'The Best of the Best,' though an American martial arts production, is just as corny (minus some decent fighting sequences especially in the finale) as the Asian productions (and there are plenty to choose from). This movie combines the drama and martial arts genres to develop a product chock full of conventions and cliché.
The basic story is that of the newly formed U.S. Martial Arts team, which is preparing to compete against the highly disciplined (could you imagine doing this for your whole life?) Korean team. James Earl Jones, whose character doesn't seem quite developed, plays the coach of the team, Coach Cuzo, a guy who often wants his fighters to excels, but sometimes enjoys a bit of innocent rule breaking. Eric Roberts is Alex Grady, the oldest fighter on the team, who joins the team to I suppose prove something to his young son, Walter. Not much is stated about his intentions to join the team in regards to the relationship with his son (unlike other films, there is a close father and son bond), but he does claim that the opportunity is "the only thing he's got." Walter embodies your dramatic elements and devices in the movie and does so to such a degree that Eric Roberts comes off as a rather pathetic fellow. Joyous and proud, I suppose were the intentions, but really, it's hard to take him seriously towards the end. They just packed the dialogue with too much moralistic gushiness and inspirational "blah...blah".
Your martial genre is symbolized by one of the team's best fighters, Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee), who is paired against Korea's best fighter that Tommy knows all too well, because like all martial arts movies, Dae Han (played by Simon Rhee, Phillip Rhee's real-life brother) had killed Tommy's brother in a fight when Tommy was much younger. Tommy is both scared that Dae Han, an extremely powerful fighter, would kill him in a match, but also that Tommy's emotions might get out of hand and that he could kill Dae Han in a fight. This martial arts genre cliché, develops half-way through the movie, when the Korean team is finally introduced. Prior to that, we just see juxtasposing scenes of the Americans and Koreans training in their own way. It's hard to believe that the Americans were able to muster any strength against the Koreans, given their training discipline versus the slacker Americans. But then again, this movie, included with the genre, also manifests that American pride and goal-setting structure so common to movies like these. So, even if it is corny and predictable, we still anticipate it.
Despite these genre conventions however, and the flaws therein, the movie does offer up a significant amount of fast-action fighting sequences, both in and out of the contest. To watch Chris Penn, who plays the arrogant cowboy type (from Miami of all places), swing kick a cigarette out of guys mouth is pretty cool in the scenes just before the bar brawl. And the final competition between Dae Han and Tommy Lee are guaranteed for a little jaw dropping awe. I suppose, if you're going to watch a martial arts movie, the fight sequences should dominate more than anything else, even stupid stories. I mean, hell, if the stories were what mattered, half of the martial arts movies out there (especially from the 70s) wouldn't be around because they are all based on one repeated story: to avenge the death of a master/father/brother/uncle, etc.
The basic story is that of the newly formed U.S. Martial Arts team, which is preparing to compete against the highly disciplined (could you imagine doing this for your whole life?) Korean team. James Earl Jones, whose character doesn't seem quite developed, plays the coach of the team, Coach Cuzo, a guy who often wants his fighters to excels, but sometimes enjoys a bit of innocent rule breaking. Eric Roberts is Alex Grady, the oldest fighter on the team, who joins the team to I suppose prove something to his young son, Walter. Not much is stated about his intentions to join the team in regards to the relationship with his son (unlike other films, there is a close father and son bond), but he does claim that the opportunity is "the only thing he's got." Walter embodies your dramatic elements and devices in the movie and does so to such a degree that Eric Roberts comes off as a rather pathetic fellow. Joyous and proud, I suppose were the intentions, but really, it's hard to take him seriously towards the end. They just packed the dialogue with too much moralistic gushiness and inspirational "blah...blah".
Your martial genre is symbolized by one of the team's best fighters, Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee), who is paired against Korea's best fighter that Tommy knows all too well, because like all martial arts movies, Dae Han (played by Simon Rhee, Phillip Rhee's real-life brother) had killed Tommy's brother in a fight when Tommy was much younger. Tommy is both scared that Dae Han, an extremely powerful fighter, would kill him in a match, but also that Tommy's emotions might get out of hand and that he could kill Dae Han in a fight. This martial arts genre cliché, develops half-way through the movie, when the Korean team is finally introduced. Prior to that, we just see juxtasposing scenes of the Americans and Koreans training in their own way. It's hard to believe that the Americans were able to muster any strength against the Koreans, given their training discipline versus the slacker Americans. But then again, this movie, included with the genre, also manifests that American pride and goal-setting structure so common to movies like these. So, even if it is corny and predictable, we still anticipate it.
Despite these genre conventions however, and the flaws therein, the movie does offer up a significant amount of fast-action fighting sequences, both in and out of the contest. To watch Chris Penn, who plays the arrogant cowboy type (from Miami of all places), swing kick a cigarette out of guys mouth is pretty cool in the scenes just before the bar brawl. And the final competition between Dae Han and Tommy Lee are guaranteed for a little jaw dropping awe. I suppose, if you're going to watch a martial arts movie, the fight sequences should dominate more than anything else, even stupid stories. I mean, hell, if the stories were what mattered, half of the martial arts movies out there (especially from the 70s) wouldn't be around because they are all based on one repeated story: to avenge the death of a master/father/brother/uncle, etc.