The Karate Kid (1984)

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. The Karate Kid follows Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), a teenager taught karate by Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to help defend himself and compete in a tournament against his bullies, one of whom is Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of his love interest Ali Mills (Shue). Kamen was approached by Columbia Pictures to compose a film similar to Avildsen’s previous success Rocky (1976), after signing the director. Kamen drew inspiration from his own life when writing the film. As a result, he maintained strong opinions regarding cast, and petitioned heavily for Morita’s inclusion. 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 completed by December 16, 1983. The film was Macchio’s second major film role following The Outsiders (1983). 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, storyline, acting 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 earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film subsequently launched a media franchise and is credited for popularizing karate in the United States.

Plot.

In 1984, 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, Daniel 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, training in an aggressive form of karate. Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang continually bully Daniel. On Halloween, after Daniel sprays water on Johnny with a hose as payback, he and his gang pursue Daniel down the street and brutally beat him, until Mr. Miyagi intervenes and easily defeats them alone. Amazed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate. He declines but 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 Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championships,

thereby compete against Kreese’s students on equal terms, and requests that the bullying cease while he 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 have helped him 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 he received the Medal of Honor. Through Mr. Miyagi’s teaching, Daniel learns not only karate but also important life lessons such as the importance of personal balance,

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eflected 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. At the tournament, Daniel surprises the audience and competitors by reaching the semi-finals. Johnny advances to the finals, scoring three unanswered points against Darryl Vidal. Kreese instructs his second-best student, Bobby Brown, 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 in the process.

Development.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Casting.

A number of actors were considered for the part of Daniel, including Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Eric Stoltz and D. B. Sweeney. Ralph Macchio was ultimately cast on the strength of his performance as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders (1983). Macchio has stated that his performance as Johnny influenced the development of Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid. Macchio later commented that, “the character was originally named Danny Weber. As soon as I walked in the room, it changed to LaRusso.” 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. 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. After a few failed attempts, Morita grew a beard and patterned his accent after his uncle, which led to him being cast in the role.

Filming, Home media.

Filming began on October 31, 1983, and wrapped on December 16, 1983. 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. In the United Kingdom, it was watched by 3.7 million viewers on television in 2017, making it the year’s tenth most-watched film on UK multichannel television.

Merchandise.

The film spawned a franchise of related items and memorabilia such as action figures, headbands, posters, T-shirts, and a video game. A novelization was made by B.B. Hiller and published in 1984. The novel had a scene that was in the rehearsal when Daniel encounters Johnny during school at lunch. Also at the end, there was a battle between Miyagi and Kreese in the parking lot after the tournament which was the original ending for the film and used as the beginning of The Karate Kid Part II. In 2015, toy company Funko revived The Karate Kid action figures. Two versions of LaRusso, a version of Lawrence and a version of Miyagi were part of the line. The toys were spotted at retailers Target and Amazon.com.

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Box office.

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. 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, bringing its domestic total to $100,400,529 (equivalent to $262,000,000 in 2021). In the United Kingdom, the film topped the box office for two weeks and grossed £2,960,939 ($3,947,919). By 1989, the film had grossed $130 million worldwide. Between 2018 and 2020, the film grossed a further $400,529 in the United States and Canada, and $42,257 in the United Kingdom and Australia, bringing its worldwide total to $130,442,786 (equivalent to $340,000,000 in 2021).