BEST OF THE BEST (1989)

MORGAN'S RATING

The US national team travels to South Korea to compete in an international martial arts competition. Once there, a brash young member of the American squad goes out seeking revenge against the Korean champ who killed his brother in a previous match. Another member of the team has entered the competition while still recovering from a shoulder injury, and he becomes dangerously distracted when his five-year-old son falls seriously ill. With this splintering of the squad's effort, a US win is in serious doubt. Will they recover in time to taste victory?

Eric Roberts (Alex Grady), Phillip Rhee (Tommy Lee), James Earl Jones (Coach Couzo), Sally Kirkland (Wade), Chris Penn (Travis Brickley), John Dye (Virgil), David Agresta (Sonny), Tom Everett (Don), Louise Fletcher (Mrs. Grady), John R. 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), Master Ho Sik Pak (Han Cho), Dae Kyu Chan (Tung Sung Moon), Diane Mizrahi (Nurse), Cal Bartlett (Dr. Weisman), Ahmad Rashad (Himself), Edward Bunker (Stan), Helen Funai (Tommy's Mother), Eugene Choe (Little Tommy), Samantha Scully (Carol Ann), Adrienne Sachs (Kelly), Melanie Kinnaman (The Woman), Kane Hodder (Burt).

A TEAM IS NOT A TEAM IF YOU DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT EACH OTHER.

FACTS

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

RELEASE DATE: November 10th, 1989 (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $1.7 million (USA) BUDGET: $5 million (USA) - Followed by three sequels: Best of the Best II (1993), Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back (1995) and Best of the Best: Without Warning (1998).

DIRECTOR: Robert Radler (Best of the Best II). WRITERS: Phillip Rhee, Paul Levine and Max Strom (additional dialogue). PRODUCERS: Phillip Rhee and Peter E. Strauss. ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Deborah Scott. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Frank Giustra and Michael Holzman. LINE PRODUCER: Marlon Staggs. ORIGINAL MUSIC: Paul Gilman. DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"Best of the Best is the worst. It is not merely predictable, but shamelessly so, even from the opening sequence...what we really have here is a documentary of the actors wasting their lives" -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

QUOTES

Dae Han: To save a life in defeat, is to win victory and honor within.

Travis Brickley: You shouldn't block with your face.

Travis Brickley: Hey you don't eat that raw fish shit do you?

Tommy Lee: I wanna kill that son of a bitch. Alex: Then kill that son of a bitch. Tommy Lee: Alex! I'm afraid!