The Karate Kid (film)
The Karate Kid is a 1984 John G. Avildsen film starring
Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. It is a martial arts 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.
Tagline
: He taught him the secret to karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands.
Cast
Ralph Macchio - Daniel Larusso
Pat Morita - Mr. Kesuke Miyagi (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
Elisabeth Shue - Ali Mills
Martin Kove - John Kreese
Randee Heller - Lucille Larusso
William Zabka - Johnny Lawrence
Ron Thomas - Bobby Brown
Rob Garrison
- Tommy
Chad McQueen - Dutch
Tony O'Dell - Jimmy
Israel Juarbe - Freddy Fernandez
William Bassett - Mr.
Mills
Larry B. Scott - Jerry
Juli Fields - Susan
Dana Andersen
- Barbara
Plot
Teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves with his mother (Randee Heller) from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, California, (San Fernando Valley), in search of a new beginning after the death of Daniel's father. 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 from school are at the beach, where a girl named Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) catches his attention. Her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), and his friends accost Ali. Daniel attempts to intervene and ultimately fights with Johnny. Although he knows some karate, learned at the YMCA in New Jersey and from books, Daniel is defeated by Johnny, who is better trained.
Unwittingly, Daniel has made an enemy of the Cobra Kai karate dojo's best student. The Cobra Kai dojo teaches an unethical, macho form of martial arts, fueled by the credo "Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy." Johnny and his cronies thereafter torment Daniel at every opportunity. When Daniel retaliates with a prank at a Halloween dance party, 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. Awed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to be his teacher, or sensei. Mr. Miyagi initially refuses, but later 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, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam Veteran, is a vicious fighter who sneers at the concepts of mercy and restraint, and has indoctrinated this philosophy into his students. 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. He begins Daniel's training by having him perform laborious chores such as waxing many cars, sanding a wooden floor, painting a fence, and painting the house encircled by the fence. 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.
It is revealed 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 Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism against German forces in Europe. A brief flashback by Mr. Miyagi implies that the decoration was for killing many Germans and details are not otherwise specified.
As the training continues, Mr. Miyagi demonstrates a form of pain suppression on Daniel when the latter becomes sore from the ferocious exercises of training. Mr. Miyagi also instructs Daniel in various techniques, including the famous "Crane Kick." Through the teaching, Daniel learns not only karate, but also important life lessons, such as the importance of balance. This is 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 everybody by remaining intact until the semifinals. Kreese instructs Daniel's semifinal opponent, (Cobra Kai student Bobby), to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby, one of the more compassionate Cobra Kai students, initially resists, claiming "I can beat this guy!", but Kreese insists that Bobby put Daniel "out of commission." Bobby reluctantly does so, and when Daniel falls, Bobby falls to his knees and frantically apologizes to Daniel before Miyagi pulls him off his student.
With Daniel injured and unable to continue, Mr. Miyagi assures him he has already proven himself. However, Daniel believes that if he does not continue, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him. He therefore 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. He manages a kick to Johnny's face, almost breaking his nose.
As Kreese examines Johnny nose during a timeout, he orders his student to fight without mercy, famously telling Johnny to "sweep the leg," targeting Daniel's previous injury. Johnny blanches at the order, knowing that he can win with such an unethical move, but wants to do so fairly in the ring. He reluctantly obeys Kreese and does what is ordered, knocking Daniel to the floor. Though in great pain, Daniel refuses to stay down.
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 acquires respect for Daniel as a result. With respect and without malice, Johnny takes the trophy from the emcee and presents it himself to his opponent.
"You're all right, LaRusso." Johnny says, as Miyagi looks on proudly.
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.
Sequels
The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)
The Karate Kid, Part III
(1989)
The Next Karate Kid (1994)
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.
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 Cobra Kai name is used for a well known Jiu-Jitsu gym in Las
Vegas, Nevada. The head coach is Marc Laimon, who was the grappling coach for
the first four seasons of the Ultimate Fighter. Laimon's original BJJ instructor
was Royce Gracie.
The "Crane kick" technique does not exist in any
form of Karate or Kung Fu. It was specifically invented by Darryl Vidal - one
of only three legitimate black belts on the cast or crew - for the film. Vidal
has stated that the Crane kick has "very little practical application".
Darryl Vidal can be seen in the movie as the semi-finalist in the All-Valley
Tournament who was defeated by Johnny. Vidal was also Pat Morita's stunt double
for the scene in which Mr. Miyagi is demonstrating the Crane technique standing
on the post on the beach.
Chuck Norris may not have been offered the role
of John Kreese, but he did help the producers find the real martial artists that
were used in the production (Vidal, Pat Johnson, who plays the All-Valley referee
and is the film's fight coordinator, and Ron "Bobby" Thomas).
Martin
Kove really had a problem with being a bully in the film, and teaching kids to
be bullies and cheat in competitive sports.
When Daniel moves to Reseda from
New Jersey, his apartment building is located on Saticoy St. and Tampa. And the
vacant field where he is being chased is right next to the apartment building.
Some of the scenes were shot at Golf N' Stuff in Norwalk, California.
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