The film starred Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Sally Kirkland, Simon Rhee and Chris Penn.

Alexander Grady, an auto plant welder and a widowed father from Portland, Oregon is chosen to represent the United States of America in an international martial arts tournament against Team South Korea.

Also chosen for the team are Tommy Lee, a highly skilled martial arts instructor from Fresno, California; Travis Brickley, an extremely brash fighter with a short fuse from Miami, Florida; Virgil Keller, a devout Buddhist from Providence, Rhode Island; and Sonny Grasso, a streetwise fighter from Detroit, Michigan.

Despite being coached by veteran trainer Frank Couzo; their chances of winning are virtually non-existent, as the Koreans train all year long, enjoy full financial support from their nation, and have—on at least one occasion—killed a competitor in the ring.

Couzo cuts Alex from the team when he breaks the rigid training regimen to visit his son, who had been hit by a car; later, Tommy quits after knocking out Virgil with a powerful spinning side kick during practice.

Instead of giving up, he implores Tommy to "pop" the shoulder back into place and resumes the fight, ultimately defeating his opponent with one arm and winning the match.

[10] In his book Iceman: My Fighting Life, UFC champion Chuck Liddell cites Best of the Best as his personal favorite martial arts film.

[11] Movie historian Leonard Maltin, on the other hand, dismissed the picture as "Yet another Rocky clone" and "An appalling waste of talent...a top-drawer cast in search of a script.