In The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio stars as teen Daniel Larusso, a fatherless New Jersey transplant to Los Angeles with a big chip on his shoulder. When Daniel falls for Alli (Elizabeth Shue), a rich girl from the valley, he finds himself in the crosshairs of Alli's ex-boyfriend, Johnny (William Zabka), who also happens to be a meber of the karate team, The Cobras, and they aim to teach the new kid in town a lesson. Daniel soon realizes that he doesn't fit in and that his book and YMCA-taught karate just don't cut the mustard. In steps Mr. Miyago (Pat Morita), who becomes Daniel's mentor and friend, training him in the ways of karate and in life. Little does Daniel realize that while Miyagi has him doing such menial tasks as washing and waxing his cars, painting his fence and sanding his deck, he is really building up his reflexes and muscles to become a better fighter.
When Daniel has to face down The Cobras in the local karate tournament, it becomes a true test of good versus evil. The incredible finale of the film shows us that nice guys don't always finish last, even if they do get banged up a bit.
Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita once again reprise their roles as Daniel and Miyagi in The Karate Kid II. Here, Miyagi receives a letter from his long-lost love Yukie (Nobu McCarthy) telling him his father is dying. Miyagi makes plans to return home and is joined by Daniel, when Daniel learns just why Miyagi left home when he was just 18 years old. Miyagi and his best friend, Sato (Danny Kamekona) both loved Yukie, but Yukie was betrothed to Sato, but in love with Miyagi. Rather than fight his friend to the death and more than likely kill him, Miyagi left his home, his love and his family. However, to Sato, it seems like yesterday and he is determined to make Miyagi pay for runing his honor.
In the meantime, Daniel falls for Yukie's lovely niece, Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), but finds himself in the vengeful path of Sato's best student, Chozen. When Chozen is shamed because of cowardly behavior during a horrible storm on the island, he takes it out on Daniel during a village celebration and Daniel must once again engage in a battle of good versus evil. But this time, the enemy knows the old crane move. Of course, good defeats evil and a happy ending ensues.
I think the reason everyone loves The Karate Kid and its sequel so much is because its just a great underdog story with loveable characters. Who hasn't said at least once in their life "Wax on, wax off" It's just a part of the American vocabulary now. Seeing these moves again in beautifullly restored high-def is a true treat and especially some of the scenes in Okinawa (actually filmed in Oahu, Hawaii) are just stunning. Everything sounds great as well, and the surround sound really adds to the viewing experience. While most of the special features seem to be from the 20th anniversary release, they are still great fun to watch. They include interviews with Actors Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Billy Zabka, Director Bill Avildsen and Writer Robert Mark Kamen. There's a featurette on bonsai trees, which was hard to understand because of the strong Japanese accent of the man interviewed, but interesting nonetheless. There's another featurette on how the actors trained in martial arts and one on the musical score for the films. The new feature is Blu-pop, which is a Blu-ray exclusive pop-up video styled trivia track on top of the film. This is great for watching a second time, as it obscures much of the film, but still has great tidbits in it, including current interjections by Ralph Macchio and Billy Zabka. Of course, Pat Morita is dead, but its a shame Elizabeth Shue couldn't have put a little something in as well, since this movie basically kick-started her career, but anyway. What's here is great fun and its really neat to get a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of The Karate Kid I and II.
This is a great set of movies to pick up, whether you were a fan of them back in the day or want to share them with a whole new generation. Highly recommended.
