MovieChat Forums > Best of the Best (1989) Discussion > Classic Film

Classic Film

posted 17 years ago by karlosrocks
11 replies | jump to latest

I love this flick - first caught it in the early 90's. Hadn't watched it in a long time.

I finally caught it again last night and have some comments:

1. Other than Tommy (and possibly Chris Penn - his kicks were crap but punches were solid), the other 3 fighters really weren't that good - another example of acting skills over martial arts skills? You can see how bad their form is when doing the basic training (like punching and kicking the pads).

2. Other than MMA or BJJ, I've never seen a full-contact competition where
full force punches and kicks are thrown to fighters lying on the ground. This was in the late 80's when MMA was in its infancy - don't quite understand where these rules came from.

3. Never mind hitting on the ground - at one stage fighters were throwing elbows to the spine and ridge-hands to the base of the skull which seem to be allowed. And then Cuzo complains about a groin-shot!

4. My favourite scene is when Alex first talks to the doctor about his son in hospital. The Doc first tells Alex that Walters leg is broke and will be in a cast for 6 weeks. THEN, he tells him he's also in a COMA!! What kind of doctor breaks the news like this? I cracked up.

I still love this film.

Let me know if you agree/disagree.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] karlosrocks 17 years ago

Philip Rhee is a brilliant martial artist and has great carisma on-screen.

Yeah only copped that was Kane Hodder recently. Maybe its just me but he looks a lot smaller than in the Jason films (by 89 he must have made a few Jason flicks so it must be just me).

I love Roberts in everything, By the Sword is a great Roberts film.

Yeah BOTB is a great flick, I'm buying the sequel tomorrow.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] aurelius_morganus2001 17 years ago

hey, i was just reading some of your post. You have a definite point that Penn's kicks were crap; just thought you might want to know the reason his punches were solid is because Chris Penn was an experienced boxer when he was alive.
Also, Roberts was only mildly trained in martial arts at this point, but i don't think he does such a bad job, John Dye (Virgil) and whoever plays Sonny were the only ones who had no formal training.
When i researched it, Phillip and Simon Rhee are both like fourth degree black belts in a variety of martial arts. Anyway, just thought i'd throw some info for you out there. good to know someone else likes this great flick.

[–] karlosrocks 17 years ago

Hi, yeah that makes sense - he moved like a boxer (bobbing and weaving - bouncing on the toes - this was more visible in the Colesseum fights in part 2).
Apparently he has a Black belt in Karate aswell.

I believe the Philip has black belts in Taekwondo, Hapkido (You can see the Hapkido wrists locks and other self-defense techniques in the 2nd film) and Kendo. If you watch LA Streetfighter (early Philip Rhee film) - he has a cool fight with a gang (he uses a 'Jo' - you can see the Kendo in his moves). Its a shame he ain't making films anymore.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] JMFOX 17 years ago

I love this film also, definitely something special about it and above average for this type of film, got to like Robert's crying all the time and Coach Cuzo's mannerisms at the end, anyone else think though that the team would have had a better chance if they just let Tommy fight all 5 fighters as he's clearly the best, subtle funny bits I like...

When Tommy gets his invitation letter the way he goes "Yeah!!!"

Alex crying after beating his opponent

Cheesy music when Tommy rides his motorbike

[–] chris_tuffer 17 years ago

LOL i like #4. i never realized that!

[–] sccrplyr7771 17 years ago

I wish they could still make these kind of movies still today though. In the early 90's, you could get guys like James Earl Jones's and such for a decent price, and the movie was a success if it hit anywhere near 50-100 million bucks! I add flicks like Lionheart, Running Man, Bloodsport, Kickboxer, etc, etc... to the list.

I think it's sad that these days there are no movies like these around any longer, it's blockbuster or nothing nowadays! I can recall so many movies in the early 90's that made waaaaay more than they cost to make, but it seems that if you can't make 100 million, the movie is *beep* I doubt we'll see the good old age of Arnold, Van Damme, Sly, and anyone like them making a flick for around 50-100 million, and the film makes a small profit these days. Good films like Predator, Commando, First Blood, Bloodsport, and the like would never be made today. CGI is killing off the smaller, good movies like i've mentioned man. These flicks I talk about are very good flicks and don't look *beep* either, maybe the reliance on CGI should be scaled back a little sometimes, it can save money so a movie can make cash by using a dude in a believable suit, rather than all CGI effects sometimes...just my thoughts folks, sorry for the rant!

[–] Vanderlay 16 years ago

Just to add my two cents...

The techniques, styles, rules, form, etc... is not really important for a late 80's action film. I don't know if anyone put any thought into it but if they did I'm willing to bet it went something like this: "we'll just make up a style of fighting, not really talk about it, and place whatever rules into the competition that we want. Specifically we'll do stuff that helps out the plot. And we'll do this because your average B Action movie viewer doesn't know anything about martial arts or martial arts competition."

And it's true. I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy but in this area I know nothing about Martial Arts forms, competition, tournaments, rules, etc.

Just suspend disbelief and enjoy a bad/great campy martial arts movie.

[–] MadDog-ThrashTillDeath 11 years ago

love this movie, watch it a lot as a kid ... guy with his eye patched always seemed like a badass villain to me!