#Robert Mark Kamen

[ifchickenscouldfly13]

I’ve been wanting to talk about this for such a long time and now with the bullshit Miyagi plot line I think the time has truly come. I find it truly mind boggling that the creators act like super fans but don’t even have a cultural understanding of Mr. Miyagi as a character. I mainly say this because of the “Easter Eggs” section on the season 1-2 DVD, the lack of knowledge has always pissed me off.

Like…What? I’m sorry…..those are offerings!!!

A quick ass google search could have told you that.

The late great Fumio Demura at a similar shrine:

Like, how could you miss the significance of that? That’s crazy to me. Especially considering that RMK literally wrote the originals with such care and love for the culture. I don’t know, man, just one of those things I’m constantly reminded of.

[90smovies]

[controlthesleeve]

"Paradigmatic wimp" Ralph Macchio on the set of The karate kid

Bonus BZ:

The Crane Kick Is Bogus: A Karate Kid Oral History (Sports Illustrated, 2018)

[miyagi-hokarate]

[80smovies]

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

The Karate Kid Part II has just enough scenes to make it a good movie but it’s a disappointment and a major step down from the original film. Unless the latter chapters turn out to be amazing, this is the kind of sequel that belongs in a box set. You would never go out of your way to add it to your shelf but if you just happened to obtain it, you're not sorry.

Six months after the events of the first film, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) and Ali have broken up, and the karate champ is living with Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) while his mother works in Fresno. When Miyagi learns his father is dying, he and Daniel travel to Okinawa Island. There, Miyagi is forced to confront Yukie (Nobu McCarthy) the woman he loved but was forced to leave behind, and his vengeful old rival, Sato (Danny Kamekona).

So much of what made the 1984 film succesful was the budding romance between Daniel and Ali. To see their relationship tossed away in the first scenes of this sequel is frustrating. It doesn’t feel like an organic development at all, more of a “the actress didn’t want to come back again” hole Robert Mark Kamen had to write himself out of. The void does give Daniel the opportunity to get close to a Japanese girl named Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita) - a relationship that parallels the one between Miyagi and Yukie - but it feels rushed. By the time they’re announcing their love for each other, you want to tell them to slow down and quit exaggerating. I mean what’s Daniel going to do? Move to Japan so they can be together?

The best scenes in Part II center around Miyagi and Daniel. Their relationship has evolved since we last saw them. Daniel trusts his mentor - though not completely, as the man is full of wisdom but devilish tricks as well and sometimes, his advice doesn’t seem to make sense. Their time together means they’ve moved on to a point where both can learn from each other. As a pair, the actors are so good and it’s a delight to see Morita in this role again. He’s a great actor, and Miyagi is a great character.

But you probably didn’t come to see a Karate Kid movie for the tender stuff. You want to know about the bad guys and the action. On the upside, this film successfully raises the stakes. Daniel isn’t fighting in a tournament where three hits means victory. He’s going up against Sato’s nephew, Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), a vicious bully who delights in abusing anyone who’s afraid of his uncle - which is basically everyone. You love to hate him (maybe not quite as much as John Kreese or Johnny, who make brief appearances at the beginning of the film) but he also has the worst scene in the entire film and it comes right at the end, single-handedly dropping this movie down at least a half star, maybe even more.

Consistently, The Karate Kid Part II is almost there but not quite. A lot of it feels a little too convenient, or manufactured. As you’re about to write it off, it’ll have a great scene between Daniel and Kumiko, or between Daniel and Miyagi, an unexpected moment of depth, or a pleasant snapshot of Japanese culture. I appreciate the way it shows that anyone - regardless of where they came from or studied - can abuse martial arts, and instead suggests that it’s those with truly “empty hands” who will learn to appreciate the strength and wisdom it provides… but I also question the reason why this movie was made.

Overall, I’ve decided to give The Karate Kid Part II a mild recommendation. It has some laughs and memorable scenes. It’s a treat to see (most) of the characters one more time and you'll appreciate the heightened stakes. The good outweighs the disappointing ending, rushed love plot and lesser story. (On DVD September 24, 2021)

[theoscarsproject]

The Karate Kid (1984). A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.

Man, it's been such a long time since I watched this, and getting the chance to see it again was actually pretty delightful. Just a good, wholesome family movie, and it's extra magic to watch knowing Pat Morita was actually nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the role! I didn't know that! 8/10.

[cinesludge]

Movie #44 of 2023: The Transporter

Frank Martin: “That's your last pee break for this trip.”

[dykesynthezoid]

*reads about Robert Mark Kamen growing up in the Bronx in a home that kept kosher and spoke Yiddish and he used to have to literally outrun antisemites who were chasing him down the street*

Me: Anyway it is both moral and good to headcanon Daniel LaRusso as Jewish

[edsonjnovaes]

CAMINHANDO NAS NUVENS (Sorteio)

CAMINHANDO NAS NUVENS – José Ediclei Silva. 20 de dez. de 2008 Keanu Reeves e Aitana Sánchez-Gijón Depois de 4 anos nos campos de batalha da 2ª Guerra Mundial e ainda relembrando os horrores de guerra, Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves) ao retornar para casa quer se estabelecer e começar uma fazenda, mas Betty (Debra Messing), sua esposa, com quem impulsivamente se casou três dias após se conhecerem…

[ifchickenscouldfly13]

Here’s something extremely dumb that I need help with. I want to send a letter to Robert Mark Kamen, fan mail, you know, but I have no clue what address I would use. A few pop up online, any ideas?

[90smovies]

[miyagi-hokarate]

Writer Robert Mark Kamen wanted Daniel and Mr. Miyagi to travel back in time to 16th century China. Director John G. Avildsen wanted Daniel to die defending Mr. Miyagi's honor. Don't even get me started on the Ormsby script.

Say what you will about The Karate Kid III, but literally every other idea and script I've heard/read for that movie had me go

[abracazabka]

Robert Mark Kamen & John Avildsen, The Karate Kid Part III // Robert Mark Kamen & John Avildsen, The Karate Kid // John Hurwitz et al., Cobra Kai // Metallica, “King Nothing”

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Karate Kid (1984)

Before today, I had never seen The Karate Kid. I assumed the love directed towards it came from nostalgia and the film being released at the right time, in the right environment. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is a sweet, surprisingly deep crowd-pleaser with many memorable scenes to go with its iconic characters and great performances.

In 1984, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his mother (Randee Heller) move from Newark to Los Angeles. After befriending Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), Daniel is beaten by her jealous ex-boyfriend, a karate black belt named Johnny (Billy Zabka). Taking pity upon Daniel is Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita), who senses that Johnny and his gang’s bad behavior stems from their instruction at the Cobra Kai Karate club.

Like John G. Avildsen’s Rocky, The Karate Kid shows relatively little of its sport but makes you care for it more than you thought was possible by betting its chips on the characters. It’s impossible not to relate to Daniel. Bright and good-natured but filled with self-doubt thanks to his lower-class status and inability to stand up to the Cobra Kais, you desperately want things to work out for him. You want him to develop the karate skills necessary to defend himself. More importantly, you want Daniel to become confident enough for him and Ali to become an item. It helps that Ralph Macchio and Elisabeth Shue have terrific chemistry. Whenever something threatens to keep them apart - be it Ali’s snooty parents, Johnny, normal teenage drama or Daniel’s insecurities - your emotions swell.

If you weren’t already invested, you hate the Cobra Kais so much you keep watching, hoping they'll get their (hopefully violent) comeuppance. This is where Mr. Miyagi comes in. He could’ve easily been a stereotype or a one-dimensional supporting character; an excuse to get the plot going. Instead, he’s a fully realized person with a unique brand of humor and wisdom. It’s hard to choose if the film’s best scenes are the tender dates and heartfelt talks between Daniel and Ali, or the training sequences with Daniel and Miyagi. The latter contain big laughs, a touching father-son-like relationship and unexpected depth.

Behind Daniel and Johnny, we have two very different teachers. The second we walk into the Cobra Kai club, we see photos of John Kreese (Martin Kove) proudly showing off his military career and belting out his mantra that mercy is for the weak, that the point of karate is to brutally crush your opponent. He cares nothing for his students and has only contempt for kind Mr. Miyagi. By contrast, the humble Okinawan immigrant does not flaunt his martial arts skills or military career. He comes to offer his services to Daniel because he wants to teach the boy self-defense. To Miyagi, karate is an extension of everyday life. He teaches the sport by putting Daniel in real-life places and situations that incorporate the moves his pupil needs to practice. Karate is a naturally occurring process, whereas Kreese hammers the idea of violence into his students. The brutality he forces into their lives manifests as aggression and they become twisted; violent. The methods of instruction couldn’t be more different.

The Karate Kid has a lot to offer. The soundtrack is terrific. The story takes you through a full gamut of emotions - everything from heartbreaks to laugh-out-loud laughs, the joys of first love, the tears of joy from a perfect birthday gift and the exhilaration of a competition whose final match might as well symbolize the triumph of good over evil. The performances are uniformly strong. The screenplay is thoughtful. The characters are unforgettable. It’s no wonder if popularized karate in North America. This is no mere “right time, right place” movie. It has lasting power and will delight audiences for generations. (September 10, 2021)

[theoscarsproject]

The Karate Kid Part II (1986). Daniel accompanies his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, to Miyagi's childhood home in Okinawa. Miyagi visits his dying father and confronts his old rival, while Daniel falls in love and inadvertently makes a new rival of his own.

Cheesy as hell, but a lot of fun too. The focusing in on Miyagi - played affectingly once again by Pat Morita - is a specially nice touch, and I like that it really moved us beyond the first film, not just in location, but in structure and pace. It didn't always work, but as a sequel, I really do think it's a pretty good one. 7/10.