When his mother Lucille (Randee Heller) gets a new promotion, Daniel LaRusso (a superb Ralph Macchio) relocates to Los Angeles, California. There he flirts with the wrong girl (Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills) provoking the leader of a local Karate gang, Cobra Kai (William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence.) The wise old, eccentric handyman / Karate master, Mr. Miyagi, who lives next door, agrees to help (a superb Pat Morita.)
The Karate Kid owes a great debt to Rocky (1976) but it has enough of its own ideas to make an impact! Mr. Miyagi has a unique way of teaching Daniel Karate (“Wax On, Wax Off”) which is extremely memorable. His wisdom spouting quotes are highlights in an already excellent screenplay.
The 80's soundtrack is great (see: Bananarama's 'Cruel Summer' and Joe Esposito's 'You're the Best') and the final tournament really delivers.
Martin Kove is John Kreese, the vicious head of Cobra Kai. "Sweep the leg, do you have a problem with that?"
A high kicking coming of age story that gave way to five sequels and a TV series, so far.
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DIRECTED BY: John G. Avildsen. SCREENPLAY BY: Robert Mark Kamen. RUNNING TIME: 127 minutes. CERTIFICATE: 15 / PG-13. USA.
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