Best of the Best 4 - Le feu aux poudres

Phillip Rhee stars as Tommy Lee, the same martial artist who must rescue his daughter from Russian (?) spies who want him to give them back the disc that he's gotten a hold of in exchange for his daughter safe and sound, much kung fu ensues. I actually enjoyed this the best, to be fair I sort of liked the first one, but this one had all the silliness and action that I've come to expect from the typical kung fu/actioner. This loses the racist elements of the abominable third entry and gives us more martial arts, stupid plot threads and a hot love interest for our hero. Phillip Rhee, while no gifted thespian, is surprisingly likable and seems far more exciting in the fight sequences than he was in parts 1-3. Indeed, his fight sequences are intensely choreographed and Rhee proves to be an excellent director as martial arts sequences go. Also the cast includes Ernie Hudson, Tobin Bell (Jigsaw from Saw) and Art La Fleur. Also there is torture that involves a pitching machine, bad guys who screw up a traffic light, to cause an accident and tons of kickboxing. Indeed the film is an excuse to give us Phillip Rhee at his ass-kicking best and frankly, who on earth can hate such a flick?

* *1/2 Out Of 4-(Pretty Good)

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.

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 :)

The first two best of the best films, I feel, were the most entertaining but this fourth addition with Ernie Hudson was watchable and contained 2 really good fight scenes and one amazing shootouts! In general with it's low budget the film made due very well and I was glad I had watched it. If you liked the first two or three you will certainly enjoy the fourth.

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