The Karate Kid

Newly arrived in California from New Jersey, teenager Daniel (Ralph Macchio) almost immediately runs afoul of karate-trained high school bullies. He is rescued by Japanese janitor Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita), who agrees to teach Daniel how to harness karate for good instead of brutality. The film ...more

The initial film of the enormously successful Karate Kid series, although essentially the familiar tale of an underdog striving for victory, has an innate appeal often lacking in the genre -- an entirely believable rapport between its two stars. The script centers on the travails of a teenage boy, played by Ralph Macchio, who learns to defend himself against the bullying of some uncomfortably Aryan-looking types from an elderly Asian gardener (Pat Morita) who happens to be a master of the ...more