With Will Smith Jr. currently kicking up a storm on the big screen in The Karate Kid remake (learning kung fu and not karate, but hey), now is the perfect time to revisit the film that started it all and spawned the endlessly quotable Miyagi adage, wax on, wax off.
The film focuses on Daniel Larusso, an East Coast teen who resents having to move to California with his single mother. However, things seem to be looking up when Daniel catches the eye of Ali, a pretty high school girl from the right side of the tracks. Unfortunately, this inadvertently attracts the attention of Alis ex, Johnny, a karate expert who still harbours feelings for his former squeeze. Beaten and tormented on a regular basis by Johnny and his cronies, Daniels life in California goes from bad to worse, until, that is, an unlikely mentor enters Daniels life in the form of Mr. Miyagi.
Standing the test of time and remaining as compelling and as feel-good as it was upon its release in 1984, John G. Avildsens underdog tale is a bona fide 80s classic. Well written, superbly performed by Macchio and Morita (who got an Oscar nomination for his turn as Miyagi) and boasting one of the finest stand up and cheer climaxes in cinema history, The Karate Kid is a superior family drama and so much more than a mere fix of nostalgia for 30-somethings.
The Blu-ray sees the film looking and sounding better than ever before, and while the visuals and DTS soundtrack arent as sexy and slick as your average modern blockbuster, this is a massive improvement on the DVD. Though the film shows its age in terms of the visuals, the picture is still remarkably crisp and clean in parts, and while theres a great deal of persistent graininess, the visuals still sparkle in comparison to some shoddy DVD releases of the film.
Its a similar story with the audio. While not as crisp and clean as other recent Sony titles, the DTS soundtrack is still head and shoulders above the old DVD version, boasting clear music and dialogue.
The special features include some oldies and newies in terms of extras. Basically, the featurettes and commentary are the same as the extras found on the old Special Edition DVD, though the Blu-ray includes a brilliant pop-up mode featuring PIP interview footage with Macchio himself and none other than William Zabka, AKA Johnny Lawrence. A real treat for fans.
Overall Verdict: Feel-good gold. The Karate Kid is an essential Blu-ray purchase.
Special Features:
Blu- Pop
Director, Writer and Cast Commentary
The Way Of The Karate Kid Part 1 Featurette
The Way Of The Karate Kid Part 2 Featurette
Beyond The Form Featurette
East Meets West: A Composers Notebook Featurette
Life Of Bonsai Featurette
Trailers
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths