Karate Kid is not what you may think it is. The premise of a young fatherless boy trying to survive a completely new environment is how this movie gets its humanity. For anyone who has ever had to move to a new town, be raised by only one parent, or face overwhelming odds, and almost everyone has done at least one of these, this movie can be related to on many levels. Ralph Macchio plays Daniel, a teenager from New Jersey who is forced to move across the country with his mother and start a new life in a foreign place, California. Setting aside the differences between East & West coast alone, there is plenty for him to realize. When faced with bullies that he doesn't understand, he finds a friend in an unlikely place; Mr. Miagi, a Japanese handyman, played by Pat Morita, who's hides many talents. To say Karate Kid is a story about over coming your fear is to say that life is just a thing we do everyday. This movie mixes a friendship, a romance, a coming of age story, gaining self confidence and learning to appreciate that which you may not understand right away. After getting sufficiently beat up by the bullies more than once, Daniel enlists the help of Miagi and soon finds himself training for a tournament. This may seem outrageous, but Miagi knows it is a much safer place and a more controlled environment for Daniel to defend himself and gain respect. Miagi's training techniques are unique to say the least, and just as Daniel begins to question what is going on, he realizes that Migai really does know what he is doing. The story is good and solid and allows sympathy for both sides of the characters. They fill a void for each other, an obvious father/son, mentor/student relationship. The chemistry between them is very solid. Elizabeth Shue is good in her first major role, playing the sweet rich girl who sees Daniel for the person he is and not for his social status. Although sounding clichéd on the surface, this movie is well done and not superficial. The characters are very real, the emotions are deep and the fear of growing up with bullies hits home for many of us. The ending will have you cheering as Daniel moves his way through the tournament to the final climatic ending. Highly recommended and highly entertaining.
Now, as you cringe at the images racing through your head of disco balls, pastels, hair spray and corny one-liners and you decide to bury yourself in a deep hole and hide, dust off the cob webs because no matter how many times you've see it, this is one eighties flick you can't help but love.
Now available on DVD as an Ultimate Collectors Pack, we can relive this inspirational story of courage and friendship.
While teens of today may call this a retro disaster, and use the video cover as a coaster during a drinking fest at one of their underage parties, there's no denying the saying, "an oldie but a goodie" loudly rings true.
Moving to a new home and starting over is never easy. Just ask Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio). Leaving Newark for LA, Daniel's the new kid and he thinks the whole world is coming down on him.
It's all doom and gloom until like any other 16 year old teenager with rushing hormones, meets a beautiful blonde, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue).
However, Ali brings baggage to the picture, a wild ex boyfriend Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) who also happens to be the leader of the Cobras, a ruthless youth karate gang.
Subject to constant bullying by the cobras, Daniel turns to an unlikely source for help, Japanese war veteran turned apartment block handyman Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita).
Mr. Miyagi, who has been taught karate by his father becomes the helpless teens mentor and teaches him the craft, not as an offensive tool, rather only as a means of self-defence.
After months of unconventional training such as washing cars, sanding decks and painting fences and houses, Daniel's prepped for his toughest battle, a fight against Johnny in the thrilling conclusion. Will good prevail over evil?
It's the finale that's most exciting. My finger is always drawn to the rewind button, where I can't help but recap those final gripping moments again and again.
The youth of today's movie going generation will have a field day laughing at the funky eighties pop music, the tightly worn jeans, and (I must admit) the outrageous hair styles. Despite this, 20 years later, a lot can still be learnt as its messages transcend across the boarder of time.
An everlasting masterpiece the whole family will enjoy, John G. Avildsen's The Karate Kid, the original of the trilogy, is undoubtedly the standout.
Though a little hackneyed and slightly predictable at times, it's the relationship between Macchio's and Morita's finely tuned characters that still make this a heartfelt film, two decades after its cinema release.
It's a shame Ralph Macchio can't brush off that teen type cast. Struggling to get adult roles because of his boy like features is unfortunate as his acting ability is second to none.
It sadly seems he'll forever be remembered as 'The Karate Kid'. A great performance is somewhat to his detriment. Still, only one word can describe this movie, unforgettable...that's for sure!
Dim the lights, heat up the popcorn and enjoy this timeless classic.This movie deserves only 3 stars instead of 3 for the following reasons:
1) There are no extras other than the trailer on this DVD. Why didn't Columbia Home Video include the trailers for the two sequels? Why didn't they get Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita (academy-nominated for this role) or director John G. Avildsen to supply commentary?
2) The movie was shot in 1.85:1 which means that the movie was shot full frame (1.33:1) but was projected in the theatre with the top and bottom blocked. This practice gives a widescreen look to movies. Since 'The Karate Kid' was done this way, pan and scan was not needed. You actually see more but this causes the composition to be a little off because there is so much space above the actor's heads. Funny thing, The Karate Kid parts 2 & 3 are letterboxed. Does this mean that an old video transfer was used for this DVD?
3) Where's the Dolby 5.1?
Read Best Reviews of The Karate Kid (1984) Here
People dismiss this film because of it's simplicity. Well I'll tell you right now, it isn't a movie about Karate. Daniel overcomes an insurmountable goal, the type of goal you achieve once in your entire life (this is why I disregard the sequels, apologies for fans). The Karate Kid is a truly beautiful piece of Cinema. If you believe the Karate Kid is a bad film then hire out the Avengers, then MK:Annihilation.What I will say is that I am DISGUSTED at the fact that this film is presented in Pan and Scan. I paid full price for a movie I am seeing half of. I wanted Widescreen. Did I get it? In a word, No. So now I have a VHS and DVD which are both Pan and Scan. Will I ever see this film in it's original format? This is a question I leave to you, Columbia. Regards Mas
Want The Karate Kid (1984) Discount?
The Karate Kid was THE sleeper hit of 1984 ! A wonderful film that entertains and inspires, a true 80's classic that remains as good today (perhaps better) than when it was released. With that said, this review will focus on the technical aspects, both audio and video, of this Blu Ray presentation rather than the film content itself.Bottom line is whether or not 'The Karate Kid' on Blu Ray is a good investment and a good choice for upgrading your current DVD or VHS copy.
The Answer? A resounding YES !! and here is why:
'The Karate Kid' come to us on a BD-50 dual layer region free disc in Glorious 1080p and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and housed in an 'Eco' case. We are given the OAR (Original Aspect Ratio) of 1.85:1 which gives the best pixel concentration and preserves the original framing. (it also gives you some very slight black bars at the top and bottom of your screen, unless you have your over scan engaged)
The video is very good. It is easily a solid 4 out of 5 stars and is a MAJOR upgrade from all previous versions. I detected a few very small and very short instances of telecine wobble but they are over so quickly you may not even notice them. The color timing is impeccable and lends itself to reproducing all the proper hues the way you saw them in your theater back in the 80's. I am VERY glad they did not tamper with it.
ON the problem end of things, there is noticeable black crush in dark scenes from time to time, but only slight and never enough to ruin a scene. Also, this transfer has obviously had DNR applied here and there to clean up what the transfer team probably thought was 'noisy' film grain. It is not particularly egregious and only removes SOME of the fine detail from faces. It is hard to tell if this was arbitrary or the print truly required the DNR application, but either way we are stuck with it and for the most part it is not bad at all and the film as a whole retains a very nice pleasing film-like look to it. I noticed NO bad DNR artifacts such as smearing or motion blur.
I have a very large video library and I am being overly picky here, to most folks this transfer will do nothing but please you from start to finish, and basically it did the same for me! All in all, 'The Karate Kid' looks really REALLY good on Blu Ray, borderline great in fact!
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is a HUGE improvement over all previous audio mixes of this film including the theatrical presentation.
While dialogue remains a bit one dimensional and flat sounding and the ADR/Dubbing is more obvious now , the overall sound of the mix is just wonderful. Music, effects, foley and ambient room sounds are greatly enhanced with a very surprising 5.1 lossless mix that adds much to the overall presentation of this film. Every sound in the film is more audible than ever before and presented in a much more pleasing way. The same applies to panning and overall sonic fidelity/dynamics.
Bill Conti's score soars like never before, greatly benefited by the lossless audio presentation and the Pan Pipes of The Amazing Zamfir sound absolutely beautiful with more presence and dynamics making the entire soundtrack more powerful and ultimately effective.
TWO HUGE THUMBS way way UP for the audio on this disc!
As for the extras, you get PLENTY! Staring with a super commentary track featuring the films writer and director plus the two male leads, this is an above average track and especially good for real fans of this movie. I loved it!
Next up is a 45 minute documentary (broken into parts one and two) that gives you behind the scenes info, interviews, etc. called 'The Way of the Karate Kid' and again it is a very nice inclusion here. You probably wont watch it more than once, but it is great that they included it.
Three more shorter documentaries including an short interview with the films composer, Bill Conti , round out the extras package. All extras are presented in SD and if you already have the DVD collectors set then you have seen them all before. The only extras in HD are a collection of HD movie trailers that I skipped. Also included is the gimmick laden 'Blu-Pop' feature which functions as a pop up trivia track that plays along with the movie. Honestly, this is not something I would ever even check out so I can't comment on it's entertainment value.
'The Karate Kid' has been a favorite of mine for many years (since it's release) and I am totally pleased with this Blu Ray presentation. The newly energized soundtrack and 1080p picture adds much to an already endearing classic. This Blu Ray is a giant step up from any previous home video release and I do think the audio is better than it EVER has been before! Top it off with a generous helping of quality extra features and you have a real winner here.
Most Highly Recommended !!
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