This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Purely Joyful Movie!

Great Film overall

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Best of the best is probably the most underrated martial arts film ever but is also one of the best ever made..the characters prepare for a tournament against the unstoppable Korean taekwondo team, but they also prepare to overcome themselves to succeed ,they must learn that a team is not team if they don't care about each other...Eric Roberts and Philip Rhee are the stars of the film, they have their bigger fights on their inside during the movie...the final battle between the Rhee brothers is one of the best fights on cinema history and James Earl Jones make a perfect job as the trainer who needs to inspire his students to overcome themselves and have a chance to win to the Korean team...I'm a big fan of the film,every time I see it I get excited...A must seen film

Best of the Best starts as washed-up Oregon martial artist Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) is invited to try out for one of five places on the US national Karate team that is due to fight team Korea in an invitational Taekwondo tournament in Korea itself. Alex jumps at the chance to try out for the team & is one of the five lucky ones who are picked to represent the US along with Tommy Lee (co-writer & co-producer Phillip Rhee), Travis Brickly (Christopher Penn), Virgil Keller (John Dye) & Sonny Grasso (David Agresta). Under a tough training regime run by Coach Frank Couzo (James Earl Jones) & guidance from sports psychologist Catherine Wade (Sally Kirkland) the five martial artist's home their bodies & minds to become the best of the best but will even that be good enough since team Korea are considered near unbeatable...Directed by Robert Radler this rather tame martial arts film seems to have developed a bit of a cult following over the years & has spawned no less than three sequels (although in name only to be fair), personally I didn't think that much of it & a half decent cast is wasted on broad sentiment, questionable metaphors & bad dialogue. The basic concept of Best of the Best is the same as Rocky really, the underdog in the fighting arena (be it boxing or martial arts) comes through in the end despite personal issues & fearsome, seemingly unbeatable opponents. Also, much like Rocky it has to be said, Best of the Best features several musical training montages that are horribly dated thanks to the lame 'Best of the Best' theme tune & the training methods. The character's are stock clichés, the fighter who wants a second chance to prove himself, the big fat strong one with a bad attitude & one who is scared to fight as his brother was killed in the arena ten years ago & thus seeks redemption & a chance to overcome & control his fear. Of course no martial arts film would be complete without a tough, but likable & fair coach & Best of the Best is no different, did you really think it would be? The film also tries to have a stab at a few moral messages like team spirit, if you try your best you will always be a winner & the pinnacle of Best of the Best's deep meaningful plot is a scene in which two young brothers are at a petrol station & the younger one drops his ice cream onto the ground & starts crying so his bigger brother lets him have his ice cream, with depth & meaning like that why was Best of the Best never nominated for best picture at the Oscar's?At over an hour & a half Best of the Best is kind of boring, it's well over an hour before team US even get to Korea & apart from a bar fight all the combat takes place during the last twenty minutes in very controlled tame bouts. I mean it's even rated PG so don't expect any gruelling fight scenes, a few kicks & punches & that's it & no-one dies either. In fact best of the Best features one of the slushiest endings I have ever seen in a martial arts film where the object of the character's is to beat the living hell out of one another, at the end of Best of the Best both the US & Korean teams hug & make-up & become friends. What? We don't want hugging & friendship we want to see people's teeth knocked out & bones broken.There's a few surprising names in the cast not least James Earl Jones who probably just needed the money & wanted a free holiday to South Korea. John P. Ryan has nothing more than a cameo & his character is totally forgotten by the end as are the themes of corporate sponsorship that his character raises while Oscar winning actress Louise Flethcher has a small role too. Eric Roberts has a very bad late 80's mullet hair do while Christopher Penn is as thin as I can ever remember seeing him in this. Phillip Rhee & his opponent Dae Han Park played by Simon Rhee are in fact brother's in real life.Best of the Best is a musical montage fans dream, there's about six of the things but everyone else is going to be disappointed. There's far too much pointless training filler & the broad morals raised are paper thin, a good cast wasted really. Followed by Best of the Best 2 (1993), Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back (1995) & Best of the Best: Without Warning (1998).

The 80's had some good martial arts movies, and some bad ones (really bad ones), this movie is a good one. While yes it does suffer some of the typical things in a martial arts flick, one lines, bad jokes, and some great fight scenes. The US tournament, the bar fight, and the match against the Koreans were all preformed very well.I'm a martial artist myself, who goes to tournaments, and trains as well. The training scenes are done very well, and James Earl Jones who I must saw is a wonderful actor does a good job as the coach. The coach at first is a old school type coach (Tough training and very strict), who seem to have a softer side, when he learns that the team members need Tommy and Alex to win.Overall a good movie, that any body can enjoy and or relate to if they have had a coach who was tough.

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