User reviews

Clichéd in a Walker, Texas Ranger kinda way, Best Of The Best 3: No Turning Back was a complete change of pace from the previous 2 entries to the series. With a lack of his team mates, or any fighting in the ring, this second sequel actually began life as a movie simply called No Turning Back. It was originally planned to feature a black marine who returns home from the Persian Gulf to find his town over-run by a gang of white supremacists. When producer and star Philip Rhee got a read of the script, things got re-jigged to make it a sequel to his martial arts action series, with Rhee coming back as Tommy Lee and the man himself taking the reigns as director also!

Best Of The Best 3 is often hilarious, although completely unintentionally, with plenty of action and martial arts fights that aren't the worst I've ever seen. Hammered by a dodgy script, below-par acting, and many ridiculous situations - such as Rhee's jump-kick to take down 3 different guys on motorbikes, with the help of some bad editing - this entry to the series plays like a weak Van Damme film, with plenty of predictable moments and many WTF scenes that you'll either love or hate.

The thought of Philip Rhee taking on a gang of neo-nazi's is pretty exciting though, and the film carries a great message, and is decently made. With a decent cast such as the addition of Gina Gershon and Dee Wallace, of which are underused, Best Of The Best 3 is not the worst movie in the world. I must admit though, it has maybe too many silly moments for a film based around racial conflict. With the first film focusing on teamwork, and the second, vengeance; part 3 is about Salvation with a message about respect, peace and redemption. The take on the supremacists is well done, with a realism projected as they kill, hurt and scare the local residents on Liberty (the ironic name of the town), and the twist to the cliché is having the victims get together and stand up against them - albeit with Rhee's flying feet and fists to encourage that...

There was times when Bes Of The Best 3 reminded me of China O'Brien and Rhee even entertains us with a Jackie Chan-esque moment as he takes on some of the thugs at a county fair while dressed as a clown. While not as intricately choreographed as Jackie would have presented, the fight is still fun and does the job. As mentioned though, its probably a little too light-hearted of a scene for the serious plot-line and message surrounding the film as a whole! Big on fights and explosive action, No Turning Back definitely has it flaws but entertains as a 90's action movie. It may not have much connection to its predecessors, totally losing what the series started out as, but as a standalone action thriller, I was happy with it. This was Philip Rhee's directorial début, and as his first offering, think he done a pretty damn good job albeit with some teething problems. He would go on to direct himself in the follow-up sequel in 1998, which to me, was the best of the bunch. It may have been interesting to see a series of films that followed the separate stories of each of the characters from the original, giving Roberts a chance to have his own Alex Grady series as much as Tommy Lee had his...

For a man who had a short-lived career, Rhee certainly left an impression. No Turning Back isn't perfect, but it makes for a fun watch and is a pretty mature project from the man. It may come across as a high budgeted TV movie, but Best Of The Best 3 holds up.

Overall: Flawed but entertaining, No Turning Back is big on action and unintentional laughs, accompanied by a serious message and story!

BEST OF THE BEST 3: NO TURNING BACK steps even further away from the tournament set-up of the original movie to offer straightforward straight-to-video action thrills from leading man Phillip Rhee. Rhee is the sole returning cast member from the first two movies, although he steps up to direct here as well as star in what turns out to be a typically over the top, mildly entertaining slice of mid-'90s entertainment.

This time around the setting is the small, ubiquitous town in one of the southern states. Rhee turns up and soon uncovers a hotbed of racism and murder, brought about by the antics of the cult-ish members of the local church, which bears more than a passing similarity to Westboro Baptist Church. Cue lots of violent fist fights, shoot-outs and explosives, achieved in the best low budget '90s way.

BEST OF THE BEST 3 isn't as good as the previous film in this series - the action isn't as hard-hitting or as well staged - but it's not bad and could be a lot worse. Rhee is a dependable hero type, and the supporting cast is packed with familiar aces: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION's Mark Rolston as the baddie, R. Lee Ermey as a preacher, Gina Gershon as a potential love interest, Dee Wallace-Stone as a townswoman, and the hulking Michael Bailey Smith (THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake) as a thug.

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.

what happened to the great martial arts action of: best of the best? yes, this movie has a good storyline, and phillip rhee is great in this film... but why name it after a great movie when it has nothing to do with the series? Oh yeah, and check out the final fight, it's a thrill (stupid-wise). I rank this movie a **** out of ********** !!!

Best of the best 3: No Turning Back is a movie with a strong social and political message. Our hero Tommy Lee, as portrayed by Phillip Rhee, encounters and overcomes a myriad set of common problems in the deep south. From strange cuisine to white power groups who value an idea of might makes right. I'd like to digress here to applaud Mr. Rhee, not only did he star as Tommy Lee but also directed and produced. It can been seen that Mr. Lee applied his own experiences as a minority in America to his magnum opus.

Strong political message aside, the inner workings of the film, the basic craft if you will is on point throughout. From inspired lighting and set design to insightful scene transitions, a spinning chain gun into a spinning plastic flower. We can see a juxtaposition of spinning things one on the side of whimsy the other cold raw steel crafted for killing.

Every one understands that no thing, be it movie or sandwich, can be perfect. Thus I must concede that Best of the Best 3: Cool Runnings does have its faults. One half hour is spent before a showcase of Mr. Rhee's fistic acumen. In fact Lee, Rhee's character, seems to have no real competition in the film. Nearly every skinhead he fights falls with little effort, this is strange due to the basic toughness and fighting skill attributed to the skinhead stereotype. Particularly with the basic para military training they are given.

As the plot reaches its climax, beginning with a dirt bike chase no less, and ramps up to a full on assault. We learn here that Lee can outrun an explosion. In a dizzying display of action and full on violence Tommy and his partner, the local sheriff and his bother in law, take out the skin head compound. Of course in the end Tommy proves he is indeed the best of the best. Then again this really never became an issue in the movie.

All in all Best of the Best 3: the lion the witch and the wardrobe does a fine job of telling a complex story in simple terms that can be appreciated by young and old alike. 4 giant clown shoe beat downs out of a possible 10.

this movie represents a step down in quality from the first two movies in the series.to me,it's basically a run of the mill story,with a setting that has also been done before.in fact,it's almost a carbon copy of at least one other movie.and they don't really add anything new to it.also missing are the spectacular fight scenes from number two.there are plenty of fights,but they are pretty much ho-hum.the action is boring for the most part.there are some plot holes and inconsistencies.that normally wouldn't be a problem,except that they are very obvious.and since the film itself isn't very exciting,it's much easier to focus on the negative.the other problem is the acting,not so much from the main c characters,but the other characters.i won't say too much in that regard,other than--it was bad.when you put it all together,this film does not live up to the standard of the first two.it isn't the worst movie of the genre,but it isn't very good either.for me,it's a 3/10,at best.

It's hard to decided whether to review the film on serious basis or take it as a cheap b movie. I find it hard to watch films when you have those "oh come on" moments. Tommy escaping on a bike we'll ahead of the skinhead goons on his way to the teachers place to be still on his way when they've arrived and causing havoc. Also kicking three guys at the same time of their bikes.

It's not a patch on 1 and 2 so If your ill and looking to take some time out of day and you want keep up with the BOTB franchise then watch it with one eye on the clock.

Overall, the BEST OF THE BEST series is one of the most enjoyable martial arts franchises in film. It took two movies before tae kwon do bigshot Phillip Rhee was properly established as the real star of the story, and I'm pleased to say that even in the disappointing absence of Eric Roberts & co., he proves to be a solid solo action hero, not to mention a better first-time director than his more-recognized cohorts Seagal and Van Damme. It's a bit strange that he chose a story dealing with domestic racial terrorism as his first project, but while not perfect, I think it came out much better than anyone could have expected.

The story: Following the events of the the second film, Tommy Lee (Rhee) rides into a rural town besieged by a neo-Nazi militia. When their violent mania takes its toll on the family of his brother-in-law (Christopher McDonald) and his new romantic interest (Gina Gershon), he uses his championship-caliber martial arts skills to fight back.

Neo-Nazism, neo-Confederatism, and white supremicism remain lingering social problems, but while they've been tackled before in drama form (e.g. American HISTORY X), I'm pretty sure that Phillip Rhee is the first filmmaker to make an action film that predominantly dealt with the issue. It's a movie decision that you'd expect Steven Seagal to make, and it's quite possible that despite this one's strong production values, the storyline is what kept it from getting a theatrical release. It's kind of heavy-handed, with a rather tasteless scene early on wherein the militant leader (played by great villain-actor Mark Rolston) beats a black activist priest to death with a baseball bat, but the film does make a point of differentiating between the racial separatism ideology and racial warfare, as well as depicting the kind of social hopelessness that can lead some folks to grasp at extremes. Still, it's an action flick, so don't expect a completely empathetic movie.

Speaking of action, this one's offering is pretty darn good, being mostly limited to four fights and an explosion-filled invasion scene. During his relatively short career, Phillip Rhee was one of the most consistent martial arts performers, and his outing here helps build this reputation. During three one-against-many fights and a single one-on-one brawl with bad guy Rolston, Rhee goes through an encyclopedia of strikes and throws, for the most part exquisitely choreographed and competently filmed. The showdown at the end sort of disappointed me for its change of pace, but by most standards, it's still pretty good, and it doesn't deter from the glorious scene in the first half of the film wherein Rhee - dressed as a clown - takes on a bunch of brutes at a fair. The segment wherein Rhee and Christopher McDonald launch an attack on the supremacists' base is also pretty good, practically at Commando levels of explosions. There are even parts with motorcycles and a rocket launcher.

The cast and their performances round off the good parts of the movie. Along with the aforementioned members, an uncredited R. Lee Ermey plays a racist pastor with his usual infectious talent, and Peter Simmons gives a pretty good performance as young supremacist recruit with mixed feelings about his actions. The fact that the film only connects with its prequels via a minute's exposition is somewhat disappointing - I'd have liked to see the ending of the last movie weigh in more on the events of this one - but Rhee proves himself such a consummate performer that you don't miss the other characters *too* much. This one could technically stand alone, but it still feels like a part of the series. Action fans should definitely give it a try.

This outing only has Phillip Rhee from the original cast and although he is the best martial artist, he fails to carry this franchise on his own.

It's not awful, and it tries to deliver a strong message, it just fails!

You know how Tommy was raised by Native Americans? Well, his sister lives in the deep south, married to the local sheriff. Now, this area is in major trouble because we've got the old white supremacists out on the warpath, led by none other than R L Emery. There's this other guy who doesn't think Emery is white enough who, at the start of the film, bludgeons to death a black reverend while all his skinhead mates look on. And one of the skinheads is the teenage son of Dee Wallace Stone.

Now that's a lot of story with no Tommy involved, right? It does take some time for him to show up but doesn't take much time for the old Nazis to get right on his case and also start hassling his sister. Didn't they watch Best of the Best 2? No one messes with Tommy's family! Eric Roberts isn't in this one by the way, and I think it was probably because his character took the rap for killing the bad guy in the last film. Otherwise I can't think of a reason how Tommy got away with breaking a guy's neck in front of a screaming crowd.

Anyway, while a schoolteachers goes up against R Lee Emery (who doesn't get a credit here for some reason), Tommy goes up against the far more dangerous henchman, played by Drake from Aliens! Drake is all up for a bit of ethnic cleansing and gets his army of skinheads some hardware while Tommy breaks all their noses while dressed as a clown.

Just when I thought this film was never going to get going Drake kidnaps Tommy's nephew and the fight is on! Tommy and the guy from Happy Gilmore head off to the Nazi compound and start wasting their way through a skinhead army in a whirlwind of machine gun fire, explosions, and even an M80 machine gun. Thank God for that.

Tommy also directs this one (under the pseudonym Phillip Rhee) so you'll have to ask him how Tommy manages to kick three guys off three separate bikes using just two legs, or how we see the schoolteacher getting attacked in her home, then cut to Tommy on his bike, then cut back to the schoolteacher's house where Tommy suddenly appears.

It's okay this one once it gets going. The big battle at the end kind of makes up for all the drama and such like so there's not much to worry about there.

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)

This was a movie that had an overused plot. The martial arts expert who comes in and single handedly saves a town. If the movie were to be rated just by the plot, I would give it a 1, but I do believe that a movie is more than just the surface appearance. This movie also had a strong anti-racism message behind it. It showed the affects of racism and the sheer hate and terror that go with it. Watching it is enough to make you want to do something about the problem of racism yourself. So on moral grounds, I would give this movie a 10. However, the plot was inconsistent at times, the acting was cheesy, and this type of movie has been made so many times that you get tired of just hearing about it. Overall, I can only give this movie a 4.

Although movie has the quality of Phillip Rhee's movies, somehow the mood doesn't match him. They should have kept the main character a black marine from the gulf war. That would make lot of sense in this movie.

Skin heads aren't interesting as far as enemy is concerned. It's obvious that they're no match for the martial arts instructor. And on top of that they're just dumb and below the level of worthy opponent for anyone with Rhee's caliber.

So where does this movie fit into the Best of the Best series ? It doesn't.

The chemistry between the co-stars aren't as tight either. Rhee just isn't someone from the podocs. He fits in better in the city environment.

Watch the other Best of the Best series to really get the best of the best.

Phillip Rhee is a great, underrated screen martial artist. Both in reality and on screen, Rhee's techniques look great and the man clearly has an excellent command of martial arts, so why is it that in a movie starring this guy, in a series about martial arts, do we not even seen him fight anyone until about 40 minutes into this one? Now, I'm not saying that an action movie can't have build up and suspense, or it should be all fighting and no plot, but Best of the Best 3 starts the movie off with the heavy subject of violent racism and doesn't dial back from there. With virtually no relation and continuity to the other 2 movies in the series, Best of the Best 3 has only one constant, the character of Rhee's Tommy Lee, who is down South visiting his sister that he's never mentioned (although he does apparently have Indian grandparents and a brother from the second) and has to intervene in the grand plot of a White Supremacist group.

Compared to the other 2 Best of the Best movies, which were about fighting tournaments and the comradery between the martial artists on the team, this one is totally Tommy Lee's show, and deals with an intense, sensitive, and serious issue. But it deals with it via motorcycle chases, explosions, and kicking. Even though the film has a good message, the corny acting and dialouge and overall 90's action movie goofiness just doesn't work for the hard hitting subject matter, which is something that deserves serious examination and treatment.

It's not to say that the movie doesn't have it's entertaining moments, but whenever you get into some of the action, it draws you right back to the ugly topic it's all based around, but the poor execution makes it hard to enjoy. Overall, Phillip Rhee would've been better off including Eric Roberts, a major character in the other 2 movies in some way, and continuing the story and through line he had established with 1 and 2, which were also cheezy martial arts movies, but stayed within their depth and didn't try to tackle something this hard hitting and real. Since this installments attempts and fails, I have to say it's the worst of The Best of the Best.

5 out 10.

It's amazing what time does to your viewpoint. I saw my fair share of dtv flicks in the 90's which 'Best of the Best 3' belongs to and I'm certain if I saw it then it wouldn't have stood out. Just another average title ... sequel, etc, but heck if I didn't find parts of it enjoyable now.

Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) goes to visit his sister in small town rural America. Her hometown of Liberty (fitting name!) is being besieged with racism. A white power movement has moved from sermons to murder. It doesn't take long for Tommy to find himself involved. Things continue to escalate until it's clear they need to be taken out.

There's no doubt that the pieces found here are worn. The hero setup, racial intolerance, bad guys, the fights, finale. It's efficient however in delivery. The film decently gives a medium level of action while it's easy to downplay the themes going on. We've been seeing this in movies, tv for a long time. Still doesn't discount emotional or disturbing moments. It acknowledges the end of 'BotB2' and how it affected Tommy too. Some known faces - Christopher McDonald, Mark Rolston, R. Lee Emery and Gina Gershon - appear in the cast.

Phillip Rhee made his career on this series. Starring, sometimes co-writing, directing, producing. He should have done himself a favor and not had himself fight off goons at a state fair while dressed as a clown. All jokes aside, 'No Turning Back' is a generic sequel in a lot of ways and has a low budget moment or two. It is however not a pain to see.

What just happened?

Best of the Best, a true classic (in my eyes).

Best of the Best II, still a better than average movie and good fun.

Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back???

B O B 3 loses all the charm and connectivity of the previous relationships when it loses Eric Roberts.

Even though they try to sell us some new relationships they fall short of those previously mentioned.

The fighting is good, the action better than average and Mr Rhee has his moments.

However it is a significant fall from grace when comparing the third entry to those films that had come before it.

It still good but not great :)

Any 'message' this film might impart is totally lost in the goofiness of setting a martial arts film in the middle of a Mississippi race war. The writing and performances are so terrible that I found them weirdly entertaining. The cliches come so fast and furious that you may find yourself laughing out loud at things you would never ordinarily laugh at. Gina Gershon is hilarious as the choir conductor. The biggest joke about this movie is that it dislikes racism enough to support the plot about really stupid white supremacists, but not enough to allow Gina Gershon to fall in love with the Asian lead. They had to bring in a totally pointless white character for that... Dee Wallace-Stone is one of the greatest actresses who has ever lived and she is so sadly underrated and underused. She's the only thing in this film that isn't a really funny joke.

White supremacists taking over the town. An Aryan brotherhood preacher shocked to find out that his message of hate has been translated into extreme violence. Lots of use of racial epithets, including the "N" word.

But into town rides a saviour. An Asian martial arts expert that is hurting because he killed a man. He won't let these skinheads terrorize the local people of color.

They didn't need a scriptwriter for this one. It has been done many times. The clichés pour out and the martial arts exhibitions are just so-so. The only real violence (the death of the Black preacher) was done off-camera. The rest was standard knife and gun action with a few explosions.

They had a chance to make something interesting in this film starring Gina Gershon. More action between her and the Asian lead would have spiced it up to a watchable story.

I am not inclined to see Best of the Best 1, 2 or 4.

Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee), comes into town to visit his sister Karen, right after the mysterious disappearance of a black reverend. His chinese-american sister is married to a white sheriff, one of the few lawmen in this small southern town. As it turns out, a super-rascist skinhead cult is taking control of the town. It was a little ridiculous, as they had a huge compound with plenty of C-4 explosives and grenade launchers which would surely attract the attention of the FBI and ATF. The sheriff and Tommy Lee take the law into their own hands, and it is up to one martial arts superhero to save the day.

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.