Best of the Best (1989)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Robert Radler

Writers:

Phillip Rhee (story) and
Paul Levine (written by) ...

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

There's a kind of inner strength you never know you have...until it's ALL you have.

Plot:

A team from the United States are going to compete in the world finals in Tae Kwon Do. The team consists of fighters from all nations, can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win ?

Plot Keywords:

Fighting | Korea | Tae Kwon Do | Tournament | Meditation

Cast

Eric Roberts	...	Alex Grady
Phillip Rhee	...	Tommy Lee
James Earl Jones	...	Coach Couzo
Sally Kirkland	...	Wade
Chris Penn	...	Travis Brickley (as Christopher Penn)
John Dye	...	Virgil
David Agresta	...	Sonny
Tom Everett	...	Don
Louise Fletcher	...	Mrs. Grady
John P. Ryan	...	Jennings
Edan Gross	...	Walter Grady
Simon Rhee	...	Dae Han
Master Hee Il Cho	...	Korean Coach
James Lew	...	Sae Jin Kwon
Ken Nagayama	...	Yung Kim

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | France:U | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Spain:T | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Movie Group, The

Trivia:

The character Walter Grady is named after the father of Eric Roberts: Walter Grady Roberts.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the fighters are holding the pressure pad for each other and Tommy kicks Virgil during this training session and sends Virgil flying to the ground, the black crash mat that he lands on to cushion his fall is visible, but when everybody rushes to see if Virgil is OK the crash mat has vanished.

Quotes:

Commentator: [after Dae Hawn has been knocked down by Tommy Lee] This could be it! This could be it! If he doesn't get up, it's a technical knockout! The American team will win this tournament!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Best of the Best 2 (1993)

Soundtrack:

TALES OF POWER

A reasonable representation of martial arts as a sport

Best of the best is one of those rare movie; a credible and fairly realistic representation of martial arts as a sport. Yes, it is a cheese fest but it's a good one. The characters are likable, the action scenes are brilliantly done and although the story isn't as engaging as it could have been it does work.

The story shows the selection and training of the US and the Korean national karate teams who we know from the start of the movie will face each other in a televised sporting event. All the character development is with the Americans though and this film is essentially about them. While the training and character building are good, and do make you care to some extent about the Americans, the entire movie is really all about the final fights. They are technically brilliant and very well shot. The second to last fight will send tingles down your spine, and the final fight - well, my wife hates this sort of movie but even she was in tears at the end.

I liked this movie a lot. It's in my collection and my advice to anyone who enjoys a good fight film is to give this a chance.