The Karate Kid

Rating:
Summary: I wish I could give it more stars
Review: I was absolutely breathless by the end of the movie when he gave that last kick. I watch this movie over and over

Rating:
Summary: A Great Film for Your Family
Review: The "Karate Kid" touches on a story centering on kindness, love, and giving. Immediately, the story line depicts a boy, Daniel forced to move to a new city, oppressed by a group of stronger boys; affliated with a organization call Cobra Kia; Daniel must learn how to survive. Strong verse weak provides a strong theme. The virtue of humility is symbolize by the plain and simply lifestyle of Migayi. The culture and sophistication is depicted in his design of Bonzai tree's. Bringing student to the teacher's trust is accomplished by an act of kindiness the repairing of an damage bicycle caused by member of the Cobra Kia; the act gestures towards roots, in buddism. A interesting side note on the name Migayi. Migayi - (The founder of a famous style Okiniwan form of martial arts) is used a symbol of strength. Historically, stories of Migayi bravery and valor are well known in the martial art world. Pat Moria protrays some of the amazing power hidden in Okiniwan Karate using traditional stances and techniques bring Old Style methods of survival to the Big Screen. Movement back to a medival time of chivalry is maintained as an underlying theme. The Karate Kid opens the world and culture of Japan in a beautiful presentation: kindness and service in contrast to a brutal and violent antoganist, art and nature instead or artifical; kindness and service rather than self interest. I find the story line to be simple yet very enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: good movie
Review: This 1984, 'modern classic' by director John G. Avildsen ("Lean On Me"; "8 Seconds") is a solid movie--very entertaining. I'll admit there is nothing truly spectactular about it. Robert Kamen's ("The Fifth Element") writing is good, but nothing truly great. Macchio and Morita put in solid performances. The karate is only mediocre, but the principles aren't exactly martial arts experts. Still, it is one of those films I fondly remember as a child, and one I can still go back to all these years later. It holds up over time.

Rating:
Summary: Plenty of Drama, Romance, and.... Karate!!!
Review: "The Karate Kid" stars Ralph Macchio as Daniel Larusso, the new kid in California who just moved with his mother from New Jersey. But problems immediately arise when Daniel has his eye on Ali (Elizabeth Shue) and they start hanging out. And that's not the problem exactly, it's that Ali's old boyfriend, Johnny (William Zabka) gets jealous and with his band of his karate friends from the Cobra Kai Dojo, beat up and pick on Daniel. Daniel wants very badly to have revenge on the Cobra Kai gang and is obsessed on learning karate. With the help of a handyman, Miyage-san (Pat Morita), who is not what he seems, learns karate so he can enter the All-Valley Karate Championship Tournament. Throughout his training, Daniel not only learns how to do karate, he learns that you learn karate not to fight, but to stop fighting.

A truly touching and heart-warming tale!! I've always been fascinated by karate and since my father learned karate when he was young, he has taught me a few things. I rented this video and couldn't tear myself away from the TV set. The acting is good with Ralph Macchio as 'the karate kid' who learns a few things from a wonderful teacher, Pat Morita. Elizabeth Shue is also great as the girlfriend and William Zabka makes a wonderful and believable villain. The movie has plenty of principles which are important: to have patience, fighting does not solve any problems, trust in your mentors, and more.

This is a definite must-see for teenagers and adults. Don't miss out on "The Karate Kid"! I can't wait to get this DVD and watch it again!

Rating:
Summary: The underdog who eventually will triumph
Review: Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) , has just moved with his mom from New Jersey to California, and has trouble fitting in. He is being mercilessly victimized by the local gang of Karate champs-the all blonde Germanic looking Cobra Kais, while he romances bubbly blond Ali Mills (Elizabeth Shue) who happens to be the ex-girlfriend of cobra lead-boy Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).
He is rescued from the Cobras by the caretaker of his block of flats, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) who just happens to be a karate expert. After Mr. Miyagi enters Danny in the local Karate championship where he will be pitted against Johnny and the Cobras who are trained to be ruthless by their psycopathic trainer John Creese (Martin Kove), it is all about Danny's training to win the tournament, and to win the girl-Ali.

Beautifully done , I loved the 80's atmosphere and the 80's music. I first saw it when I was 12 , and watching it again recently brought all the memories flooding back!


Rating:
Summary: The Karate Kid : An 80's Classic.....
Review: ***** - FIVE STARS
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I was only 13 when this came out in the early 80's, and I still love it today, 20 years later. This movie is so cool, and so heartwarming, you'll need a box of kleenex when it's all over....

What a great story this movie was!!! It still gives me chills when I watch it, this was so much more than just your ordinary feel good movie too. You'll leave feeling so happy, and so touched, I'm positive this will be an experience you'll never forget...

"If do correctly, no can defend"....

GREAT GREAT MOVIE!!!!


Rating:
Summary: You're the best around !
Review: The Karate Kid is a classic directed by John G. Avildsen (Rocky), and starring Ralph Macchio (The Outsiders, My Cousin Vinny) as Daniel, and Noriyuki Pat Morita (Happy Days TV series) as the memorable Mr. Miyagi.

The movie was released the same year Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop and The Terminator became blockbusters, and it was one of the top films of that year.

The story is about a teen, Daniel La Russo, who has just moved in to California with his mother. We get to experience the struggles he has to go through while trying to adapt to the new home and school. Of course, things go bad for Daniel. He gets bullyed by a group of karate champs and he just so happens to be romancing the ex of the leader of this gang, Ali (with an I) played by Elizabeth Shue. After several beatings, he is finally rescued by the quiet and mysterious maintenence man, Mr Miyagi who ends up teaching him self defense in the most awkward but profound way. The movie focuses on the close friendship that bonds between Daniel and Mr Miyagi and how Daniel learns to balance his life amidst such rough situations.

The ending where Daniel goes the distance against the leader of his bullies, Johnny, played by William Zabka, who happens to be the 3 time champion of the All Valley under 18 Karate Tournament, and wins is quite breathtaking.

Morita earned an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor that year for his mesmerizing performance as Mr Miyagi, but he lost. In my opinion, he deserved that award. It's also my opinion that The Karate Kid is one of the best films I have ever seen.

Recommended

A

Rating:
Summary: Predictable, corny...but works like gangbusters
Review: This movie was precisely targeted at teenagers, and not surprisingly, I liked it when I was a teenager. However, I recently watched it again when it played on a cable channel, and I was surprised at how much I still liked it. It doesn't even look all that dated, which is unusual for a "teen" movie released in the early-to-mid-80s.

Ralph Macchio, who was about 23 but looked 14 when the movie was filmed, is appealing and likable as Daniel LaRusso. Daniel's mother has recently transplanted them both from New Jersey, where he fit in, to Southern California, where he doesn't. Not surprisingly, he quickly runs afoul of the local bullies (a very Aryan-looking group), and matters aren't helped by his interest in pretty Ali (Elisabeth Shue), erstwhile girlfriend of Johnny (William Zabka), the leader of the pack. Johnny and his friends are formidable not least because they know karate, having been taught it by the sadistic Kreese (Martin Kove, looking suitably evil).

The center of the movie is Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita, who got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, becoming the first Asian-American to do so), a diminutive, enigmatic figure who becomes Daniel's unlikely friend and ally. He saves Daniel from being beaten nearly to death by Johnny, which is when we learn that Miyagi is a karate master. Naturally, Daniel decides to enlist Miyagi as his teacher so he can fight back. Miyagi then takes Daniel down to Kreese's studio to ask that Kreese and his students leave Daniel alone. Kreese challenges him to a showdown, and Miyagi blithely picks the turf: the upcoming karate championship.

Miyagi's training at first seems as if it has nothing to do with karate -- he has Daniel wash his cars, sand his deck, paint his fence, then paint his house, only he has him use very specific movements with each task. Daniel finally gets fed up and yells that Miyagi hasn't trained him, just used him as his slave. Then Miyagi demostrates how each specific movement is in fact a karate defense.

The outcome of the movie is easy to guess. Of course Daniel will win the championship (even though Kreese has his students fight dirty), and of course Daniel will get the girl. But the cast and the story are so appealing that it's easy to overlook the movie's predictability. Though Ali doesn't have a whole lot to do, Shue somehow manages to raise her above the usual "love interest" role. Ali is rich but has no use for her parents' snobbery, nor does she have any patience with Johnny's periodic crude attempts to get her back, or Daniel's occasional insensitivity and thickheadedness. Morita brings the expected Yoda-like wisdom, and playfulness, to his role, but he also has great dignity even in scenes that could have been just plain embarrassing, like when Miyagi gets drunk on what would've been his anniversary (his wife died in childbirth, and the baby died with her). Even Zabka does a good job playing a guy who at first seems like a stereotypical tough. Just before the final showdown with Daniel at the karate championship, Johnny realizes what a monster Kreese truly is; perhaps that is why he himself presents Daniel with the trophy after Daniel wins.

"The Karate Kid" spawned three highly unnecessary sequels, which cheapened this otherwise sweet, enjoyable movie. Take my advice: skip the sequels and stick with the original.

Rating:
Summary: A BONAFIDE CLASSIC THAT SPAWNED MANY INFERIOR IMITATIONS
Review: A YOUNG BULLIED TEENAGER [RALPH MACCHIO] GETS TAUGHT MARTIAL ARTS BY A JAPANESE HANDYMAN NAMED MR. MIYAGI [PAT MORITA, IN HIS MOST FAMOUS ROLE]. JUST LIKE ''ROCKY'', WHICH WAS RELEASED YEARS BEFORE, THIS IS THE ULTIMATE UNDERDOG MOVIE. JOHN G. AVILDSEN, THE DIRECTOR OF ''ROCKY'' AND ''ROCKY V'', BRINGS US A VERY WELL ACTED AND VERY ENTERTAINING MOVIE THAT HAS BEEN RIPPED OFF COUNTLESS TIMES. IF YOU LIKE UNDERDOG MOVIES, THIS IS DEFINITELY THE ONE [AND CHECK OUT ''ROCKY''] TO GET! FOLLOWED BY THREE SEQUELS, THE THIRD IS KNOWN AS ''THE NEXT KARATE KID''.

Rating:
Summary: The 80s are back in action
Review: This movie has a very easy plot, but you can watch once and again, because it's not like one of those stupid martial arts movies. Ralph Maccio gas a good perform in the movie, the same for Pat Morita, who had the nomination for this movie. And the feature of Elisabeth Shue, she looks very pretty. Buy it and you'll have a good time.