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| Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 22, 1984 |
Starring:
Pat Morita, Ralph Macchio
Summary:
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
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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.
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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.
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In a way it's silly to review a movie like this; it's like reviewing a case of acne. John G. Avildsen, the checkered-career director who made Rocky, has made this one a kind of Pebbly -- a Rocky for teenychoppers, about a semi-wimpy kid named Daniel (Ralph Macchio) who's constantly being clobbered by the creeps in his high school until he's taught karate by his janitor, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki [Pat] Morita). [25 June 1984, p.69]
This is actually director Avildsen's first hit since Rocky, and it has the same mixture of calculation and apparent naïveté. It borrows its formula from both East and West with good humour, and is completely free of intelligence, discrimination and originality. No wonder it's a hit.
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Nov 19, 2017
Wait, hold on! Why does the remake have more positive reviews than this? Seriously!!
The Karate Kid(1984) is a masterpiece and is very well developed. It's likable, enjoyable, and overall amazing.
The Karate Kid(1984) is a masterpiece and is very well developed. It's likable, enjoyable, and overall amazing.
3 of 4 users found this helpful31
May 12, 2018
Awesome! The Karate Kid is one of my favorite movies all-time! Daniel Larusso RULES!
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
Jul 30, 2023
Such a classic here for real. I'm glad Cobra Kai brought new fans to the old Karate Kid film series and it's very delightful to hear. It may be cliched but the characters are very appealing Daniel LaRusso was outstounding too.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
May 27, 2019
An 80's classic which tells a good story without using too much martial arts in order to live up to it's name.
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Aug 21, 2021
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Apr 19, 2022
Sure it's predictable but how many movies from 1984 aren't? It's simply a likeable story of a young boy finding a martial arts master when he most needs one.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
May 19, 2019
Reasonably entertaining film with good performances and a Rocky vibe, though not nearly as good as the latter.
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