Very Cool!!!

To me, this movie is perfection.

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This series gets better as it progresses, but in this seminal episode, the formula is very derivative and lacks originality.US team goes to Korea to engage the Koreans in a tournament. The strange thing is, the tournament only contains the US and the Korean team. There's an A hole coach (James Earl Jones) that has a chip on his shoulder, and a fighter (Rhee) that lost his brother in the previous tournament, and is a grudge match to avenge the guy who killed his brother.There's no fresh element in the story until way at the end. So the movie is bit of a bore. They should have shown Rhee as an individual contestant who's a sensei at at his Tae Kwon Do school. Someone who has outstanding humanity, and fighting skills. Focus of the story would have been lot clear that way, and Phillip Rhee's unbelievable martial arts skill would have been highlighted more.This is middle of the road martial arts movie that didn't cash in fully on the star's potential.

BEST OF THE BEST is an attempt to do for martial arts what ROCKY did for boxing. That is, it attempts to be a feel-good, character-based movie about endurance, loyalty and patriotism, wrapping it up into a crowd-pleasing package with some great tournament battles along the way.It doesn't work.I found myself bored by this uninvolving film, one that's dated in the worst way of the '80s. The fashions are ludicrous, the hairstyles ridiculous, the characters overblown and boorish. Take, for instance, Eric Roberts's supposed hero, a vain, posturing and mulleted muscleman who looks like an extra from MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. His appearance alone encapsulates everything that's wrong with this movie.Other characters fare no better. Phillip Rhee is underused and his character only springs to life during an unexpectedly poignant twist at the climax. James Earl Jones gets a few good speeches, but that's it. Chris Penn plays a loudmouthed jerk, and the others are bland and interchangeable.The film meanders through one cliché to the next, with family drama interspersed with some rather dull bar-room brawls and the like. The tournament at the end strives for grandeur and excitement, but instead I was itching for it to be over so I could go to bed. ROCKY this ain't.

Basically this film is one of the better low budget martial arts films to come our way in the late 80's and early 90's. The plot is for all to see within the first 20 mins or so, it doesn't really get anymore complicated than that other than 1 vital bit of info that is kept from us until 20-30 mins to go. Oh, and also the film doesn't end like most and was quite refreshing to see to be honest.....(I won't spoil it for you, you have to watch it to find out). Yes it's cheap but it is also chearful in a "got nothing else to do or watch one evening kinda way". The VOICE of Darth Vader - James Earl Jones is in a starring role as well as Oscar winner Eric Roberts (Julia's older brother) in a weird role for him, guess money must have been tight back then.....Go see it......worth a watch.

And by answering that, what I really mean is that "Best of the Best" probably is the second best martial arts movie ever made in the United States, behind "The Karate Kid" (1984). Director Robert Radler's film consists of a martial arts tournament, being held in Seoul, South Korea, between the American Karate team and the Koreans.The plot for "Best of the Best" consists of the assembly of the team, the selection of the fighters, their training by a dedicated coach (James Earl Jones), personal conflicts and triumphs, and the eventual showdown in Seoul with the Korean martial artists.Just one thing though: It's not Karate they're training in; it's Tae Kwon Do, which is Korean! Much more, why would Korean fighters be training in an Okinawan art? What's going on here? (Tae Kwon Do is constantly referred to as Karate throughout "Best of the Best" and its sequels.)The best of these Korean Tae Kwon Do artists is Dae Han (Simon Rhee), a one-eyed "Karate" machine who accidentally killed the older brother of American martial artist Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) during a match, and he carries that guilt on his shoulders of having to watch his brother die. Coach Couzo (Jones), his assistant Don (Tom Everett), and their trainer (Sally Kirkland) have the duty of assembling Lee and four others to fight in Seoul: Single-dad Alex Grady (Eric Roberts), Travis Brickley (Christopher Penn), Virgil Keller (John Dye), and Sonny Grasso (David Agresta). Their training regiment is long and difficult, with scenes inter-cut with that of the Korean fighters showing off their skills, jump-kicks and board breaks and all, leaving us wondering if our boys are really ready for Tae Kwon Do in its purest form.It should come as no surprise to drama hounds that they don't like each other and come from all walks of life. They have their personal squabbles too, like Alex's son is hurt in an accident and he himself struggles with an old sports injury, Travis's racist remarks only burden Tommy even further and alienate the men even more, and it's obvious that Couzo is hiding some skeletons in his closet as well. But once they learn to come together and act as a team, they'll manage all right (that's "Best of the Best's" message).Considering that "Best of the Best" has not gotten much attention, it is surprisingly well-made, well-written (with a story by Phillip Rhee himself and Paul Levine, who also worked on the script), and watchable. You do make a genuine connection with the characters (some are more developed than others), and you even feel for the Korean team at some points. The Koreans aren't some evil force out to conquer the world, but still aren't to be taken lightly because they're every bit as dedicated to winning as the Americans are. The script is uneven and the direction fades at different times, but these only seem to be minor obstructions from enjoying the picture.What it boils down to, ultimately, is a brutal full-contact tournament between the 10 members of both teams; the Koreans are fighting for national pride, while we're simply fighting for the right to be called the "best of the best." We take a beating, all right, but there is something genuinely heartwarming about the ending, that will be left up to the viewer to see. What is most unexpected about this ending and events leading up to it, is that during an era rife with xenophobia and American jingoism, Radler's film sweeps all that stuff aside in favor of a somewhat balanced portrait of the other side. Bravo.8/10