Have you ever heard someone say “wax on, war off’? This is from the original Karate Kid. The movie is entertaining, and well-made drama movie. In this modern age, it is hard to find a clean movie that is also not boring. This movie has been remade four times including the new one that came out on June 11, 2010. Why has it been remade this many times? ( make the evaluation More clearly! Why do I like it?) It has been remade four times because this movie has family appropriate humor, it showcases important life lessons, and it is very interesting to see the relationship grow between a young man and an old man.
The Karate Kid is about a boy named Daniel who gets bullied around by some boys who know karate. After being beaten up a few times, Daniel’s handyman at his apartment complex, who is a martial arts master, starts to teach Daniel karate. This movie won the 1985 Best Family Motion Picture according to The Internet Movie Database. It is rated PG, mostly because of the fighting. After all, this movie is about karate, so there is a lot of fighting. Even though this movie is about karate it is not just a guy movie, everyone will enjoy this movie.
Learning karate would not seem to be funny, but this movie makes it humorous. For, example, when Daniel is learning about balance Mr. Miyagi takes him to the lake, and they go out on a boat. He tells Daniel to stand on the end of the boat and says, “Make a block, left, right. Up, down. Side, side. Breathe in, breath out. And no scare fish” For a while, Daniel Keeps trying to do this while maintaining his balance. Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi “When do I learn how to punch?” Mr. Miyagi answers by telling Daniel that “ Learn how to punch after you learn how to keep dry!” Then Mr. Miyagi rocks the boat, throwing Daniel into the water. This practical joke is very funny due to the fact it is obvious that Daniel is really concentrating on his balance, and yet Mr. Miyagi plays tricks on him. While most people would find this extremely hard to believe that learning karate could be funny, this example proves that it can be very funny.
Not only is this movie clean with funny parts, but it also had lessons about trust, persistence, and that there is more to solving a problem than fighting. Mathew Harding said that “trust somehow underpins the practicing of contracting is owing to the trsut that characterizes those relationships” (245). What Harding said defines the trust Daniel and Mr. Miyagi has in the movie. In the movie Daniel finds out that Mr. Miyagi knows karate, he asks him to teach him. Mr. Miyagi asks Daniel why he wants to learn karate and Daniel says it’s for revenge. Mr. Miyagi says, “Daniel-san, you look for revenge that way start by digging two graves.” (Cite the source for the quotes He goes on to say, “ Fighting always last answer to the problem, karate is for self-defense only.” Even before Mr. Miyagi starts teaching Daniel he tells him that fight isn’t the answer to the problem. There are lessons on respecting your elders, Patience, courage, balance, and so much more. This movie is deeper than just a story about a kid who gets beat up and learns karate.
It is very fascinating to see this relationship grow between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. He is Daniel coming from a completely different culture, and with a very different perspective from Mr. Miyagi, and yet they became very close friends. Daniel finds out about Mr. Miyagi’s wife and also Mr. Miyagi ends up celebrating Daniels birthday. Over time Mr. Miyagi becomes a father figure to Daniel.
Now some people will argue that this movie is extremely predictable, For example, Hanh Nyguen said that the movie was very predictable from the very beginning when Mr. Miyagi was making Daniel work around that house. Nyguen expressed that the should have been parts of the movie that would blow your mind away. This is true but it does not take away how good the movie is. It seems that Americans love movies in which the underdog wins. After all, America was the underdog who won the revolutionary war. It seems to be a part of American culture. Even though these people say that this movie is predictable, it does not make the movie boring, it makes it more exciting.
The original Karate Kid is a wonderfully made, clean movie, that also contains valuable life lessons. These include trust, respect for elders, patience, courage, and pacifism. It may be a bit predictable, but it is still wonderful. It did not win 1985 Best Family Motion Picture for no reason. This movie never gets old; it definitely one of those movies that can be watched over and over.