The Karate Kid...lets discuss the greatness.

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