The Karate Kid (1984-1994 / 2010)
THE KARATE KID (15)
D: John G. Avildsen
Columbia/Delphi (Jerry Weintraub)
US 1984
127 mins
Sports
W: Robert Mark Kamen
DP: James Crabe
Ed: Bud Smith & Walt Mulconery
Mus: Bill Conti
PD: William J. Cassidy
Ralph Macchio (Daniel), Noriyuki 'Pat'
Morita (Mr. Miyagi), Elisabeth Shue (Ali), Martin Kove (Kreese), Randee Heller (Lucille), William Zabka (Johnny), Ron Thomas (Bobby), Rob Garrison (Tommy), Chad McQueen
(Dutch)
A perfect example of a guilty pleasure movie from the
director of Rocky (qv), utilising the same formula of an underdog aiming for personal glory.
Ralph Macchio plays Daniel, the new kid in a small
town who becomes the target of bullies at his new school. He chooses to join the local karate school, but those same bullies are already members, so Daniel gets help from the most
unlikely of people, a timid Japanese gardener, Mr. Miyagi (Morita), who uses unconventional methods to teach the martial art form and prepares Daniel to compete with the school bullies at
the upcoming championships.
It's pure cheese, but had a lasting legacy which
produced two sequels as well as a 21st century remake, as well as inspiring children everywhere to take up the sport.
"Wax on, wax off" became one of the classic sound
bites of the 1980's.
7/10
THE KARATE KID part II (15)
D: John G. Avildsen
Columbia/Delphi (Jerry Weintraub)
US 1986
113 mins
Sports
W: Robert Mark Kamen
DP: James Crabe
Ed: David Garfield, Jane Kurson & John G.
Avildsen
Mus: Bill Conti
PD: William J. Cassidy
Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita
(Mr. Miyagi), Nobu McCarthy (Yukie), Tamlyn Tomita (Kumiko)
Cash-in sequel to the 1984 box office smash, taking Daniel and
his teacher Mr. Miyagi East to Okinawa, Japan where the latter's father is terminally ill and there are old scores to settle (with violence).
While the first film was cheesy fun, this is simply tedious.
Peter Cetera's end title song ("Glory Of Love") is the only thing really worth watching the movie for, and you have to suffer for approximately 110 minutes to get it.
4/10
THE KARATE KID part III (15)
D: John G. Avildsen
Columbia (Jerry Weintraub)
US 1989
112 mins
Sports
W: Robert Mark Kamen
DP: Stephen Yaconelli
Ed: John Carter & John G. Avildsen
Mus: Bill Conti
Ralph Macchio (Daniel LaRusso), Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita
(Mr. Miyagi), Robyn Lively (Jessica Andrews), Thomas Ian Griffith (Terry Silver), Martin L. Kove (John Creese), Sean Kanan (Mike Barnes), Jonathan Avildsen (Snake)
Even less entertaining than part II, which in itself was a
blatant cash-in, this third part to the series of films recycles the same plot from the original movie, as the owner of the dojo whose students were beaten at the championships in the 1984 film
seeks his revenge. Mr. Miyagi is clearly fed up in this one (aren't we all), refusing to train Daniel who begins to use a different trainer, unaware that he's a friend of the bad guy and plans to
double-cross him.
This poor carbon copy expect the audience to care more about
Bonsai trees than about human interest (of which there is very little).
3/10
THE NEXT KARATE KID (PG)
D: Christopher Cain
Columbia (Jerry Weintraub)
US 1994
104 mins
Sports
W: Mark Lee [based on characters created by Robert Mark
Kamen]
DP: Laszlo Kovacs
Ed: Ronald Roose
Mus: Bill Conti
Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita (Mr. Miyagi), Hilary Swank (Julie
Pierce), Michael Ironside (Col. Paul Dugan), Constance Towers (Louisa Pierce), Chris Conrad (Eric McGowen)
The formula from the original trilogy gets a gender switch
as Mr. Miyagi teaches a bullied schoolgirl how to be a karate ace so she can gain some self respect following the death of her parents. It's practically a retread of the first movie, and
although it has the best intentions, the formula is feeling very tired at this point.
Hilary Swank delivers a performance that put her on the
showbiz map but Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita looks tired of playing the same character yet again.
5/10
THE KARATE KID (PG)
D: Harold Zwart
Columbia/Overbrook (Jerry Weintraub, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett
Smith, James Lassiter & Ken Stovitz)
US/China 2010
140 mins
Sports
W: Christopher Murphey [based on a screenplay by Robert Mark
Kamen]
DP: Roger Pratt
Ed: Joel Negron
Mus: James Horner
Jaden Smith (Dre Parker), Jackie Chan (Mr. Han), Zhenwai Wang
(Cheng), Taraji P. Henson (Sherry Parker), Wenwen Han (Meiying)
Updating the 1984 film for a new generation, this version
isn't atrociously bad, although it really should've been called The Kung Fu Kid, since that's the principal martial art that it centres around.
The bare bones from the original lay in place, but with the
action relocated to China, it brings a bit of oriental culture into the plot as a replacement for the small town America from the Ralph Macchio version, and the cheesy 80's soundtrack is replaced
with teeny-bopper rubbish.
With Will Smith & his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, attached
as producers, this does have a nepotistic stink about it and Little Jaden Smith has very little acting capability and even less charisma.
Just like the original version, it's down to the Mr. Miyagi
character (played by Jackie Chan and renamed Mr. Han) to save the day.
5/10
