The Karate Kid

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The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid movie poster
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Produced by Jerry Weintraub
Written by Robert Mark Kamen
Starring Ralph Macchio
Pat Morita
Elisabeth Shue
Music by Bill Conti
Cinematography James Crabe
Editing by John G. Avildsen
Walt Mulconery
Bud S. Smith
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) 22 June 1984
Running time 127 mins
Country United States
Japan
Language English
Japanese
Gross revenue $90,815,558[1]
Followed by The Karate Kid, Part II

The Karate Kid is a 1984 film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen, starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and Elisabeth Shue. It is a martial arts film and an underdog story in the mold of a previous Avildsen success, the 1976 boxing film Rocky. It was a commercial success upon first release, and has retained its popular following. It also received favorable critical attention, earning Pat Morita an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Teenager Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves with his mother (Randee Heller) from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. The family is in search of a new beginning after the death of Daniel's father. Their new apartment's handyman is an eccentric but kindly and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita).

Daniel meets a potential girlfriend, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), but while doing so, earns the enmity of her ex-boyfriend, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), a karate student. Johnny is the best student at the Cobra Kai karate dojo, where he is taught an unethical, vicious form of martial arts. Daniel knows some karate from books and the YMCA in New Jersey, but he is the target of repeated severe beatings from the much more experienced Johnny and his friends.

When Mr. Miyagi witnesses one of the beatings, he intervenes and, in a surprising display of karate skill, defeats all five Cobra Kai with ease. Awed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to be his teacher. Mr. Miyagi initially refuses, but agrees to go with Daniel to the Cobra Kai dojo and attempt to resolve the conflict. They confront the sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo, John Kreese (Martin Kove), to stop the harassment. However, Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam Veteran, sneers at the concepts of mercy and restraint. Kreese suggests a new match between Johnny and Daniel, which Miyagi deflects by announcing that the match should take place in two months' time at 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 Daniel 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, and painting a fence. Each chore is accompanied with a specific movement, such as clockwise/counter-clockwise hand motions, "Wax on, wax off". 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 performing the chores.

Daniel then learns 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 Medal of Honor for heroism against German forces in Europe, presumably while serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment.

Through the teaching, Daniel learns not only karate, but also important life lessons, such as the importance of balance, 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 everyone by reaching the semifinals. Kreese instructs Bobby Brown, one of his more compassionate students and the lesser of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, initially successful with Kreese's intended goal. With Daniel injured and unable to continue, Mr. Miyagi assures him he has already proven himself. Despondent, Daniel believes that if he does not continue, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him. He therefore persuades Mr. Miyagi to use his special pain suppression technique to allow him to finish the tournament. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel hobbles into the ring, much to Kreese's amazement and fury.

Kreese directs Johnny to repeat unethical moves to achieve victory, including the maneuver followed by Kreese's famous order to "sweep the leg". Despite the moves, and how many times that Daniel is knocked down, he gets up again each time.

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 blow squarely to Johnny's chin, winning the tournament. Johnny, having gained newfound respect for his adversary, takes Daniel's trophy from the emcee and presents it to Daniel himself.

[edit] Cast

Main article: List of characters in The Karate Kid

Chuck Norris purportedly 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. 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. Mako was also considered for the role of Mr. Miyagi, but was not available due to prior commitments to film the Conan sequel, Conan the Destroyer.

[edit] Reception

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 revitalized 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 called Morita's 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.

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] Sequels

[edit] Awards

[edit] References in popular culture

 This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (June 2009)
  • In the Disney movie Hercules, Hercules is depicted doing the crane kick from the beach scene during his training to become a hero.
  • In the episode "The Fight" of the US version of The Office, Kevin says "Sweep the leg," while Michael and Dwight spar.
  • LA-based band No More Kings released their single named "Sweep the Leg"[4] after the line from 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.
  • In the Disney Channel original series The Proud Family, there is a clear reference to The Karate Kid when Penny Proud becomes a student of karate and is forced to perform laborious tasks such as waxing cars and painting and in the end learns proper blocks and attacks.
  • In the Kevin Smith movie Dogma, when God is about to revive Bethany from the dead, Metatron comments "wax on, wax off" as God claps her hands together in a similar manner to how Mr. Miyagi did when he was about to heal Daniel's knee.
  • In the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, Michaelangelo jokingly quotes, "wax on, wax off."
  • Britney Spears refers to The Karate Kid at the end of MTV's 2008 documentary Britney: For the Record. She says that she "[goes] through life like a Karate Kid."
  • In the movie, Eurotrip the main character, Scott Thompson, gets in a fight with a robot street performer. While fighting, their friend Cooper tells Scott to, "Sweep the leg! Sweep the leg!" in reference to the final fight scene of The Karate Kid.
  • On a 2008 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, which aired during the writer's strike, Jon Stewart threatens Conan with the crane kick.
  • In the 2005 Movie Green Street Pete tells the rest of the GSE that Matt played Daniel in the film.
  • On an episode of Medabots, when Ikki and his friends meet the doctor for first time, he tells them to clean the house. Then Ikki asks "Are you teaching us some special techniques while we clean this house?" "No. This house is very dirty."
  • In an episode of Code Monkeys, when Dave trains to become an underground food eating champion, he is forced to eat wax, paint, and sawdust by a master similar to Mr. Myagi.
  • In the fourth season episode of How I Met Your Mother called "The Stinsons", Barney states that he rooted for the "blonde guy" in favor of Daniel. Barney claims that the "blonde guy" is the true Karate Kid whom the movie is about.
  • In an episode of the NBC show Chuck titled "Chuck Versus The Leathal Weapon", Agent Barker claims that taking out 9 men isn't hard, you just have to go for the knee. Chuck asks, "You mean like sweep the leg?"
  • In the music video for "Move" by hip-hop artist John Reuben, John's cheer leading coach holds a sign that says "Sweep the leg, Johnny!"
  • In the Taekwondo episode of 'Human Weapon', Jason Chambers, after twisting his leg during an attempt to perform a tornado kick, jokingly assumes the crane stance, when facing his opponent.
  • The Bat for Lashes song "Daniel" is a reference to Daniel LaRusso. In the music video, a Daniel lookalike appears in the ending scene. The cover of the single portrays the singer with a picture of him painted on her back.
  • In the show "American Dad" in an episode where Stan coaches a football team and tells one of his players to sweep the leg and asks him if he has a problem with that, to which the player replies "No, sensei."
  • In an episode of "Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure", Lawrence finds another Mr. Miyagi in Australia and tries to get him to teach him karate.
  • In the video game World of Warcraft, one of the first bosses in Naxxramas (Instructor Razuvious) has the quote "Sweep the leg, do you have a problem with that?".

[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, and "The Ride" performed by The Matches. "The Ride" has never been released on any album, but was made available on iTunes, Amazon.com and Rhapsody in April 2009 for the film's 25th Anniversary.[citation needed]

The instrumental scores for all four Karate Kid films were composed by Bill Conti, orchestrated by Jack Eskew, and featured pan flute solos by Gheorge Zamfir. On March 12, 2007, Varèse Sarabande released all four Karate Kid scores in a 4-CD box set limited to 2,500 copies worldwide.[5] 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. "Fight Nite" - 2:01
  3. "A 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] Upcoming Remake

On November 10, 2008, Variety reported that work on a Karate Kid remake had begun.[6][7] Variety states that the new film, to be produced by Will Smith, "has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith" and that it "will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor."[8] On June 22, 2009, Jackie Chan told a Los Angeles Chinatown concert crowd that he is leaving for Beijing to film the remake with Jaden Smith's teacher.[7]

On June 2, 2009, it was revealed on MTV's Movies Blog that Taraji P. Henson had been cast as the Mother of Smith's character.[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Karate Kid". www.boxofficemojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=karatekid.htm. Retrieved on 2007-03-13. 
  2. ^ "Chuck Norris". www.completemartialarts.com. http://www.completemartialarts.com/whoswho/halloffame/chucknorris.htm. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  3. ^ Bill Simmons: Holy trilogy of the 'Karate Kid'
  4. ^ Sweeptheleg.Com
  5. ^ "The Karate Kid". www.varesesarabande.com. http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=vcl-0307-1059. Retrieved on 2007-03-15. 
  6. ^ "Movies - News - 'Karate Kid' redo retitled 'Kung Fu Kid'". Digital Spy. 2009-03-31. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a151344/karate-kid-redo-retitled-kung-fu-kid.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-03. 
  7. ^ a b Brian Warmoth, ‘Karate Kid’ Remake Keeping Title, Taking Jaden Smith to China, MTV Movie Blog, May, 6, 2009
  8. ^ By (2008-11-10). "Jaden Smith set for 'Karate Kid' redo - Entertainment News, Los Angeles, Media". Variety. http://www.variety.com/VR1117995614.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-03. 
  9. ^ "MTV Movies Blog » EXCLUSIVE: Taraji P. Henson To Play Mom in ‘The Karate Kid’ Remake". Moviesblog.mtv.com. 2009-01-19. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/06/02/exclusive-taraji-p-henson-to-play-mom-in-the-karate-kid-remake/. Retrieved on 2009-06-03. 

[edit] External links

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