The Karate Kid Collection (Four Film Set) Review
Well, I must say I do own the first three Karate Kid films. I never did get a chance to see the fourth one with Hilary Swank but I did hear it was the weakest of the series so I guess I'll skip it for now. I'll start with the first film which is of course the best one. It has a great plot. A teen-age boy named Daniel who is very kind-hearted and has a deep interest in karate relocates from New Jersey to California with his mom. This is where all the trouble begins!
He falls for a cute blonde named Ali who is the girlfriend of champion Johnny Lawrence who is the best student at the Cobra-Kai karate dojo. Oddly, Johnny is not exactly a traditional villian per-se like some of his friends seem to be. It basically is a love-triangle sort of situation. Obviously, Johnny has the edge as he is bigger and much more skilled than Daniel. But Daniel has a secret weapon that everyone soon finds out about. He befriends an elderly Japanese karate grandmaster and war hero named Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi is well aware of Daniel's situation and expresses to teach him all the tricks to defeat Johnny and his friends at a tournament which he sets up with Johnny's ruthless instructor, Kreese.
The second film takes place in Japan. Daniel takes a vacation with Mr. Miyagi and ends up not only learning about Japanese culture but fighting for his life as Mr. Miyagi's long-time rival and one time best friend, Sato along with his first-rated student challenge the two. This paves way for the third film with is again based on a tournament. In my opinion, this really should have been released after the first as it seems to be more of a direct sequel to the first than the second film was. It picks up where the first tournament ends. Kreese turns on Johnny for having lost to Daniel and starts to choke him. Mr. Miyagi jumps to Johnny's rescue which persuades Kreese to throw a couple of punches at him! However, Mr. Miyagi proves very elusive to hit and he ends up severely injuring both of his hands due to accidentally hitting two car windows instead. Mr. Miyagi has the opportunity to give Kreese a severe beating due to his handicap but decides to let him go and forgive him.
Kreese, humiliated and now without students opts to consider giving up karate. But his war-buddy and vicious karate instructor, Terry who is also his partner discovers the situation and vows to help Kreese put an end to Mr. Miyagi and Daniel's championship reign. He handpicks a great Cobra-Kai type martial artist named Mike Barnes. Terry makes Barnes a great offer providing he can defeat Daniel which persuades him to really attack Daniel with a viciousness that very much intimidates him. Daniel really wants to continue fighting in tournaments but Mr. Miyagi advises against it as he believes karate is more so for defending life and honor rather than his trophy! This forces Daniel to choose another instructor who happens to be Terry! Terry pretends to be his best friend and on his side but puts him through such physically demanding training that it drains Daniel and turns him into a vicious Cobra-Kai with an attitude.
He ends up mistreating Mr. Miyagi and breaking someones face in a street fight. Daniel finally sees he is being someone he's not and returns to Mr. Miyagi who finally promises to train him. I really did enjoy this one but I do agree with the other review on here that Mike Barnes didn't have the charisma of Johnny or even Chozen. In my opinion, they should have brought Johnny back to fight along side with Daniel getting revenge against Kreese for choking and mistreating him! Also, if you remember, he did sort of make amends with Daniel at the end of part 1 and Mr. Miyagi did save his life. It would have been really interesting to see how Mr. Miyagi would've trained Johnny.
The Karate Kid Collection (Four Film Set) Overview
A collection of films about a New Jersey teenager in California, a troubled teenage girl and their mentor and father figure, a karate expert named Mr.
The Karate Kid Collection (Four Film Set) Specifications
A sizable hit with both teen audiences and sports-themed movie enthusiasts, 1984's The Karate Kid had the right combination of heart and action to spawn three sequels of varying quality between 1986 and 1994; all four features have been packaged together in this three-disc set. Though plot elements varied from film to film, the core story (and the series' greatest strength) remained the same--the relationship between a wise Japanese martial arts teacher (skillfully underplayed by comedian Pat Morita) and his young American student (Ralph Macchio in the first three films, and future Oscar winner Hilary Swank in the final entry, The Next Karate Kid). The first of the Morita/Macchio matchups remains the best of the four features, with excellent performances from both leads and director John G. Avildsen (who also handled Rocky and the first two Kid sequels) expertly balancing the emotional moments with the pure excitement of the martial arts tournament that serves as its finale.
The subsequent sequels with Macchio seemed pulpier (especially The Karate Kid, Part II, with its rekindled wartime romance subplot), and the inevitable come-from-behind competitions lacking the impact of the original; 1994's The Next Karate Kid (directed by Christopher Cain) put a slight spin on the formula by replacing Macchio with belligerent teen Swank, but it too seems like a retread of the first film. Still, the messages inherent to each film--finding one's inner strength, trusting your heart--should ring true to new generations of younger viewers. Fans may find the Collection light on supplemental features--while all four films are presented in anamorphic widescreen format, only the original (which was previously released in pan-and-scan only) offers commentary by Avildsen, Macchio and Morita and several making-of featurettes; the three sequels, packed into two discs, offer no extras. --Paul Gaita
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