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Directed By
John G. Avildsen
Written By:
Robert Mark Kamen
Cast:
Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Randee Heller, Martin Kove, Chad McQueen, William Zabka, Tony O'Dell, William Bassett, Larry B. Scott, Israel Juarbe, Ron Thomas, Rob Garrison, Israel Juarbe, Juli Fields, Dana Andersen
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The Karate Kid (1984)
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Movie Review by Ben
December 17th, 2007
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It's now been 20 years (!) since this movie came out, so you all know the story. Ralph Macchio plays Daniel Larusso who moves with his mom from New Jersey to California. Having moved a bit as a kid, I understand and can appreciate his fustration at having to adapt to new surroundings that are not exactly prepared to welcome you with open arms. He runs afoul of a tough gang of karate kids known as the Cobra Kais, and they are led by Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabaka in one of his dozen c*cky assholish roles). When he sees Daniel flirting with his girlfriend (played by the goddamn beautiful Elisabeth Shue), Johnny lays down the law and kicks Daniel ass whenever he's around.
Mr. Miyagi is one of the best characters that came out of movies in the 80s, and one of my favorites. He is basically an Okinawan Yoda. And he is brought to life by the late Pat Morita in a performance that I was so hoping would him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that he was nominated for. Although this kind of character has become a cliche for later movies, the guy who does a low profile and lonely job but is actually a war hero with the greatest of skills and training, Morita is brilliant in the way he shows the seriousness of Miyagi, but he also allows a lot of humor to come into the character as well. I did not realize that Morita was a stand up comedian before he did this movie...then again, he was on "Happy Days" for awhile...
After all these years, the thing that I realized is how much of an asset this movie was to the world of karate. Not just in getting more people interested in it, but in making them see that it was a spiritual thing more than anything else. It was not about being trained to attack the way that John Kreese taught the Kobra Kais. It was about defense more than anything else. It was about making you a better person on the inside instead of just on the outside. I have heard from my friends about how studying karate has helped to raise their self esteem and make them feel better about themselves. I even studied karate for a bit to experience it for myself. It's something I hope to come back to at some point.
So "The Karate Kid" is not about Daniel getting revenge on the bad guys, but in defending himself and his honor and in finding balance in his life by making a stand with the help of Miyagi....I hope that made sense...
The relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi is one of the best I have ever seen onscreen. You are pretty much in Daniel's shoes as he tries to figure out when Miyagi is actually going to teach him instead of washing his cars, painting his fence, sanding his floor and painting his house. That leads to one of my favorite moments where Daniel comes to realize that Miyagi has trained him without him even knowing it. All these chores have given him reflexes that have become ingrained in his consciousness to where they are practically automatic. He has now learned how to defend himself.
Ralph Macchio had his most quintessential role back in the 80s with Daniel Larusso. In the first two Karate Kid movies, he manages to find a balance between being obnoxious and being sincere. He makes Larusso a likable guy, and his progression as a character in this movie is extremely well acted. Ralph finds the right balance for this character that somehow eluded him when he got to "Karate Kid Part III" when he became such a whiny sourpuss to where you just wanted to see him get b*tchslapped on a regular basis.
It's a well written script directed to near perfection, and acted with supreme skill. I finally got myself to buy the DVD box set of all the Karate Kid movies, even though I really just wanted to buy the first two. Considering the price of the whole thing ($24.99), I figured it was like 4 movies for the price of 2. I have not even bothered watching "The Next Karate Kid" yet. It can't be worse than Part III!
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