History Film / BestOfTheBest

''Best of the Best'' is a 1989 sports movie about competitive martial arts starring Philip Rhee, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Creator/EricRoberts, and Creator/ChrisPenn.

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: The South Korean Tae Kwon Do team is cheered for their country as "Korea, Korea!" while it should've been "Hanguk, Hanguk!" "Daehan Minguk," being another possibility.

** Despite dislocating his shoulder, Alex Grady refuses to give up or let his bad shoulder end his dreams a second time, and demands that it be popped back into place. He then continues the match with one arm in a sling.

** Travis spends most of the film being a dick to his teammates and everyone else. But once Alex and Tommy are kicked off the team, he implores the coach to bring them back.

* TrainingMontage: When the US team start getting their act together, a montage materializes.

** Travis spends the entire film being a dick to his teammates and everyone else. But once Alex and Tommy are kicked off the team, he implodes the coach to bring them back.

* CynicalMentor: Tommy's uncle James, a washed-up (and jerkass) martial arts master who helps Tommy train for his confrontation with Brakus in the second movie. James initially doesn't care about Tommy's quest, but only agrees to help because he will otherwise be evicted by Tommy's grandmother.

* TheObiWan: Uncle James in the second movie. Like [[Film/StarWars Luke Skywalker]] before him, Tommy does not get to complete his training on account of his mentor's violent death.

[[caption-width-right:350:The American team.[[note]]Chris Penn, David Agresta, Eric Roberts, Philip Rhee, and John Dye.[[/note]]]]

* BadassBookworm: Virgil looks the part, being a skinny, quiet guy with glasses who is a practicing Buddhist, yet also a skilled enough martial artist to make America's Tae Kwan Do team. Downplayed when he ends up on the wrong end of a CurbStompBattle in the tournament itself.
* BarBrawl: The team goes to a bar to unwind, Travis hits on the bright idea of dancing with a pretty young woman. When her boyfriend enters the picture, everything goes upside down.

** Despite dislocating his shoulder, Alex Grady refuses to give into it the second time and demands that it is popped back into place. He then continues the match with one arm in a sling.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The American team loses the tournament because Tommy has beaten Dae Han to the verge of death, but refrains from delivering another strike even though it would give his team the points they needed to win. At the award ceremony, Dae Han approaches Tommy with praise for his honorable act, expresses remorse for killing Tommy's brother, and offers himself to Tommy as a brother. The South Korean fighters then give their medals to the American fighters in a display of friendship.

* EyepatchOfPower: Dae Han, the leader of the South Korean team, sports an eyepatch. In accordance with the trope, he is both a badass fighter and is never depicted having any problems with depth perception.

''Best of the Best'' is a 1989 sports movie about competitive martial arts starring Philip Rhee, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Creator/EricRoberts, and Chris Penn.

* RetroactiveRecognition: In ''Best of the Best 2'', [[Creator/DavidBoreanaz]] briefly appears as a parking valet.

* EyepatchOfPower: One is sported by Dae Han, the leader of the South Korean team.

* NoHoldsBarredContest: The Colosseum fights in ''2'' usually tend to devolve into this, in part because:

* TooDumbToLive: Besides signing up for a fight to the death without telling anyone, Travis arrogantly demands a match with Brakus, despite that the latter is built like a Mr. Olympia-class bodybuilder while Travis himself is... noticeably less chiseled. While strength isn't everything in a fight, Brakus nonetheless kills Travis with humiliating ease.

* CasualtyInTheRing: Years before the start of the film, Tommy's brother died in a match with Dae Han. Tommy nearly kills Dae Han in their own match, but his teammates and coach talk him out of delivering a final blow on an exhausted, barely conscious Dae Han.

* EyepatchOfPower: One is sported by Dae Han, the leader of the Korean team who, years earlier, accidentally killed Tommy's brother in a similar tournament.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The Americans lose the tournament because Tommy has beaten Dae Han to the verge of death, but refrains from delivering the final strike even though it would give his team the points they needed to win. At the award ceremony, Dae Han approaches Tommy with praise for his honorable act, expresses remorse for killing Tommy's brother, and offers himself to Tommy as a brother. The Korean fighters then give their medals to the American fighters in a display of friendship.
* {{Determinator}}: Despite dislocating his shoulder, Alex Grady refuses to give into it the second time and demands that it is popped back into place. He then continues the match with one arm in a sling.

* VillainousValor: Dae Han is the chief antagonist as the captain of the Korean team, and is repeatedly shown to be a ruthless and [[CombatPragmatist dirty fighter]] with few scruples. (While the film's ending shows that he has something of a HiddenHeartOfGold and he [[TheAtoner secretly regrets]] accidentally killing Tommy's brother in a bout, there is no hint of this before the last five minutes of the film.) However, nobody can deny that the man has courage and determination, because as his bout with Tommy increasingly turns into a one-sided beatdown with Dae Han on the receiving end, the man keeps coming back for more. Tommy deals out ludicrous amounts of punishment and Dae Han gets back up every time, launching increasingly desperate attempts to counterattack or to simply stay conscious and ''alive'' long enough to secure the victory for his team. Despite coming dangerously close to literally dying in the ring and taking a beating that probably shaved years off his life, Dae Han refuses to give in before the final buzzer sounds. His tactics during the match may have been despicable, but he clearly has an almost ''{{Film/Rocky}}'' level of grit.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: After his defeat at the tournament, Dae Han becomes a friend to his American opponents.

* TooDumbToLive: Besides signing up for a fight to the death without telling anyone, Travis arrogantly demands a match with Brakus, despite that the latter is built like a Mr. Olympia-class bodybuilder while Travis himself is... noticeably less chiseled. While strength isn't everything in a fight, Brakus nonetheless kills Travis with almost humiliating ease.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: After Tommy kills Brakus, the Colosseum is offered to him.

* BadassBookworm: Virgil looks the part, being a skinny, quiet guy with glasses who is a practicing Buddhist, yet also a skilled enough martial artist to make the America's Tae Kwan Do team. Downplayed when he ends up on the wrong end of a CurbStompBattle in the tournament itself.