.

The fights, we'll even the fights are terrific too.

It's pretty surprising in this overflow of martial arts flicks that more or less look the same Best of the Best stand out as better than the usual ones.

I hate so say this but this movie left me unsatisfied.
To be honest, is actually good. I mean... the acting is kind of cool, the concept is interesting, the ending is unpredictable, and the fight scenes are kind of intense (even for a PG-13 movie).

NOW! What makes this movie sooo disappointing to me is the action! There are ONLY 3 action scenes: the short training scene at the beginning, the bar scene in the middle, and the final fights in the tournament at the end. The first two action scenes are so-so, but the real action comes at the tournament.
In all the fight scenes the cameras mainly focus on the fighter's faces instead of their movements! THAT'S NOT COOL! The only fight that you see a lot of cool movements is the last one. :(
Another thing that bothers me is the picture quality. It's too dark.

To conclude this, I must say that this movie doesn't suck. It's just not for action-packed junkies. If you like martial arts movies like Karate Kid then maybe you can give this one a chance. But if you want action movies with martial arts like Bloodsport or Fearless then this one is NOT for you.

Adios.

'Best of the Best' remains one of the best American martial arts movies ever. 5 Americans are chosen to compete in a martial arts contest against Korea. If you are expecting your average B action movie than you have another thing coming. While the acting is not exactly oscar worthy, it is still very good. Even the female that comes in to teach the guys how to develop their power from within isn't cheesy. This is definitely the weakest part of the story as her part is not explained very well but it is amazing that there is nothing cheesy about the movie save Christopher Penn as the racist jerk who you still can't help but like. James Earl Jones is great as the coach and the weakest scene of the movie is time filler where Eric Roberts and Phillip Rhee decide they can't be part of the team but of course show back up to go up agianst Korea. Showing the Koreans train was a great scene and the end I cannot give away anything but I can tell you that they just don't make them like this anymore.