First Take Classics: The Karate Kid: the ‘Miyagi-verse’ begins

SYNOPSIS: A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.

1984. A great year for cinema. One which was depicted super recently. But with all its hype, came a surprise success story for martial arts- a story which made quite the podcast just three weeks ago. We are of course talking about The Karate Kid, arguably one of the greatest films of its kind.

It is all in the capable hands of John G Avildsen, a director who is able to pace the film relatively well for a 2 hour 6 minute running time, as well as blending action with plot elements in a way that allows the story to breathe. Robert Mark Kamen’s script is also polished and well refined, with enough tension to make the relationships work, violence that was ahead of its time for a PG-13 back then, and importantly, characters who feel believable and fleshed out. On cinematography duties is James Crabe, who does a fantastic job, and there isn’t much to fault with Bill Conti’s score either.

The cast though, well, this is where the film truly excels. Having Ralph Macchio as Dan LaRusso and Pat Morita as Miyagi allows the writing to truly come alive, and when you add Bill Zabka to the mix as Johnny, there is enough in this first movie alone to continue building the backstory nearly 40 years on with Netflix’s Cobra Kai series. Supporting them are a young Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove as a very menacing Kreese, and many others, but that core 4 are how this film works all these years later.

THE VERDICT

It spawned a franchise. It redefined the phrase ‘wax on, wax off’. And it’s still a cracking movie. Karate Kid 1, even with its 1980s cheese, has a certain timeless charm to it, something which is respected to this day by anyone who dares to continue the story all these years later.

RATING: 4/5