Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Everyone knows that training montages are pivotal to an action movie, right? But what happens when a film forgets the 'montage' part and just gives us the training? That's what happens in Best of the Best, which barely leaves the film enough time to do the actual fighting at the end.The films opens with James Earl Jones of all people doing trials to cobble together a team of five Tae Kwon Do champs to go head to head with some Korean guys. He finally picks Eric Roberts (who has a 'five' year old son to look after), bumhole Chris Penn, Tommy (who has beef with the one eyed Korean champ), a Buddhist called Orville and an Italian-American guy who you know will be first up to have his arse kicked.After bonding with each other during a bar fight, our lads set off for some training under the watch of hard arse James Earl Jones, who shouts a lot at everyone. No one likes Chris Penn either, and to add to the drama Tommy's having flashbacks to his brother being killed and Eric's kid ends up in a coma! This lot need to neck some Beta Blockers and get to that tournament fast! Couch Earl Jones won't even let Eric have some emergency leave to go see his five year old teenage kid and therefore Eric quits the team and goes to see his son and no doubt buy more timotei for that hairdo of his, while Tommy quits as well. It's all drama, no kick boxing. C'mon! Get it together.Finally, and I mean with about ten minutes of the film to go, we finally get our kick boxing tournament. I'm all up for grown men round-housing each other in the face but this film is too well acted and too well made to be stupid enough for me to enjoy fully. Both Julia Roberts and Jones James Earl are fine actors, but couldn't they have taken a leaf out of a Gary Daniels or Godfrey Ho film and thrown in some side story involving drug runners or at least an exploding car or too? I paid thirty pence for all four of the Best of the Best films, so I can't complain much. I'm halfway through watching the second one and it's much better.

BEST OF THE BEST is an attempt to do for martial arts what ROCKY did for boxing. That is, it attempts to be a feel-good, character-based movie about endurance, loyalty and patriotism, wrapping it up into a crowd-pleasing package with some great tournament battles along the way.It doesn't work.I found myself bored by this uninvolving film, one that's dated in the worst way of the '80s. The fashions are ludicrous, the hairstyles ridiculous, the characters overblown and boorish. Take, for instance, Eric Roberts's supposed hero, a vain, posturing and mulleted muscleman who looks like an extra from MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. His appearance alone encapsulates everything that's wrong with this movie.Other characters fare no better. Phillip Rhee is underused and his character only springs to life during an unexpectedly poignant twist at the climax. James Earl Jones gets a few good speeches, but that's it. Chris Penn plays a loudmouthed jerk, and the others are bland and interchangeable.The film meanders through one cliché to the next, with family drama interspersed with some rather dull bar-room brawls and the like. The tournament at the end strives for grandeur and excitement, but instead I was itching for it to be over so I could go to bed. ROCKY this ain't.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much when i started to watch this. Having seen other such films from this era and genre I didn't have high expectations. However, after the first few minutes even, you feel yourself starting to connect with the characters and occasionally throughout you have a strange compulsion to throw your fist into the air. All that aside, just like this era and genre dictate, you've got the ever popular montage training scenes as well as the rudimentary bar fight with disgruntled locals flying throughout. Going back to fists being thrown into the air, by the end of the film you almost feel like your fighting and training with the team and you want nothing more than to see them win. All in all, i thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone. Top notch.

There were two main stories in the film. One is a very touching story about a retired martial artist with a bad shoulder. He lost his wife, and now has a 5 year old son and lives with his mom. He gets invited to try out for the US National Karate Team, and he decides to do it.The other is a heartfelt story about a young martial artist who just wants to make himself, as well as his family proud.This is a very touching, and VERY emotional film. Storytelling was very bad, and the amounts of heartfelt montages were just too much for me to handle. Even so, the acting was very good, the character development was done well, and the fighting scenes were GREAT! One of the best American-made martial arts movies I've seen. Go ahead and give this one a chance. You might be surprised.