The Karate Kid

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The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid movie poster
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
Randee Heller
Music by Bill Conti
Cinematography James Crabe
Editing by John G. Avildsen
Walt Mulconery
Bud S. Smith
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) Flag of United States June 22nd, 1984
Running time 127 min.
Country USA
Language English
Gross revenue $90,815,558 [1]
Followed by The Karate Kid, Part II
All Movie Guide profile
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

[edit] Tagline

  • He taught him the secret to karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves with his mother (Randee Heller) from Parsippany, New Jersey to Reseda, California. The handyman of their apartment building is a kindly and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi (Pat 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 begin causing trouble with Ali. Daniel attempts to intervene, and ultimately gets into a fight with Johnny. Although he knows some karate, Daniel is totally outmatched by the much bigger and more well trained Johnny.

Unwittingly, Daniel has made an enemy of Cobra Kai karate dojo's best student, Johnny. The Cobra Kai 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. When Daniel retaliates with a prank at a Halloween dance he is pursued by Johnny and four of his Cobra Kai friends (dressed in skeleton costumes), who proceed to beat him until he can barely stand. Mr. Miyagi appears out of nowhere and rescues Daniel by defeating all five Cobra Kai students in a surprising display of karate. Impressed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to be his teacher (sensei). Mr. Miyagi initially refuses, but then realizes that his intervention will result in Johnny and his friends taking further revenge on Daniel. He agrees to go with Daniel to the Cobra Kai dojo to see if they can resolve the conflict.

Mr. Miyagi and Daniel confront the sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo, John Kreese (Martin Kove), to stop the harassment. However, Kreese is a vicious fighter who regularly sneers at the concepts of mercy and restraint. Mr. Miyagi announces that Daniel will enter the “All Valley Karate Tournament”, 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 he 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. Mr. Miyagi begins Daniel's training by having him perform laborious chores such as waxing his many cars, sanding his deck, and painting his fence. Eventually, Daniel becomes fed up, and confronts Miyagi about his unorthodox teaching methods. Mr. Miyagi reveals that Daniel has unknowingly been learning defensive blocks, through the various arm movements learned doing the chores.

As the training continues Mr. Miyagi demonstrates a form of pain suppression technique on Daniel when he gets sore from the ferocious exercises of training. Mr. Miyagi also instructs Daniel in various techniques, including the famous arms-spread-like-wings, one-legged-kick known as the "Crane Kick." Through the teaching, Daniel learns not only karate, but also imporant life lessons, such as the importance of balance. This is reflected by the belief that martial art training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel also applies the life lessons that Mr. Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali.

At the tournament, Daniel surprises everybody by making it to the semifinals. Kreese instructs Daniel's semifinal opponent (Cobra Kai student Bobby), to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. With Daniel injured and unable to continue, Mr. Miyagi assures him he has already proven himself. However, Daniel feels that if he does not continue that his tormenters will have gotten the best of him. Daniel persuades Mr. Miyagi to use the special pain suppression technique to allow him to finish the tournament. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel steps into the ring. Kreese orders his student to fight without mercy, famously telling Johnny to "Sweep the leg".

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 kick squarely to Johnny’s chin to win the tournament. Johnny respectfully presents the trophy to the triumphant Daniel telling him, "You're all right, LaRusso," while Mr. Miyagi looks on proudly.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

It has been reported that Chuck Norris 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. There 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.

[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 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 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". [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.

[edit] 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; "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, "The Ride" has never been released on any known albums.

The instrumental scores for all four Karate Kid films were composed by Bill Conti and orchestraed by Jack Eskew. On March 12, 2007, Varèse Sarabande released all four Karate Kid scores in a 4-CD box set limited to 2,500 copies worldwide[4]. This was the first official release of the original recordings - before, bootleg CDs would sell for $40-$120.

[edit] Track Listing for 1984 Soundtrack

  1. Moment of Truth (Survivor)
  2. (Bop Bop) On the Beach (The Flirts, Jan & Dean)
  3. No Shelter (Broken Edge)
  4. Young Hearts (Commuter)
  5. (It Takes) Two to Tango (Paul Davis)
  6. Tough Love (Shandi)
  7. Rhythm Man (St. Regis)
  8. Feel the Night (Baxter Robertson)
  9. Desire (Gang of Four)
  10. You're the Best (Joe Esposito)

[edit] Track Listing for 2007 Varèse Sarabande Score

  1. Main Title - 3:30
  2. Fite Nite - 2:01
  3. Bumpy Ride - 1:37
  4. Dan Ducks Out - 0:55
  5. Bonsai Tree - 0:43
  6. Decorate the Gym - 0:39
  7. Miyagi Rattles Bones - 2:21
  8. Miyagi Intercedes - 1:28
  9. On to Miyagi's - 1:33
  10. The Pact - 2:12
  11. Feel the Night - 1:56
  12. Troubled Lovers - 0:33
  13. Japanese Sander - 1:26
  14. Paint the Fence - 3:11
  15. Daniel Sees the Bird - 2:38
  16. Fish & Train - 2:28
  17. Training Hard - 2:29
  18. The Kiss - 1:02
  19. Japanese Hand Clap - 0:40
  20. No Mercy - 0:23
  21. Daniel's Moment of Truth - 1:52

[edit] Sequels

[edit] Awards

[edit] References in popular culture

  • Perhaps the largest impact of the film was the introduction of the phrase "Wax on, wax off" into popular culture, often accompanied by a circular motion of each hand, a representation of the initial lesson taught by Miyagi.
  • Chicago based band Sweep the Leg Johnny takes their name from a line in this film.
  • Welsh rock band Lostprophets have a song named "Kobrakai", which was named in honor to the Cobra Kai dojo in the movie. The song is available on the band's 2001 debut album thefakesoundofprogress.
  • The Mortal Kombat character Kobra is a reference to the Cobra Kai dojo, right down to his karate uniform.
  • LA-based band No More Kings released their single named "Sweep the Leg, Johnny"[1] after the famous line for 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.
  • The rock band Alli With An I took their name from a quote during the soccer tryout scene.[5]

[edit] Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
  • 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.
  • In Japan, The Karate Kid was retitled Best Kid (ベスト・キッド/Besuto kiddo).
  • David Schwimmer, famous for his role in Friends, makes a quick walk-on appearance as a student.
  • The first script originally called for Daniel LaRusso to have spina bifida.
  • William Zabka was not really a trained karate master. He had, however, some experience in wrestling.
  • The All-Valley Tournament scenes were filmed on location at California State University, Northridge.
  • During the middle to late 1980s B-movie boom in South Africa, a virtual copy of this movie was made and released, entitled Umfana We Karate, featuring a neighbourhood nerd who keeps getting punched around until a video game inspires him to stand tall and face the bullies.
  • In an earlier version of the script, Bobby walks to Kreese after disabling Daniel, and removes his Cobra Kai sash and drops it to the floor, quitting the Cobras.
  • The Halloween costume worn by Donnie in Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko is the same skeleton costume worn by Johnny during the Halloween dance.
  • The band Incubus made fun of The Karate Kid in their song, "Calgone at 14:01," by using quotes from the movie.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Karate Kid. www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
  2. ^ Chuck Norris. www.completemartialarts.com. Retrieved on March 15, 2007.
  3. ^ http://espn.go.com/page2/movies/s/simmons/020830.html
  4. ^ The Karate Kid. www.varesesarabande.com. Retrieved on March 15, 2007.
  5. ^ Michael from Alli With An I. www.pluginmusic.com. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:


The Karate Kid series
The Karate Kid | The Karate Kid, Part II | The Karate Kid, Part III | The Next Karate Kid
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