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| Director: | John G Avildsen | Plot: | Daniel moves to California with his mother and finds it hard to fit in. Things get harder when Daniel meets a girl, who's ex-boyfriend decides he doesn't like Daniel. The ex also happens to be the local Karate champion, and bullies Daniel. A kindly maintenance man takes Daniel under his wing and teaches him the way of Karate! | ||
| Writer: | Robert Mark Kamen | ||||
| Starring: | Ralph Macchio | ||||
| Pat Morita | |||||
| Elisabeth Shue | |||||
| Genre: | Action | Cert: |
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Critic - |
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Review:
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Second only to Rocky in terms of
inspiration, The Karate Kid is an 80's teen classic. Rivalling even the
best in the Genre (Breakfast Club) for 80's style, it lacks the
situation familiarity of it's peers. The good news is this is balanced
by heart pounding, ball breaking enthusiasm, culminating in one of those
scream at the TV endings that raises the goose pimples every time. The storyline is pretty simple, boy moves, boy gets bullied by karate students, wise old mentor teaches boy value of karate and defence, boy triumphs despite insurmountable odds. Although a not original, this movie has been copied many times (Showdown being my personal favourite) but the spirit has never been captured. The fact that Macchio has no karate ability means you have to stretch your imagination, however if you believe, you definitely enjoy. The real gem in this movie is "Pat" Morita as the ever amusing Mr. Miyagi, whose light hearted approach keeps you smiling throughout. He comes across as a Karate Master mixed with Mr. Magoo, and it's an absolute delight. Although having aged badly, haircuts and music especially, The Karate Kid is a true master at inspiring, and is a classic in every cult sense of the word. |
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