The Karate Kid

1984 • 127 minutes

About this movie

Newly arrived in California from New Jersey, teenager Daniel (Ralph Macchio) almost immediately runs afoul of karate-trained high school bullies. He is rescued by Japanese janitor Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita), who agrees to teach Daniel how to harness karate for good instead of brutality. The film culminates in a championship karate bout, pitting Daniel against his sworn enemy Johnny (William Zabka) -- the cruel and thuggish boyfriend of Ali (Elisabeth Shue), with whom Daniel has fallen in love (and vice versa). Real-life karate champ Chuck Norris was offered the role of Kreese, the sadistic coach who goads Johnny into fighting dirty, but Norris turned down the role, refusing to be shown utilizing his skills negatively onscreen. Vastly popular, The Karate Kid spawned three sequels of rapidly descending merit, as well as a Saturday-morning cartoon series.

Ratings and reviews

This movie gave you that inspiration you needed to feel like you can accomplish anything if set your mind to it. Ralph Macchio was perfect in the role as the underdog who defies all odds with Pat Morita as his teacher/mentor. The storyline was well thought out and the rest of the cast did a wonderful job to make this film a classic for all future generations. I have seen this movie over 100 times and its still great as the first time i ever watched it.

Jaden Smith's version (which came out in 2010) is 100000 times better.

This is the original classic. Make sure you don't grab that piece of crap they released in 2010 with Will Smith's son. It's an insult.