Best of the Best 2

A movie that delivers lots of action!
Best of the Best 2 is about revenge. Tommy and Alex wanted to avenge the death of their friend Travis who got killed in an illegal no holds barred competition by a giant fighter. They train hard for this purpose and eventually Tommy faces this giant in the same competition, where the the audience will decide whether the loser lives or dies. I enjoyed watching this film a lot. Even though I think it was a low budget film, I thought it was loaded with exciting action. Its different from Best of the Best 1 in the sense that it is not about winning a competition, but about avenging death of a dear friend. Best of the Best 2 delivered a lot of self defence scenes, where Tommy demonstrated some great Aikido techniques. I also loved the part where the Korean fighters from Best of the Best 1 joined and helped Alex break through the club where the competition is held. Those guys really know how to kick butt using their Tae Kwon Do. I just wish that actors like Eric Roberts who obviously do not do martial arts would receive some training before doing a martial arts film. A real martial artist viewer can immediately distinguish between a fake and a real martial artist actor. Phillip Ree is a true martial artist, however Eric Roberts and Christopher Penn are not.

BotB2: A Totally Different Movie
After experiencing the lingering afterglow of a romance-fueled orgasm (in BotB1), it's funny how porn suddenly becomes a total turn-off. That's how this second in the quadrology made me feel. Unless someone can enjoy a technique (Rhee) vs. unskilled muscle (Moeller), I suppose. Unlike some movie franchises which was from the beginning centered on a personal character (Rocky, Batman, Vampires...), BotB1 is about training camp, team-building, athlete's mix of emotions (fear-ego-vengeful), major inter-cultural sports event, highly-skilled 'DaeHan'-like antagonist (rather than about Alex Grady or Tommy Lee). Now BotB2 is like a Jurassic Park 'sequel' about the painful divorce of Dr. Allan Grant and his subsequent alcoholic behaviors in spite of Malcolm and other JP characters are there to support him emotionally, and his encounter with a new love in his rehabilitation program and they both blaah, blaah, bla... I mean, where is the dinosaur?

Supurb!
Berst of the best 2 is a great martial arts cult flick. not great acting but who needs it when all you want to see are some great martial artists doing what they do best.

Long Live Phillip Rhee!!!
It's sad that it took so long for one of the all-time best American martial arts movies to be released on DVD, but here it is, in all it's glory. Picking up several years after BEST OF THE BEST left off, BEST OF THE BEST 2 begins with Alex (Eric Roberts) Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee), and Travis (the late Chris Penn) running a Tae Kwon Do/Hapkido school in Las Vegas. Travis has been competing in The Coliseum, and illegal kickboxing circuit in the city owned by the fearsome, appropriately named Brackus (Former Mr. Universe Ralph Moeller). After winning the tournament, Travis earns the right to challenge Brackus, with the winner taking ownership of the Coliseum, but Travis badly underestimates Brackus and is killed in the match. Alex's son Walter (Edan Gross) witnesses the murder, and Alex and Tommy confront Brackus. Brackus orders Alex and Wlter killed, but Tommy has cut Brackus' face, wounding his pride, so Brackus wants Tommy alive. Meanwhile, Tommy, Alex, and Walter take refuge with Tommy's "Grandma" (Betty Carvalho), where they prepare to take on Brackus under the tutelage of James (Sonny Landham), who had previously fought Brackus. Phillip Rhee is definitely the star of the film. Holding a 6th Dan in Tae Kwon Do, a 3rd dan in Hapkido, and a 1st dan in Kendo, as well as being an expert in Wing Chun and boxing, he is a one man wrecking crew. When Tommy is captured by Brackus, he first forced to fight three preliminary matches, and this is truly a sight to behold, but the lenghty, climactic David vs. Goliath duel between Tommy and Brackus is one for the books. BEST OF THE BEST 2 may not have won any Oscars, but it is never the less, an undying classic of martial arts cinema.

Not nearly as good as the first Best of the Best, but still enjoyable
The problem is that part 1 is one of my top 20 or 30 favorite movies of all time and it had a story that felt very real. Part 2 doesn't even try to act like it takes place in the real world. The story is good, but gets interrupted by too much overacting by the villains and the main henchman. Luckily, there is plenty of action. The story is about underground cage fighting with no rules and the fights in the ring at the end are fantastic. While the fights are completely stupid, Phillip Rhee is definitely one of the better martial arts actors to ever hit the movie screen. There are also plenty of fights outside of the ring. Phillip Rhee gets to show off all his moves. Even a guy like Steven Seagal looks like a joke compared to Rhee in arm locking and throwing skills. And his Taekwondo kicks are perfect in technique. I actually think part 4 is better than this, but its not a total loss. My favorite part of the movie is that Phillip Rhee's real life brother Simon Rhee is back as Dae Han. Part 1 has an unbelievably amazing ending, and it was nice to see Dae Han on the side of good after what happened at the end of part 1. The tears always start to well up when I think about part 1, so it was nice to have a smile on my face when Dae Han is on the screen this time around. There is one scene where he kicks a guy so hard it made me scream out insanely with laughter. It is mainly the stuntman's acting that sells it, but Simon Rhee's kicks are amazing. He also has one other eye popping kick. Simon Rhee is a little flashier than his brother, but just as good in technique if not better. Both of these guys are truly on another level. 3/5 The picture and sound is remastered to perfection. While the movie is not memorable, the new DVD from Fox has some great special features. There is a 10 minute making of which is a look back at the movie with interviews from Phillip Rhee, Wayne Newton and others. There is also a magnificent audio commentary with Phillip Rhee and director Robert Radler. The last special feature is a 6 minute promotional featurette from 1993. Although not overloaded with special features, this is one of the better special edition DVDs I have seen in recent years. Commentaries on martial arts movies are very rare, so they are always greedily accepted by me.