Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back

Plot synopsis:
The film opens in the small town of "Liberty", where a vicious group of neo-Nazis have been terrorizing the populace, most recently having murdered an African-American pastor and set fire to his church. While visiting his sister and brother-in-law in Liberty, Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) crosses paths with the group's leader Donnie Hansen (Mark Rolston), and is drawn into the conflict when his sister is attacked in their car. Later, the group attempts to harass a schoolteacher named Margo (Gina Gershon) at the local 4-H fair, but Tommy intervenes and fends them off. Ungrateful at first, she eventually warms up to Tommy when they are set up on a blind date, and they start a relationship.
Meanwhile, the town of Liberty is holding hearings on whether to sell a parcel of land on the outskirts of town to the neo-Nazis, who have set up their headquarters on the land. Margo and Tommy join with the town's residents and convince the town council to reject the land sale, which means the neo-Nazis will soon have to vacate the premises.
After this defeat, the neo-Nazis arm themselves and launch an assault on Tommy's family. After saving Margo from an attempted rape, Tommy returns home to find his sister badly beaten. He and his brother-in-law, the local sheriff Jack Banning (Christopher McDonald), decide to take matters into their own hands and invade the group's heavily guarded compound, where Jack's children have been taken hostage. After a long, climactic fight, the children are rescued and Tommy defeats Hansen in single combat, but refuses to kill him, knowing that it would only further his message of hatred. As Tommy turns away, Hansen takes aim at him with a rifle, prompting a local teenager named Owen Tucker (Peter Simmons) to shoot and kill Hansen himself, thus brokering a new peace in the town. The ending scene shows the pastor's child reading from the Bible and the church being rebuilt.

Tags: violence

Review:
Our hero Tommy Lee, as portrayed by Phillip Rhee, encounters and overcomes a myriad set of common problems in the deep south.
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...
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee), comes into town to visit his sister Karen, right after the mysterious disappearance of a black reverend.
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..
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ?
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..
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..
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.
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.
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.
So grab a Like soda and cheer for Phillip Rhee, Christopher McDonald and Gina Gershon in a truly hard hitting tale of racism!.
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).
There's even some Jackie Chan-like martial arts, as evidenced by the scene in which Rhee fights some baddies in a clown outfit.
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.
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.
Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back starts as martial artist Tommy Lee (co-producer & director Phillip Rhee) arrives in the small town of Liberty where his sister Karen (Anzu Lawson) lives with her husband Jack (Christopher McDonald) who just so happens to be the local Sheriff.
Hansen & his white power group hate all foreigner's & the Chinese Tommy Lee & his sister Karen are next in line for the racial abuse & violence but Tommy, being a world Karate champ & general brilliant martial artist, fights back.
Things become personal as Jack & Karen's kid is kidnapped & the true extent of Hansen's plans become apparent, Hansen wants to start a war between black & white...Directed by & starring Phillip Rhee this is the third entry in the Best of the Best franchise & while it's not as good as Best of the Best 2 (1993) it's better than the weak original Best of the Best (1989).
Right, first things first series continuity has gone right out of the window here, for some reason Tommy Lee now refuses to teach martial arts & despite being an only child (after his brother was killed by Dae Han in the original Best of the Best) now magically has a sister, gone is his mate Alex Grady played by Eric Roberts in the previous two & this time he's on his own.
In fact Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back has very little to do with the previous two films except that it features Tommy Lee (anyone else think the character was originally meant as a homage to Bruce Lee?).
A little bit of research actually reveals that the script was originally written as a stand alone film called No Turning Back about a black soldier returning home & finding his town overrun with racists but Phillip Rhee saw the script & turned it into a Best of the Best film.
A little slow to get going Tommy Lee doesn't doesn't beat up his first racist until after the thirty minute mark but from then on it continues to move along at a nice pace until the action packed climax.
Not as deep as some films might have been considering it's touchy racial subject matter but as pure action entertainment then this is worth a watch.The fights are well staged & look impressive, the last thirty minutes are great with lots of shooting, explosions, out of control buses, car & motorbike stunts & a final climatic knife fight between Tommy Lee & Hansen.
Set in a small town in the US the picturesque opening credits feature kids playing in fields & fishing & a rickety old school bus picking them up in a really syrupy scene but things soon turn nasty as a Church is burned down.Filmed in Indiana & Ohio this looks nice enough, first time director Rhee does a decent enough job here although the action scenes & fights predictably fare better than the human drama.
Lee Emery in a small role while Kane Hodder joins Rhee as being the only actor to have appeared in all three Best of the Best films but unlike Rhee as a different character in each although always as a bad guy.Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back tries to mix a hard & emotive issue like racial abuse & tension with mindless martial arts action & is somewhat successful, while not that deep it does entertain on a basic level with some good action scenes during the last thirty minutes.
Part one was about teamwork...part two was about vengeance...in this third chapter of the Best of the Best series, Tommy Lee finds himself fighting for the greatest prize of all: salvation.
A lot of people look at this movie as a step down for the Best of the Best series, but in my opinion, it isn't.
If anything, it was a growing step up until Without Warning (the fourth Best of the Best) was created.Picking up from the events of Best of the Best 2, Tommy has left his good friend Alex Grady behind and comes to Liberty to see his sister Karen, brother-in-law Jack (who's the town Sheriff), his nephew Justin and Luther, Justin's friend who's father is a preacher who goes missing earlier in the film.
Tommy is glad to see his family and is enjoying the love and warmth that he receives, but when he learns that local supremacists have taken over the town and are responsible for the death of Luther's father, Tommy must decide whether or not to use his lethal skills again in order to help the locals take back their home from predators who use fear as a weapon and violence against the innocent just because they're 'different'.A lot of people think that this Best of the Best just follows a tired old cliché story that people have seen and heard hundreds of times before.
Tommy is trying to live a life of peace, but the supremacists make that extremely difficult and force him to use lethal countermeasures to put a stop to their bullying and he hopes and prays that the situation won't result in more death at his hands.Another message in this film is that even if you despise violence, you have to be ready to use it at a moment's notice.
And rest assured, Phillp Rhee's character has a lot of teaching to do in this film.Basically put, there's plenty of gunfights galore, high-kicking action, explosive pyrotechnics and behind it all, a message about being ready to go to war if you ever want peace on your land.
You don't even hear the theme song one time, which i found very disappointing as its one of the best theme song to show a training sequence...I got the story, and i felt touched by it, yet even with the couple links to BOTB2(Tommy mentioning he killed a guy) the movie feel so out of the series based on the first 2.
Yet the fighting scenes in BOTB3 are good, sure but any character could had been Tommy here.
I had the chance to see this film last Saturday on TV, and well I wasn't very impressed by what I saw.Basically Tommy Lee (Rhee) return again now to help a town against a white supremacist gang that is planning to tear the city apart.The plot is just a retool of the basic hero comes to town plot.
The violence in this film near the same as Best of the Best 2, and it sorta feels like it at times.
There is clearly a anti-racist message in the film, and so obvious from the start.The acting at times, could be better, as most of the white supremacists sound like their are rednecks, and the other characters just sound a tad wooden.
Some of the fight scenes are good, some I have to wonder, what in the world the producers where either drinking or smoking, because they are good, it's just the set up to them is just plain bad.If you don't like racial slurs, then avoid this film, since that's pretty much every other word out the mouth of the racist, and everything else is about Tommy not teaching any more.
If you are not offended by racial slurs, then you can watch this film, but like my summary says it not the "best" of the best