Best of the Best II

This movie was great! I believe that the violence went with the story. Excellent script, great sound effects editing and best of all a character in the movie was named Stavros! If you are unemployed and have lots of free time, then for pete's sake, watch this film!

Not quite Jean Claude Van Damme, but still excellent karate action. This is Eric Roberts at his best for sure!! My kids use it to psyche up for football and my girl uses it to get pumped for her judo competitions. If I could find this on DVD I'd play it around the clock!!

Eric Roberts and Phillip Rhee return as the two karate champs Alex Grady and Tommy Lee who team up to take on a Schwarzenegger style brute named Brackus (Rolph Moller) who kills their friend Travis Brickley (Christopher Penn), they begin training with Lee's uncle (Sonny Landham) who is the only one who can teach them the ways to destroy Brackus in this mediocre yet definitely improved sequel. Good fightscenes and a scene stealing performance from Wayne Newton make this one watchable.

Well, this was not a bad sequel, with solid budget and all… it is really watchable. The story continues after five best fighters won a competition against Korea, 3-4 years later. The three fighters Grady (Roberts), Tommy (Rhee) and Travis (Chris Penn) are now good friend and they are enjoying their retirement after championship, but the infamous troublemaker Travis is participating in underground fights in so called "Colosseum", and dies after he challenged a champion called Bracus. And now… as usual… just like in many martial arts films, the two remaining fighters Grady and Tommy are seeking revenge against Bracus and his manager Weldon. This film is strictly for those who love martial arts film, especially for those who are trained in Taekwondo, Hapkino, Karate, or Kung Fu…So don't pay attention to other things like script, or make-up… because there isn't anything special about it. The acting crew is pretty interesting here. We have Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee and Chris Penn from the first film. Eric Roberts, with his usual performance, trying to look cool, but stiff in tense scenes. He was slightly, a little bit important here, because the real star was Phillip Rhee. Rhee was no longer to show his acting abilities, in this film, he was in his own terrain, to show really cool skills in spectacular fighting scenes. He really showed some good techniques from Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Hapkido and even some Aikido. Chris Penn was there… well we all knew that something bad was gonna happen to him. Not much from him, except that I didn't quite expect him here… I like him more in some serious films with his intense performance. Now, we have Dae Han (played by Simon Rhee) who returns to help Grady and Tommy in vengeance. Our bad guy champion is Bracus, played by Ralf Moeller, best know for playing Conan in "Conan the Adventurer" TV series… well.. they needed someone who is big, strong and imposing… but for heaven's sake… this guy can't talk right… he is like Arnie, even worse. He couldn't even hide his German accent. He wasn't even charismatic or evil… he was only a egoistic, angry tank who is strong and that's it. The real leading villain here was his manager and owner of the Colosseum, Weldon, played by Wayne Newton… who would knew it? A famous Vegas performer and entertainer who nearly played himself in this film, although he didn't sing, but he was OK, really cool. And he has an exceptional high voice. Other supporting actors… we have lovely Meg Foster, oh those eyes… so feminine… and for the real surprise, we have Sonny Landham… Billy from "Predator", love that guy. He was cool. As I said before… this is for martial arts fans and I highly recommend this film to them. Enjoy it.

I saw this movie for sale at a local store and decided to check it out, and I have to say, I was impressed. Briefly summarized, this movie is about three good friends who were once champions in a karate tournament, two of them teach karate to young children, and the other fights for money. In a typical turn of events, the third is killed (big surprise) and the two others decide to get revenge. The action is nonstop, and even though this is a reused storyline, the acting is incredible, Eric Roberts is an amazing actor, and he never comes across as fake or overacting, and Philip Rhee is an amazing martial artist. This is a must-see.