Synopsis
A team from the United States is going to compete against Korea in a Tae Kwon Do tournament. The team consists of fighters from all over the country--can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win?
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Cast
- Eric RobertsAlex Grady
- Phillip RheeTommy Lee
- James Earl JonesFrank Couzo
- Sally KirklandCatherine Wade
- Chris PennTravis Brickley
- John DyeVirgil Keller
- David AgrestaSonny Grasso
- Tom EverettDon Peterson
- Louise FletcherMrs. Grady
- John P. RyanJennings
Recommendations
- 50
TV Guide Magazine
Although director Bob Radler gums up the fight scenes with lots of unnecessary slo-mo, and the film follows its formula mechanically, this is a moderately serviceable action yarn. - 40
The New York Times
Under Bob Radler's direction, the sequences involving tae-kwan-do, a lethal ballet-styled hybrid of kick boxing, judo and karate, carry very little visceral charge until the last 15 minutes, after which the movie expires in a saccharine slush of blood, sweat and tears. - 37
Washington Post
The title, of course, leads one to expect the long-awaited movie version of David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest, but the actuality is closer to tattered but dopily diverting remnants from The Karate Kid, Road House and Rocky IV. [14 Nov 1989, p.E3] - 30
Time Out
This surprisingly heavyweight cast - Louise Fletcher and Sally Kirkland lend spiritual support - manages to lower itself to the exploitation level material without apparent strain; indeed the performances are all truly atrocious. - 30
Los Angeles Times
Best of the Best is a by-the-numbers martial-arts movie graced by several celebrated actors marking time between more rewarding assignments and crowned by an appallingly brutal Tae Kwan Do competition. There's nothing here except for karate fanatics. [10 Nov 1989, p.F15] - 25
Chicago Sun-Times
There is not a single scene in this movie that I found amusing, original or interesting. What we really have here is a documentary of the actors wasting their lives. - 0
San Francisco Chronicle
Best of the Best is the wrong title. Worst of the worst would be more like it for this movie. [Nov 13 1989, p.F4]
