Best Of The Best [DVD] [1990]

The 90's were a very cynical time and at the time of Best of Best's release martial arts cinema was in its the kickboxer-craze. In retrospect this was one of the worst times as far style in the genre goes, as kickboxing does not possess the asthetic quality of most styles. This was where Best of the Best stood out and at the time was probably my favourite film bar none. It provided good characterisation, good actors such as Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Sally Kirkland, Christopher Penn et al and good martial artists. The dominant style in the film is Taekwondo, performed by great Korean exponents of the style. Phillip Rhee, who was involved in the production of the film, had a solid background in both Taekwondo and Hapkido (the latter you don't see displayed until Best of the Best 2) and plays off superbly against Simon Rhee in the film's climax.

No need to go into plot details here as you will have got the idea from the other reviewers. The film should be credited for making some very obvious breaks from the action mould at the time. There is a strong attempt at a storyline, which, although a little cheesey by today's standards, had a different type of ending to most martial arts films of its day. The "sensei" of the film is a strong female character!

Before Marc Dacascos showed the western world that it was possible to have a great martial artist and serious actor in the same package, Best of the Best lead the way. The sequel, although inferior, is also worth checking for a change in direction of the "Bloodsport" style films.

The film is basically about an injured martial artist, who was once a champion called Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) who comes back from his injury to perform for the US national martial arts team to take on the ferocious Korean team in a final tournament. This takes them a lot of training and it always seems as if the Koreans are one step ahead. Anyway, Roberts teams up with Philip Ree (who acts well and has some real talent) and 3 others for the national team.

The film as it's dramatic points, but one thing- Eric Roberts just kept on crying throughout the film, he cried for his son, his job, his shoulder, his partner and for the Koreans! Please, stop crying!

A martial arts tornament is held in USA to decide who will be selected to go over to Korea and fight a team of Korean's in contest that is held every three years. The five picked for the American team are: Alex Grady, Tommy Lee, Virgil, Travis Brickley, and Sonny and must commit themselves to three months of intensive training lead by Coach Couzo and Wade, a woman hired to mentally prepare them for combat. Eventually they arrive in Korea and see their opponents 'in the flesh' for the first time.

The main cast are generally good throughout the film, showing both acting ability and of course plenty of high kicks and fast punches, with Eric Roberts as Alex, Philip Rhee as Tommy, John Dye as Virgil, Christopher Penn as Travis, and David Agresta as Sonny. And lets not forget one of if not the biggest star of the film, James Earl Jones as the strict Coach Couzo, and the lovely Sally Kirkland as the mind trainer Wade.

There are two things that i liked most about this film. Firstly was that there was plenty of training, not just continual fight scenes where the American team always win. The training makes the film seem that much more realistic as it shows that the coach, trainers and the guys themselves know that unless they do train hard for three months then they don't really stand much of a chance. The second thing is the fight scenes themselves, which were very entertaiing stuff, especially the fighting with the Korean's at the end of the film, and the bar room brawl.

Overall, 'The Best Of The Best' really does live up to its name in being up there with the best of martial arts films. Its certainly one of the best that i have seen and i'm sure when you watch it you will agree with me. One small let down with the DVD was that there were no extras, which is a shame but for now the film is enough on its own. If you are a fan of martial arts films or just want a good film with a few punch-ups then i would highly recommend this film.