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 - MUCH BETTER THEN YOU WOULD THINK!I hadn't seen this film in 20 years and I am amazed at how well it has held up! Macchio and Morita give excellent performances in this "Rocky" type underdog movie for kids. The thing is, it isn't really just for kids!The uplifting story and acting ring true to anyone who was ever a "new kid" or picked on. It has made me want to re-visit the whole series!....Here we go again! Rating: - "You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for all life."In 1984 Columbia Pictures released one of the best teen movies of all time. These days "teen movie" has come to imply a brainless flick about brainless characters working their way through a brainless script. (Eurotrip, anyone?) We may call The Karate Kid a teen movie only in the sense that most of its characters are teens, the concerns it addresses resonate especially strongly with the young, and yes, it has a powerful message for those approaching adulthood. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) has just moved from New Jersey to California's San Fernando Valley. Almost immediately he falls for rich girl Ali (and considering Ali is played by a 20-year old Elisabeth Shue, who can blame him) which brings him into conflict with a group of bad boy karate students, primarily Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, leading to a series of bad beatings for Daniel. As Daniel pithily sums things up, "Problem is, I'm getting my ass kicked every other day." In the real world, police would probably be called and assault charges pressed after some of the stuff these guys pull, but Daniel, young though he is, has that whole manly man, New Jersey tough guy I-don't-narc thing going, so that's a non-option. One night during a particularly brutal beating, Daniel is rescued and his attackers soundly thrashed by an apparently unlikely savior: the middle-aged Okinawan maintenance man at Daniel's apartment complex, Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi works a deal with the karate student's arrogant, overbearing sensei: his students will lay off Daniel until a karate tournament two months hence, at which time Daniel will face them in the ring. This leads to some of the most fondly remembered scenes, and unforgettable imagery and dialogue, in the movie as Miyagi begins to teach Daniel unarmed combat skills under the guise of household maintenance chores. "Wax on, wax off" immediately and indelibly worked itself into American pop culture. This has persisted into the 21st Century. Today, and perhaps forever, even people who've never seen this film recognize "Wax on, wax off" and "Mr. Miyagi" has become shorthand for a well-intentioned and highly skilled though somewhat pedantic and obscure person. What The Karate Kid has going for it, more than anything else, is the chemistry between its two leads. Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita both fully inhabit their roles, as a childless father and fatherless child find each other. (Though Daniel's absent father is never explained, I suspect divorce.) Macchio was 22 when he made this movie, believably playing a mid-teen, and showed immense presence and acting chops, by turns brave and scared, stubborn and decent, with a level of good looks and talent that should have led to a more successful career than he eventually had. Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi is just wonderful, grumping, huffing, spouting aphorisms left and right, and just generally creating an endearing, absolutely unforgettable character. Elisabeth Shue as Ali is amazingly beautiful (and, 20-plus years later, as anyone who's seen Hide and Seek can attest, gives persuasive evidence for the existence of a Fountain of Youth) and her character so sweet and thoroughly decent it's believable Daniel would fight against immense odds to be with her. The karate tournament sequence is thrilling, although, I do have to say, the less you know about how such events work in the real world the more you'll probably enjoy it. Writer Robert Mark Kamen either knew very little about such things or chose artistic license and drama over strict adherence to fact. For instance, as badly and visibly as Daniel was limping after his knee injury there's no way on God's green earth that tournament officials would have let him compete in the final bout against Johnny. As soon as Johnny did that elbow strike to Daniel's already injured knee, he would have been not only instantly disqualified from the match but banned from the sport entirely. And so on. In this sense we just have to suspend our disbelief and go for it. Unlike the typical teen movie, The Karate Kid, without being preachy or overbearing, has many things to say. It's about the importance of family, and that we're not limited in family simply to that we're born into - we can CHOOSE our family. It's about finding the courage to stand up for ourselves, both morally and physically. It's about the power of self-discipline and love to prevail in a sometimes violent world. Rating: - Rovcky for adolescentThis was a big hit moviue and went one to make three sequel all of them except the next karate kids have the original boy from the first movie in them. For the most recent movie made in 1994 they replaced the boy with a seventeen year old girls who's parents are killed in a car crash. This movies has phonimal music. A young kid challanges the rival of his ex girl friend to a match after he plays a slight prank on him for beatening him up earlier in the movie. Can Mr. Miga train this boy into a fighting champion of power and honor to victory. Find out in the thrilling conclusion. This movie should be fine for ages 12 and up due to mild violence for its time and and occasional curse wored thrown in. A word of adivce try to by these together if you can. You can get part III and four together by themselves on one dvd without parts I and part II but I recommend you order then one at at time if you don't decide to get the whole collection at once. The reason why I suggest this is because the cheaptest I saw that they had 3 and four together one dvd with out the first two used is somewere inbetween 39 and 45 dollars if they charge you for shipping. Either get these together with the rest of the collection or buy part III and four on seperate dvds. Rating: - Great movieMy nephew was recently being picked on and we decided to put him and his cousins in Karate classes for self-defense. Soon after, Wal-Mart ran an ad with The Karate Kid DVD in it. Perfect! I loved it as a kid and now the children in the family fell in love with it. The Karate teacher even uses parts from the movie to make his point about something and the class knows what he means. The movie teaches that Karate is for defense and that it's bad to use it to pick on others. This is definitely a movie worth the purchase. Rating: - Great memoriesI was glad that I bought it. My kids 8 and 5 yrs old love it as well. Now they want to take Karate lessons...
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