What can be said about The Karate Kid that hasn’t been said somewhere – and, let’s face it, better – before? That the underlining story is one of an old Asian pervert grooming a defenceless youngster for his own twisted gratification.
Yeah, nobody has said that before.
That’s probably because it’s complete rubbish. The Karate Kidis one of those films that it is literally impossible to watch without the warm haze of rose-tinted spectacles and it’s all the better for it. So, are the adventures of Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi worth a punt on Blu-ray?
Director John G. Avildsen was familiar with the themes of The Karate Kid before he started making the film. That’s due to the fact that The Karate Kid is basically a complete clone of his previous underdog extravaganza Rocky. Lovable down-on-his-luck hero, eccentric and wise trainer and a goose-bump-inducing montage. It’s everything we grew-up to believe was true but was ultimately a depressing fallacy.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with the so-simple-it-hurts concept: Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) finds it hard to adjust after moving to California. Constantly bullied by the biggest teenage douche this side of Justin Bieber, he turns to the unassuming Janitor, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita)?who turns out to be trained in the mystical ways of Karate.?And by mystical we mean waxing cars and painting houses – the quickest way of kicking ass, clearly.
We get plenty of training montages amd?memorable lines that sculpted a thousand playground taunts. It also provided?the gift of the crane-kick to delusional children who are stupid enough to think that it would actually work in a real fight.?At its heart, though, it’s a?touching story, with Mr. Myagi and Daniel forming a father and son bond that they both need in their lives.
Like all 80’s success storys, the inevitable sequel followed shortly after, with the Daniel-san and Miyagi waxing off all the way to Okinawa. The Karate Kid Part II brings back everything we you love about the original, including launching the film straight into another nostalgia-heavy montage.
The movie makes the same pratfalls that failed Ghostbusters 2; following the same exact structure of the original, even replicating the characters that can’t travel over to Japan with near identical villains and love interests. What it does improve on is expanding on Miyagi’s history. Taking him back to Japan (or Hawaii, as it blatantly is) manages to at least engage through Morita’s fantastic portrayal.
So, are they worth the high-def upgrade? Well, if you want to dive back into those forgotten ’80s movies, full of bad haircuts,?sexually-charged power ballads and actors who have subsequently drifted into complete obscurity, then there’s no better excuse. The transfers here are fantastic, while retaining a fair amount of grain which you would expect from a film from 1984.
The extras are also decent, if a little underwhelming given that there isn’t a wealth of exclusive Blu-ray features. There’s fun to be had with features on The Karate Kid – although, The Karate Kid Part?II has?practically nothing (a weird trend we’ve noticed on DVDs and Blu-rays for ’80s sequel).?It includes an enjoyable?audio commentary featuring the cast and director, and the making of docs?that litter the disc provide a welcome distraction from our pathetic existence writing reviews for you.
‘Spray Rating:
The Karate Kid: 4/5
The Karate Kid Part II: 3/5
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