Review of The Karate Kid (1984) by Andrew O — 18 Jun 2010

When it comes to films from the eighties, everyone has their favorite, even people who weren't alive during that time. Some people scream Back to the Future, others scream Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I scream The Karate Kid. Basically, it's a teenage retelling of the 1976 film, Rocky (hey, it's by the same director, John G. Avildsen.) Very low budget when it was released in 1984, everyone thought that this would be eclipsed by the highly anticipated sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, as well as the Steven Spielberg produced Gremlins. However, with the controversy surrounding those films and their PG rating made parents rethink what movie to take their kids to see The Karate Kid instead. Starring Ralph Macchio as a high school kid who moves to California from New Jersey, Pat Morita as an apartment complex maintenence man who is also a karate master, and Elisabeth Shue as the girl that Daniel has a crush on, this movie was a family film that was able to be appealing to all ages, not just little kids.

This movie has everything to appeal to an audience. Memorable characters, especially Mr. Miyagi, memorable quotes (Wax on, wax off), a nice teenage romance subplot that actually works, and a nice soundtrack that just screams 1980's, a great classic that will never be forgotten. Definitely one that I will show to my future kids.