Lovesusti
The Worst Film Ever
Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Comeuppance Reviews
There's some bad stuff going' down in the small town of Liberty (either Indiana or Ohio, we're not entirely sure, but it's a rural burg and that's all the viewers need to know, apparently). White supremacists are taking over the formerly-peaceful town, led by the hate-filled preacher Brian (an uncredited Ermey). Just as their evil empire is growing, none other than Tommy Lee (the drummer from Motley Crue) (just kidding, it's Phillip Rhee of course) rolls into town to visit his sister who just happens to live in this town, and her husband Jack (McDonald). Jack also happens to be the sheriff, but is powerless to stop the hate-filled mobs. Lee finds he must use his fists and his feet not only to defeat the stupid racists, but to defend choir director Margo (Gershon). Will Tommy Lee beat the neo-Nazis and ride off into the sunset? To Best of the Best 3's credit, it has an extremely professional look, with very good production values. This was Phillip Rhee's first directorial effort, and it seems like he had been building up to this for a while, because he does a very competent job, with a lot of interesting shots and as mentioned, the technical aspects are very good. Plus, with its themes about racism, it was at least trying not to be the same old dumb meathead movie. It made an effort to make you think, which is more than you can say about some of this movie's competitors (or other entries in the series, for that matter).Like China O'Brien (1990), the "rural action movie" angle is used, and, like Substitute 4 (2001), the "white power" angle is used. Interestingly enough, the director of Substitute 4 is Robert Radler, the director of Best of the Best 2 (1993). There's even some Jackie Chan-like martial arts, as evidenced by the scene in which Rhee fights some baddies in a clown outfit. You truly haven't lived until you've seen thugs get kicked by a man with giant shoes.As we've seen in everything from American Ninja (1985) to terrorist training videos, the army of bad guys have their own training camp, complete with, you guessed it, monkey bars. Exactly how these monkey bars would help someone defeat Tommy Lee in a fight is not known. And the head Nazi guy wouldn't even come close to challenging Lee in a fight. He only holds his own for a long time because that's what a lot of final bad guys do. A lot of action movies fall into that cliché: Although the main baddie may have no martial arts or combat training whatsoever, when the hero faces off against him in a fight, after handily defeating hundreds of goons, NOW the final fight is actually a challenge for the hero. It's just silly, but you can't really help it.If you have Netflix streaming, you should view Best of the Best 3 that way, as the quality is excellent and it's in widescreen. The movie has never looked better.So grab a Like soda and cheer for Phillip Rhee, Christopher McDonald and Gina Gershon in a truly hard hitting tale of racism.For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com
Frank Markland
Phillip Rhee goes it alone (After Roberts wisely stepped out) to face off against a band of white supremacists who hold the town in a grip of terror. Seems that nobody of color can even go out at night without being hassled, that is until Rhee arrives on the scene and makes them pay with his fist and foot. Think Billy Jack but with a much more mean spirited vibe. The beginning sequence makes this an ugly movie. In it a black man is beaten with a baseball bat while a choir sings. This is a mean spirited scene and also the movie labors to lay on a message so thick headed that one wonders why they bothered in the first place. The action sequences are okay but hardly save such a ugly film. Also the pacing is way off and the film includes an attempted rape scene, lots of racial insults and just a lot of badness. The acting is universally horrid and it's just a terrible movie. Offensive too.1/2* out of 4-(Awful)
drfrancisgross-1
I picked this up 2nd hand and really enjoyed it, in a campy way. Tommy turns up in some rural town and steps right into a race war. Tommy is basically given reason after reason to take on guys of 4 or more and throw them through various fruit stalls, ticket offices, coffee tables, and french windows. The gorgeous Gina Gershon does her best as a choir teacher helping Tommy out, but whenever she needs to be "helpless" it kinda doesn't work because she now plays such strong, female roles.The acting and direction are seriously questionable but this film is obviously about fight scenes and they are entertaining enough, from the moment we see Gershon's house is full of glass tables, flimsy bookcases and china filled cabinets we know we are in for a treat.Terrible, patronising attitude toward racial issues but, hey, its got a rocket launcher and plenty of flying kicks.
Mon-line
Looking for a martial arts movie with realistic villains? A made-for-TV-movie with a 'theatrical' budget? An ethnic hero whipping some redneck racist butt? Well, you'll find it here, albeit with sub-par results.While the actual fighting in the film is all right (though I've seen better), some of the dialogue and characterizations need re-editing. The acting ranges from passable to 'William Shatner' (especially from the Klan leader - the guy with the goatee). The plot for BOTB3 is shaky - you can easily predict what the racists are going to do next and what the hero is going to do about it. The climax can be described as similar to the average horror/chop-sockey movie: not quite believeable (how can one guy take on 50 (or so) villains - with guns no less?) and devoid of thrills. Oh yeah, that Owen kid (the troubled teen who joins the racist gang) is heavily involved in the climax, and EVERYONE who watches this movie will be able to guess what he does at the end, even if they turn it off half-way.This film is kind of like an episode of 'Walker, Texas Ranger' - tame, predictable, and really not worth bothering with, since there are so many better choices available in your video store.