The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the Karate Kid franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, and William Zabka.[3][4] The Karate Kid follows the story of Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), an Italian-American teenager from New Jersey who moves with his widowed mother to the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles. There, LaRusso encounters harassment from his new bullies, one of whom is Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of LaRusso's love interest, Ali Mills (Shue). LaRusso is taught karate by a handyman and war veteran named Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to help LaRusso defend himself and compete in a karate tournament against his bullies.
This article is about the 1984 film. For the franchise, see The Karate Kid (franchise). For the DC Comics character, see Karate Kid (comics). For other uses, see Karate Kid (disambiguation).The Karate Kid
- John G. Avildsen
- Walt Mulconery
- Bud S. Smith
Jerry Weintraub Productions
- June 22, 1984
127 minutes[1]
United States
English
$8 million[2]
$130.8 million
Kamen was approached by Columbia Pictures to compose a film similar to Avildsen's previous success Rocky (1976), after Columbia signed the director. Kamen drew inspiration from the real-life events of an eight-year-old Tum Pai student's story in Hawaii when writing the film.[5] As a result, he maintained strong opinions regarding cast, and petitioned heavily for Morita's inclusion.[6] Preparations for the film began immediately after the final edit of the script was complete, and casting took place between April and June 1983. Principal photography began on October 31, 1983, in Los Angeles and was completed by December 16. The film was Macchio's second major film role following The Outsiders (1983).[7]
The Karate Kid was theatrically released in the United States on June 22, 1984. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the action sequences, writing, themes, performances, and music. The film was also a commercial success, grossing over $130 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 1984 and Hollywood's biggest sleeper hit of the year. The film revitalized the acting career of Morita, who was previously known mostly for comedic roles, and it earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[8] The film subsequently launched a media franchise and is credited for popularizing karate in the United States.[9][10]
Plot[edit]
In 1984,[11] 17-year-old Daniel LaRusso and his mother Lucille move from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda, Los Angeles, California. Their apartment's handyman is an eccentric but kind and humble Okinawan immigrant named Mr. Miyagi.
At a beach party the following day, Daniel meets and befriends Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader, drawing the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence, a black belt and the top student from the Cobra Kai dojo, where an aggressive form of karate is taught. Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang (Bobby Brown, Tommy, Jimmy, and Dutch) continually bully Daniel. On Halloween, after Daniel sprays water on Johnny with a hose as payback, Johnny and his gang chase Daniel and brutally beat him until Miyagi intervenes and easily defeats them.
Amazed, Daniel asks Miyagi to teach him karate. Although Miyagi declines, he agrees to accompany Daniel to Cobra Kai to resolve the conflict. They meet the sensei, John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran who callously dismisses the peace offering. Miyagi then proposes that Daniel enter the upcoming Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championship tournament to compete against Kreese's students on equal terms and requests that the bullying ceases while Daniel trains. Kreese agrees to the terms but warns that if Daniel does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will continue for both of them.
Daniel's training starts with days of menial chores that seemingly only serve to make him Miyagi's slave. When he becomes frustrated, Miyagi demonstrates that repetition of these chores has helped Daniel to learn defensive blocks through muscle memory. Their bond develops, and Miyagi opens up to Daniel about his life, including the dual loss of his wife and son in childbirth at the Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where Miyagi received the Medal of Honor.
Through Miyagi's teaching, Daniel learns both karate and essential life lessons, such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel applies the life lessons Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali. On Daniel's 18th birthday, Miyagi gives him a Karate gi for the tournament and one of his own cars.
Daniel surprises the audience and competitors at the tournament by reaching the semi-finals. Johnny advances to the finals, scoring three unanswered points against Darryl Vidal. Kreese instructs his second-best student, Bobby, one of his more compassionate students and the least vicious of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, severely injuring Daniel and getting himself disqualified.
Daniel is taken to the locker room, where the physician determines that he cannot continue. However, Daniel believes that if he quits, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him, so Daniel convinces Miyagi to use a pain suppression technique to help him continue. Daniel returns to fight as Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default. The match is a seesaw battle, with neither able to break through the other's defense.
The match is halted when Daniel uses a scissor-leg technique to trip Johnny, delivering a blow to the back of his head and giving Johnny a nosebleed. Kreese directs Johnny to sweep Daniel's injured leg – an unethical move. Johnny looks horrified at the order but reluctantly agrees. As the match resumes and the score is tied 2–2, Johnny seizes Daniel's leg and deals a vicious elbow, doing further damage. Daniel, standing with difficulty, assumes the "Crane" stance, a technique he observed Miyagi performing on a beach. Johnny lunges toward Daniel, who jumps and executes a front kick to Johnny's face, scoring the winning point and becoming the new champion. Having gained newfound respect for his nemesis, Johnny presents the trophy to Daniel himself, as an enthusiastic crowd carries Daniel while Miyagi looks on proudly.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
The Karate Kid is a semi-autobiographical story based on the life of its screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen. At age 17, after the 1964 New York World's Fair, Kamen was beaten up by a gang of bullies. He thus began to study martial arts in order to defend himself.[5] Kamen was unhappy with his first teacher who taught martial arts as a tool for violence and revenge. So he moved on to study Okinawan Gōjū-ryū karate under a Japanese teacher who did not speak English but had been a student of Chōjun Miyagi.[5]
As a Hollywood screenwriter, Kamen was mentored by Frank Price who told him that producer Jerry Weintraub had optioned a news article about the young child of a single mother who had earned a black belt to defend himself against the neighborhood bullies. Kamen then combined his own life story with the news article and used both to create the screenplay for The Karate Kid.[5] Additionally, given John G. Avildsen's involvement with both films, Sylvester Stallone often joked with Kamen that the writer had "ripped off" the Rocky films with The Karate Kid.[5]
DC Comics had a character called Karate Kid. The filmmakers received special permission from DC Comics in 1984 to use the title for the film and its sequels.[12]
Casting[edit]
A number of actors were considered for the part of Daniel, including Sean Penn,[12] Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer,[13] Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Eric Stoltz and D. B. Sweeney.[5] Ralph Macchio was ultimately cast on the strength of his performance as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders (1983).[5] Macchio has stated that his performance as Johnny influenced the development of Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid.[14][15]
Macchio later commented that the character was originally named Danny Weber, but was later changed to LaRusso.[5]
The studio originally wanted the role of Mr. Miyagi to be played by Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Hidden Fortress (1958), but the actor did not speak English.[5] Pat Morita later auditioned for the role but was rejected for the part due to his close association with stand-up comedy and with his character Arnold on the sitcom Happy Days.[5] Afterwards, Morita grew a beard and patterned his accent after his uncle, which led to him being cast in the role.[16]
Crispin Glover was considered for the role of Johnny, but the studio later opted for William Zabka. After his audition, Zabka saw Macchio, who noted that Zabka scared him during his audition to the studio.[5] When he was cast, Zabka was a wrestler with no previous training in karate.[12][17] Zabka later recalled his audition, saying he was told to act out a scene from the script, while wearing a headband. He walked up to and grabbed John Avildsen, and said "Watch your mouth asshole!" He then exited the room and came back in, took his headband off and said that it was Johnny, not Billy. Avildsen then asked him about his age, and his height when compared to karate kid. Zabka responded, "Bruce Lee was smaller than Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but he beat him" in reference to Game of Death, to which Avildsen confirmed it. Avildsen was then convinced to cast Zabka for the role.[18]
Helen Hunt and Demi Moore were also considered for the role of Ali, but Elisabeth Shue was cast based partly on a Burger King commercial that became widely popular in the early 1980s. The film marks the debut roles of both Zabka and Shue.[5] Late in production, Valerie Harper was considered for the role of Lucille, but the studio later instated Randee Heller for the role.[5]
Filming[edit]
Filming began on October 31, 1983,[19] and wrapped on December 16.[20]
The film's fight choreographer for the combat scenes was Pat E. Johnson, a Tang Soo Do karate black belt who had previously been featured in Bruce Lee's American–Hong Kong martial arts film Enter the Dragon (1973) and worked with Chuck Norris at American Tang Soo Do martial arts schools. Johnson also makes an appearance as the referee in The Karate Kid. Pat Morita's stunt double for Mr. Miyagi, Fumio Demura, is also a karate black belt who had previously worked with Bruce Lee, who learnt some nunchaku techniques from Demura.[21]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The film was a commercial success, grossing $100 million in the United States and Canada to become one of the highest-grossing films of 1984 and Hollywood's biggest sleeper hit of the year.[23][24][25] Following the release of Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid re-releases in 2018 and 2019 grossed a further $400,529 in the United States and Canada,[26][27] bringing its domestic total to $100,400,529 (equivalent to $294,000,000 in 2023).
In the United Kingdom, the film topped the box office for two weeks and grossed £2,960,939[28] ($3,947,919).[29] By 1989, the film had grossed $130 million worldwide.[30] Between 2018 and 2020, the film grossed a further $400,529 in the United States and Canada,[26][27] and $42,257 in the United Kingdom and Australia, bringing its worldwide total to $130,442,786 (equivalent to $383,000,000 in 2023).
The film sold an estimated 27,072,000 tickets in the United States and Canada.[31] The film also sold 1.9 million tickets in Spain,[32] 1,888,845 tickets in France and Germany,[33] and 137,217 tickets in the South Korean capital of Seoul,[34] adding up to 30,998,062 tickets sold in the United States, Canada, Spain, France, Germany and Seoul.
Book[edit]
In 2022, Ralph Macchio published the memoir Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me (Dutton), in which he reflects upon the making of and legacy of the Karate Kid films and Cobra Kai.[75]