Best of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998)
A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?
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Reviews
Good concept, poorly executed.
Best movie ever!
As Good As It Gets
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Best of the Best is well named, because this is one of the if not the best martial action movie series ever made.All the sequences are beautifully choreographed, and the action and the story comes together as one - which many martial action movies fail to do.Phillip Rhee is a multi-talented director, actor that puts the likes of Chuck Norris, and Michael Dudikoff to shame. Only Bruce Lee had his kind of precision movements on screen.The series also gets cudos for not losing quality through out its four episodes. Every other series of this type was a hit or miss proposition. They never were as consistent as this series.The movie is also beautifully made, that has crisp looks, and elegant style.Maybe this was the swan song for this type of martial arts action movie, but as they say, swans last song is its most beautiful,as this movie is.
Best of the Best 4, is better than 3, but just barely. Basically, I say this because part 4 doesn't contradict parts 1/2 (like 3 does), (ie. their is no reference to Tommy Lee having siblings).Anyway, I liked the Russian plot line of the story, and especially Sven Ole-Thorsen's bit part as Boris. Aside from that though and a few fighting scenes, the movie is nothing special. The limited budget is also very noticeable (especially in the airplane blow-up scene).Also, part 4 does not really have a moral or say anything like part 3 did, there are a couple of more better known actors (Hudson, Thorsen) in part 4, but alas nothing like the beginning of the series (and even these characters have very small roles).Alas, it seems Best of the Best is the Rhee show, and to be truthful, he cannot carry a movie.Saw on tape, Rating:4
I am a fan of the previous Best of the Best films. But this one was awful. No wonder I had such a hard time finding it. I tried 4 video rental stores, until I found one with a copy of this movie. The acting was terrible, the plot was a joke, and the action was bad as well.I really miss Alex Grady, Travis Brigley, and the original kickboxing characters and theme that this film had with the first 2 movies. John
BEST OF THE BEST was good movie, BEST OF THE BEST 2 was even better, and BEST OF THE BEST 3 was the most solid. With the improvements between each film, I figured the 4th would rock. Man, I was sure mistaken. The plot is old, the F/X are poor (very poor that is), and the acting (except for Rhee) is terrible.As directed by Philip Rhee, BEST OF THE BEST 3 was a very confident, well directed film. I find it hard to believe that Rhee directed 4 too. The directing is haphazard, and everything, except for 2 fight scenes, is very poorly staged.This film was a major disappointment.