The Karate Kid (1984)

Nice effects though.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The Karate Kid has seared itself into public consciousness by now- It has been playing for decades on every cable channel, everywhere around the world. A bullied teen seeks refuge under a martial arts artist and we see their relationship grow as he teaches him how to fight back. The bond between the master and the student is genuinely exciting and both Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio are fantastic in their respective identities. This is one of the most fondly remembered high school movies and the reason is because it works well on every level- direction, acting, pacing, emotional content. Watch this asap.

This is a great film. As well as being pure entertainment, this film deals with single parent families and multiculturalism as well as many other themes. Plus who doesn't love Mr Miyagi?It's a great film and one of the difinitive teen movies of the 80's

'The Karate Kid (1984)' is a surprisingly philosophical film, in the way that it uses its eponymous martial art as a way of materialising the opposing mindsets of its two mentor characters. These mindsets themselves are not only indicative of the two most common uses for karate, the offensive sport versus the defensive art, but also an incredibly common opposing take on the world, wherein 'good vs evil' isn't boiled down to its most black and white of interpretations but is instead seen through the way we navigate our lives and treat those that aren't ourselves. Indeed, this central conflict is one of the most realistic and universal in all of film, a battle often seen but not often portrayed with such a clarity and, frankly, nuance, even though it is somewhat pushed to the background and has to be ever-so-slightly read from in-between the lines. The shades of grey that paint the piece aren't always so evident or 'lived up to', in the way that the 80s styling is bound to have aged and so is some of the mentality to a minor extent, but it is always present and, actually, always of a very high-quality. Even the bully, who would normally be the definite villain and does make some cruel decisions (even nearly killing our hero at one point), is drawn with a deft hand that shows him to be a human only as flawed as the hero, who is himself an arrogant and impressionable adolescent. The two provoke each other almost as much as one another, both making similar mistakes but having those filtered through their differing mindsets. The feature's philosophy of 'no bad students, only bad teachers' is especially apparent when the real villain of the piece, the Cobra Kai sensei, is shown to be the one who is corrupting the mind of all the antagonistic teens. The depth of the picture actually stretches to its depiction of its core martial art, too, because it gets a lot of its ideals and principles correct while also portraying the physical side with a lot more accuracy than normal. Though some of it can seem a little dated or just plain off - especially when the 'masters' use it or it's taught through dubious methods, it is actually evocative of the home-town taught variant that would be used by normal people, instead of the Jet Li or Jackie Chan superstars, and definitely fits with the amateur tournament at the end, while still feeling dangerous and properly weighty. The flick is downright entertaining, on top of all that. Its a fun, and at times genuinely funny, film with an important message and a well-developed screenplay that dives into philosophy in an accessible way. It's one of the best films of its decade and has ascended into pop-culture for good reason. 8/10

The movie is more about the relationship between the boy and his master so don't expect an action filled karate movie. The few karate scenes which are in the movie are quite amazing though. The movie has a heart that is certain. And its story is told in a classic good vs evil fashion which I enjoyed a lot. So if you are in a mood for a classic Good beating Evil tale then just get along for a nice ride and have fun.