The Karate Kid...lets discuss the greatness.

saw this for the first time on a coach between oxford and london. unfortunately the coach journey wasn't quite long enough to screen the entire film. sat there until everybody else had gotten off...

http://www.camineet.net/ps1cast/zabka.jpg

One particular detail of ending is very heartwarming to me. William Zabka's apparent redemption as he hands Daniel the trophy.
He says "You're alright Russo."

Discussing the greatness, hmm. For me, it all goes back to my replica Daniel-san bandanna and K Kid action figure. Ph34r me now!

Also, the self-belief/music montage moments are beaten only by Optimus robothandling the Decepticons and Megatron to the sound of 'You Got The Touch' in the TF Movie.

http://www.whatever-dude.com/posts/123.shtml

Ralph was my second celebrity crush (the first being Danny P. from Who's the Boss). The muscle T shirts, the bandanas, the sweat, ay ay ay...

One of the most disturbing things Morita did shortly after KK came out was appear in Night Patrol, the world's worst attempt at a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film knockoff ever, as a pre-teen female rape victim (this was done by having him just appear as himself, but with a dubbed-in squeaky voice...and this was meant to be a COMEDY).

That's very creepy, I've never heard of that movie.

Also - Cruel Summer is not at the date place - it's on Daniel's first day at his new school as it's daytime and the sun is shining (DYS!)

Favourite bit - Must focus danielsen. Best karate still inside. I still use this as a motivational line. I do not motivate many people, but it makes me feel good.

The IMDB entry

A 'celebration' of sorts

I never am able to fully enjoy that crane move because, I mean, how did he do it? First off, it's virtually a physically impossible move to begin with (don't tell me you all haven't tried it, whether as a kid or drunk, two weeks ago, at a party. You know you have). Secondly, his leg is like BROKEN or something, I mean he's limping back all over the place and totally hobbling on his way back to the fight and obviously can't put pressure on that leg. So suddenly he can land on it with the FULL FORCE OF HIS BODY and kick another person in the face? How does it work!!!

more karate kid greatness: when daniel wins the tournament elisabeth shue comes out for the loving embrace and just fucking towers over tiny ass ralph maccio.

http://www.ec.com.my/webproxy/nph-proxy.pl/010110A/http/whatever-dude.com/wdimages/dposts/kkid5.jpg

(and checking the above i found this: http://www.cyberkwoon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9397&view=next which is like ilx meets cobra kai...)

http://sports.espn.go.com/page2/movies/s/simmons/020830.html

I like when Johnny is rolling a joint on the toilet. When I was little, I had no idea what he was doing!

Those Kobra Kai skeleton suits are ill.

Why would Ali like a dork like Daniel?

i will plug my article about breakin and beat street again here -- http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/nylpm/2002_03_01_nylpm_archive.html#11072845

Huh:

Superstar actor Will Smith will produce an updated version of The Karate Kid, which was originally released in 1984. The remake will feature Smith’s son Jaden Smith in his third major role since his acting debut alongside his father in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. The original 1984 flick starred Ralph Macchio as Daniel La Russo and Pat Morita as the famous Mr. Miyagi and was set in Las Angeles California. The new version of the film, which is being written by Chris Murphy, centers around a meek young boy who lives in Beijing. He turns to a mentor to build character, defend himself against a bully and to learn that there is more to the Martial Arts than the physical element of fighting. The Karate Kid was originally produced by Jerry Weintraub, who will co-produce the updated version with Smith’s Overbrook Pictures’ James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz. The updated version of The Karate Kid is slated to begin filming in China early next year. Jaden, 10, will next be seen on the big screen in the upcoming movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Oh yuck. I'm tired of Will Smith trying to turn his kid into a star.

No! this idea sucks out loud.

karate? in beijing? they all look alike, huh

Oh yuck. I'm tired of Will Smith trying to turn his kid himself into a star.

Just bought the Karate Kid boxed set as I'm a geek. The first movie is a childhood favorite. The second one, well it has an awesome Peter Cetera song....

Best part of the second one is the first scene, which picks up after the end of the first movie. After that, not so great.

I think I may have seen the third movie, but I don't remember anything about it. And I'm pretty sure I never saw the one with Hilary Swank.

Just saw the trailer for the new KK movie, starring Will Smith Jr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy3TwgpOfr0

Wow, it looks dumb. But, for consistency's sake, I will say this - from neither Reseda, or Beijing, can they get to where they do their "picturesque" training sequence without the use of a car.

In the original, you're driving at least 30 min to get to Malibu, and, depending on where in Beijing you are, you're driving at least an hour to an hour and a half to get to the section of the Great Wall where they filmed the training (looks like Badaling, which is where every tourist goes, so it would never be as empty as it is in the trailer).

I recently caught the end of Karate Kid II on tv and was blown away by the 5-minute long seen where the girl he wants to boing serves him tea/miso in a very ritualistic fashion, which he mimics in turn, before climaxing in a kiss so passionate that it instantly triggers a typhoon.

SCENE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPVYTPoITyA

iirc the stoltz gay kiss comes immediately before this

http://i47.tinypic.com/m8g41v.jpg

I wonder if you can pull "the karate kid" kick off in a real tournament without getting your ass kicked in the parking lot later

wait so jackie chan is teaching him karate in china?

There is a minor bit of controversy around that, since last year Jackie said that it would be retitled The Kung Fu Kid, which Will Smith later refuted.

So yeah:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef01310f31f942970c-300wi

They could use the Bat For Lashes song "Daniel" on the soundtrack, since the name is a reference to the Daniel character in the original Karate Kid.

I was trying to keep it a secret but I got my friend to paint Daniel Laruso from the film The Karate Kid on my back for the single front cover. I have had a crush on him for years and it's one of my all time favourite childhood films. So I think the name definitely came from that reference however the concept on the song is a little bit more secret.

http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/bat-for-lashes/news/108611-bat-for-lashes-interview

wait so jackie chan is teaching him karate in china?

what a disaster for karate

seeing a little too much of jayden's pinkett-smith there

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:u7IkigYNi2ETVM:http://www.blogcdn.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2007/05/retrokarate4.jpg

can't help but wonder how Jayden will stack up against Academy-Award-Winning horseface

It seems like such a teen movie, I don't see how casting an 11 yr old is going to work.

THE MAGIC OF SCIENTOLOGY

this kid was so unbearable in that wretched Day The Earth Stood Still movie

honestly one of the worst child actor performances i've ever seen.

^^^sounds like a poll

It's so sad that Will Smith is so poor he has to force his child into working so early in life.

kids that don't work build up an unhealthy concentration of body thetans dontchaknow

I never saw that him in anything else, but I thought the kid was decent in The Pursuit of Happyness.

you saw the Pursuit of Happyness

the pursuit of peepeeness

I did see it. I was told by several people I really trust that it was a "surprisingly good movie". I wouldn't go that far, but I didn't completely hate it.

I liked the performances in Happyness, mostly because it was a (will smith) movie and not a WILL SMITH movie.

too bad it wasn't a FRESH PRINCE movie

midway through the movie Chris Tucker will show up in a OMG RUSH HOUR 4 TIE-IN SHOCKER...

just caught a montage of the final contest battles, and forgot how much i fucking loved this film. particularly the korean looking guy when he ducks under the other kid. and when he fights the fat man lol.

that ending fucking tears me up EVERY TIME

Best thing about the remake by far: evil Chinese kid. Badass.

!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/08/03/karate_kid_lost_footage_a_close_look_at_deleted_scenes_ralph_macchio_s_audition_tape_and_more_.html

The following is a public service announcement for die-hard fans of The Karate Kid. In 2005, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a perfectly respectable Special Edition DVD of the movie, which included a commentary track as well as several featurettes. But nothing on the DVD compares to the trove of archival footage that director John Avildsen has posted on his YouTube channel. Nestled among home videos of Avildsen’s vacations and birthday parties are a series of clips that, when watched in sequence, comprise a shadow version of The Karate Kid, one that will change the way you think about the movie—even if, like me, you’ve already thought about it a lot.

What Avildsen has posted, in 13 ten-minute segments, is the rehearsal that he and his actors conducted before principal photography began. The footage is grainy and wobbly. Much of it is shot on location, but several scenes unfold on a sparsely appointed soundstage, with the actors pretending to turn on an invisible leaky faucet or drink an invisible glass of pungent Okinawan tea. Some of the scenes closely resemble their counterparts in the finished film, but others remain rough, with Avildsen and his team still working out how to frame the action. We see alternate approaches to scenes we know and love from the finished product. We also hear Avildsen discussing the challenges each scene presents, offering suggestions to the actors and discussing camera set-ups with his crew. Perhaps most exciting of all, we see the actors rehearsing scenes that did not make it into the movie, and several of these provide insight into plot holes that have long frustrated students of the movie. (Among the questions addressed by the footage: How did Daniel’s mother end up working at a restaurant, not at a computer start-up? And how did Daniel prevail over Dutch in the early stages of the All-Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament?)

Um, is this for real

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7221388/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

Here’s how YouTube Red describes the series:

“Thirty years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out Johnny Lawrence (Zabka) seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo, reigniting his rivalry with a now successful Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), who has been struggling to maintain balance in his life without the guidance of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. The show is about two men addressing past demons and present frustrations the only way they know how: through karate.”

it's for real

he Karate Kid rivalry between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence is alive and well — and will now feature a new generation.

Hours after The Hollywood Reporter exclusively broke news of YouTube Red's 10-episode Karate Kid straight-to-series sequel Cobra Kai, stars Ralph Macchio (Daniel) and William Zabka (Johnny) met the press after making a surprise appearance Friday at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour.

The actors, who have remained friends in the 30 years since The Karate Kid became a pop culture staple, briefly appeared onstage in a faux pre-fight press conference face-off and spoke with reporters, including THR, at the conclusion of YouTube's time in front of press.

Macchio revealed that the concept for the series — which picks up 30 years after Daniel topped Johnny in the All Valley Karate Tournament to find both running rival dojos — is relevant today and speaks to a new generation. He gave credit to concept writers Josh Heald (Hot Tub Time Machine) as well as duo Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (Harold and Kumar) delivered in their initial pitch for Cobra Kai.

"What made me say yes after all these years — and I've been very protective of the franchise and where Daniel LaRusso sits in the world 30 years later — these guys, Josh, Hayden and Jon had such a smart and fresh angle in. It was relevant today yet had all the pop culture — they had the perfect marriage and angle in bringing it from the Johnny Lawrence [point of view]," he said. "It's not unlike how Creed was a film that was about Apollo Creed's son but you had Rocky Balboa in it in a certain way. [Cobra Kai] is not the first time anyone looks at a fresh angle from the villain's point of view, but it was just smart to go that way and to cover these dual lives and do a rivalry series in a smart and funny way, and on top of that infuse the high school world — which is a big part of the show as well — for the new generation."

Cobra Kai, which will debut in 2018, will explore Daniel as a father who is drawn back to the dojo when Johnny reopens Cobra Kai.

"Johnny befriends one [of Daniel's kids], and that is how it connects that world into our own rivalry world," Macchio said. "There's a tremendous amount of heart and kick-ass action sequences and martial arts, but the inherent humor comes from the fact that these are two guys who are in their 50s and still have an ax to grind. It goes back to those places where you just can't let go and you're still a teenager at heart and yet balancing your adult life — it's like the rise of the Cobra Kai. It's the worst nightmare for someone like Daniel LaRusso."

The actor — who has had multiple offers to step back into the dojo as Daniel over the years — said the absence of mentor Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) will be central to the show, which has both comedic and dramatic moments.

"In the early stages of us pitching to the networks, it was really important to me to have that element and that void that's in Daniel's life right now," he said of the series, which landed at subscription service YouTube Red after a multiple-network bidding war that included Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and others. "He used to train his oldest daughter when she was a kid, but now she's at the age where it's not as cool to hang out with dad. So there's a real void in his life when he doesn't have that. Mr. Miyagi is the human Yoda to young Luke Skywalker. So as an adult and a parent — my kids are in their 20s now — I would love to have had Mr. Miyagi's wisdom many times in raising my own kids. There's a piece of that void in his life that is going to resonate on the dramatic side of the show and where martial arts, [which] was such a piece of his adolescence and young adulthood, is now brought back by the nemesis raising the banner on the Cobra Kai. And now Daniel can't sit and let that happen."

To hear Zabka and Macchio tell it, both actors had trepidation about stepping back into the roles that defined their careers at a young age. But both commended the script, timing of the project and its straight-to-series model on YouTube Red, which will allow a new generation to experience the magic of The Karate Kid.

"It was not easy to get me to do it. I've been asked and pitched many times over the years. This was a smart and fresh angle, and I believe things happen at a certain time for a certain reason, and this was just the right time," Macchio said. "If this was a broadcast television pilot and then wait and see? This is the way to do it. Audiences now gravitate to this type of platform for entertainment. It was timing and the angle that these guys had with the story."

The formal Cobra Kai announcement drew top brass from producers Sony Pictures Television Studios, including new presidents Jeff Frost and Jason Clodfelter as well as Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra. Cobra Kai is the first sale from the independent studio to YouTube Red. The digital platform's head of originals, Susanne Daniels, also noted that she knew Cobra Kai was something she wanted as the platform looks to age up its scripted originals from 18-34 to the more advertiser-coveted 18-49. The concept of the show, she noted, will appeal to both adults and a new generation, with Macchio and Zabka revealing that Cobra Kai would explore how Daniel and Johnny changed over the years as well as the new challenges they face.

"He's become very successful and maybe has lost a little bit of touch — he needs to have flaws, and he had flaws as a kid and he will have them as an adult. His heart is always in the right place," Macchio said. "As I've done at 50-something years old, there comes a time where part of your life creates some challenges: raising teenagers, trying to handle your successful business and having your nemesis come back 30 years later [that] keep you up at night just because of the importance of carrying on the Miyagi legacy. Then how Daniel's wife will embrace or not embrace this new chapter of him now going back to the dojo. I'm looking forward to that evolution."

Added Zabka: "They've gone on with their lives, but that rivalry is always still there. It's like a football game you lost in high school but the whole world saw it. It's always there: 'If only I just did this…'"

Zabka also noted that Cobra Kai — titled because it is less Daniel's story and more about both he and Johnny — would explore Johnny's backstory as well.

"Through this show, you get to see who he was and where he came from. I never saw Johnny as a bad guy; I always saw him as the antagonist but at his core, he had a good heart," Zabka told THR. "At the beginning of the first movie, he said he had one year to make it all work and that's what he wanted to do. He was an ex-degenerate. Then LaRusso comes in town and turns his world upside down. At the very end, he hands him a trophy and says, 'You're all right, LaRusso.' He has a good heart and they tap into that in the show. You're going to empathize with him. He's still tough and rough around the edges, but it's a really smart and fun take on it and I think it'll be really entertaining."

All told, Zabka summed up what it feels like to reunite with Macchio on Cobra Kai: "It's like getting reacquainted with an old friend. We have our peace to make between the two of us."

http://cdn2.thr.com/sites/default/files/2017/08/gettyimages-826415128_-_embed_2017.jpg

last chance cash grab

So like a season and a half into Cobra Kai I can say it's both fan service city and way, way better than it has any right to be. Macchio is kinda the weak link, but Zabka is surprisingly good and kinda legit hilarious at times, and most of the kids are really great. I thoroughly expect to see Xolo Maridueña become a big star down the road (please note that I have only previously made such a bold proclamation about Donald Glover and Kate McKinnon early in their respective careers so I clearly have an eye for talent for which Hollywood should be paying me handsomely).

there is a Cobra Kai show?

Just renewed for a third season, even! It's on YouTube Red, though (their streaming service, which features one original program as far as I can tell). Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the movie, and I think I'd mildly recommend it even if you weren't.

Xolo Maridueña aka the boy in 1956 in twin peaks the return part 8!

I saw the first couple of eps of this - cute but not high on my list of things to come back to

Wow, did not even realize he was the kid in The Return!

The show is heavily reliant on reference to the films in the early episodes and the first season in general, but it's starting to find its own voice in the second season. I figured they'd be working around Zabka's limitations to an excessive degree but he's really been bringing it. They've even hit some legitimately affecting emotional beats (although I'm old and well up at the violin-scored drop of a hat so my perspective may be suspect).

Yeah Cobra Kai is pretty great & has a good sense of humor -def worth checking out

One of the most disturbing things Morita did shortly after KK came out was appear in Night Patrol, the world's worst attempt at a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker film knockoff ever, as a pre-teen female rape victim (this was done by having him just appear as himself, but with a dubbed-in squeaky voice...and this was meant to be a COMEDY).

― Ned Raggett (Ned)

I mean

watched this for the first time since i was my kid's age. it seemed like a really violent and frightening movie when i was young and it still kind of is, objectively speaking. actual psycho bullies, they could have been recruited easily by Night Slasher into New World membership. i really still question Daniel's decision to drench Johnny in water and then run away into the unsafe darkness with all of the meatheads in hot pursuit. I'm all about strategy though.

Macchio is great of course, and Morita too. the drunk scene is kinda made a bit more intense by the fact that Morita was an alcoholic IRL. Martin Kove chews the scenery in the best way, just absolutely ridiculous stuff, i love it.

Elisabeth Shue does her usual really good work with the role, which is to say she probably deserved to be an actual megastar and not a minor star. It's amazing how many female actors got sidelined back then, she gave such a great performance in Adventures in Babysitting and then her next thing was basically to be Marty McFly's replacement girlfriend in Back to the Future 2, and just really never broke through until Leaving Las Vegas, and she was predictably incredible.

gonna be skipping the sequels, though i have fond memories of seeing KK2 in the theater. never saw KK3, and maybe the Swank one is better than its rep idk? Also she's not a horseface, Shakey. might give Cobra Kai a try down the road.

Alcoholism? No idea. I'm reading about it now.

Cobra Kai is fun & worth tr time imo

It can get as confusing as any soaper (who's changed sides now, etc.), but if you accept it as a soap version of what happens when you get your favorite characters from the films together, it's fine.

I never thought I'd say that William Zabka is a better actor than Ralph Macchio.

the friends Daniel made in the first ten minutes of the film kinda wound up being absolute lamestains huh. i was thinking it'd be awkward to live in the same apartment complex as the dude who abandoned him facedown in the sand, all the way over the hill from Reseda. wonder how he got home.

for years I thought the scene at the dance/Daniel getting beat up while trying to escape was towards the beginning of the movie. years later I learned it was because mom/dad started the tape much too late when recording it off of TV. I'd never even seen the Elizabeth Shue scene on the beach until I was 30.

still no better moment for my money than Daniel winning and Miyagi smiling like a proud father seconds after. even though doing the crane IRL would have resulted in Johnny side-stepping and Daniel falling on his ass

"no can defense the move that is telegraphed for about ten seconds before you execute it"

regarding Cobra Kai, the last two seasons were disappointing to me. they always had a soap opera feel, but they've at times felt like wheel spinning. there's only so many seasons of "we have to take down XXX, leader of Cobra Kai" I can take. I'm a much bigger fan of the more interpersonal stuff, like Johnny's relationship with his kid, Tory's rough life, etc.

I do appreciate that the series ultimately uses a HK cinema approach in where reality is eschewed and people take off fighting at a moment's notice to defend honor, get vengeance, or protect their families.

still lol at the advanced skills the kids all learn in like 3 months. I did Tae Kwon do for three years and all I learned were forms and the sparring was always shitty

I still need to get around to season 5 of Cobra Kai ... the momentum seemed to wane during season 4

the martial arts scenes in this franchise have never been very good, even by US movie standards, but realism would contradict the musical-comedy rules of a universe where teenagers spontaneously start brawling instead of singing and dancing

the funniest and most realistic aspect of the show is the older guys who are super serious about karate trying to deal with the incomprehension and impatience of family and friends

hah yes!

that one post-hospital scene where Daniel talked about "Cobra Kai can't get away with this" and Amanda said OMG WILL YOU STFU ABOUT KARATE RIGHT NOW, i wanted to stand and applaud

My first Cobra Kai episode was the country club party where Daniel, Daniel's wife, Johnny, and Alli kick it over vodka martinis.

loved taht one. but I'm a huge Shue fan

yeah loved that one

Zabka is reliably dirtbag comedy gold all the way through, I love how much he leans into the dumbness

I guess playing Johnny's terrible stepdad wasn't his last onscreen role, but it was nice to give Ed Asner a sendoff in something I was actually watching not just to see him.

yeah agreed!

tbc I love how Daniel, Daniel's wife, Johnny, and Alli kick it over vodka martinis despite drinking martinis with vodka in them.

lol

Elizabeth Shue being 60 (soon) trips me out.

Maybe not as much as Ralph Macchio being 22 years old when the movie was filmed, and Randee Heller (who played his mom) being 36.

There was only a 3 year gap between Karate Kid III and My Cousin Vinny, but I remember when the latter came out thinking "Ralph went away and got old!"

I enjoy the weird out-of-time quality of the original Karate Kid... maybe it's remembered as classic 80s film now, but it feels like it could have been set anywhere from like 1946 to 1996, some smeared out American adolescence from the end of WWII to the World Wide Web

the end of Karate Kid III, with the little hand drums? unforgettable. no quality judgment one way or the other, i'm just never going to forget it.

i think the hand drums was Karate Kid 2

that sounds right though i haven't seen it since i watched in the theater back in '86. pretty memorable.

i do love how Kreese was apparently teleported in from another movie, probably rated-R, where he was playing an evil henchman. Absolutely one of the most absurd characters to ever appear on screen, contextually speaking. but...

https://c.tenor.com/2NwXxMMYhXYAAAAd/tenor.gif

The first movie has many merits, but it's hard not to laugh at how out of shape and awkward both Macchio and Morita look throughout. Daniel's training between the start of the movie and the tournament appears to result in zero improvement in his fitness, and Morita looks soft and cuddly in every scene except for the 20 seconds or so where he's doubled by Fumio Demura.

Another gripe: we're told that Miyagi has been living in California for more than 40 years, but his Yoda-like pidgin English is supposed to be both plausible and hilarious ... this aspect of Morita's schtick wasn't funny then and hasn't aged well.

I'll admit to having a little personal animus toward the film because it marked a transition in how people in the US perceived teaching and learning martial arts. The kids in The Karate Kid are 20-somethings playing high school students, but the target audience was younger, and after the movie's success there was a big expansion in the number of commercial martial arts schools aimed at children, along with a corresponding decline in the interest and participation of adults. The martial arts world has changed a lot since 1984, but if you say "karate" to most people in the US today, their immediate association is with the place Mom takes Mason on the afternoons he doesn't have soccer practice.

I enjoy the way Cobra Kai leans into that absurdity, but it would be funnier if all the karate students were played by under-12 child actors.

Another gripe: we're told that Miyagi has been living in California for more than 40 years, but his Yoda-like pidgin English is supposed to be both plausible and hilarious ... this aspect of Morita's schtick wasn't funny then and hasn't aged well.

*cues Japanese flute*

the bonzai techniques in this film can also be applied to manscaping