220: Dropping Stories Like a Toilet Seat
Robert Radler is the director of the cult classic Best of the Best (1989) starring Eric Roberts, Phillip Rhee and James Earl Jones. Numerous guests have cited this film as a pivotal moment in their martial art and film careers, not the least of which are our two co-hosts! This film, Radler’s debut feature, was also a launching pad for the likes of debut stunt coordinator Simon Rhee and performer James Lew. Rhee went on to receive SAG Award nominations for Heroes in 2008 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2012. He won for Heroes in 2009 and Inception in 2011. Similarly, Lew took home the 2017 Emmy for Outstanding Stunt Coordination of a Drama Series for Luke Cage.
Outside of Best of the Best and its 1993 sequel, Radler went on to direct Showdown (1993), several episodes of Jerry Bruckheimer’s Soldier of Fortune, Inc., and countless episodes of television, including Hercules, Silk Stalkings, Police Academy: The Series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo and LA Heat. A guitar player himself, he has directed music videos for George Thorogood & The Destroyers; Jackson Brown; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Survivor as well as the award-winning Turn It Up (2014), a celebration of the electric guitar. Radler’s passion project since quitting NYU grad school for film (some might say an obsession since first setting foot on the ship in 1975) has been an ongoing documentary series about the SS United States beginning with SS United States: Lady in Waiting (2008), SS United States: Made in America (2013) and the forthcoming Superliner: The Enduring Legacy of the SS United States, to be released in 2026.
MENTIONS:
Feeding America Drive: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/NYCombatSambo
Robert Radler IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0705675/?ref_=ttrv_fcr_1_1
Final fight between Simon (Dae Han) and Phillip Rhee (Tommy Lee): https://youtu.be/AYGvR8tWOBY?si=uVU-FZDr-qDPi0BM
Best of the Best bar fight: https://youtu.be/RI_1e8XMIeQ?si=M_nITbFC1fDIVBAy
Best of James Earl Jones in Best of the Bets: https://youtu.be/NXanR80AtQQ?si=lVxH0RiXjF3OdfgH
SS United States: Lady in Waiting (full film): https://youtu.be/9pNdyTKz_8g?si=aSlttblepcuQdH34
SS United States: Made in America (full film): https://www.ssusc.org/made-in-america
SS United States documentary to show ship's journey from Philly to sea floor:
https://www.phillyvoice.com/ss-united-states-documentary-2026/
Turn it Up (full documentary): https://youtu.be/AlE-2TISwBw?si=deGOTGDqa9oHN42K
Bads to the Bone Music Video: https://youtu.be/IyhJ69mD7xI?si=h_FQ-Wz_BlDnqDLz
Southern Cross Music Video: https://youtu.be/Bw9gLjEGJrw?si=XTo8ddVK3OVv54DE
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