Wax on, wax off (The Karate Kid (DVD))

Member Name: Whizz11

Product:	The Karate Kid (DVD)
Date:	26/08/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great last scene, 80's film, karate, Mr Miyagi

Disadvantages: None

One of my favourite childhood films with arguably the most dramatic cinematic ending of a film ever has to be the Karate Kid.

Starring Ralph Macchio as the aforementioned Karate Kid, it follows his journey into the world of, yes, you've guessed it, karate. Ralph played Daniel LaRusso, is a teenager who moves to Southern California from New Jersey with his mother. He firstly finds it hard to fit in as he is a bit different. Daniel has a very Jersey accent which I think definitely makes his character very believeable as a different teenager from those in California. Ralph Macchio is great in this role, it's really his defining role. Although he did other things before and a few things afterwards it's really this film and its subsequent sequels that made him famous to this day. He has such a baby face and was quite cute in his day and became quite a teen idol.

Daniel finds a love interest in Ali Mills, played by Elizabeth Shue but her ex-boyfriend Johnny, is not happy with the situation. He is a top karate student at the Cobra Kai karate dojo and subjects Daniel to quite a few beatings with the help of his friends. Thankfully for Daniel, he has a unlikely saviour in the form of his apartment janitor, Mr Miyagi played by Pat Morita. Pat was nominated for a best supporting actor award at the Academy Awards for this film in 1984. Mr Miyagi soons becomes his karate teacher and mentor and somewhat of a surrogate father to him. Mr Miyagi is the person Daniel-san (as Mr Miyagi calls him) comes to with all his problems and in turn My Miyagi teaches him important life lessons, such as the importance of balance, reflected by the belief that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body.

I was actually quite upset to read that in real life Pat Morita didn't actually know karate!! This was quite sad to find out because in the film he actually shows us some moves that look very realistic and very good!

The great thing about this movie is that you don't have to like karate to love this story. It's a love story, a story about good over evil, where the underdog wins and gets the girl. It's great 1980's style watching and I defy anyone not to like it. There are quite a few karate scenes but these are done well and actually have you captivated as to the skill displayed and you are also rooting for Daniel to beat the competition. I really liked watching the unlikely relationship between Daniel and Mr Miyagi develop as well as the love story between Daniel and Ali. This being an 80's movie I also love the clothes, the way teenagers behave and the general style and feel of the movie.

Daniel goes on to enter a karate competition fighting against members of the Cobra Kai and yes, you've guessed it, he makes it to the final and meets Johnny. Daniel has already been badly injured and looks like he is not going to make it but relies on Mr Miyagi's pain suppressant techniques. Then follows one of my favourite film scenes ever. THe scene is set, an intense rivalry, an opponent who faces shame if he loses. They are tied at one point away from victory. Daniel looks sure to lose until he adopts the Crane Kick, a stance he has been perfecting with the help of Mr Miyagi. The rest is pretty obvious but if you haven't seen this film I will leave it to your imagination as to what happens but it really is a feel good moment!

Summary: The Karate Kid