The Karate Kid (1984)
Directed by John G. Avildsen
New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and, later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.
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5 films that influenced The Karate Kid
What critics say influenced The Karate Kid
The arms-raised, left-knee- arched jump-kick at the climax of "The Karate Kid" is one of cinema's indelible images, along with Marlon Brando crying out for Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire," the horse's head in the bed in "The Godfather" and Dorothy skipping down the Yellow Brick Road in "The Wizard of Oz."
The arms-raised, left-knee- arched jump-kick at the climax of "The Karate Kid" is one of cinema's indelible images, along with Marlon Brando crying out for Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire," the horse's head in the bed in "The Godfather" and Dorothy skipping down the Yellow Brick Road in "The Wizard of Oz."
Recycled extras include video commentary by Stallone; a making-of documentary; interviews with boxing trainer Lou Duva and the late sports writer Bert Sugar; tributes to the late Meredith and the late James Crabe, the director of photography on Rocky (as well as Avildsen's The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid: Part II); and Stallone's appearance on a 1976 episode of Dinah!
Director John G. Avildsen had already been down this road once before, with 1976's "Rocky."
"The Karate Kid" was directed by John G. Avildsen , who made " Rocky ."
John G. Avildsen, who directed Rocky, puts the emotional accent in The Karate Kid on the slowly unfolding and touching relationship between Daniel, who's fatherless, and Miyagi, who treats karate as an art that leads to both physical and mental fitness.
This junior version of Rocky - both were directed by John G Avildsen - became a massive worldwide success, spawning a series of sequels and probably ruining Ralph Macchio's career in the process.
Sure, back in the day, sluggers would pop one out of the park for a dying kid or "win one for the Gipper," but it was the blockbuster success of Rocky that turned the inspirational sports movie into a deathless genre.
The arms-raised, left-knee- arched jump-kick at the climax of "The Karate Kid" is one of cinema's indelible images, along with Marlon Brando crying out for Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire," the horse's head in the bed in "The Godfather" and Dorothy skipping down the Yellow Brick Road in "The Wizard of Oz."
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More subtle, if only a little, than Mickey Rooney's appalling "yellow face" performance from Breakfast at Tiffany's , Morita (California-born, he knew neither Japanese nor karate--his pidgin the result of a stand-up career as "The Hip Nip" and stints as "Ah Chew" on "Sanford & Son" and of course as Arnold on "Happy Days") is warm, authoritative, and fatherly in a genre defined by its father figures and its villains (i.e.