The Karate Kid
- Ralph Macchio: Daniel LaRusso
- Pat Morita Mr. Miyagi Kesuke
- Elisabeth Shue: Ali Mills
- Martin Kove: John Kreese (Cobra Kai sensei )
- Randee Heller: Lucille LaRusso
- William Zabka: Johnny Lawrence
- Christopher Kriesa: Official
Karate Kid is an American film released in 1984.
Action
The 15- year-old Daniel LaRusso moved with his single mother from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda (Los Angeles ). While his mother California almost glorified in the anticipation of a set up as new existence as a paradise on earth, Daniel is doing considerably more difficult with his new home. After all, meets Daniel in this new apartment complex on the idiosyncratic, but friendly and helpful caretaker Mr. Miyagi.
In the new town of Daniel, is harassed by the young students of an aggressive teaching karate teacher, the owner of the Cobra Kai dōjō. The situation escalated when he was in the ex-girlfriend ( Ali Mills ) of the leader of the young people in love. When Daniel is after the Halloween party at school attacked by the rowdy youths and severely mistreated, Mr. Miyagi saves him. He turns out to be a karate master of the old school, the quite unorthodox ( for Daniel first applying little understanding ) not only in the technical but also in the philosophical aspects of karate dedicates him. In the course of training Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are good friends. At Daniel's 16th birthday Mr. Miyagi gives him even one of the cars of his own vintage car collection, which had to wash and polish Daniel in the course of his training program ( " Wax on, wax off", German: " apply and polish ").
At the end of the film, Daniel has put his newly acquired skills in a championship event to the test. Although the procedure is the part of competing dojos with very unfair methods, he wins the tournament and has thus secured the respect of others.
Background information
The story that develops around the two main characters, tells the one hand a surrogate father - surrogate son relationship, on the other hand it shows to some extent that it is not in a martial art such as karate is a " Hau - top - sport ", but still keeps strong to Western stereotypes. The philosophical depth that is behind martial arts was, until then relatively unknown to Western audiences.
The unusual for that time representation of the subject was John G. Avildsens Karate Kid a cult film of the 1980s. Karate Kid has with his two successors Karate Kid II - The final decision in this decade triggered a worldwide boom with Karate - Decision in Okinawa and Karate Kid III. Many young people who succumbed to the charm of the film, then signed up for karate training.
In 1994, still Karate Kid was - The next generation produced, the government took over Christopher Cain. The karate student of Miyagi was Kesuke this time played by Hilary Swank.
Between 1989 and 1990 an eponymous 13-part animated series was produced. The characters are aligned with the movies, the plot is somewhat mystical. Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi and the girl Taki travel around and are looking for a magic shrine.
Awards
- Pat Morita was nominated for the 1985 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award.
- The film won a prize in two categories depending on the Young Artist Awards. Elisabeth Shue was honored as Best Young Supporting Actress, the film won the award for Best Family Motion Picture - Drama.
Reviews
" Naive cinema fairy tale by a known pattern, but getting some depth by linking to Far Eastern wisdom. Impressively staged, the film has largely sympathetic conversation. "
" As a classic underdog story of good vs. evil located in the high school milieu was " The Karate Kid "1984 cult film for a whole generation. The film took three sequels, triggered a karate boom, and Mister Miyagi became an icon of pop culture. The special feature was that the film managed to cross more than a compelling coming- of-age story with karate action. "The Karate Kid " also highlighted the difficult, often marked by racism relationship between Japanese and Americans and was a clear statement from violence as a last resort. "
Remake
2010 came the remake, The Karate Kid, in theaters. The main roles were Jackie Chan as a teacher and Will Smith's son Jaden Smith as a student.