Karate Kid: A Hora da Verdade

A lot of posts focus on the 'coming of age' aspect of this movie, but the very overlooked part is the role it played in helping to alleviate many of the stereotypes a very Asian phobic America was after WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

They make a point of showing Miyagi in a US Army Uniform--and a War Hero-- and makes references to detention camps Miyagi's family was sent to (a horribly dark period in American history)...where Miyagi's wife was being sent (pregnant) and where she and his unborn child (son) ultimately die during childbirth. There are also a few scenes in which ethnic slurs are used by rednecks toward Miyagi.

Taking this into light, and taking the fact that Daniel has no father that we know of in this movie, the name Daniel-san (sounds like Daniel-SON) helps demonstrate a father son bond that is overlooked. Much of the conversation between Daniel and Miyagi is about Miyagi's great father in Okinawa, because Miyagi has acquired all this knowledge and wants to share it. Daniel substitutes for the son Miyagi never had and Miyagi substitutes for the father Daniel doesn't have.

I being a child of the 80's have a soft spot for this movie. Yes it is predictable,but what makes it a great movie is the performances by the 2 main characters. Ralph Macchio is great as a teenager that is bullied at his new school. But the movie belongs to Pat Morita as Mr. Myagi. He plays an old apartment maintenance man that befriends Macchio. He becomes his karate teacher, but they develop a great friendship that makes the movie all the more enjoyable. The great thing is that the movie shows that the old man comes to need the kid as much as the kid needs him, it is a touching relationship. All the rest is standard Rocky film stuff, but what Rocky and this film have in common is that the characters are people we care for, so all the climactic scene stuff works.

It's tough for Daniel, a teenager, who's moved with his mother from New Jersey to California, unable to fit in, Daniel is bullied and beaten by a group of boys from a local karate school. Daniel is rescued, mentored and trained by Mr Miyagi, Daniel gets a shot at taking on the bullies at their own game.

This one one of my favourite films growing up, it really is a triumph over adversity story, with Daniel taking it straight to those that bullied him, and turning the tables.

If you're a fan of those feel good 80's movies, then I'm convinced that you'll enjoy this, it really is an easy going, uplifting experience. It's loaded with iconic scenes, such as wax on, wax off and the ultimate kick scene. This film is definitely worth your time.

This film helped bring a martial arts story to the masses, prior to that, you could argue that many of the martial arts themed films had something of a niche appeal,

It always saddened me that Ralph Macchio didn't have a great career after this film, you would have thought that this would have set him up, it didn't, fortunately Cobra Kai had helped to redress the balance.

The follow up films and the remake are all below average, and perhaps better off avoided, if you've not seen Cobra Kai, I would recommend it, it truly is the great follow up that this film deserved.

Worth seeing.

8/10.

Done by the same director as Rocky, this unusual "feel good" movie became a hit in 1984 and generated two sequels before the mania died and the franchise imploded.

I remember the phenomenon from the 80s yet as a "prolific reviewer" for the IMDb now (which, for buffs, is not the same thing as a "Voracious Eater" from the Claymore series) I now see the film differently.

I see a very competently done film that is literally lifted off the ground and carried to the finish line by the extraordinary one-of-a-kind performance from a (then) 50 year old Pat Morita, an actor who essentially spent his entire career doing "asian walkons" and offers us only this one role as a chance to see what he actually could do. Given half a chance.

Macchio and Shue were competent (the former had some momentum from Happy Days/Laverne and Shirley and the latter was beginning a short career as a type of "brat pack" teenage star) but it was Morita who owned the film and kept your interest.

Unfortunately the historical record even on the IMDb does not reflect any of this. Shue actually won an award for a completely forgettable part and Morita not only did not win anything for this film but the only nominations he received were in the "supporting role" category. This is clear "color blindness" on the part of Hollywood. He has almost as much screen time as Macchio (I counted) but because his career was merely bit parts before (and after) this was the prevailing mindset. The film would have failed without him.

As a footnote, I was not able to identify precisely why he was cast in the role, but historically Okinawa has indeed been associated with its own unique brand of martial arts and, in the martial arts world, short stocky older men have long been acknowledged as champions even though in the films of our present era someone of Morita's age or body-type would never even be considered for such a part.

The two sequels were much weaker but the demand for them was great and, when there is money on the table, Hollywood will always oblige.

I am a kid of the 80's, no doubt about it. This movie meant a lot to me back when I was growing up. I never really took karate and I wasn't really bullied, but it is great to remember a time when profanity wasn't needed for humor, or vulgarity, or shootings or blowing up buildings.

A time when the " good guy " would adhere to the rules and had morals. A time when the " bad guy " had no honor, but would rarely curse...lol. ( Hey, this was a PG movie after all, wasn't it? LOL. ) " Oh, I think nothing of cheating and being mean, because THAT'S what makes the audience dislike me and root for the hero, but I just can't use filthy words. " I miss that.

I love the movie because it takes me back to my childhood and a simpler time. A good guy and a bad guy, with the good guy coming out on top. If the " good guy " curses like a sailor, shoots everyone that gets in his way, and does everything vile imaginable, he's not really that good of a guy, is he?

Yeah, I'm " old school. " So what?