The Karate Kid

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The Karate Kid
Directed by	John G. Avildsen
Produced by	Jerry Weintraub R.J. Louis (executive producer) Bud S. Smith (associate producer)
Written by	Robert Mark Kamen
Starring	Ralph Macchio Noriyuki "Pat" Morita Elisabeth Shue Martin Kove William Zabka
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	June 22nd, 1984
Running time	127 min.
Language	English
Followed by	The Karate Kid, Part II
IMDb profile

The Karate Kid is a 1984 John G. Avildsen film starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. It is a youth-oriented karate movie and an "underdog" story much in the model of a previous Avildsen smash, the 1976 boxing picture Rocky. It was a massive commercial hit and retains a popular following to this day. It also garnered a favorable critical reception, even earning Pat Morita an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Impact 3 Quotes 4 Music 5 Sequels 6 Trivia 7 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The Karate Kid is about teenager Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), who moves with his mother from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, California, in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. The handyman of their apartment building is a kindly and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi (Morita).

The last night of summer, Daniel and his new friends are at the beach, where Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) catches his eye. Her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and his friends pull up on motorbikes, Johnny and Ali begin arguing, and Ali turns up her radio. Angered, Johnny throws it on the ground. Daniel moves to pick it up, and ignores Johnny's warning not to get involved. They fight. They both have taken lessons in Karate; however, Daniel is totally outmatched by the much bigger and well trained Johnny. Unwittingly, Daniel has made an enemy of one of Cobra Kai karate dojo's best students. The dojo teaches a sadistic, macho form of martial arts, fueled by the credo "Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy".

Johnny and his cronies torment Daniel at every opportunity, even destroying his bicycle. When Daniel retaliates with a prank at a Halloween dance (where Johnny is seen rolling and lighting a marijuana cigarette), he is pursued by Johnny and his friends, who proceed to beat him until he can barely stand. Mr. Miyagi rescues Daniel in a surprising display of karate (stunt work by Fumio Demura). Impressed, Daniel persuades Mr. Miyagi to be his teacher (sensei).

Miyagi and Daniel go to confront the sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo to stop the harassment. However, the sensei, John Kreese (Martin Kove), is a vicious fighter (later revealed in the sequels to be a Vietnam veteran) who regularly sneers at the concepts of mercy and restraint. To settle the matter, Miyagi announces Daniel will enter the All Valley Karate Tournament, where Cobra Kai students can fight Daniel on equal terms (much to Daniel's surprise and chagrin). Miyagi also requests that the bullying stop while the boy trains. Kreese orders his students to leave Daniel alone, but threatens that if he does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will resume and Miyagi himself will be targeted as well.

Mr. Miyagi becomes Daniel's teacher and slowly, a surrogate father figure. Daniel is, at first, impatient and sometimes puzzled by Mr. Miyagi's unorthodox teaching methods and behavior. For instance, Miyagi initially has Daniel spend the day doing laborious chores (most famously waxing his many cars) which he insists must be done with specific hand and arm movements ("Wax on, wax off"). Eventually, Daniel becomes fed up and confronts Miyagi. Miyagi shows him that in doing those chores with those particular movements, Daniel has, in fact, been unknowingly learning defensive blocks, the vital first step in karate training. As the training continues, Miyagi instructs Daniel in various techniques, including the famous arms-spread-like-wings, one-legged-kick-to-the-chin called the Crane Kick. As the story and the training move on, Daniel learns not only karate, but also about life, and the role of such values as balance. This reflects the belief that martial arts training is about training the spirit as much as the body.

At the tournament, Daniel surprises everybody (including Miyagi and himself) by making it to the semifinals. Kreese, taking no chances, instructs another of his students, Daniel's semifinal opponent, to perform an illegal attack to the knee that injures Daniel, seemingly to the point of forcing him out of the competition. Although Miyagi assures Daniel he has already proved himself, Daniel, feeling that if he doesn't continue that his tormenters will have gotten the best of him, persuades his sensei to use a special pain suppression technique to allow him to meet Johnny in the final bout.

Just as Johnny was about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel steps into the ring. The resulting match is brutal, with Daniel and Johnny each scoring points, while Kreese orders his student to fight without mercy or scruples. In the final scene, each contestant is one point away from victory. Daniel, barely able to stand, assumes the Crane Technique stance, with Miyagi's approval, and kicks Johnny perfectly in the face. At the end of the movie, Johnny presents the trophy to the triumphant Daniel respectfully, while Miyagi looks on proudly.

[edit] Impact

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 spin-off series aired on NBC in 1989. It 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 vitalized 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 once called his nomination "the 1984 equivalent of Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell being nominated for an Oscar in 2005". ^[1] Morita made several other movies including the three sequels; additionally, it launched the career of Elisabeth Shue. It has also been credited with 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.

[edit] Quotes

• "I want to see your baby browns." (Ms. Larusso)

• "To make honey, young bee need young flower, not old prune." (Miyagi)

• "Always look eye." (Miyagi)

• "Must be take a worm for a walk week!" (Tommy)

• "Daniel-san all wet behind ear!" (Miyagi)

• "First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature rule, Daniel-san, not mine." (Miyagi)

• "Karate for defense only." (Miyagi)

• "No such thing a bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do." (Miyagi)

• "Man walk on road. Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk down middle, sooner or later, get squished just like grape. Same here. You karate do yes, or karate do no. You karate do "guess so", [makes squishing noise] just like grape. Understand?" (Miyagi)

• "Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?" (Kreese)

• "Wax on, wax off." (Miyagi)

• "Show me, paint fence." (Miyagi)

• "Show me, sand floor." (Miyagi)

• "Mercy is for the weak!" (Kreese)

• "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy sir!" (Cobra Kai)

• "You stay focus!" (Miyagi)

• "Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything" (Miyagi)

• "Get him a body bag, yeeaahh!" (Tommy)

• "Sweep the leg." (Kreese)

• "Hey Johnny, you're a creampuff!" (Random Person)

• "First time you, first time me." (Miyagi)

• "Banzai!" (Miyagi and Daniel)

• "Paint the Fence" (Miyagi)

[edit] Music

The soundtracks to the Karate Kid series enjoy somewhat of a cult following, where original recordings on CD can cost $40-$120. They were written by Bill Conti and orchestrated by Jack Eskew. 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 1983 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 soundtrack album as well, including "The Ride" which was performed by the Matches. Other than its in-film appearance during the beach scene when the Cobra Kai arrive by motorbike, it has never been released on any known albums.

[edit] Sequels

• The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
• The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)
• The Next Karate Kid (1994) - launched the career of actress Hilary Swank, who played Mr. Miyagi's new female student, Julie Pierce.

[edit] Trivia

• Since the film was to be called The Karate Kid, Columbia Pictures had to get permission from DC Comics for usage of the name of the Legion of Super-Heroes comic book character Karate Kid. Although the film version did not resemble the original comics creation, DC did get acknowledgement during the end credits.
• Chicago based band Sweep the Leg Johnny takes their name from a line in this film.
• Because of his boyish looks, Ralph Macchio was able to convincingly play a high school student although he was actually 21 years old during the filming of The Karate Kid. However, at 28, Macchio is less convincing playing a teen by The Karate Kid III that is only supposed to be one year older than in the original.
• The Karate Kid Part III is the only Macchio-led Karate Kid edition in which Daniel fails to keep his love interest through the movie's end. At the onset of The Karate Kid Part II and Part III, Daniel must explain the conspicuous absence of his girlfriend from the previous movie. Ali (Elisabeth Shue) wrecks Daniel's car at the prom and professes her love of a UCLA football player. Kumiko, whose cultural differences make her an even less likely longterm match for Larusso than Ali, more predictably finds a career opportunity in dance.
• The role of Sensei Kreese was originally written for Chuck Norris, who didn't want to portray such a violent and vicious character. When asked about the story on The Adam Carolla Show on February 9th, 2006, Norris insisted that he didn't turn down the role - he wasn't actually offered the role. Norris noted that he was already playing leading roles by the time the movie was in production.
• In Japan, The Karate Kid was retitled Best Kid (ベスト・キッド/Besuto kiddo).
• 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.
• David Schwimmer, famous for his role in Friends, makes a quick walk-on appearance as a student.
• In 1989 NBC created a cartoon spin-off series, also called "The Karate Kid". In it, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are traveling the world in order to recover a stolen pagoda-shaped talisman of power. It lasted only one season.
• The first script originally called for Daniel LaRusso to have spina bifida.
• William Zabka was not really a trained martial artist. He had, however, some experience in wrestling.
• The soundtrack album was released on Casablanca Records.
• The All-Valley Tournament scenes from KK1 and KK2 were filmed on location at California State University, Los Angeles.

[edit] External links

• The Karate Kid at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Simmons covers the Karate Kid Trilogy
• Filming Location
• Karate Kid Fan Documentary

The Karate Kid part of The Karate Kid Series
The Karate Kid | The Karate Kid, Part II | The Karate Kid, Part III | The Next Karate Kid