Alex Grady (Eric Roberts) stopped competing after a shoulder injury and is now an auto worker. He gets invited to fight for one of five spots on United States Karate Team competing against South Korea. Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) teaches little kids in Fresno, California and forced to avenge his brother. Travis Brickley (Chris Penn) is rash, Virgil Keller is a Buddhist, and Sonny Grasso is from Detroit. Jennings pushes Catherine Wade (Sally Kirkland) on head coach Frank Couzo (James Earl Jones) as an eastern sensitive coach who understands how tough the Korean team is going to be.
This starts trying to be a somewhat serious competitive sports movie. Then it turns more into a Kung Fu Chop Suey area. It never excel with either. This movie needs a more definitive protagonist. Eric Roberts is the big star and seems to be the functional lead. However, Phillip Rhee has the emotional arc but he doesn't have the acting skills to pull it off. This split keeps the intensity down. There is a bit of cheese value but this movie is not bad enough to be good.
This starts trying to be a somewhat serious competitive sports movie. Then it turns more into a Kung Fu Chop Suey area. It never excel with either. This movie needs a more definitive protagonist. Eric Roberts is the big star and seems to be the functional lead. However, Phillip Rhee has the emotional arc but he doesn't have the acting skills to pull it off. This split keeps the intensity down. There is a bit of cheese value but this movie is not bad enough to be good.