Synopsis
Daniel moves to Los Angeles with his mother, Lucille, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of high school students, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei, John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.
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Cast
- Ralph MacchioDaniel LaRusso
- Pat MoritaMr. Miyagi
- Elisabeth ShueAli Mills
- William ZabkaJohnny Lawrence
- Martin KoveJohn Kreese
- Randee HellerLucille LaRusso
- Ron ThomasBobby
- Rob GarrisonTommy
- Chad McQueenDutch
- Tony O'DellJimmy
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
The Karate Kid was one of the nice surprises of 1984 -- an exciting, sweet-tempered, heart-warming story with one of the most interesting friendships in a long time. - 80
Variety
John G. Avildsen is back in the Rocky ring with The Karate Kid. More precisely, it is a Rocky for kids. Morita is simply terrific, bringing the appropriate authority and wisdom to the part. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Though shamelessly manipulative, it is undeniably effective. It offers some genuine moments of warmth, humor and excitement. Of course it all leads up to a big tournament where Fair Play has a showdown with Dirty Tricks. Guess who wins. This is the kind of movie where you find yourself cheering even though you know you're being hoodwinked. - 63
Slant Magazine
The Karate Kid might have been more endurable, maybe even endearing, if its runtime had been trimmed of a solid 30 minutes. - 60
Empire
Ralph Macchio's transformation from high school geek to butt-kicking tough guy, thanks to a little help from Chinese sage Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita) and his homespun Oriental wisdom, is entertaining enough. - 60
The New York Times
When karate is not being treated as the latest excuse for an Impossible Dream success story, and when the film is able to find more in Daniel's martial-arts career than pure Rocky-esque competitiveness, The Karate Kid exhibits warmth and friendly, predictable humor, its greatest assets. - 60
Washington Post
The Karate Kid can't really brushoff the conventional showdown it's incited, so the movie adds the obligatory action payoff to its less expected and more substantial rewards. The filmmakers can't help overbalancing on melodramatic excess from time to time, but their mistakes never obliterate the civilized wisdom of Miyagi's outlook: "Have balance, everything be better." [22 June 1984, p.B1] - 50
Chicago Reader
As in the Rocky films, Avildsen's only directorial strategy is to delay the final confrontation for so long that all the audience's pent-up frustration explodes with it. It's primitive, predatory stuff.
