"Best of the Best II" will probably prompt the question, There was a "Best of the Best I?"
Yes, though the first film never played in theaters outside of the larger urban centers. "Best of the Best" was, for most of the country, a straight-to-video item.
For the benefit of those who missed "Best of the Best" . . . and consider yourselves fortunate . . . the story had five social misfits, who were also first-rate martial arts experts, trying out for the U.S. Karate Team, and to the amazement of each, making it. They spent most of the rest of the picture overcoming personal problems before finally going to Korea to take on the reigning champs. The film's final quarter was, of course, devoted to the two teams kicking each other in the face and hitting a lot of bricks.
"Best of the Best" was "Rocky Goes Kickboxing," though "The Karate Kid" did it much better.
"Best of the Best II" has a very different storyline but the biggest difference is in the casting. The first film had James Early Jones and Louise Fletcher. This sequel has Wayne Newton! That should tell you all you need to know.
"Best of the Best II" steals its plot from Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Bloodsport," about an illegal, underground, bare-knuckle fighting arena where wealthy sleazeballs pay big bucks (and place huge bets) to sit ringside and watch as a pair of muscleheads duel to the death.
In this case, the setting is Las Vegas. Three members of the U.S. Karate Team — Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee and Christopher Penn, all reprising their roles from the first film — have set up a karate studio in the city of glitter. Why they picked Vegas is something of a mystery, since the first film portrayed all three as being products of their own hometowns.
The film begins by introducing us to The Coliseum, a secret battleground beneath a casino called the Stock Exchange, which is operated by slimy Newton, who also gleefully emcees the bloody fights.
The owner of The Coliseum is a macho monster played by Ralph Moeller, and when Penn is dumb enough to take him on in the ring, Roberts' son (Edan Gross, also reprising his role from the first film) witnesses the event. At the end of the fight, Newton asks the crowed it it's "thumbs up, he lives?" Or "thumbs down, he dies?"
Three guesses which way the crowd votes.
After crashing the Stock Exchange and doing a bit of minor damage to Moeller's face, Roberts, Rhee and Gross find themselves on the run from Moeller's hitmen. They hide out with Rhee's "grandma," an American Indian who has a gas station in the middle of the desert. And to help Roberts and Rhee get ready to take on Moeller in the ring, "grandma's" boozy son (Sonny Landham) puts them through some grueling training, which includes a day or two in a "sweat lodge."
Needless to say, this is all pretty silly, especially the plot device that tries to portray The Coliseum as carefully hidden from general knowledge, since everyone in town seems to know about it. Yet, for some reason, the Las Vegas police are never called upon.
"Best of the Best II," rated R for violence gore, profanity and partial nudity (scantily clad showgirls), is strictly for those who enjoy martial arts material no matter how dumb it is.