Best of the Best
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Movie Reviews of Best of the Best
Movie Review: Better than THE KARATE KID
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Drop him like a toilet seat, Tommy!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one movie I've always watched to put me in a good humor. I love it for so many reasons.
There's butt-kicking. There's name taking. There's just enough ham and cheese to make a sandwich. It has bad 80's motivational music, Eric Roberts in a shockingly awful V-neck sweater with a kid who's supposed to be 5 but looks 10, and some REALLY great fight scenes, so what's not to love? You will NEVER see a physique on planet Earth as ripped as Eric's in this movie. The man must have worked out constantly. He has muscles ON TOP of muscles. His "Alex" is very sweet, humorous and engaging, and when he gets badly hurt in the final fight scene, you find yourself pulling for him. He rocks a "shogun" ponytail too.
The two major upstagers:
Simon Rhee, "Dae Han", the Korean death machine. I defy anyone to watch this movie and NOT want a private army of eye-patch wearing Dae Hans. He can kick through trees. He can kick through bricks. He can kick through 200 phone books and then your Grandma without losing his edge. You never doubt for one second that the guy couldn't put a hurt on Godzilla. Easily one of my favorite characters in the martial arts genre. Simon overcame weakness left behind by childhood meningitis thanks to his parents enrolling him in martial arts classes. (It was a stroke of genius to pair him off against his real life little brother, Phillip Rhee, aka "Tommy", who is also ridiculously talented and figures heavily in the plot.)
Chris Penn, "Travis", butt-whupper du jour from the great state of Texas. He's belligerent, bored, instigating and utterly hilarious. Some of the most memorable lines belong to him. I enjoyed his match fight the most. Even as jerky as he is through the movie, you can't help but like him and hope he destroys his opponent in the same cocky bare-fisted manner that he employed during the huge bar fight (also a must see).
The ending is a surprise. When the Koreans face off against the United States, you think it's going to end predictably, but it doesn't. This isn't a brainless movie.
NOTE: And at the end of the credits on the VHS version, I made the unpleasant discovery of a music video for the movie's wretched theme song. It was a REEKING bad, 80's generic, Eye of the Tiger-style brand of indescribable terror that had me laughing until I almost expired. It had terrible camera work, dancers that were sort of just stuck in there spinning around like dervishes, and a putrescent green, paint-splattered guitar that some guy kept riffing on until I felt so radically awesome that my friend and I were doubled over howling. I was truly disappointed when I didn't get the video on my DVD version.
Movie Review: THE REAL MEANING OF MARTIAL ARTS.....A REALISTIC MOVIE!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Being a former WU Shu and Tae Kwon Do enthusiast and student i remember the first time i saw this movie i was about 12 , it truly changed the view i had on martial arts, i found myself constantly remembering the scenes of this movie when on training and before a real combat tournament i remembered the scene when Tommy Lee was about to leave the team and saying to Alex "Im Afraid" "i cant beat him" referring to Dae Han.
This movie is so realistic and most of the movie focuses on the human feelings of everyone, i think this is maybe the BEST martial arts History or screenplay on a movie...the history is wonderful and you never know what will happen in the end.
Phillip Rhee (Tommy Lee) and his real brother Robert (who plays the role of Dae Han) are the best fighters here and they have to fight for the first time since Dae Han Killed Tommys brother during a tournament combat years ago....
Eric roberts also plays the role of a men who never betrays his family and friends...
I just wish it had subtitles in spanish, or at least in english or commentary by Eric and Phillip Rhee.....wheatever
I will remember this movie forever for the scene when Tommy decides to return to the team after he saw two little brothers with an ice cream and suddenly the ice cream of the little kid goes down and then the older brother gives its ice to his brother.
Movie Review: Body, Mind and Spirit.
Summary: 5 Stars
Karate, the ancient martial art and modern international sport is a contest of body, mind and spirit where often the toughest competition is against yourself. Alex Grady (Eric Roberts), an Oregon wender and widowed father of a Five-year-old son is chosen for the United States National Karate Team. He finds himself in the company of Tommy Lee (Philip Rhee), a soft-spoken Karate instructor; Travis Buckley (Christopher Penn), an urban cowboy with an attitude; Virgil Keller (John Dye), a New England Buddhist; Sonny Grasso (David Agresta), a gregarious Italian from Detroit and coach Frank Kouzo (James Earl Jones), a hardened veteran of high-powered Karate competition. It's a team with rough edges and problems that must be resolved if they're to win the international competition in Seoul, Korea. The team's corporate sponsor brings in an unorthodox trainer, Catherine Wade (Sally Kirkland), to teach the men focus their minds and bodies. During the three month training period, Wade, a stunning body trained in Eastern Philosophy as well as martial arts, tangles with Couzo over his approach to winning at all costs. What follows is a battle where each competitor attempts to defeat the opposition and become the Best of the Best.Movie Review: Best martial arts cinematography/choreography combo
Summary: 5 Stars
When you are discussing martial arts stars, there is Bruce Lee and then everyone else. Having said that, Philip Rhee is the best martial arts star in terms of form, technique and realism. Let's face it, there's no way you would do a lot of the stuff Van Damme does in a real fight, even if you had the ability. Rhee isn't worried about holding a kick after it's landed...he's about speed and accuracy and in those terms he "kicks" Van Damme's butt! The final strike against Dae Han was amazing and to this DAY it excites me. And Simon Rhee? He is, hands down, THE BEST MARTIAL ARTS VILLAIN EVER!! The skill, the arrogance...he MADE you hate him, but you had to admire his moves! And what I really loved about the fights (pay attention, Van Damme/Stallone/Bernhardt, etc...) is that the hero wasn't beat almost to death only to roar back and miraculously win! It was back and forth through the whole fight, with Philip winning in the end without really winning. I've seen the movie dozens of times, and now I'm buying it.