Review of The Karate Kid (1984) by Adam B — 26 Jun 2010
John Avidsen's karate coming-of-age tale ironically stars a 20-something adult Ralph Macchio and Ellisabeth Shue. Pat Morita is his sage and sen sei. When the 'boy; moves to a town with tough bullies who know martial arts, an old Japanese handyman trains him for a tournament to save his skin and give him respect.
Definitely an awesome movie for the time. Since Karate is based on Chinese Kung Fu, as are most of the base martial arts, it could have been called 'The Kung Fu Kid, or the Tae Kwon Do Kid, or whatnot and still worked.
The message of poor beat up kid makes good, trains hard and stands up to win is an iconic idea of the mid 1980s kid culture.
This review of The Karate Kid (1984) was written by Adam B on 26 Jun 2010.
The Karate Kid has generally received positive reviews.
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