Operação Kickbox 4: Sem Aviso

BEST OF THE BEST 4: WITHOUT WARNING is the fourth and final of this martial arts-based series. Now that I've seen all of them, I can report that the second one is by far the best; the first one was weak and unfocused and the third too derivative a thriller. The fourth is much like the third was: it has some good action scenes but the plot is entirely derivative and it's not as good as the second in the series.

Phillip Rhee once again returns to write, direct, and star in the whole thing. Oddly, he's now a widower with a six-year-old daughter, which is bizarre given he was single in the last movie which only seemed to take place a couple of years previously. Rhee falls foul of the Russian mob, who are searching for a plot MacGuffin in the form of a computer disc that just so happens to fall into Rhee's possession. Action ensues.

BEST OF THE BEST 4 is a film with cheesy stunts and cheesier action, including an explosive encounter with a tanker and plenty of motorbike action. The action is pretty cool, especially the early encounter in a corner street store between Rhee and a couple of goons, even though the story and characters are sub-standard. Still, there are a few familiar faces in this one, not least Ernie Hudson (GHOSTBUSTERS) as a tough-talking cop, SAW's Tobin Bell as the villain of the piece, Schwarzenegger double Sven-Ole Thorsen as a henchman (what else?), Paul Gleason (DIE HARD) as a priest, and Art La Fleur (THE BLOB) as an ally.

I loved the first 3 best of the best movies. Yes they are just simple action movies, with no great plot or story, but i liked them for what they are. This one reminds me of a low budget Die Hard 4.0 remake(in fact Die Hard 4.0 was made many years after this one) The story is very simple and easy to follow, Tommy Lee gets a disc and evil Russian Mobsters want it back, so Tommy Lee is gonna kick some Russian Butt, it did however not feel like a best of the best movie(the previous movies did not seem to matter, i mean Tommy Lee has a cop brother in law , why didn't he asked him to take the disc, and what about the girl from the third movie?) All in all, a action movie with some good martial arts. 6/10

They should have warned us :(

This is a long way from the excellence of the first two movies and really the movie doesn't belong to the Best of the Best franchise.

All the heart has been sucked out of it and we are left only with a below average actioner that has a plot that can only be described as cliched.

Are there some good fight scenes? Sure but you have to wade your way through a fair bit of rubbish to get to them.

Watch it as a stand alone film and convince yourself that is is not part of the above average franchise that is Best of the Best.

Unlike the producers, I have given you plenty of warning :)

Best of the Best 4, is better than 3, but just barely. Basically, I say this because part 4 doesn't contradict parts 1/2 (like 3 does), (ie. their is no reference to Tommy Lee having siblings).

Anyway, I liked the Russian plot line of the story, and especially Sven Ole-Thorsen's bit part as Boris. Aside from that though and a few fighting scenes, the movie is nothing special. The limited budget is also very noticeable (especially in the airplane blow-up scene).

Also, part 4 does not really have a moral or say anything like part 3 did, there are a couple of more better known actors (Hudson, Thorsen) in part 4, but alas nothing like the beginning of the series (and even these characters have very small roles).

Alas, it seems Best of the Best is the Rhee show, and to be truthful, he cannot carry a movie.

Saw on tape, Rating:4

I thought this was the worst of the four Best of the Best Movies. Although Phillip Rhee in my opinion does a good job in all, I thought the acting was for the most part subpar in this film and didn't think the plot was all that great. Some decent fight scenes.