Reminiscing: The Karate Kid

I was nine years old when I first saw this movie starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. I remember the hype this movie had during those years. I mean you can’t watch television for an hour without seeing the same trailer being shown during the commercial breaks.

So with all that hype, there’s no way me and my brothers are going to miss this movie. My elder brother Dino,says that it was a comedy because Pat Morita was one of the stars. I looked at him like he was an idiot because the trailers shows him as a Japanese-American who speaks English with a weird accent. How was I supposed to know that he was included in the early seasons of “Happy Days”. Anyway so we begged our mom to take us and of course as all mothers are they just can’t say no to their kids sometimes so she trooped us to the nearby theater (there were no malls in the Philippines then) a few days it was released.

It was a great movie! Well that’s what I think then and I still think it’s a great movie now. It shows the how a very bullied boy trained and fought back fair and square to the guys who torment him everyday during in and out of school. I hated Kreese (Martin Kove), “Johnny” ( William Zabka) and the rest of the Cobras. Elizabeth Shue was the lead girl here and she already looked great back then. I distinctly remember wearing a headband the size of a small towel on my head and trying desperately to imitate the moves that “Miyagi” has taught “Daniel” (“Wax on…wax off”) and of course the Crane Kick! Almost all the kids in my class would try to do that kick every time there was free time during school. Looking back I feel like a stupid idiot.

Two years later the sequel was shown. This time it’s a fight for life and honor. Forget about the tournament! Daniel and Miyagi went to Japan to visit Miyagi’s father who was in his death bed. The movie shows how Miyagi went abroad to keep himself from fighting his best friend Sato who was portrayed by Danny Kamekona and his nephew Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) is not helping things work out either. Daniel learned another form of Karate here or finishing move is I think is most appropriate because he only used it in the end of the main fight scene. The Drum technique. Sale of toys that look like Pellet Drums became the craze of every kid back then.

The Third installment of the film. Shown in 1989. Close the story of Daniel Laruso. Here he is being tormented by Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) who was secretly being sponsored by Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) and John Kreese (Martin Kove). The story is actually the weakest of the franchise that featured Ralph Macchio and of course obviously he’s aged a bit (28 years old) and hello…. fatter? The movie’s setting also ruined it because it was set 6 months after KK2 and even make-up can’t hide it. Then there was Robyn Lively’s character “Jessica Andrews”. The character never developed into anything and she was gone before the tournament was shown. The tournament a yes the real bummer. Many wondered why the Daniel Larusso character, who fought for respect and then his own life in the two previous films, somehow became even wimpier and more obnoxious than before Miyagi took him under his wing. Also in the second film, he ends up fighting for his life and in this film, he is back to fighting for something less than his very life, violating a dependable narrative strategy. This is where many believed that the franchised “Jump the shark”. The Franchise was forgotten soon after.

Then in 1994. A new Karate kid film was released. This time it was Hilary Swank who became Miyagi’s student Julie Pierce, a kid who was deeply bothered by the death of her parents in a car crash that she’s having a hard time with her friends, and her grandmother. Miyagi appoints himself as Julie’s guardian. Miyagi takes Julie to a Buddhist Monastery to quiet her spirit and teaches her Karate. The movie also has it’s own villains like Col. Dugan (Michael Ironside) the leader of the “Alpha Elite” a quasi-security enforcement group in school. But the same formula was almost used. This time Julie was challenged to a fight by Ned (Michael Cavalieri) the most aggressive person in Alpha Elite who always failed in his attmpt to flirt with Julie. As usual the good guys win!

The Karate Kid was a great movie during the 80’s too bad the producers failed in giving a fresh story for the third installment, and much worst failed again in the fourth and last sequel. Still “Karate Kid” brings back memories of my childhood, where life was easier, no bills to pay, no worry in the world because as kids we were only supposed to enjoy life. And The Karate Kid is one of those movies that gave you enjoyment when you were a kid.