I still love this movie! The term Karate was used to market Taekwondo schools back in the 80s because Karate was often misused by the Americans as an umbrella term for all East Asian martial arts besides Kung Fu.
I remember my school's Grandmaster having "Korean Karate" on the sign outside even though it was a huge no-no to refer to what we were doing as Karate. I had never heard of TKD until I saw it mentioned in a little book about Karate with different arts listed.
The weird thing about America is that they also use English names for techniques which means a round house or turn kick will be the same for TKD or karate, while practitioners of these styles might throw these differently. Also, internationally, these terms are confusing. For example, I, for the longest time thought a roundhouse kick was a backward turn kick. If everyone simply used the actual Korean names, it would be much clearer.
Calling taekwondo _"karate"_ has been around since the late 1950s. When Jhoon Rhee began teaching in Texas in 1959 he referred to what he was teaching as "karate". Those that came from his lineage continued using karate even after Rhee relocated to Washington DC and began using the term taekwondo.
So true but when i walked into the TKD school and said id like to learn Karate the grandmaster said "thats great I think there is a Karate school down the street but we teach Tae Kwon Do here."
After finishing with this, you should consider reacting to Jeff speakman. The perfect weapon. He's an American kenpo practitioner. It's a really great martial art movie.
Trivia time!!! The guy who played Virgil in The Best of The Best also played Jeff Speakman's brother in The Perfect Weapon!! RIP he passed a few years ago... :-(
I should mention two things, his brother is amazing as well, Simon rhee, Played the bad guy. who better to trust than your own brother. It's all choreographed but it's well done. Your specific comments about training is very well done. Stance, speed, but more so fluid is very clear. I greatly appreciate it. Brothers in real life, sorry I didn't mention that.
@@chrisl4451 It might be my faulty memory as a kid, but I seriously thought the bad guy was from Korea. Simon must be a pretty good actor... Btw, as a stunt coordinator, he remained really active in the industry. Way more than Philip.
@@djoetma I was referring to in front of and behind the camera. Both have had long careers. Both brothers very kind and giving. It's a wonderful thing to know.
@@chrisl4451 Yeah, he did the whole movie. I saw that Philip did something again a couple of years ago. But we don't know why he isn't working in the movie industry. Could be that he simply pursuit other ventures and developed other interests. Or maybe his way of making movies isn't of this time anymore. I mean, making a movie became massively more expensive than it was back in the day. Even if you could make a movie, it also needs to be brought to market and viewed by enough people. And especially in this time and day where most people watch the big blockbusters and very few other movies, it's not a great career path. And of course there is competition of people who do the same things and who have the right contacts at the movies studios.
Glad you are finally going to review Best of the Best!!! This has always been one of my favorite martial arts movies ever since I was 8 years old! There are so many lessons that can be learned from this film, just like in real martial arts. Hopefully you'll point them out in your video and compare to how those lessons are in Karate. Can't wait to watch your review, Sensei!
Nice was waiting for this, I like your martial arts reviews. 6:12 there is a reason for his stance, it get explained later in the movie. Fun fact: Simon Rhee (Dae Han, captain of the Korean team) did the Cobra Kai choreography.
One of my favorite movies. Phillip Rhee, the good Tae Kwon Do guy, is the son of Jhoon Rhee. The person playing the lead Korean fighter is his brother in real life.
The Formula was a specific "package" of the Firebird that came with very specific wheels, engine parts, interior, and trim. The firebird was made by Pontiac. The Camaro made by Chevy in that era, which was a very similar car, had the IROC-Z package.
I love this movie. Just remember to watch this as entertainment, not as an actual representation of TKD in the real world. You should try and get a interview with the star Phillip Rhee,
It's not a bad representation to ITF International Taekwondo Federation Taekwondo. Especially for back then before the WTF or World Taekwondo Federation got popular. WTF is what is used in the Olympics and is strictly for sport.
Yusuke, I think their use of Karate in this movie is somewhat of an umbrella term. They seem to have a focus on Taekwondo but other styles are also represented. For example one of the American fighters has some kind of Kickboxing background.
Exactly. "Karate" had been popular in the US for a couple of decades already, so it was used as a general term, kind of like going to China and saying "Kung Fu" even though there are really so many different styles.
Great choice for a review. I think the term Karate was used mainly due to the success of The Karate Kid so for a while a lot of martial arts movies used the term karate because it was the cool thing at the time. Great movie nonetheless. Would love to see more of your reactions to Jean Claude Van Damme.
Phillip Rhee and Simon Rhee, sons of the great JHoon Rhee. Long time Tae Kwan Do family and their father created a line of sparring pads and equipment. But I follow Phillip on Instagram, great guy and still in the sport
Beat me to it, so I'll just add a bit. Jhoon Rhee goes back to the days of President Nixon and is almost solely responsible for enacting a fitness and wellness agenda with the White House that led to the explosion of Tae Kwon Do here in the states.
no they are not, philip and simon are no relations to jhoon. jhoon has several children a daughter Meme, a daughter Joanne, and two sons Jimmy and Chun
I'm SO glad Yusuke is doing this movie! It was one of my favorite martial arts movies when it came out! I've watched it dozens of times. I'm excited for Yusuke's take on this!
Nice reaction. I loved this film growing up. I done Goju Ryu for 2 years (12-14) and reached purple belt. I haven't done martial arts since, but something in my sole has been singing for my to restart.
Eric Roberts, who played Alex is a black belt in Taekwondo. Chris Penn, who played Travis held a black belt in Yoshukai Karate and also trained under Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. Phillip Rhee, who played Tommy and his brother Simon Rhee, who played Dae Han Park are both black belts in TaeKwonDo and HapKiDo.
Growing up in the 80's when we went t a Karate tournament it was an umbrella term for martial art. I took a few different styles due to logistics and interests changes anyway whenever I would compete we just called at Karate meet.
Really enjoyed the review and looking forward to seeing your comments on the end tournament fight. You must review Best of the Best 2 as the end fight with Brakus who's a bodybuilder is epic.
Wait until the tournament begins. The end teaches a valuable lesson but very hard for some to grasp but i won't spoil it. Looking forward to seeing your reaction to the end of it.
As you seem to enjoy these types of movies, I will give you one that is a little "off beat" from the normal ones. I fully enjoyed watching an actor (and kung-fu practitioner) doing capoeira (which I found out later he did study for a while). That movie is "Only the Strong" with Mark Dacascos.
The cars at the beginning are Pontiac Firebirds “Formula” is a trim/performance package. Also from my experience here in the US we tend to generalize most Martial Arts into the term “Karate”
That was a Pontiac Firebird Formula being built on the assembly line in the opening. The bikes here have two types of brakes, hand brake which you are familiar with and coaster break. The coaster break is built into the rear hub where pressing the pedals backwards would engage a brake. This is mostly something on kids bikes when they are leaning because they can keep a firm grip on the handle bars and not have to release their fingers to press the brake lever.
Ok, just since you asked, that cars in the factory that were being built were the 82-92 model of the Trans Am/ Firebird. Probably best known from the TV series Knight Rider. My second car was a used 88 Trans Am GTA I got in 2004. Typical muscle car for the time, not really fast, but looked great. lol The "Formula" was one of the levels of trim in the cars, standard, Formula, and GTA. It would change not the body kit and interior but the engine as well between a V6 and a V8. I can't believe I'm on here talking about cars on a Martial Arts movie review. lol But related to the block that you were talking about during the opening sequence, remember that they were practicing forms, and even in Karate many motions are exaggerated when performing the Kata. So that block would never actually be practiced that way for practical use, only during forms. I started practicing ITF Taekwondo in 1993 and even though I blew my knee out about 15 years ago, I still practice when I am able. It's a great Art for speed and strength. One last thing. Especially back in the 80's and early 90's you will see Karate used as a much more general term for Martial Arts in the US because Karate had been popular for a couple of decades at that point and was well known, so Taekwondo, Tangsoodo, and other similar Martial Arts were often put under that umbrella term. Kind of like going to China and virtually all Chinese Martial Arts are are considered "Kung Fu" even though there are so many different styles.
Was anyone else confused by the sequel just making Tommy Lee American Indian? I mean, he's clearly Asian of some kind, but in part two he's just Native.
I study shotokan and used to do tang soo do. One of the main differences in technique i notice like u said shotokan emphasizes hip movement. In tsd they dont use hip turn instead they change stance. They will block in kibadachi stance or back stance and turn into forward stance for the gyaku zuki
What a coincidence hehe.. I was thinking about your reaction for this movie few days ago, and when I saw this, I was really surprised!! yaay!!! I would like to see your reaction for IP Man 2008... especially for Karate style of General Sanpo Regards!
Love this movie. As well as your reviews. I hope you will also seriously consider reviewing, "No Retreat, No Surrender starring Kurt McKinny"! You absolutely MUST also review "Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon starring Taimak", "Big Trouble in Little China starring Kurt Russell", "Fist of the North Star starring Gary Daniels", "Road House" starring Patrick Swazye, and Blind Fury starring Rutger Hauer. Not 100% Karate based. But all are wonderfully fun and entertaining classic martial arts films I guarantee you will love!!!
Answering about the car in the beginning of the movie. Its a General Motors facility, they are building Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams. Formula was one of the sub models of the Trans Am. Late 80’s would have been the 3rd generation of the Firebird Trans Am, GM F Body.
Karate is used as an umbrella term in a lot of smericsn movies. Could be tang soo do, tae kwon do, etc, doesn’t matter they all often just get called karate.
Really nice to see you watch this classic and bring in the Karate comparison and analysis. The Korean Taekwondo fighter is a master with his own dojo (his brother is also a master) and their father was well known in South Korea as well. I think you'll enjoy the tournament fights. This was one of the really high-quality Hollywood martial arts movies of the 80s (in trends of on-screen technique).
Those cars on the assembly line are Pontiac Firebirds. The Formula was the model that had all the high performance options but with a basic trim (interior etc) so it was cheaper than the top of the line GTA model.
The guy who plays Alex's friend at the automotive plant is Eddie Bunker. He was a career criminal before becoming an actor. He was also good friends with Danny Trejo another Hollywood actor. Also the guy who fights them at the bar is played by Kane Hodder. He started out as a stuntman in Hollywood and has become an actor in recent years.
This trip down memory lane reminded me of another American Martial Arts movie, I remembered it had two warring gangs but I had to look up the name. 'Street Soldiers,' from 1991. It has Hwang Jang Lee in a guest role. He was a Kung Fu superstar from the 70s and 80s. It's been uploaded to YT so I was watching it again. If you like Bets of the Best you might like it too.
I just found out about you and your videos recently, and I must say I am a fan. As a big karate fan and former student I would like to see you react to Lyoto Machida UFC (mma) fights. In my opinion, his style of fighting is probably one of the best representations of Karate in a full contact sport. You should check his fights and let us know what you think.
Hello from the USA (NJ) but a fun fact here... the lady who plays Alex Grady's mom is Louise Fletcher and she became very famous for playing "evil" Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which earned her an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. (CoStared Jack Nicholson). Movie in 1975.
In the States, back then, karate was used as an umbrella term. For whatever reason, “karate” encompassed all martial arts. It’s, since, changed a bit and the other martial arts are recognized. The “Formula” car was a Pontiac Firebird. Pontiac’s aren’t made anymore. Both Phillip and Simon Rhee (Dae Han and Tommy) are brothers and Tae Kwon Do masters who do a lot of choreography in Hollywood. They are true experts.
The guy that plays the Korean coach is TKD master Hee il Cho, the guy that plays as Tommy is TKD master Phillip Rhee and his brother Simon is also a TKD master and teacher and he is Day Han the one with the eye patch, I’ve seen videos online where some of the Cobra Kai cast train with Simon Rhee, Simon has been in other martial arts movies as an extra, supporting actor, bad guy, choreography or stunt man, I think Simon and Phillip also do Tang Soo Do, kickboxing and Hapkido, Phillip and Simon have the same last name as TKD master Jhoon Rhee but I don’t think they’re related, Jhoon Rhee is considered the father of American Taekwondo when he brought TKD to the U.S. in the 50’s and 60’s, but he’s not the one that started ATA (American Taekwondo Association) that was started in the U.S. in the late 60’s by TKD master Haeng Ung Lee, I’ve seen videos of some schools that call themselves Rhee Taekwondo but I don’t know if they’re the teaching or style of Jhoon Rhee or of Phillip and Simon Rhee, I think there’s only one other TKD movie, an older Asian movie called When Taekwondo Strikes staring Jhoon Rhee, I don’t know if there’s other movies or shows that do, show or focus on TKD or have TKD in the movie title besides these two, I don’t know what TKD Simon, Phillip or Jhoon Rhee or Hee il Cho did, if it was ITF, WTF, or ATA, I think Hee il Cho also did Hapkido
Some bikes do brake pedaling backwards, some have the brakes on the handle bars for the front and back tire, some have only a brake for the back tire or front, some have both on the handle bars and the pedals, some don’t have breaks
The 2 fighters at the end are actually brothers Phillip Rhee for USA and Simon Rhee for Korea, and they also choreographed the fight scenes. I started studying TKD when I was 9 (1988) and I used to think the Korean team were tough as nails but also thought Phillip Rhee' technique was just beautiful
Being into cars in the US has nothing to do with simple transportation. It is about far more than that. It is a culture unto itself. It is about having the freedom to go anywhere at any time you want. It is about having a mechanical expression of yourself. It is about the mastery of technology, engineering, and style. And it is about just having fun. Cars allow you to just go. Drive a mountain road, cruise the road downtown, go off road into the wilderness, or push the limits of capability climbing rock walls and boulders, or at the track trying to set the best lap records. Or park at a local meet-up and discuss cars with other like-minded people..
I'm glad you are reacting to this one. This was probably one of the best martial arts movies of that time. In large part because some of the ideas were legitimate even if they were over dramatized for the movie. Also, the end fights feature several real life high quality martial artists doing the stunts and fight scenes. Not to mention it was just fun. Hope you enjoyed.
Pontiac Trans Am, so a GM plant. We have a large veriety of bikes, most cruisers and BMX bikes have the pedal brake you described, especially in the 80's and 90's, but the majority of the bikes here do have handle brakes...
I recommended this!! Thanks Yusuke!! Phillip Rhee and Simon Rhee (Dae Han) are real life brothers. I believe they do stunts, choreography, and have a school in the USA. Looking forward to next week's video.
I had this movie on vhs at home. All the friends who came to my house I put them to watch. I think I saw it like 50 times. hahaha Nostalgic. I like your videos. Oss
In the 1970s and 80s, Karate was a general term for Taekwondo. Many schools back the marketed themselves as "Korean Karate." Tommy and Daehan are brothers in real life and are active Grandmasters who still teach Taekwondo in the Los Angeles area.
I remember when Taekwondo was starting to catch on here in Southern California a lot of the practitioners came from a Karate background. So seeing a mix of styles at this time would be acurate.
Grew up with a Karate background and when I joined the Marines I also joined a TKD club on base taught by a senior Chief in the Navy rec center Norfolk VA, Wind and Sea Taekwondo. I remember one fellow student there who was actually fairly senior in the Navy. Telling me I reminded him of the "Cowboy dude" in the movie. I always thought that was weird because I was from NJ and didn't look anything like Chris Penn. Now I think it's because my previous Kumite experience was more rough and tumble with lots of body contact. Anyway I eventually watched the movie on deployment and really enjoyed it. A step above a lot of the schlock flooding the action movie market.
When you were talking about balance it was the reverse for me when I started training karate in Japan it was so hard to focus while doing karate. Awesome vid as always
will you ever react to old jackie chan movies? like "drunken master" or "police story", I know you definitely have already seen them but still it would be great to hear your opinion on them
This reaction is the best one so far, thank you so much!! I would love to see you interview Philip Rhee and Simon Rhee, the brothers. Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts’ brother, would be a good interview as well. It’s too bad Chris Penn already passed away.
Philip Rhee produced all these starred in them all, his brother is in them too. The bicycle brake is called a pedal back brake we had some bmx bikes like that in the UK but they are a pain to use especially if by habit you pedal back.
Before it was called Taekwondo, some styles were labeled Kong soo do/Tangsoodo which is Korean karate in English. Karate was an umbrella term for all styles. The main character did Kenpo Karate.
Phillip Rhee the actor who plays Tommy also wrote the screenplay for Best of the Best. Rhee's 1980 representation of the United States' Taekwondo Team against the South Korean team in the championships of the Asia Games formed the basis of his screenplay for Best of the Best.
In America in the 80s karate was a umbrella term for most martial arts. Korean arts were advertised as "karate" also alot of places were combining Korean styles and Japanese styles and creating "American karate" so alot of tournaments were open to these different styles and still are. Traditional karate has their own competition circuits
Karate was used a general term for martial arts in the 80’s and 90’s. I took Aikido and Taekwondo in the 90’s and all of my friends said that I took Karate.
James Lew is also a martial artist, he was the character that fought Alex, James Lew is also in the Perfect Weapon and other movies as an extra, background character
well it depends on the type of bicycle, growing up i had the reverse pedal thing, and then i got a bike when i was in my early twenties and it was a mountain bike with hand brakes, i forgot about that and went in a ditch, my friend who apparently never owned a reverse brake bike before, didn't understand why i was pedaling backwards
at 9:02 the broken beer bottle guy is Kane Hodder the guy that played Jason from Friday the 13th the most of anyone. he did all the motion cap for the Friday the 13th game and the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre gaming coming out. the Head Coach is also the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars.
They all had different martial arts styles, it was more a Freestyle thing, but under the Taekwondo rules, and against a Taekwondo team. I loved this movie as a kid, still love it
Yes, in the US, Karate is often used to describe all Asian martial arts. Also, because of the Blood Sport movies, we thought "kumite" meant no holds barred fight to the death. Lol
Have you thought about watching Undisputed 2 and 3 with Scott Adkins ? Some of the best fight scenes . First time watching it I though Scott used wires but after watching behind the scenes and interviews he did all the kicks himself which were some of the craziest I have ever seen.
One my favorites in Childhood. Later I Found out Simon (Dae Han) and Philip Rhee (Tommy) are brothers in real life what better chemistry to make a fight scene look so bad ass🤩
I tried to scan through the as many as the comments before I post to see if I would be repeating anything. Best of The Best shows a bit of both types of Tae Kwon Do/Taekwondo/TKD. Starting with the dobok or dogi in Karate. In the first scene with Philip Rhee in the dojang. His dobak is the type that is worn by practitioners of WTF TKD. Their sang/the top part jacket is a V-neck one-piece. those who practice the ITF styles where the traditional karate dogi uniform. This is the main difference in dobak between the ITF & the WTF, though there are ITF schools where practitioners wear WTF-style dobaks. Another difference in the sang is when it comes to black belt rank. As with Philip Rhee when he wore his dobak, you see the collar down the V-neck is black. Only black belt ranks where a sang of that type in WTF TKD; under 1st dan black belt, the collar is white as shown with all of the students in the class. In ITF, it's a little different. On the collar and trim of an ITF black belt sang, you may not see it being black-colored for a black belt. The sang itself can be black to signify a black belt. This also interesting because Tang Soo Do practitioners wear their dobaks in a similar way. Their belt colors for all ranks are colored on their dobak's sang trim, which a Tang Soo DO dobak is also like the traditional karate dogi. The school in the first Philip Rhee scene. Philip Rhee was an actual instructor at that school in real-life. The TKD school is Jun Chong TKD. Chong is a ITF TKD grandmaster. It's not strange and is very typical that ITF & WTF instructors teach at one of the other styles' school. I started off as an ITF Chung Do Kwan TKD practitioner for most of my early years of studying the martial arts. I then started training at a WTF TKD school due to ITF school I had been training, my instructor retired. One of my university classmates who is a Chung Do Kwan black belt was an assistant instructor at the WTF dojang when I started there. I don't know know if Philip and his brother Simon's TKD lineage is traditional ITF (as the ITF styles are considered traditional TKD) or if their lineage is WTF TKD. I had never read anything thing over the years where they have talked about it. The coach of the Korean TKD team's coach is Grandmaster Hee Ill Cho. It is safe to say that that Best of The Best is an ITF TKD film, though it shows I'm sure a combination of ITF & WTF TKD knowledge. I guess ITF TKD had much better, as far as the United States goes because the instructors of TKD that were more known when TKD came to the states were all ITF practitioners. But when it comes to Olympic TKD, it's WTF TKD that made the big time.
@karate Dojo Waku @8.30 min of the video, the hook kick, in tae kwon do we also call that a hook kick. Another name we have for that kick is a reverse round house kick
In the US in the 70s and 80s karate as a term usually meant Tang Soo Do. Tae Kwan Do was described as a form of karate too. Karate rarely meant a Japanese martial art exclusively.
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I'm pretty interested about Yasuaki Kurata's karate style👍
I still love this movie! The term Karate was used to market Taekwondo schools back in the 80s because Karate was often misused by the Americans as an umbrella term for all East Asian martial arts besides Kung Fu.
I remember my school's Grandmaster having "Korean Karate" on the sign outside even though it was a huge no-no to refer to what we were doing as Karate. I had never heard of TKD until I saw it mentioned in a little book about Karate with different arts listed.
The weird thing about America is that they also use English names for techniques which means a round house or turn kick will be the same for TKD or karate, while practitioners of these styles might throw these differently. Also, internationally, these terms are confusing. For example, I, for the longest time thought a roundhouse kick was a backward turn kick. If everyone simply used the actual Korean names, it would be much clearer.
Calling taekwondo _"karate"_ has been around since the late 1950s. When Jhoon Rhee began teaching in Texas in 1959 he referred to what he was teaching as "karate". Those that came from his lineage continued using karate even after Rhee relocated to Washington DC and began using the term taekwondo.
So true but when i walked into the TKD school and said id like to learn Karate the grandmaster said "thats great I think there is a Karate school down the street but we teach Tae Kwon Do here."
@@braddecker6820 😅😅
After finishing with this, you should consider reacting to Jeff speakman. The perfect weapon. He's an American kenpo practitioner. It's a really great martial art movie.
Trivia time!!! The guy who played Virgil in The Best of The Best also played Jeff Speakman's brother in The Perfect Weapon!! RIP he passed a few years ago... :-(
I second this! Perfect Weapon is a classic and Jeff Speakman was a badass. Why we didn’t see a lot more from him, I’ll never know.
Touched By An Angel.... Supposedly he was addicted to Ritalin and other Meth pharmaceuticals according to his cousin
Phillip rhee is amazing, I wish he had more opportunities in the movie business.
I should mention two things, his brother is amazing as well, Simon rhee, Played the bad guy. who better to trust than your own brother. It's all choreographed but it's well done. Your specific comments about training is very well done. Stance, speed, but more so fluid is very clear. I greatly appreciate it. Brothers in real life, sorry I didn't mention that.
@@chrisl4451 It might be my faulty memory as a kid, but I seriously thought the bad guy was from Korea. Simon must be a pretty good actor... Btw, as a stunt coordinator, he remained really active in the industry. Way more than Philip.
@@djoetma I was referring to in front of and behind the camera. Both have had long careers. Both brothers very kind and giving. It's a wonderful thing to know.
@@chrisl4451 Yeah, he did the whole movie. I saw that Philip did something again a couple of years ago. But we don't know why he isn't working in the movie industry. Could be that he simply pursuit other ventures and developed other interests. Or maybe his way of making movies isn't of this time anymore. I mean, making a movie became massively more expensive than it was back in the day. Even if you could make a movie, it also needs to be brought to market and viewed by enough people.
And especially in this time and day where most people watch the big blockbusters and very few other movies, it's not a great career path. And of course there is competition of people who do the same things and who have the right contacts at the movies studios.
He and his brother trained a friend of mine. I could've seen him as Liu Kang
Glad you are finally going to review Best of the Best!!! This has always been one of my favorite martial arts movies ever since I was 8 years old! There are so many lessons that can be learned from this film, just like in real martial arts. Hopefully you'll point them out in your video and compare to how those lessons are in Karate. Can't wait to watch your review, Sensei!
Nice was waiting for this, I like your martial arts reviews.
6:12 there is a reason for his stance, it get explained later in the movie.
Fun fact: Simon Rhee (Dae Han, captain of the Korean team) did the Cobra Kai choreography.
One of my favorite movies. Phillip Rhee, the good Tae Kwon Do guy, is the son of Jhoon Rhee. The person playing the lead Korean fighter is his brother in real life.
no philip rhee and simon rhee are not the children of Jhoon rhee
The Formula was a specific "package" of the Firebird that came with very specific wheels, engine parts, interior, and trim. The firebird was made by Pontiac.
The Camaro made by Chevy in that era, which was a very similar car, had the IROC-Z package.
Also a trim level/package for the Pontiac Fiero in its last year. But this was definitely a Firebird in the movie
Thank you for doing this. Karate will always be one of my first loves, as well as cheesy 80s & 90s action movies.
I love this movie. Just remember to watch this as entertainment, not as an actual representation of TKD in the real world. You should try and get a interview with the star Phillip Rhee,
It's not a bad representation to ITF International Taekwondo Federation Taekwondo. Especially for back then before the WTF or World Taekwondo Federation got popular. WTF is what is used in the Olympics and is strictly for sport.
This is a great movie for when it came out. I've watched it more than a few times!!
Omg I’ve been hoping for this video!!!!
Yusuke, I think their use of Karate in this movie is somewhat of an umbrella term. They seem to have a focus on Taekwondo but other styles are also represented. For example one of the American fighters has some kind of Kickboxing background.
Exactly. "Karate" had been popular in the US for a couple of decades already, so it was used as a general term, kind of like going to China and saying "Kung Fu" even though there are really so many different styles.
One of my favorite martial arts movies ever. Such a great choice. I'm stoked
Great choice for a review. I think the term Karate was used mainly due to the success of The Karate Kid so for a while a lot of martial arts movies used the term karate because it was the cool thing at the time.
Great movie nonetheless. Would love to see more of your reactions to Jean Claude Van Damme.
Phillip Rhee and Simon Rhee, sons of the great JHoon Rhee. Long time Tae Kwan Do family and their father created a line of sparring pads and equipment. But I follow Phillip on Instagram, great guy and still in the sport
Beat me to it, so I'll just add a bit. Jhoon Rhee goes back to the days of President Nixon and is almost solely responsible for enacting a fitness and wellness agenda with the White House that led to the explosion of Tae Kwon Do here in the states.
no they are not, philip and simon are no relations to jhoon. jhoon has several children a daughter Meme, a daughter Joanne, and two sons Jimmy and Chun
I'm SO glad Yusuke is doing this movie! It was one of my favorite martial arts movies when it came out! I've watched it dozens of times. I'm excited for Yusuke's take on this!
"Best of the best", one of my favorites as a kid. "Kickboxer" is one you might enjoy for 80s American martial arts movies
Love your breakdowns. Very informative. This movie really pulled on my heart strings.
Nice reaction. I loved this film growing up. I done Goju Ryu for 2 years (12-14) and reached purple belt. I haven't done martial arts since, but something in my sole has been singing for my to restart.
Eric Roberts, who played Alex is a black belt in Taekwondo. Chris Penn, who played Travis held a black belt in Yoshukai Karate and also trained under Benny "The Jet" Urquidez. Phillip Rhee, who played Tommy and his brother Simon Rhee, who played Dae Han Park are both black belts in TaeKwonDo and HapKiDo.
Benny the Jet one of my favorites
Growing up in the 80's when we went t a Karate tournament it was an umbrella term for martial art. I took a few different styles due to logistics and interests changes anyway whenever I would compete we just called at Karate meet.
Someone else requested you also do a reaction of The Last Dragon (1985). I’d also love to see how you react to it.
Really enjoyed the review and looking forward to seeing your comments on the end tournament fight. You must review Best of the Best 2 as the end fight with Brakus who's a bodybuilder is epic.
Wait until the tournament begins. The end teaches a valuable lesson but very hard for some to grasp but i won't spoil it. Looking forward to seeing your reaction to the end of it.
As you seem to enjoy these types of movies, I will give you one that is a little "off beat" from the normal ones.
I fully enjoyed watching an actor (and kung-fu practitioner) doing capoeira (which I found out later he did study for a while).
That movie is "Only the Strong" with Mark Dacascos.
That’s a great movie! Definitely one of the biggest exposures of capoeira to the West at the time.
Phillip Rhee holds a 7th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, 3rd degrees in Hap Ki Do and Kendo. The other actors were trained for the movie.
That’s not all true. Chris Penn has a Black Belt in Karate same goes for Eric Robert’s who holds a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.
@@periair8874 Both received their martial arts training for the movie and later became black belts. They were not martial artists previously.
@@lr4165 ah ok thx
Thank you for taking our recommendation! Can't wait to see your reaction to the tournament.
The cars at the beginning are Pontiac Firebirds “Formula” is a trim/performance package.
Also from my experience here in the US we tend to generalize most Martial Arts into the term “Karate”
That was a Pontiac Firebird Formula being built on the assembly line in the opening. The bikes here have two types of brakes, hand brake which you are familiar with and coaster break. The coaster break is built into the rear hub where pressing the pedals backwards would engage a brake. This is mostly something on kids bikes when they are leaning because they can keep a firm grip on the handle bars and not have to release their fingers to press the brake lever.
Happy you chose to react to this awesome film! One of my favorite martial arts movies! 🥋👍🏼
Ok, just since you asked, that cars in the factory that were being built were the 82-92 model of the Trans Am/ Firebird. Probably best known from the TV series Knight Rider. My second car was a used 88 Trans Am GTA I got in 2004. Typical muscle car for the time, not really fast, but looked great. lol
The "Formula" was one of the levels of trim in the cars, standard, Formula, and GTA. It would change not the body kit and interior but the engine as well between a V6 and a V8.
I can't believe I'm on here talking about cars on a Martial Arts movie review. lol
But related to the block that you were talking about during the opening sequence, remember that they were practicing forms, and even in Karate many motions are exaggerated when performing the Kata. So that block would never actually be practiced that way for practical use, only during forms. I started practicing ITF Taekwondo in 1993 and even though I blew my knee out about 15 years ago, I still practice when I am able. It's a great Art for speed and strength.
One last thing. Especially back in the 80's and early 90's you will see Karate used as a much more general term for Martial Arts in the US because Karate had been popular for a couple of decades at that point and was well known, so Taekwondo, Tangsoodo, and other similar Martial Arts were often put under that umbrella term. Kind of like going to China and virtually all Chinese Martial Arts are are considered "Kung Fu" even though there are so many different styles.
Was anyone else confused by the sequel just making Tommy Lee American Indian?
I mean, he's clearly Asian of some kind, but in part two he's just Native.
Was hoping you would do this one. When are in SoCal you can visit the studio where this was filmed.
I study shotokan and used to do tang soo do. One of the main differences in technique i notice like u said shotokan emphasizes hip movement. In tsd they dont use hip turn instead they change stance. They will block in kibadachi stance or back stance and turn into forward stance for the gyaku zuki
Awesome video! Thanks for sharing.
What a coincidence hehe.. I was thinking about your reaction for this movie few days ago, and when I saw this, I was really surprised!! yaay!!!
I would like to see your reaction for IP Man 2008... especially for Karate style of General Sanpo
Regards!
Looking forward to this one.
You're so right about cars. I lived in Tokyo from 2005-2007, and even then I didn't need a car at all. Public transport was all I needed.
Love this movie. As well as your reviews. I hope you will also seriously consider reviewing, "No Retreat, No Surrender starring Kurt McKinny"! You absolutely MUST also review "Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon starring Taimak", "Big Trouble in Little China starring Kurt Russell", "Fist of the North Star starring Gary Daniels", "Road House" starring Patrick Swazye, and Blind Fury starring Rutger Hauer. Not 100% Karate based. But all are wonderfully fun and entertaining classic martial arts films I guarantee you will love!!!
I am enjoying your reaction videos. You may enjoy “Big Trouble in Little China”. Classic 80’s martial arts movie.
That is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Answering about the car in the beginning of the movie. Its a General Motors facility, they are building Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams. Formula was one of the sub models of the Trans Am. Late 80’s would have been the 3rd generation of the Firebird Trans Am, GM F Body.
Balance is everyting! , Thank you
Coaster brakes are seldomly used these days on bmx bikes as gyro/rotor brakes allows for spinning the handlebars unimpeded by the brake cables.
Brakes depend on the type of bicycle. Most american bikes don't back brake, they have handbrakes like you are used to.
Karate is used as an umbrella term in a lot of smericsn movies. Could be tang soo do, tae kwon do, etc, doesn’t matter they all often just get called karate.
Finally. They say that some of the best Taekwondo ever represented in a movie is in this movie. One really great movie over all.
Except for Ho Sik Pak everyone of the Korean and Korean-American actors were high ranking taekwondo stylist. Pak is a Tang Soo Do stylist.
Tradition is what makes martial skill an “art” but martial arts is about effectiveness. There’s room for both.
Really nice to see you watch this classic and bring in the Karate comparison and analysis. The Korean Taekwondo fighter is a master with his own dojo (his brother is also a master) and their father was well known in South Korea as well.
I think you'll enjoy the tournament fights. This was one of the really high-quality Hollywood martial arts movies of the 80s (in trends of on-screen technique).
Those cars on the assembly line are Pontiac Firebirds.
The Formula was the model that had all the high performance options but with a basic trim (interior etc) so it was cheaper than the top of the line GTA model.
4:45 in USA, if not just fists-up boxing--going to punch, then it is called karate.-Ernie Moore Jr.
The guy who plays Alex's friend at the automotive plant is Eddie Bunker. He was a career criminal before becoming an actor. He was also good friends with Danny Trejo another Hollywood actor. Also the guy who fights them at the bar is played by Kane Hodder. He started out as a stuntman in Hollywood and has become an actor in recent years.
This trip down memory lane reminded me of another American Martial Arts movie, I remembered it had two warring gangs but I had to look up the name. 'Street Soldiers,' from 1991. It has Hwang Jang Lee in a guest role. He was a Kung Fu superstar from the 70s and 80s. It's been uploaded to YT so I was watching it again. If you like Bets of the Best you might like it too.
The king of leg combat👍
I just found out about you and your videos recently, and I must say I am a fan. As a big karate fan and former student I would like to see you react to Lyoto Machida UFC (mma) fights. In my opinion, his style of fighting is probably one of the best representations of Karate in a full contact sport. You should check his fights and let us know what you think.
Hello from the USA (NJ) but a fun fact here... the lady who plays Alex Grady's mom is Louise Fletcher and she became very famous for playing "evil" Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which earned her an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. (CoStared Jack Nicholson). Movie in 1975.
In the States, back then, karate was used as an umbrella term. For whatever reason, “karate” encompassed all martial arts. It’s, since, changed a bit and the other martial arts are recognized.
The “Formula” car was a Pontiac Firebird. Pontiac’s aren’t made anymore.
Both Phillip and Simon Rhee (Dae Han and Tommy) are brothers and Tae Kwon Do masters who do a lot of choreography in Hollywood. They are true experts.
The guy that plays the Korean coach is TKD master Hee il Cho, the guy that plays as Tommy is TKD master Phillip Rhee and his brother Simon is also a TKD master and teacher and he is Day Han the one with the eye patch, I’ve seen videos online where some of the Cobra Kai cast train with Simon Rhee, Simon has been in other martial arts movies as an extra, supporting actor, bad guy, choreography or stunt man, I think Simon and Phillip also do Tang Soo Do, kickboxing and Hapkido, Phillip and Simon have the same last name as TKD master Jhoon Rhee but I don’t think they’re related, Jhoon Rhee is considered the father of American Taekwondo when he brought TKD to the U.S. in the 50’s and 60’s, but he’s not the one that started ATA (American Taekwondo Association) that was started in the U.S. in the late 60’s by TKD master Haeng Ung Lee, I’ve seen videos of some schools that call themselves Rhee Taekwondo but I don’t know if they’re the teaching or style of Jhoon Rhee or of Phillip and Simon Rhee, I think there’s only one other TKD movie, an older Asian movie called When Taekwondo Strikes staring Jhoon Rhee, I don’t know if there’s other movies or shows that do, show or focus on TKD or have TKD in the movie title besides these two, I don’t know what TKD Simon, Phillip or Jhoon Rhee or Hee il Cho did, if it was ITF, WTF, or ATA, I think Hee il Cho also did Hapkido
Some bikes do brake pedaling backwards, some have the brakes on the handle bars for the front and back tire, some have only a brake for the back tire or front, some have both on the handle bars and the pedals, some don’t have breaks
The 2 fighters at the end are actually brothers Phillip Rhee for USA and Simon Rhee for Korea, and they also choreographed the fight scenes.
I started studying TKD when I was 9 (1988) and I used to think the Korean team were tough as nails but also thought Phillip Rhee' technique was just beautiful
Being into cars in the US has nothing to do with simple transportation. It is about far more than that. It is a culture unto itself. It is about having the freedom to go anywhere at any time you want. It is about having a mechanical expression of yourself. It is about the mastery of technology, engineering, and style. And it is about just having fun. Cars allow you to just go. Drive a mountain road, cruise the road downtown, go off road into the wilderness, or push the limits of capability climbing rock walls and boulders, or at the track trying to set the best lap records. Or park at a local meet-up and discuss cars with other like-minded people..
I'm glad you are reacting to this one. This was probably one of the best martial arts movies of that time. In large part because some of the ideas were legitimate even if they were over dramatized for the movie. Also, the end fights feature several real life high quality martial artists doing the stunts and fight scenes. Not to mention it was just fun. Hope you enjoyed.
Pontiac Trans Am, so a GM plant. We have a large veriety of bikes, most cruisers and BMX bikes have the pedal brake you described, especially in the 80's and 90's, but the majority of the bikes here do have handle brakes...
Yes! Glad someone has gotten into this movie. Philip Rhee out Hapkido, Tae Kwon Do, & Muay Tai.
Most bicycles in the US also use hand operated brakes. It is only a specific type of bike that uses the pedals to brake.
I recommended this!! Thanks Yusuke!! Phillip Rhee and Simon Rhee (Dae Han) are real life brothers. I believe they do stunts, choreography, and have a school in the USA. Looking forward to next week's video.
Everyone recommended this.
I had this movie on vhs at home. All the friends who came to my house I put them to watch. I think I saw it like 50 times. hahaha Nostalgic. I like your videos. Oss
This was one of my favorites! I must have watched this movie several times. Curious why the overlay the whole video though?
In the 1970s and 80s, Karate was a general term for Taekwondo. Many schools back the marketed themselves as "Korean Karate." Tommy and Daehan are brothers in real life and are active Grandmasters who still teach Taekwondo in the Los Angeles area.
I remember when Taekwondo was starting to catch on here in Southern California a lot of the practitioners came from a Karate background. So seeing a mix of styles at this time would be acurate.
Formula was a package for the Pontiac firebird. Bigger engine tuned suspension . So this was a GM plant . GM discontinued the Pontiac brand in 2009 .
BMX bikes have the reverse pedal feature. Mountain bikes, racing bikes, etc still require the hand brake.
Grew up with a Karate background and when I joined the Marines I also joined a TKD club on base taught by a senior Chief in the Navy rec center Norfolk VA, Wind and Sea Taekwondo. I remember one fellow student there who was actually fairly senior in the Navy. Telling me I reminded him of the "Cowboy dude" in the movie. I always thought that was weird because I was from NJ and didn't look anything like Chris Penn. Now I think it's because my previous Kumite experience was more rough and tumble with lots of body contact. Anyway I eventually watched the movie on deployment and really enjoyed it. A step above a lot of the schlock flooding the action movie market.
Which styles did you combine as a Marine? Could you please tell?
I love this flick! I still have it on dvd and VHS! Haha
I enjoy watching your vides but I was wondering if you could make the movie logos smaller and in a set spot like the corner opposite of your camera.
When you were talking about balance it was the reverse for me when I started training karate in Japan it was so hard to focus while doing karate. Awesome vid as always
will you ever react to old jackie chan movies? like "drunken master" or "police story", I know you definitely have already seen them but still it would be great to hear your opinion on them
This reaction is the best one so far, thank you so much!!
I would love to see you interview Philip Rhee and Simon Rhee, the brothers. Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts’ brother, would be a good interview as well. It’s too bad Chris Penn already passed away.
Philip Rhee produced all these starred in them all, his brother is in them too. The bicycle brake is called a pedal back brake we had some bmx bikes like that in the UK but they are a pain to use especially if by habit you pedal back.
Before it was called Taekwondo, some styles were labeled Kong soo do/Tangsoodo which is Korean karate in English. Karate was an umbrella term for all styles. The main character did Kenpo Karate.
The main character? Who Tommy Lee (Rhillip Rhee)? Lee is a taekwondo stylist.
I'm sure other had suggested this movie but I feel special because I also requested it, and he's reviewing so soon after Bloodsport!
Phillip Rhee the actor who plays Tommy also wrote the screenplay for Best of the Best.
Rhee's 1980 representation of the United States' Taekwondo Team against the South Korean team in the championships of the Asia Games formed the basis of his screenplay for Best of the Best.
In America in the 80s karate was a umbrella term for most martial arts. Korean arts were advertised as "karate" also alot of places were combining Korean styles and Japanese styles and creating "American karate" so alot of tournaments were open to these different styles and still are. Traditional karate has their own competition circuits
Karate was used a general term for martial arts in the 80’s and 90’s. I took Aikido and Taekwondo in the 90’s and all of my friends said that I took Karate.
James Lew is also a martial artist, he was the character that fought Alex, James Lew is also in the Perfect Weapon and other movies as an extra, background character
The Korean guy is Phillip Rhee. His family basically brought TKD to the US. Jhoon Rhee is his father. Phillip is very good.
well it depends on the type of bicycle, growing up i had the reverse pedal thing, and then i got a bike when i was in my early twenties and it was a mountain bike with hand brakes, i forgot about that and went in a ditch, my friend who apparently never owned a reverse brake bike before, didn't understand why i was pedaling backwards
at 9:02 the broken beer bottle guy is Kane Hodder the guy that played Jason from Friday the 13th the most of anyone. he did all the motion cap for the Friday the 13th game and the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre gaming coming out. the Head Coach is also the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars.
ITF, there is hip motion to generate power. Also tilting the hips helps with speeding the kick up.
They all had different martial arts styles, it was more a Freestyle thing, but under the Taekwondo rules, and against a Taekwondo team. I loved this movie as a kid, still love it
Yes, in the US, Karate is often used to describe all Asian martial arts. Also, because of the Blood Sport movies, we thought "kumite" meant no holds barred fight to the death. Lol
"Coaster Brakes" (pushing the pedal backwards)were the original method of braking a bike. Now most bikes have hand brakes.
If you watch The Last Dragon next, you've literally seen all my favorite martial arts movies from my childhood 😅
Have you thought about watching Undisputed 2 and 3 with Scott Adkins ? Some of the best fight scenes . First time watching it I though Scott used wires but after watching behind the scenes and interviews he did all the kicks himself which were some of the craziest I have ever seen.
Kicks good for showing off, useless for fighting.
One my favorites in Childhood. Later I Found out Simon (Dae Han) and Philip Rhee (Tommy) are brothers in real life what better chemistry to make a fight scene look so bad ass🤩
I tried to scan through the as many as the comments before I post to see if I would be repeating anything.
Best of The Best shows a bit of both types of Tae Kwon Do/Taekwondo/TKD. Starting with the dobok or dogi in Karate. In the first scene with Philip Rhee in the dojang. His dobak is the type that is worn by practitioners of WTF TKD. Their sang/the top part jacket is a V-neck one-piece. those who practice the ITF styles where the traditional karate dogi uniform. This is the main difference in dobak between the ITF & the WTF, though there are ITF schools where practitioners wear WTF-style dobaks.
Another difference in the sang is when it comes to black belt rank. As with Philip Rhee when he wore his dobak, you see the collar down the V-neck is black. Only black belt ranks where a sang of that type in WTF TKD; under 1st dan black belt, the collar is white as shown with all of the students in the class. In ITF, it's a little different. On the collar and trim of an ITF black belt sang, you may not see it being black-colored for a black belt. The sang itself can be black to signify a black belt. This also interesting because Tang Soo Do practitioners wear their dobaks in a similar way. Their belt colors for all ranks are colored on their dobak's sang trim, which a Tang Soo DO dobak is also like the traditional karate dogi.
The school in the first Philip Rhee scene. Philip Rhee was an actual instructor at that school in real-life. The TKD school is Jun Chong TKD. Chong is a ITF TKD grandmaster. It's not strange and is very typical that ITF & WTF instructors teach at one of the other styles' school. I started off as an ITF Chung Do Kwan TKD practitioner for most of my early years of studying the martial arts. I then started training at a WTF TKD school due to ITF school I had been training, my instructor retired. One of my university classmates who is a Chung Do Kwan black belt was an assistant instructor at the WTF dojang when I started there. I don't know know if Philip and his brother Simon's TKD lineage is traditional ITF (as the ITF styles are considered traditional TKD) or if their lineage is WTF TKD. I had never read anything thing over the years where they have talked about it.
The coach of the Korean TKD team's coach is Grandmaster Hee Ill Cho. It is safe to say that that Best of The Best is an ITF TKD film, though it shows I'm sure a combination of ITF & WTF TKD knowledge. I guess ITF TKD had much better, as far as the United States goes because the instructors of TKD that were more known when TKD came to the states were all ITF practitioners. But when it comes to Olympic TKD, it's WTF TKD that made the big time.
Kicking the floor is a very interesting definition of power transfer for the reverse punch.
I am so happy you saw my comment and going to do this review and reaction. I can't wait!!!
It was also my comment. Other movies to review are no retreat no surrender 1&2, King of Kickboxer, Showdown and Blood Brothers.
@karate Dojo Waku @8.30 min of the video, the hook kick, in tae kwon do we also call that a hook kick. Another name we have for that kick is a reverse round house kick
I subscribed, you are amazing
In the US in the 70s and 80s karate as a term usually meant Tang Soo Do. Tae Kwan Do was described as a form of karate too. Karate rarely meant a Japanese martial art exclusively.