User reviews

Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) the widowed father of his five-year-old son is chosen to represent the United States of America in a karate tournament against team Korea, where the odds of winning are slim at best. Coached by James Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland the team prepare to meet an unstoppable group of true martial arts experts, and along their journey they have to deal with their personal conflicts and tragedies, before they become a team.

OK the story and script are cheesy, and some of the acting is a little weak, but the sentiment and melodrama is not all misplaced and the martial arts sequences are fantastic, particularly from Eric Roberts and Christopher Penn, who are not trained martial artists.

A must see for martial arts fans, and a good film for everyone.

7/10

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.

One of the best Karate films ever! I really mean that! It has action, drama and suspense all in the same mood! It has the best ending in a movie ever! In my opinion! Eric Roberts stars as a father just trying to make the team and he does! The acting really is top notch! Eric is the standout, but James Earl Jones is a great actor and you can't forget him! He is just awesome! So buy, rent, or just watch this great movie! It's really that good! Out of 4 stars I give it a 4+

My title says it all....

There's no rhyme or reason why I like this movie.

It is what it is

If your brain requires a 90+ minute shutdown - this is your film...

Thank you

When I first saw this movie in 1989, I was 15 years old and not very savvy about the movies. I remember this film having great fight scenes and a compelling, better than average story and solid acting. The passage of time has conspired to prove me wrong.

Best of the Best is not a bad movie by any means, just not as good as I remember it to be. Phillip Rhee is the only actor on the American team who can fight without the benefit of editing and stunt doubles. The rest of the cast just throw some sloppy looking basic punches and kicks, when combined with quick cuts and sound effects, gives the appearance of them actually fighting. I'm growing tired of other user comments disparaging Hong Kong martial arts films. The best action scenes in the best HK films make the fighters in this movie (with the exception of Rhee and the "Korean" fighters) look like geriatrics fighting underwater.

This movie's plot device of competitors dying in a Tae Kwon Do match is also ludicrous. In international competition, TKD fighters wear heavy chest padding as well as headgear. They have about as much chance of dying as getting hit by lightning during the match. I could see the possibility of someone dying from a professional boxing match (which has happened hundreds of times, unfortunately) or an MMA (mixed martial arts) event, but not a TKD tournament.

Basically, this movie seems to have been conceived as a love letter from Phillip Rhee to Tae Kwon Do out of a sense of ethnic pride in which he trumps up the effectiveness of TKD. Ask any serious MMA fighter, and you'll learn the TKD is of dubious value in a real fight.

I'm not sure why I liked this movie so much. The plot is just another Rocky derivative and the dialogue rather pedestrian. However, it does have James Earl Jones which is always a plus. Despite the cliché story I still actually cried at the end. I was moved. I felt for these characters, their struggle and their triumph. This movie is a good guilty pleasure. It shouldn't be as enjoyable as it is. Here's to the emotional power of cheese.

I found Best of the Best to very good with a lot of hidden messages inside it. There are five men in the national American karate team who have been picked to take on China in a tournament but the story really focuses on two of the team members which Tommy and Alex. Alex is a burned out fighter who makes a comeback and has dealt with tragedy in his past with the loss of his wife and trying to be a good single parent to his son Walter. Then we have Tommy who is battling his own demons with the thought of fighting the man who killed his own brother in a similar tournament many years back when Tommy was just a boy. This is where the plot unfolds and continues till they meet at the tournament. This movie always reminds me of Rocky but with Karate not Boxing because the film is watching them train and talking through there problems till they get into the ring. You may laugh at this but wait till the end of the film when Tommy comes face to face with his brother's killer Dai Hon and then we'll see who is brave enough to hold back the tears because I think it is some of the best B movie acting I have ever seen. Unfortunately this did no favours for the future of it's actors apart from Chris Penn maybe from Reservoir Dogs but the coach played by no other than James Earl Jones who makes his best performance in years that stands out in my mind.

There are a lot of patriotic scenes that will roles back your eyes in emotion when the two countries come together at the end to unite even after all the bickering they endure to one another throughout the film. They don't make B Movies like they did back in the late 80's and early nineties anymore and this was one of the rare gems which was one of them and should be remembered for at least that.

A well thought out film which has a lot to give and a lot to remember.

Best karate film since The Karate Kid and no one is yet to take it's crown

Yeah, I mean there will be critics out there who will say, it isn't the greatest acting or dialogue, but the martial arts and the final scene are excellent. Especially from actors such as Eric Roberts and Chris Penn who have had no formal martial arts training. The film is a master piece of martial art cinema, and yes I strongly say it is better than Titanic.

So I saw this back when I was a wee lad and even then I said the Taekwondo performed by the american team was questionable at best except for Tommy Lee. Now I'm watching in 2020 and have experienced life and things like bar fights and such. I know now that the 5 Americans would've lost a Taekwondo tournament to a bunch of drunks playing pool 4-1. Thank god Eric Roberts rolls in to save the day with his over the top acting that is unmatched in every way! Still tho..... This movie is pretty dope.

First off, I could not figure out how a movie about being the Best of the Best, could have a sequel? I mean are not they already the Best? Why do they have to show that they are the Best again?

Anyway, this movie does one thing in that the movie does not really tell you who the Best are. (a sequel is in fact possible and I guess Phillip Rhee should be thankful since his only acting, writing, or directing work in the past decade has been the Best of The Best franchise)

Instead, this movie gets into the personal histories of really only 2 of the fighters. These fighters of course follow usual plot lines and eventually lead an under-maned and out-gunned team.

The movie is definitely lacking in some respects. It does not deliver as a full fighting movie, nor is it believable as a pure drama type (root for the underdog movie).

Basically, it jumps around and we only get bits and pieces of an interesting movie. (ie, it jumps from training to the bar to the coach to videos of the competition to history of the combatants to the kid to getting kicked off of the team to being back on the team, etc...). It seems that the makers wanted to put so much into the movie that they forgot that it needed to be a complete movie to begin with.

Still I do like James Earl Jones, although some of his character's motivation (ie. the past teams) seems far fetched.

Watched on video in 2001. Rating of 3

This movie does a great job of combining martial arts action and is emotional. I have seen all 4 of the series but I have to say that this one and Best of the Best 2 are my favorites. The third one has a lot of great fight scenes but doesn't have quite the kick without Eric Roberts. All the fight scenes weather compitition or a bar fight are wonderfully done. Eric Roberts fighting is really good but Phillip Rhee fighting is just wonderful to watch. His movements are very clean, fluid and powerful.

There are very strong emotional parts as well that are very well portrayed. I am a huge martial arts fan and have been for many years. So if you want a movie that has good acting. great fight scenes and has a tear jerking emotional feel to it, this is a great movie.

There were two main stories in the film. One is a very touching story about a retired martial artist with a bad shoulder. He lost his wife, and now has a 5 year old son and lives with his mom. He gets invited to try out for the US National Karate Team, and he decides to do it.

The other is a heartfelt story about a young martial artist who just wants to make himself, as well as his family proud.

This is a very touching, and VERY emotional film. Storytelling was very bad, and the amounts of heartfelt montages were just too much for me to handle. Even so, the acting was very good, the character development was done well, and the fighting scenes were GREAT! One of the best American-made martial arts movies I've seen. Go ahead and give this one a chance. You might be surprised.

Heavy melodrama, cheesy rock songs, and dramatically delivered lines are the main filler for this surprise US hit about an American Tae Kwon Do team gathered for a tournament against Korea's finest. Of course, there is some martial arts action in the ring and the odd scuffle here-and-there, but Philip Rhee's Best Of The Best is really a family drama with a message, full of sentiment and overcoming personal conflicts which actually makes for a decent watch...

I wasn't really a big fan when it first came out back in 1989, but I was so amazed at what Hong Kong cinema was offering there was really nothing from the West that could compare. Going back to it now, and being a fan of Rhee for some time now, its a pretty well made film - albeit with plenty of cheese, bad dialogue, and lots of U.S.A!!

Focusing mainly on the characters played by Eric Roberts and Philip Rhee, two troubled souls who play the backbone of the team, the story stays pretty focused and uses the rest of the team as comic relief or reasons for James Earl Jones to shout. And speaking of Jones; I was pretty surprised at the cast gathered for this ultimately, low-budget film. With Rhee having only starred in a few films prior such as the fun L.A. Streetfighters and Silent Assassins, it was nice to see him get the success he deserved with this and pull together some big names. The Coca Cola Kid himself, Eric Roberts (who never seems to stop working) was a great choice for Alex, and the presence of James Earl Jones just gives it something else. Although perhaps, maybe a little too much.

Given the acting talent of both Roberts and Jones, their lines and approach are often delivered a little too over-the-top. Perhaps its the fact that the rest of the cast seem a little over-shadowed by them, but it hardly detracts from what's happening really. The overrated Chris Penn plays a team member who pretty much comes across as Penn does in any film. TV star John Dye fills out the team, and fan favourite John P. Ryan from Class Of 1999, Avenging Force and Death Wish 4, also appears.

While a little flat here and there in terms of the production, and void of atmosphere in some of the drama scenes (although I can understand this given that this was director Bob Radler's first feature); Best Of The Best still proves pretty watchable and closes with a great fight-filled finale in the ring. There's some great moves on show, and plenty of emotion kicking about that makes this contact sports drama, a little different than the rest!

Overall: Not terrible by any means, Best Of The Best is dripping with American cheese but still entertains...

Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) stopped competing after a shoulder injury and is now an auto worker. He gets invited to fight for one of five spots on United States Karate Team competing against South Korea. Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) teaches little kids in Fresno, California and forced to avenge his brother. Travis Brickley (Chris Penn) is rash, Virgil Keller is a Buddhist, and Sonny Grasso is from Detroit. Jennings pushes Catherine Wade (Sally Kirkland) on head coach Frank Couzo (James Earl Jones) as an eastern sensitive coach who understands how tough the Korean team is going to be.

This starts trying to be a somewhat serious competitive sports movie. Then it turns more into a Kung Fu Chop Suey area. It never excel with either. This movie needs a more definitive protagonist. Eric Roberts is the big star and seems to be the functional lead. However, Phillip Rhee has the emotional arc but he doesn't have the acting skills to pull it off. This split keeps the intensity down. There is a bit of cheese value but this movie is not bad enough to be good.

This film shows all the hall-marks of a classic Martial Art flick where, Alex Grady, a down on his luck karate competitor is chosen to be a part of the US National Karate Team. For three months, Alex with four other would be champions must train hard under the watchful eye of Coach Couzo (James Earl Jones). They must be at their peak if they are to beat the masterful team from Korea.

This film has it all, from spectacularly choreographed martial arts to the emotions of human life. The fight scenes at the end our breath taking with the two brothers, Simon and Phillip Rhee, showing the true essence of traditional Tae Kwon Do.

James Earl Jones and Chris Penn add a nice touch of humour throughout the film and the way director, Bob Radler, inter-weaves the stories of the fighters is wonderfully done.

With the unusual twist at the end this film has to be one of the best martial arts films of all time. Apart from some shady acting at times and an 'over the top' fight with Alex at the end, this film is what every martial art fan dreams about.

A definate must even if your not a martial art fan.

Well, nothing more than the average sport flick that Hollywood is proud to present us for ages. The difference here is the excellence of the cast, which counts with legends such as James Earl Jones, Sally Kirkland and Louise Fletcher as bonuses, along with a, if not great, at least nice set of second team actors like Eric Roberts and the late Chris Penn. The tournament scenes are well-choreographed and filmed, without the fast pace modern films have and allows the audience a few cheers with the matches/battles. Another cool thing to see is the Korean training, compared to the couch potato Americans. It is hilarious to watch, also, the first time Sally Kirkland's character enters the training room. Earl Jones/Couzo's face is priceless. The secret to enjoy martial arts movies is easy: put aside the cliché subplots and enjoy the ride, fellas.

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.

I've seen lots of comment on this movie but this is my all time favorite. The first time I saw the movie I was 7 years old I'm 23 now and last week I saw him for the 58the time. I admit, the screenplay becomes old fashion after all those years but it's the greatest taekwondo-movie ever made!!! Everybody talks about the karate movie, OK, it's the "US karate-team" but the main fights are taekwondo-style, with a little bit of hapkido in it. Especially the true taekwondo battle between the rhee brothers at the end, I'm a taekwondo-member myself and what they 'fake' is very difficult, ever harder than a real fight. And too all the people here who think this movie is't worth rating high, try those kicks yourselves, trust me,it's hard, even without opponent! Best of the best rules!!!

The creators of this movie has collected all the clichés from the 80's. A must-be patriotic movie where the Americans (who know this martial art since only decades) fight the evil Koreans, who train and master Taekwondo since approx. 5000 years.

A typical martial arts movie with tropes and clichés we have seen like a hundred times.

The soundtrack with the ambient synth is good and works well,though.