The Next Karate Kid

"It's ancient wisdom against teenage spunk. 1,000 years of karate tradition is about to get a kick in the pants."

1994 1h 47m EN

😐

5.4

MID

🥫

20%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

4.6

IMDB

★5.4TMDB · 1,214🥫20%Rotten Tomatoes●36Metacritic★4.6IMDB · 37,571

ActionDramaFamilyAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.

“It's ancient wisdom against teenage spunk. 1,000 years of karate tradition is about to get a kick in the pants.”

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Cast

Pat Morita
Miyagi
Hilary Swank
Julie Pierce
Michael Ironside
Dugan
Constance Towers
Louisa
Chris Conrad
Eric
Arsenio Trinidad
Abbot Monk
Michael Cavalieri
Ned
Walton Goggins
Charlie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Christopher Cain
Writers: Mark Lee
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Karate Kid Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Christopher Cain, shot by László Kovács. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ronald Roose shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Pat Morita and Hilary Swank and Michael Ironside carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It's ancient wisdom against teenage spunk. 1,000 years of karate tradition is about to get a kick in the pants.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0110657 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Christopher Cain directs. László Kovács behind the camera. Bill Conti scores. Ronald Roose cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

132 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Part of the "The Karate Kid Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Christopher Cain, shot by László Kovács. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Ronald Roose shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Pat Morita and Hilary Swank and Michael Ironside carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "It's ancient wisdom against teenage spunk. 1,000 years of karate tradition is about to get a kick in the pants.".
8IMDB entry: tt0110657 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "high school", "martial arts", "sports", "buddhist monk".
10Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: László Kovács
Original score: Bill Conti
Editing: Ronald Roose
Production design: Walter P. Martishius
Makeup / hair: Steve LaPorte
Stunt coordinator: Pat E. Johnson
Runtime: 107 min · 1h 47m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $15,876,353
Return: 132% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Next Karate Kid (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes: 20% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 36/100
IMDB rating: 4.6/10 · 37,571 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

1 win total

Part of

The Karate Kid Collection

The first three films follow Daniel LaRusso, who learns to use karate for good under the eccentric mentorship of a janitor named Mr. Miyagi. In the fourth and final installment of the original series, Mr. Miyagi becomes the guardian of his late friend's granddaughter in an effort to steer her away from trouble. A new era introduces new rivals and new characters. In the fifth film, Mr. Han, a kung fu master, passes his wisdom to his new student, Dre. In Karate Kid: Legends, the two continuities merge when the main character, Li, is trained by both Mr. Han and the original Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso.

Also by

Christopher Cain

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2021-02-25
★ 7/10
A surprise. I quite liked this one. There may not be anything outstanding, or even massively good, about 'The Next Karate Kid', but I actually felt content with what I had just watched when the end credits came along. It turns into a sweet story, even after a fairly rocky start. The villains are meh, a little iffy but fine... far better than those from 'The Karate Kid Part III', that's for sure. Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi) is a little cliché-filled but still super endearing and likeable. A young Hilary Swank, in her first major film role, brings a solid performance as Julie. At first I wasn't convinced, but by the end I felt like I saw a positive journey with the character. In my opinion, it's the best sequel to 1984's 'The Karate Kid'. That's a big surprise, considering the downward trajectory of the preceding two. Don't get me wrong, it's close to being a not so good film. However, for me, it just about floats above the required marker. I like it, can't lie.
Filipe Manuel Neto2022-07-30
★ 6/10
Despite the heavy reviews and the public's disinterest, it's not as bad a movie as they say, and it was able to end the franchise on a positive note. After three very interesting films, the “Karate Kid” franchise had to continue, and a fourth film was made, this time with a young girl in place of the apprentice (Ralph Macchio was too old for the character, and he had no interest in calling more his image and career to the universe of martial arts films). It was a risky move, but necessary if they wanted the franchise to continue... but the public didn't buy in, despite the movie itself not being as bad as they say. In fact, I even consider it to be better than its immediate predecessor. With a weak box office result, largely as a result of the public's loss of interest in karate films, the film killed the franchise for a few decades, but I have no doubt that it was able to end it on a positive note. The script is simple, but not without its flaws: Miyagi attends a military ceremony honoring the dead of his military unit, and ends up meeting the daughter of an ex-comrade-in-arms, Julie. She is a withdrawn young woman, with problems and angry due to the death of her parents in an accident. He decides to take her as a karate apprentice, it being obvious that she has a series of problems with other violent teenagers and will have to use martial arts to defend herself, but predictability is an agenda present throughout the film, which is not brings anything substantially new to the franchise. The film basically contains the same ideas and structure as its predecessors. The end of the movie is pretty hard to believe. Despite the problems, the film brings back Pat Morita, who has already won us over with the friendliness and good humor of his character, and with an always very committed interpretation. He has always been fundamental to the success of the films in this franchise, and his funny and charismatic presence is even more important here, in a film where he assumes even more presence and protagonism. Hillary Swank is still extremely young in this film and is a long way from the glory days she will live in years to come, but she shows charisma and presence, and a latent talent that needs to be polished. The film also has the participation of Michael Ironside and Michael Cavalieri, in the role of the two main villains, both of which are predictable, flat and underdeveloped, but still worthy of our dislike. Technically, it is a very discreet film, which invests more in discreet effects and in a clear sound and image than in more flashy things. The movie's pacing is slower than its predecessors, and that takes some of the fun out of the movie, makes it more sleepy, but it's not a serious problem. The cinematography and editing are good enough, as are the choice of filming locations, the design of the sets (in particular the monastery) and the costumes. Finally, but just as importantly, the action and fight scenes were good enough and very well choreographed, and while some thought they were too sparse, I thought they were more interesting than the two preceding films in the franchise.
GenerationofSwine2023-01-12
★ 3/10
Well, let's be honest, this one does clean up the problematic white patriarchy exhibited in the three other films, but it still stereotypes Asian people as.... ....I fooled you didn't I? Yeah, I'm not at all one of those people. Whatever, no one is going to read this anyway. I do, however, feel the need to give this two stars on principle. I mean, I did remember that they made this film when Part III was (possibly) blocked from my memory to save myself the horror of it all... but that I don't think it deserves that. When I was a kid, actually a Freshman in High School, I kind of had the attitude that no Ralph Macchio meant it wasn't a real Karate Kid film. I'd rather not see it made and I went out of my way not to watch it until I caught it on cable. I'd like to think I've matured since, but they are rebooting Blade and...no Snipes. The same attitude applies. I guess I haven't grown. At any rate, it's not just the lack of Macchio, it's the addition of Ironside doing his absolutely best impersonation of Michael Ironside and over-acting to the point where I'm actually shocked the rest of the cast made it through without groaning. He's kind of like Nicholas Cage without the charisma isn't he? Moving on, Swank does an OK job of selling it physically. I mean, I'm a pretty big guy, I was certainly a big guy in High School, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she could kick my behind from here to kingdom come. Unfortunately, as much as she does sell the physicality of the role, it doesn't take a trained eye to see she doesn't know the fundamentals of even a basic street brawl. She made up for it later in here career, but it still leaves you with the impression that she never threw a real punch in her life. And that, combined with Ironside is enough to really make this movie a flop, even if it had Macchio in it... which it doesn't, and I'm still going to be juvenile and insist it can't be a Karate Kid film without him.