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List Price: $12.99 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 6724
Released: June 7, 2005 |
| Our Price: $2.99 |
| Used Price: $0.96 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A fatherless teenager faces his moment of truth in The Karate Kid. Daniel (Ralph Macchio) arrives in Los Angeles from the east coast and faces the difficult task of making new friends. However, he becomes the object of bullying by the Cobras, a menacing gang of karate students, when he strikes up a relationship with Ali (Elisabeth Shue), the Cobra leader's ex-girlfriend. Eager to fight back and impress his new girlfriend but afraid to confront the dangerous gang, Daniel asks his handyman Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita), whom he learns is a master of the martial arts, to teach him karate. Miyagi teaches Daniel that karate is a mastery over the self, mind, and body and that fighting is always the last answer to a problem. Under Miyagi's guidance, Daniel develops not only physical skills but also the faith and self-confidence to compete despite tremendous odds as he encounters the fight of his life in the exciting finale to this entertaining film.
Description of The Karate Kid (Special Edition):
John G. Avildsen not only directed Rocky, he tried remaking it over the years in a dozen different ways. One of them was this popular 1984 drama about a new kid (Ralph Macchio) in town targeted by karate-wielding bullies until he gets a new mentor: the handyman (Pat Morita) from his apartment building, who teaches him self-confidence and fighting skills. The screen partnership of Macchio's motor-mouth character and Morita's reserved father figure works well, and the script allows for the younger man to develop sympathy for the painful memories of his teacher. But the film's real engine, as with Rocky, is the fighting, and there's plenty of that. Elisabeth Shue is on board as the girl the klutzy Macchio dreams of winning. --Tom Keogh
The Karate Kid (Special Edition) Reviews:
Great Video! In great shape! 
2009-09-11 - bought this for my grandchildren.. they loved it
and had no problems with it!
Classic Film!
2009-03-28 - The Karate Kid was great in the '80s when I saw it in the theater and it is still great. My whole family loves the movie (and that's saying something because there are a lot of us). All the kids love it, and their ages range from 22 yrs to 5 yrs. My wife and I still thinks it's terrific!
a good movie 
2009-02-21 - This is a good movie you can watch with the whole family. It's one of those feel-good movies.
"Daniel why did you throw your bike away"?
2009-01-15 - I feel I should give a disclaimer before anyone reads this review. I love to hate this movie and hate to love this movie. I can recall seeing this movie as a child growing up and thinking it was pretty cool. Then many years went by and I had totally forgotten this film. About five years ago this movie was played every single night during the summer on HBO or Showtime. So I watched this movie with an older and more matured pair of eyes. This resulted in a different viewing experience. The following review is somewhat insidious and is deliberate in its caustic tone. Nevertheless, "The Karate Kid" is still such a guilty pleasure for me and a classic film in its own right.
I don't know where to start or stop in this movie. This motion picture captures all the 1980s staples: hair, music, fashion and dumb behavior that only transpires in a teenage film from the 1980s. All I know is I am glad Daniel LaRusso got his face kicked in the entire movie. He was the underdog I really didn't care about. As a matter of fact, I don't understand how an Italian teenager from Newark, New Jersey kept getting his butt kicked by a California teenage punk (named Johnny) riding a motorbike and wearing some red jacket. This California teenage punk is played by none other than William Zabka, who was the staple villain of teenage cinema in the 1980s.
As for Daniel's background, I feel strongly that Daniel was a bastard, you know born out of wedlock. I believe his mother was the "other woman" and this was the reason that only "Daniel and his mother" moved from New Jersey to California. I don't buy that explanation that his mother "found a better job", this is hogwash. This is only my theory. Consequently a theory is only a theory and not a fact but can result in a following that can morph public opinion and over time become the truth.
Look for a young Elisabeth Shue playing Ally (with an I, hence Ali). Ali is the estranged ex-girlfriend of Johnny (a California teenage punk riding a motorbike and wearing some red jacket). I digress, I like when Ali tells Daniel that her name is "Ali with an I" and Daniels says his name is "Daniel with an L". What a moron. Another "rock star" moment brought to you in part by Daniel LaRusso is how pleased he was when he beats Ali in a game of Air Hockey, while they are on their first date. And what was up with Daniels wardrobe? He deserved having the tar beat out of him. Did I mention that Elisabeth Shue, I mean "Ally with an I" was totally hot in this movie?
We all know that Mr. Miyagi is Yoda personified. So no need to demonstrate the courtship of tautology on this tidbit. I would have to say my favorite part of this film is when Daniel is force down a huge hill while on his bike, by Johnny (the Cali teenage punk) and his gang. Once Daniel "wipes out" so to speak, he throws his bike away. You read this correctly, he throws his bike away as if it was his bike's fault. What's that about?
Once Daniel starts learning karate and stick up for himself the movie becomes rather humdrum.
A minor classic!
2008-12-01 - It's a little surprising to realize that "The Karate Kid" is now 24 years old. Made in 1984, it still holds its own in 2008. In fact, it's a LOT better than many of the movies being churned out today.
Why? For me, it's simply the excellent acting. Somehow, the chemistry between "Daniel-san" and "Mister Miyagi" is excellent, and memorable. Without this, the movie would have been forgotten decades ago.
"Daniel's" mother also does an excellent job, deftly managing to portray a total airhead without so much as a hint that anything is wrong. (What DID happen to Daniel's father, anyway?)
To my mind (and time will tell) this re-make of "Rocky" is, oddly enough, a lot better than the original! That doesn't happen very often!
A very high recommendation, especially if you are getting tired of films full of nothing but explosions.
