The Karate Kid

"He taught him the secret to karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands."

1984 2h 7m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 4,899

ActionDramaFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, 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.

“He taught him the secret to karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands.”

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Cast

Ralph Macchio
Daniel
Pat Morita
Miyagi
Elisabeth Shue
Ali
William Zabka
Johnny
Martin Kove
Kreese
Randee Heller
Lucille
Ron Thomas
Bobby
Rob Garrison
Tommy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John G. Avildsen
Writers: Robert Mark Kamen
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

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $91M — a 11.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John G. Avildsen, shot by James Crabe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 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#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita and Elisabeth Shue carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He taught him the secret to karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John G. Avildsen directs. James Crabe behind the camera. Bill Conti scores. John G. Avildsen cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $91M — a 11.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
242 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "The Karate Kid Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by John G. Avildsen, shot by James Crabe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor John G. Avildsen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita and Elisabeth Shue carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "He taught him the secret to karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands.".
9IMDB entry: tt0087538 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 28 themes, including "high school", "friendship", "martial arts", "fight".

The technical file

Cinematography: James Crabe
Original score: Bill Conti
Editing: John G. Avildsen
Production design: William J. Cassidy
Makeup / hair: E. Thomas Case
Sound: Robert Glass
Stunt coordinator: Alan Oliney
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $8,000,000
Box office: $91,138,075
Return: 1139% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Karate Kid (1984)

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

John G. Avildsen

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John Chard2015-04-18
★ 8/10
The Karocky Kid. The Karate Kid is directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and Elisabeth Shue. Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) moves with his mother (Randee Heller) from Newark, New Jersey to Reseda, a neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Pretty much from the off Daniel finds he doesn't belong and quickly incurs the wrath of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) who is the ex-boyfriend of the only person Daniel has connected with; Ali Mills (Shue). Not good since Johnny is an ace karate student from the Cobra Kai dojo, a place where the students are taught winning is everything by tough ex-forces sensei, John Kreese (Martin Kove). But salvation and a stop to the beatings at the hands of Lawrence and his bully loving friends may come in the form of the quirky but kind handyman at the apartment complex; Mr. Miyagi (Morita). In 1976 John G. Avildsen had directed one of the most loved of all the underdog comes good movies, Rocky. Fast forward to 1984 and we find Avildsen treading on the same turf, only for a younger audience. What was to follow would be a monster hit movie (it made over $90 million domestically alone), that spawned three sequels, a remake, pop culture bonanza and more telling; got karate back in the headlines some 11 years after the tragic death of Bruce Lee. Its appeal is not hard to fathom, geeky young guy gets beat up on by some suspiciously Aryan bully types, forms a wonderful and warm friendship with sage old Chinaman, becomes a karate hero after being tutored in an unorthodox manner by kindly Chinaman, then kicks Aryan dudes butt. What's not to like there? Hell us young men even had the all American cutie pie looks of Shue (she was 21 at the time and Macchio 23) to admire as we joined Daniel in chopping, kicking and falling on our asses as we tried the famous "Crane Kick". Sure some of it looks creaky now, but it's creakiness with an 80s charm that still engages today. So lets get waxing on and waxing off and relieve the moment when we all cheered at the climax of this simple, yet utterly beguiling movie. 8/10
Wuchak2019-03-03
★ 9/10
Reverent and emotionally potent coming-of-age/sports flick A boy (Ralph Macchio) moves with his mother from New Jersey to Los Angeles, but isn’t welcomed by the Cobra Kai gang at school, led by bully Johnny (William Zabka). But Daniel (Macchio) finds a potential girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue) and a ‘golden connection’ with a Japanese American who’s willing to teach him the art of karate (Pat Morita). Everything leads to Daniel facing off with Johnny at a tournament. Martin Kove is on hand as the sensei dripping with villainy. “The Karate Kid” (1984) is a product of its time, the early/mid 80s, and is unrepentant about it. A long sequence featuring Bananarama’s "Cruel Summer” tells all. Speaking of which, that’s a great school scene. There’s something about this flick that always moves me; it has heart. It’s about the love of a teenager and his mother; the love of a boy and a girl; and the fatherly love of a harassed new kid on the block and a wise old Asian man. It’s also about facing hefty challenges and learning to overcome them. There’s a reverent quality and the proceedings ring true, except maybe for the campiness of the uber-machismo sensei, although that’s entertaining. Winsome Shue shines on the female front wherein the movie scores well with several peripheral notables and even Daniel’s warmly spirited mother (Randee Heller). The film runs 2 hours, 6 minutes and was shot in the Los Angeles area. GRADE: A-
r96sk2021-02-23
★ 7/10
The start of <em>'The Karate Kid'</em>. Good viewing, this. I'd be lying if I didn't say I expected more from it, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it - because I did. Coming into this I had only seen the 2010 remake, therefore I did know what was coming in certain points. Still, the plot is interesting and holds a positive message. I would say the run time is longer than I would've chosen, I feel they could've shaved a bit off and not have taken so long to get to the karate event itself. It builds up fairly slowly, meaning the opening 40 minutes are less interesting - to me, anyway. The rest is good fun though. I definitely sensed the <em>'Rocky'</em> influence, particularly in Ralph Macchio's acting. He reminded me of Sylvester Stallone from the aforementioned film, in terms of the acting perhaps not being anything incredible but there being the required amount of likability and glimpses of hidden talent. Macchio (Daniel) is very good here, as is Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi) of course. Onto the sequels!