A_Different_Drummer One of those films that comes out of nowhere and connects with everyone. There are a zillion fight films, a zillion martial arts films and if I am not mistaken even the UFC has lately taken to putting its brand on the occasional movie (Ugh). But nothing before or since BEST was quite like it, and therein lies a lot of the charm. Its a sports movie, its a team movie, its a success movie, its a personality movie, its a revenge movie, its a martial arts movie. Pick one, pick all. It not only worked, it worked well. The talent was extraordinary. Eric Roberts, a talented actor whose body of work in the B-movie sector has unfairly branded him. James Earl Jones? Are you kidding me? There are people who would happily watch commercials if they knew in advance JEJ was in them. The actor from left field, however, a face no one recognized, was Phillip Rhee. Lots of irony here. Irony because he was the writer and the inspiration for the project. Irony because he was also the only real martial artist on the set -- and it showed. He was poetry in motion and the other players had to work to "act" like they knew what they were doing. Films either work or they don't. This one worked. The sequels, and there were many, did not. Even the one where Rhee - in frustration -- did a Best of the Best sequel starring only himself (budget issues, Phillip?) did not come close to the appeal of the original. Gets better with successive views.

swedzin It is very rare and exceptional to have martial arts drama on big screen, or fighting drama films, well we had "Rocky" series, but this movie is not about boxing, it's about Karate and Taekwondo. The movie follows five best US contestants in full contact world karate/taekwondo championship against Korea. Trained by one of the best coaches in the US, the two leading characters are facing their own demons through training, now that was for the sense of drama… The film holds pretty interesting acting cast, starting with James Earl Jones, who plays coach Frank Couzo. Don't know how Jones ended up in martial arts film, but, I think he loved the character. Well, later he filmed another martial arts action film "Excessive Force" (1993), so he is fine by it, and he did his acting well as always. Now, we get to our two leading men… Eric Roberts, who plays a veteran fighter Alex Grady who returns after a long time absence, due to injury, to fight again on big competition. Roberts was solid in his performance, he always had that tough guy/martial arts image on his face, but he was funny on some occasions. Standing next to him as another leading man… Phillip Rhee who plays Tommy Lee, a real life martial artist and expert in Taekwondo and Hapkido. Tommy Lee participates in the tournament only because of revenge of his brother, who died by the hand of Dae Han, the leading captain of Korean taekwondo team. Rhee is not that quite good in acting, but I think he tried hard in some important scenes, but his martial arts scenes were great. Now, we get to our supporting cast… Chris Penn… well, Chris was a great actor, really intense in his performances, and I was pretty confused by his appearance here, because I saw him before in "Reservoir Dogs" and "The Funeral". But, maybe he took the role because of his martial arts skills and… he was good as the tough, troublemaker, bully member of five best fighters. And than we have Sally Kirkland (wow, she was something back then), as a second trainer, that appears from nowhere to show a true spirit of Koreans and their taekwondo. And we also have such great actors as Louise Fletcher, a great actress… but her career was washed up, even back then and John P. Ryan as a manager of US team. Now, in the Korean fighting team we have two well-known fighters as Simon Rhee (brother of Phillip Rhee), who plays Dae Han, a very skilled Taekwondo master in real life, but not a great actor, and we have James Lew, who was known as a supporting opponent to many martial arts stars during 90s.OK, now… fighting scenes were good, the atmosphere during the fight was good, most of other things were solid… And, we have that "usual" effect of Korean team… they were presented as a real villains here. You know, because the US team is a leading team in the film… and of course, the Koreans look really evil here, they are really stone cold, crazy and scary, but that was to increase the drama… And we have that usual cliché of fighters who are fighting with themselves before they enter the tournament, you know, the good old, "you'll never win until you defeat your demons". Overall, it's a solid movie and I recommend it.

Mike Garcia 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

Ian Jones 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.