Best of the Best 2 (1993)

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Now here's a classic! In this lovably absurd sequel to Best of the Best (1989), illegal, underground Punchfighting matches are taking place in a secret club called The Coliseum. The front is a Las Vegas dance club called The Stock Exchange, but behind the scenes, "Gladiator Fights" are taking place (remember, at this time, the TV show American Gladiators was huge). Specifically, fighters dress up in absurd outfits and pummel each other to death. The star of the show is the arrogant, powerful and unbeatable soulless automaton Brakus (Moeller).When the likable Travis Brickley (Penn) dies at the hands of the nefarious Brakus, only fellow fighter Alex Grady, his young son, inexplicably named Walter (Gross), and of course Tommy Lee (Rhee) can get to the bottom of this illegal Punchfighting operation. To do this, they head out to the desert so James (Landham) can help them train. Oh, and one more thing...WAYNE NEWTON is the head of this evil hydra.Only in the early 90's could a mix of utter silliness and brutal violence come together like this. Not only that, but we feel this movie was instrumental in promoting the Punchfighting genre. The Best of the Best series was surprisingly popular in video stores and on cable channels, and many people first got their taste of Punchfighting because of them. So for that, they deserve a lot of credit. Additionally, this was a time in which filmmakers felt that they should get quality actors and teach them to fight, instead of the other way around. That they should get Eric Roberts and Chris Penn, instead of any old meathead. And at least here, the formula works great.And when I think "action movies" I immediately think "Wayne Newton". Newton is a showbiz professional and gives his all here, and he, for whatever reason, really seems to care. he gives an energetic, big performance, and his presence sets the movie apart and makes it really enjoyable. And while it's great to see Chris Penn, Wayne Newton, Walter the kid (who looks more like a 35 year-old stunted adult), who loves his Tetris, and Eric Roberts, complete with his tomato apron, AND Phillip Rhee, Sonny Lanham, Meg Foster and Nicholas Worth, lest we forget....BRAKUS? The writers of this movie must really be proud that they came up with the name Brakus, because it is said a minimum of 36 times throughout the movie. Ralf Moeller plays the classic German baddie, and a lot of Best of the Best 2 is lifted from Rocky IV (1985). The invincible Teutonic muscleman is the antagonist, and our heroes must go out into the wilderness to train to beat him (why are Phillip Rhee's relatives Indians for some reason?), and of course the parallels between Apollo Creed and Travis Brickley.There are many funny bits, Eric Roberts seems tipsy (if not drunk) throughout the movie, and all is well and good, but even as lovable as it is, it is a bit overlong. If the movie had been chopped down by about 10-15 minutes, we'd be dealing with an even bigger classic. But this is one David and Goliath tale that can certainly withstand multiple viewings.Featuring the memorable title song by Mark Free, Best of the Best 2 just narrowly makes it into the ranks of a must-see.

Best of the Best 2 (the title on the version I saw said Best of the Best II) starts in Las Vegas where US Karate team champion Travis Brickley (Christopher Penn) has been participating in illegal underground fighting, a tournament called & held in The Colleseum under a casino called the Stock Exchange has both great dangers & great rewards for any fighter brave enough to enter. Get past three hand picked Gladiators & the final fight will be with the undefeated Brakus (Ralf Moeller) who kills all those he defeats. Brickly makes it to Brakus but is killed in the ring, witnessed by Walter Grady (Edan Gross) the young son of fellow US Karate champ Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) he tells his father who along with friend Tommy Lee (co-producer Phillip Rhee) want to avenge Brickley's death. However Brakus & his people play unfair & force Tommy to fight in the Colleseum while his armed men set out to hunt down & kill Alex & his son Walter...Directed by Robert Radler this was the sequel to the somewhat successful original martial arts film Best of the Best (1989) which was also directed by Radler & also starred Roberts, Rhee & Penn as martial artists. While the original was full of itself, wanted to preach a moral message & actually featured very little fighting Best of the Best 2 is an improvement in every way on it's predecessor. The script is far more balanced & far more like what I would call a proper martial arts action film rather than a lesson in how to get on & band as a team. While the original Best of the Best featured only a few very tame officiated fights Best of the best 2 has far more varied action scenes including car chases, shoot-outs, no holds barred fights & even the odd explosion. It's just a far more enjoyable film to watch & has much more action. The switching from an official tournament with fair play to a self proclaimed one where 'the only rule is there are no rules' is a wise move & makes for much more brutal & dramatic combat that includes weapons as well like staffs, silver nunchucks & even a bloke's ponytail. Sitting besides the martial arts fighting is a fairly basic but appreciated thriller as Alex & his kid Walter are hunted down by armed bad guy's, it's nothing amazing but it breaks the film up a little bit. Again the script tries to throw in all sorts of moral messages, from using ones inner strength, realising the importance of family & friendship to if at first you fail to keep trying. The whole script makes allusion's & references to ancient Roman gladiatorial battles from the name of the arena to the fighters themselves being called gladiator's to ancient stone style fighting ring to the costumes. It's not all perfect though, it's fairly predictable, at over 100 minutes it's too long & apparently by some bizarre coincidence Tommy Lee's brother is only one of three people in the entire world who can train someone to beat Brakus, gee that was lucky wasn't it?The fight scenes are very good here with no CGI computer effects, no machine gun editing & no shaky hand-held camcorder crap. The fights look impressive & look like proper fights where people get hurt, there's none of that ever so slightly embarrassing hugging & becoming best friends like at the end of the original Best of the Best. Having watched the original Best of the Best a couple of days ago I feel I am qualified to talk about series continuity, US Karate team member's Alex, Tommy Lee & Travis return while the other two don't. The villain from the original Dae Han also returns & helps out. Alex is now living in a nice big house rather than with his mom. Travis still likes to wear big Cowboy hats that make him look like a knob. Footage from the original is used during the opening credits. The rating has gone from a PG to an R (here in the UK the original was a 15 while this was an 18) which mean the violence levels have increased, from bloody gunshot wounds to blown off fingers to bloodied fighters Best of the Best 2 is far more brutal than the original. While the original had something like six musical training montages Best of the Best 2 thankfully features about three minus the awful 'Best of the Best' theme tune.Filmed on a bigger budget than the original Best of the Best this has good production values & looks decent enough, a lot of the cast return from the original with Wayne Newton, Patrick Kilpatrick, Meg Foster & Sonny Landham appearing. Kane Hodder plays a different character but pretty much the same role as he gets beaten up by Alex. It's not surprising that the notable absentee is James Earl Jones who does not appear.Best of the Best 2 is far more enjoyable than the slushy original, there's more action & it's more brutal, there are proper bad guy's who actually speak English & there aren't as many musical training montages. It's all good & it's all an improvement over the original while being quite enjoyable for what it is in it's own right. Followed by Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back (1995) & Best of the Best: Without Warning (1998).

Just sad. That is all I have to say about this flick. Coming from a promising yet common beginning, the "Best of The Best" series had a major lump in this sequence. The guys went free falling and delivered a stupid plot, like thousands of B martial arts movies that we can see everyday. The Three Amigos - Tommy, Alex and Travis - are now living in Vegas and have to face the mortal reign of Brakus, a humongous minion that owns the Coliseum, along with Weldon, his forefront ally. Eric Roberts performance is embarrassing, he really shows that the age is weighing on his shoulders; Sonny Landham is embarrassing, with his camp laughs and wood-faced expressions; Ralf Moeller is embarrassing, mumbling dumb dialogues all over the place and totally clueless; and Wayne Newton did not have to be so cheesy, he has more talent that that. Not even the fights are cool, they look like sub-Van Damme type, with poor choreography and even poorer players. The only good thing about this movie is his length, short enough to not be completely boring, the tremendous effort by the director Robert Radler to save something and the excellent skills of Phillip Rhee, really fantastic. Run away if you can, and try the other two installments, much better that this crap...

This Movie is a really good movie based on the first Best of the Best.The 3 stars tommy Lee, Alex Grady and Travis Brickly is back and this time its against the brutal owner of a illegal fighting place The Collesium in Las Vegas.The Fight scenes here are fantastic and a lot better that in the first movie. Ralph Moeller (Brakus) plays really great and I can´t figure out which actor could have played his role better that he.Great scenes when Tommy and Alex is trained by a guy named James that lives at Tommy´s Granmother.And a great end where Tommy Beat all 3 gladiators at the collesium and especially then he kills Brakus by braiking his neck followed by telling the crowd that "The Collesium ....Is Closed"Its really worth to own..buy it .