The Karate Kid (1984)

I’m really excited for this month, because as I stated in my past few reviews, I have wanted to review this franchise for a “long” time. Now I finally got the opportunity, so I will let everyone know my thoughts on this series. Enough of all the build-up, let’s get started with one of my absolute favorite movies, “The Karate Kid,” released in 1984.

Anyone who hasn’t seen this movie knows the basic story. Daniel LaRusso (the great Ralph Macchio) moves with his mother (Randee Heller) from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, California. Daniel meets a very friendly girl named Ali, played by Elisabeth Shue, who is on his high school’s cheerleading squad, and they become friends. The only problem is that Ali has an aggressive ex-boyfriend named Johnny, played by William Zabka, who is one of the biggest jerks ever. When Daniel tries to defend Ali, he gets beat up by Johnny and his group of friends (Ron Thomas, Rob Garrison, race car driver Chad McQueen and Tony O’Dell). What Daniel doesn’t know is that Johnny and his friends are a part of the Cobra Kai Karate Dojo, where they are taught by ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran John Kreese, played by Martin Kove, to use karate as a weapon. Daniel tries to fight back, but that only makes matters worse for him. They abuse their karate against Daniel at any possible chance they get, until Daniel is saved by the handyman at his apartment complex, Mr. Miyagi, played by the late Pat Morita. Daniel convinces Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate, and signs Daniel up for a karate tournament, where he fights the Cobra Kai and earns their self-respect. That’s the basic jest of it, but there are other parts where I won’t spoil.

To start off, we have to talk about the characters. Ralph Macchio plays Daniel LaRusso as a role that he has forever been famous for. Macchio is very believable in this role. Daniel is an unstable youth and has some issues, which is understandable because all high school students are like that since they are trying to find out what kind of a person they really are. He’s normally a nice kid, except when he is pushed too far. He makes some bad choices, since he doesn’t know what to do, where he perpetually gets himself into more trouble than he was expecting. Again, this is understandable because think back to your teenage years and the daring moves you made back than. Your teenage years are all about finding out what kind of a person you are, and that is clearly evident in Daniel. He is one of the most relatable characters in film history. However, once he becomes friends with Mr. Miyagi, he learns how to gain control over his life and they grow close to one another. You could compare Daniel to Rocky Balboa, since they are both Italian and have similar personalities.

Pat Morita will always be remembered as Mr. Miyagi, the classic mentor of this movie. The difference between Miyagi to Rocky’s trainer, Mickey, is Mickey is completely broken and his days of boxing have been up for years. However, we actually get to see Mr. Miyagi fight on a number of occasions and he beats up anyone who tries to harm Daniel. As I stated in my Rocky review, Mickey was grouchy and bitter, but Mr. Miyagi is calm and self-controlled.

Both Daniel and Mr. Miyagi have experienced tragedies in their past. Daniel’s father passed away and Mr. Miyagi (which we find out on his anniversary night) lost his wife and son due to complications at birth. The heart of the movie is the relationship between these two. At first, Daniel underestimates Mr. Miyagi and Mr. Miyagi doesn’t want to get involved in Daniel’s situations. However, with things taking a turn, they eventually become closer than friends. Mr. Miyagi becomes like a second father to Daniel and Daniel becomes like the son Mr. Miyagi never had, which completes them.

Martin Kove is excellent as John Kreese. He is the reigning champion of jerks. Johnny and his friends are his pawns and he encourages them to use their karate as a weapon. James Rolfe commented that this is a little too absurd but he couldn’t imagine it any other way since Kreese is the villain you love to hate. You have no idea how many times my brother has used the “Sweep the leg” line on me.

You can definitely see where all the bullies get their bad influence from once you see them in the dojo being trained by Kreese. This is evident to Mr. Miyagi, who tells Daniel: “No such thing as bad student, only bad teacher. Teacher say, student do. The problem is attitude because boys have bad attitude.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Randee Heller plays a great mother. She doesn’t really understand all of Daniel’s frustrations and never bothered to listen what he thinks. However, as the movie progresses, they both grow close. The same can be said for Elizabeth Shue, who does play a very strong love interest to Daniel as Ali. She and Daniel go on and off with one another since they both love one another and support their thoughts. You can see that Daniel and Ali complete one another and she is the right girl for Daniel in this time of need.

Nostalgia Critic mentioned that he never understood why Mr. Miyagi didn’t show Daniel the karate moves instead of making him wax cars, sand floors, and paint the fence and house. However, that was the suspense that was being built up. We, as an audience, didn’t know that he was doing the same thing, but after realizing that Mr. Miyagi’s teachings were actually for Daniel and it wasn’t for manual labor, that was one of the best surprises ever. This was for Muscle memory. It's like what Mr. Miyagi told Daniel that Karate is in the mind and heart and never in the type of belt you have.

James Rolfe mentioned that a lot of the background music makes the movie feel dated because it has a somewhat synthpop sound, but there are some scores by Bill Conti, which are pretty good. Not only that, but John Avildsen directs this movie, the training montages are all there, and the same basic formula as “Rocky,” but with Karate in it. Of course this movie has Joe Esposito’s You’re the Best, which is used in the tournament montage. You have to love this song, which I have on my iPhone. The next party I have, I’m going to put on this song and see how many people do Crane Kicks. During the end credits, Survivor’s Moment of Truth plays which isn’t one of their best songs.

In the end, I have to say that this movie holds up very well. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you shouldn’t even have read my review on it. Go out and see it because it is a must. After you have watched this movie, you will be constantly saying “Wax on, wax off.” This is heavy on nostalgic values and pop culture jokes, but you will love this movie, I promise you. This movie has stood the test of time and it has aged, but still has the force.

Check in for the remainder of the month to hear my thoughts on every sequel in this franchise, since this is “Karate Kid Month.”