The Karate Kid is a 1984 film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen, starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and Elisabeth Shue. It is a martial arts film and an underdog story in the mold of a previous Avildsen success, the 1976 boxing film Rocky. It was a commercial success upon first release, and has retained its popular following. It also received favorable critical attention, earning Pat Morita an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Plot
Teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves with his mother (Randee Heller) from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. The family is in search of a new beginning, after the death of Daniel's father. Their new apartment's handyman is an eccentric but kindly and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita).
Daniel meets a potential girlfriend, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), but while doing so, earns the enmity of her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), a karate student. Johnny is the best student at the Cobra Kai karate dojo, where he is taught an unethical, vicious form of martial arts. Daniel knows some karate from books and the YMCA in New Jersey, but is the target of repeated severe beatings from the much more experienced Johnny and his friends.
When Mr. Miyagi witnesses one of the beatings, he intervenes and, in a surprising display of karate skill, defeats all 5 Cobra Kai with ease. Awed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to be his teacher. Mr. Miyagi initially refuses, but agrees to go with Daniel to the Cobra Kai dojo to see if they can resolve the conflict. They confront the sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo, John Kreese (Martin Kove), to stop the harassment. However, Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam Veteran, sneers at the concepts of mercy and restraint. Kreese suggests a new match between Johnny and Daniel, which Miyagi deflects by announcing that the match should take place in two months' time at the “All Valley Karate Tournamentâ€, where Cobra Kai students can fight Daniel on equal terms. Mr. Miyagi also requests that the bullying stop while the boy trains. Kreese orders his students to leave Daniel alone, but threatens that if Daniel does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will resume and Miyagi will also become a target.
Mr. Miyagi becomes Daniel's teacher and, slowly, a surrogate father figure. He begins Daniel's training by having him perform laborious chores such as waxing many cars, sanding a wooden floor, and painting a fence. Each chore is accompanied with a specific movement, such as clockwise/counter-clockwise hand motions, "Wax on, wax off". Eventually, Daniel becomes frustrated, believing that he has learned nothing of karate, whereupon Mr. Miyagi reveals that Daniel has unknowingly been learning defensive blocks, through muscle memory learned by doing the chores.
Daniel then learns that Mr. Miyagi lost his wife and son in childbirth at Manzanar internment camp while he was serving overseas with the U.S. Army during World War II. The loss of his family and Daniel's loss of his father further strengthens the father-son surrogacy. Daniel also discovers that the outwardly peaceful and serene Mr. Miyagi was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for heroism against German forces in Europe, presumably while serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment.
Through the teaching, Daniel learns not only karate, but also important life lessons, such as the importance of balance, reflected by the belief that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel applies the life lessons that Mr. Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali.
At the tournament, Daniel surprises everyone by reaching the semifinals. Kreese instructs Bobby Brown, one of his more compassionate students and the lesser of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, initially successful with Kreese's intended goal. With Daniel injured and unable to continue, Mr. Miyagi assures him he has already proven himself. Despondent, Daniel believes that if he does not continue, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him. He therefore persuades Mr. Miyagi to use his special pain suppression technique to allow him to finish the tournament. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel hobbles into the ring, much to Kreese's amazement and fury.
Kreese directs Johnny to repeat unethical moves to achieve victory, including the maneuver followed by Kreese's famous order to "sweep the leg". Despite the moves, and how many times that Daniel is knocked down, he gets up again each time.
In the final scene, Daniel and Johnny are tied, both one point away from victory. Daniel, barely able to stand, assumes the "Crane Kick" stance, and delivers a blow squarely to Johnny's chin, winning the tournament. Johnny, having gained newfound respect for his adversary, takes Daniel's trophy from the emcee and presents it to Daniel himself.
Cast
- Daniel LaRusso: Ralph Macchio
- Mr. Kesuke Miyagi: Pat Morita
- Ali Mills: Elisabeth Shue
- John Kreese: Martin Kove
- Lucille LaRusso: Randee Heller
- Johnny Lawrence: William Zabka
Chuck Norris purportedly turned down the role of John Kreese because he did not want to portray a character that reinforced a negative stereotype of martial arts. However, Norris disputed this story during a February 9, 2006 appearance on The Adam Carolla Show. Norris insisted that he was not offered the role, and that he was already acting in leading roles at that time anyway.[2] Additionally, according to the special edition DVD commentary, the studio originally wanted the role of Mr. Miyagi to be played by Toshiro Mifune, but writer Robert Mark Kamen was opposed to that casting choice. Mako was also considered for the role of Mr. Miyagi, but was not available due to prior commitments to film the Conan sequel, Conan the Destroyer.
Reception
The Karate Kid spawned an entire franchise of related items and memorabilia, such as action figures, head bands, posters, T-shirts, a video game, etc. A short-lived animated series spin-off aired on NBC in 1989. The film also had three sequels, and it launched the career of Macchio, who would turn into a teen idol featured on the covers of magazines such as Tiger Beat. It revitalized the acting career of Morita, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance as Mr. Miyagi; he had previously been best known from his role on Happy Days as Arnold, the owner of the local hamburger hangout. ESPN's Bill Simmons called Morita's nomination "the 1984 equivalent of Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell being nominated for an Oscar in 2005". [3] Morita made several other movies including the three sequels, one of which would help launch the career of two time Oscar winner Hilary Swank; additionally, it launched the career of Elisabeth Shue. It has also been credited for both advancing the art of bonsai and for renewing youth interest in martial arts, with an emphasis on personal discipline rather than the often gratuitous and cinematic violence for which martial arts films are known. The characters of Daniel and his mother are also noteworthy as positive media portrayals of Italian Americans.
This movie ranked number 31 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies. The film retains an 88% freshness at Rotten Tomatoes.
Sequels
- The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
- The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
- The Next Karate Kid (1994) - Hilary Swank takes over as Mr. Miyagi's new student, Julie Pierce.
Awards
- Academy Awards
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Pat Morita)
- Golden Globe Awards
- Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Pat Morita)
- Young Artist Awards
- Won: Best Family Motion Picture — Drama
- Won: Best Young Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama (Elisabeth Shue)
- Nominated: Best Young Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Musical, Comedy, Adventure or Drama (William Zabka)
- AFI 100 Years... series
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers (100 Most Inspiring Movies) - #98
References in popular culture
- In the Disney movie Hercules, Hercules is depicted doing the crane kick from the beach scene during his training to become a hero.
- In the episode "The Fight" of the US version of The Office, Kevin says "Sweep the leg," while Michael and Dwight spar.
- LA-based band No More Kings released their single named "Sweep the Leg, Johnny"[4] after the line from the movie. The video for the song, written and directed by William Zabka, features a reunion of most of the original Karate Kid cast including Macchio, Zabka & Kove.
- In the Disney Channel original series The Proud Family, there is a clear reference to The Karate Kid when Penny Proud becomes a student of karate and is forced to perform laborious tasks such as waxing cars and painting and in the end learns proper blocks and attacks.
- In the Kevin Smith movie Dogma, when God is about to revive Bethany from the dead, Metatron comments "wax on, wax off" as God claps her hands together in a similar manner to how Mr. Miyagi did when he was about to heal Daniel's knee.
- In the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Michaelangelo jokingly quotes, "wax on, wax off."
- Britney Spears refers to The Karate Kid at the end of MTV's 2008 documentary Britney: For the Record. She says that she "[goes] through life like a Karate Kid."
- In the movie, Eurotrip the main character, Scott Thompson, gets in a fight with a robot street performer. While fighting, their friend Cooper tells Scott to, "Sweep the leg! Sweep the leg!" in reference to the final fight scene of The Karate Kid.
- On a 2008 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, which aired during the writer's strike, Jon Stewart threatens Conan with the crane kick.
- In the 2005 Movie Green Street Pete tells the rest of the GSE that Matt played Daniel in the film.
- On an episode of Medabots, when Ikki and his friends meet the doctor for first time, he tells them to clean the house. Then Ikki asks "Are you teaching us some special techniques while we clean this house?" "No. This house is very dirty."
- In an episode of Code Monkeys, when Dave trains to become an underground food eating champion, he is forced to eat wax, paint, and sawdust by a master similar to Mr. Myagi.
- In the fourth season episode of How I Met Your Mother called "The Stinsons", Barney states that he rooted for the "blonde guy" in favor of Daniel. Barney claims that the "blonde guy" is the true Karate Kid whom the movie is about.
- In a episode of the NBC show Chuck titled "Chuck Versus The Leathal Weapon", Agent Barker claims that taking out 9 men isn't hard, you just have to go for the knee. Chuck asks, "You mean like sweep the leg?"
- In the music video for "Move" by hip-hop artist John Reuben, John's cheer leading coach holds a sign that says "Sweep the leg, Johnny!"
- In the Taekwondo episode of 'Human Weapon', Jason Chambers, after twisting his leg during an attempt to perform a tornado kick, jokingly assumes the crane stance, when facing his opponent.
- The Bat for Lashes song "Daniel" is in reference to Daniel LaRusso. In the music video, a Daniel lookalike appears in the ending scene.
- In the show "American Dad" in an episode where stan coaches a football team and tells one of his players to sweep the leg and asks him if he has a problem with that, to which the player replies no sensei. This was the exact conversation between Johnny and Kreese during the tournament.
Music
The original soundtrack album (containing songs from the movie) was released on Casablanca Records. Of particular note is Joe Esposito's "You're the Best," featured during the tournament montage near the end of the first film. Bananarama's 1984 hit song "Cruel Summer" also made its first U.S. appearance in the movie; however, it was excluded from the film's soundtrack album. Other songs featured in the film were left off the original soundtrack album as well, including "Please Answer Me," performed by Broken Edge, and "The Ride" performed by The Matches. Other than its in-film appearance during the beach scene when the Cobra Kai arrive by motorbike, "The Ride" has never been released on any album, but will be available on iTunes, Amazon.com and Rhapsody in April 2009 for the film's 25th Anniversary.
The instrumental scores for all four Karate Kid films were composed by Bill Conti, orchestrated by Jack Eskew, and featured pan flute solos by Gheorge Zamfir. On March 12, 2007, Varèse Sarabande released all four Karate Kid scores in a 4-CD box set limited to 2,500 copies worldwide[5]. This was the first official release of the original recordings — before, bootleg CDs would sell for $40–$120.
Track listing for 1984 soundtrack
- "Moment of Truth" (Survivor)
- "(Bop Bop) On the Beach" (The Flirts, Jan & Dean)
- "No Shelter" (Broken Edge)
- "Young Hearts" (Commuter)
- "(It Takes) Two to Tango" (Paul Davis)
- "Tough Love" (Shandi)
- "Rhythm Man" (St. Regis)
- "Feel the Night" (Baxter Robertson)
- "Desire" (Gang of Four)
- "You're the Best" (Joe Esposito)
Track listing for 2007 Varèse Sarabande score
- "Main Title" - 3:30
- "Fight Nite" - 2:01
- "A Bumpy Ride" - 1:37
- "Dan Ducks Out" - 0:55
- "Bonsai Tree" - 0:43
- "Decorate the Gym" - 0:39
- "Miyagi Rattles Bones" - 2:21
- "Miyagi Intercedes" - 1:28
- "On to Miyagi's" - 1:33
- "The Pact" - 2:12
- "Feel the Night" - 1:56
- "Troubled Lovers" - 0:33
- "Japanese Sander" - 1:26
- "Paint the Fence" - 3:11
- "Daniel Sees the Bird" - 2:38
- "Fish & Train'" - 2:28
- "Training Hard" - 2:29
- "The Kiss" - 1:02
- "Japanese Hand Clap" - 0:40
- "No Mercy" - 0:23
- "Daniel's Moment of Truth" - 1:52
Upcoming Film
On November 10, 2008, Variety reported that work on a Karate Kid remake had begun. It is to be renamed The Kung Fu Kid.[6] Variety states that the new film "has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith" and that it "will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor."[7] On January 13, 2009, Variety announced that Jackie Chan is in final negotiations to join the film, with Harald Zwart directing.[8]
Macchio spoke out about the film stating that he feels the film will be a flop and no one can replace Pat Morita.[9]
Hide
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Time to wax lyrical?
Again, it's really pretty pointless to review a movie like this one, a
tyler-and-jack from Edinburgh. - 22 June 2009kind of Teflon-coated, nostalgia-tinged keepsake for my generation who
spent their formative years dancing to the likes of Bananarama and
trying to stop their own parents from forcing them to wear denim jeans
bought from What Everyone Wants.Daniel (Ralph Macchio) is the new kid in town and soon runs into some
local bullies, one of whom used to go out with the girl he now really
likes (played by the ever-charming Elisabeth Shue). After one run-in to
many, Daniel is bruised and beaten and ready to pack it all in until a
pep talk with his calm, interesting new neighbour, Mr Miyagi (played to
perfection by 'Pat' Morita). Mr Miyagi agrees to teach him karate and
gets the bullies off his back by agreeing that Daniel will enter a
karate tournament against them in two months. And so the training
begins although Daniel isn't so easily convinced that waxing cars,
sanding wood and painting fences and houses is going to teach him the
ways of the "empty hand". Will he learn the moves? Will he emerge from
the tournament victorious? Are there still any people out there who
have never seen this film? It's cheesy, it's ridiculous and it's a
great deal of fun. Macchio is enormously likable in the lead role, mixing just the right
amount of vulnerability with a smart-ass nous. Shue is an appealing
love interest. The bad lads who look like they've just stepped out of
the Third Reich for a Pepsi break are suitably . . . . . Aryan and
nasty. Then we have Morita, as Mr Miyagi, effectively stealing the
entire movie and delivering lines that still make for great shorthand
in any modern conversation. Who HASN'T used the "wax on, wax off"
moment to illustrate some tedious task to a colleague/friend? I know
that I'm guilty of it yet I also remain unashamed thanks to this movie
and the impact it made on so many. Simple, unpretentious fun.See this if you like: Rocky, No Retreat No Surrender, Double Dragon.
I say he kind of deserved the beating he got after the dance.
This movie would be the first of four movies and is by far the top one
Aaron1375 from Alabama - 14 March 2009of the bunch. This movie would have a couple of groan moments, but not
as bad as two and three, never saw four all the way through, but from
what I have seen the entire movie is a groan. This movie has a new kid
moving into a new place and seemingly making new friends right away. He
gets invited to a beach party and there is a cute girl taking a shine
to him. Wow, it can not get better than this? Well the girl has a jerk
ex-boyfriend that crashes said party and proceeds to use his karate to
beat up the new kid. Granted the girl feels for him, but the guys at
the party seem to look down on him. Well this sets some stuff in motion
where he becomes friends with the complex he and his mom are living in
maintenance man who helps make him a disguise where he is able to go to
a dance and be with the girl and instead of living well enough alone he
proceeds to do something to the guy who beat him, that makes said guy
want to beat him up again. Well the maintenance guy turns out to be a
rather good karate teacher and thus the teacher pupil relationship is
born and the kid even is able to build a relationship with the cute
girl. Good movie for the most part as it has some drama, action and
comedy to keep a person entertained. Much more so than any of the
sequels, I prefer to think of this movie as stand alone. The tournament
at the end is okay, but a bit much in places.
Wax on, Wax off, Wax on, Wax off…Can't forget that line.
I'm Gonna go ahead and say That The Karate kid should be in the Top 250
The_Light_Triton (Black_triton14@hotmail.com) from In a Chair in my room - 1 February 2009of the IMDb, because not only is it a good family movie, there is a
moral inside of it that today is quite easy to emulate but is rarely
done as well as John. G. Avildsen has done in this film. What is this
moral? Being a father. While Daniel Larusso might not have a father,
Mr. miyagi becomes the father he never had, and "daniel-san" as Mr.
Miyagi calls him, is the son he never had. they bond in that way and
it's something that should be done more often in movies.Daniel LaRusso (Played by Ralph Macchio) has left new jersey with his
mother to start a new life in the Run down part of what might be Los
Angeles, California. Once he is there, he encounters a cute girl
(played by Elizabeth Shue) But is quickly bested in a fight for her by
Johnny Lawrence, A Black-belt Karate student of one of the most brutal
karate teachers of all time (Played by Martin Kove, also known as
Ericson from Rambo: First blood part II) After Constant bullying by the
Cobra Kai (Johnny's Gang) Daniel turns to Mr. Miyagi (Played by Pat
Morita, who has since passed away) for help, and finds not only the
skills to earn Johnny's Respect, But a father in the form of an old
Okinawan Janitor.This movie defines Good. There is nary a bad thing in it. The
soundtrack is great. The fighting Sequences are pretty good, and it's
good to tune into AMC to catch this on a late Sunday night.10/10
One for the Movie Hall Of Fame
If they had a Movie HALL OF FAME this would be in it. A Great Movie. I
iconhulk from Kansas City - 19 December 2008remember it when I was a kid. Though born two years after its release,
I grew up around movies like crazy because of my dad. This movie is a
great mood setter. Its a great flick for family or someone that just
like good entertainment, with a great story and not watered down crap
like you see almost daily now-a-days. However I can't believe the news
I here about this re-make of 'THE KARATE KID'. I don't get how politics
go in Hollywood but how can they say their re-making a film a already
classic (I just don't and will not understand why You even mess with
the title 'The Karate Kid' with Will Smith(producer) and Son? (Don't'
get me wrong I love Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, ALI etc.) but pulling your
strings for your son to be in it and staring in it at that. Thats
messed up. What the _ are you doing? Please rename this film is all I
can ask… They've already done enough (and I've said it this about
"THE NEXT KARATE KID" ) Was a joke so I ask Leave it alone.
The 80's was the best era for movies, and this is proof.
I've always been a firm believer in use of the basics, balance and
Joel (Tenchi64589@aol.com) from Flower Mound, Texas - 7 August 2008standing up for yourself… this movie has these teachings and everyone
who feels the same way should watch this movie.For some reason, these "underdog story" kinds of films have always
withstood the test of time. I know that reason: people can learn
something from them… at least, those that follow deeper than what
they see on the screen.Not only can everyone learn from this movie, but part of what makes
this movie so memorable is the fact that it's very quotable, and you'd
be hard-pressed to find a movie from the 80's that you couldn't find a
single memorable quote from.I give this movie a solid 10 out of 10.
Pages: [32] 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 … 1 » Show All
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