I enjoyed this film because it was not only an action movie with some pretty good fight scenes, but also because it spent a bit of time on character development. Having the son of the main character be a martial arts student who demonstrates discipline and a bit of fighting courage made the movie a bit more dynamic in storyline than some early 90's action films. The character of James played by "Predator" star Sonny Landham was kind of a good family conflict and climax within the movie thus adding some depth. I found the movie fairly basic in terms of predictability, but it did have some spice within the plot. The fighting scenes were overall better than many other action films with animated injury sound effects and some good breaking clips. Overall the movie was enjoyable.

Well, this was not a bad sequel, with solid budget and all… it is really watchable. The story continues after five best fighters won a competition against Korea, 3-4 years later. The three fighters Grady (Roberts), Tommy (Rhee) and Travis (Chris Penn) are now good friend and they are enjoying their retirement after championship, but the infamous troublemaker Travis is participating in underground fights in so called "Colosseum", and dies after he challenged a champion called Bracus. And now… as usual… just like in many martial arts films, the two remaining fighters Grady and Tommy are seeking revenge against Bracus and his manager Weldon. This film is strictly for those who love martial arts film, especially for those who are trained in Taekwondo, Hapkino, Karate, or Kung Fu…So don't pay attention to other things like script, or make-up… because there isn't anything special about it. The acting crew is pretty interesting here. We have Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee and Chris Penn from the first film. Eric Roberts, with his usual performance, trying to look cool, but stiff in tense scenes. He was slightly, a little bit important here, because the real star was Phillip Rhee. Rhee was no longer to show his acting abilities, in this film, he was in his own terrain, to show really cool skills in spectacular fighting scenes. He really showed some good techniques from Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Hapkido and even some Aikido. Chris Penn was there… well we all knew that something bad was gonna happen to him. Not much from him, except that I didn't quite expect him here… I like him more in some serious films with his intense performance. Now, we have Dae Han (played by Simon Rhee) who returns to help Grady and Tommy in vengeance. Our bad guy champion is Bracus, played by Ralf Moeller, best know for playing Conan in "Conan the Adventurer" TV series… well.. they needed someone who is big, strong and imposing… but for heaven's sake… this guy can't talk right… he is like Arnie, even worse. He couldn't even hide his German accent. He wasn't even charismatic or evil… he was only a egoistic, angry tank who is strong and that's it. The real leading villain here was his manager and owner of the Colosseum, Weldon, played by Wayne Newton… who would knew it? A famous Vegas performer and entertainer who nearly played himself in this film, although he didn't sing, but he was OK, really cool. And he has an exceptional high voice. Other supporting actors… we have lovely Meg Foster, oh those eyes… so feminine… and for the real surprise, we have Sonny Landham… Billy from "Predator", love that guy. He was cool. As I said before… this is for martial arts fans and I highly recommend this film to them. Enjoy it.

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).