All The Tropes

The Karate Kid: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

The Karate Kid (view source)

Revision as of 22:39, 14 February 2024

12,550 bytes removed ,  3 months ago
no edit summary
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
(17 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{work}}{{Multiple Works Need Separate Pages}}
{{work}}
[[File:karate_kid_movie_ralph_macchio_3883.jpg|frame|This makes so much more sense compared to waxing cars.]]
 
{{quote|''[[Wax On, Wax Off|"Wax on, wax off!"]]''|'''Mr. Miyagi'''}}
|'''Mr. Miyagi'''}}
 
A series of five films beginning in 1984. Following a similar pattern to the first ''[[Rocky (film)|Rocky]]'' movie (and featuring the same director) it focused on a student-master relationship between Daniel Larusso and Mr. Miyagi, whose name came [[Person as Verb|to be slang]] for a type of [[Retired Badass]]. The first three films starred Ralph Macchio as Daniel and Pat Morita as Miyagi. [[Hilary Swank]] played a new "Karate Kid" in the fourth movie.
Line 28 ⟶ 29:
This film was poorly received and made even less than the last film, which essentially [[Franchise Killer|killed the franchise]].<ref>Though it did get a shout-out when [[Hilary Swank]] won the first of her several Oscars.</ref>
 
The movies also inspired a somewhat forgettable [[Animated Series]] involving Daniel and Mr. Miyagi traveling the world in pursuit of a magical healing shrine.
[[File:the-karate-kid-jaden-smith-jackie-chan_5349.jpg|frame]]
 
In 1987, a [[The Karate Kid (video game)|video game]] based on the first two movies was released.
'''''The Karate Kid'':''' A [[Continuity Reboot]] of the series that premiered in June 2010, borrowing elements of the first one but set in Beijing, China. Jaden Smith ([[Will Smith]]'s son) plays the lead role of Andre "Dre" Parker and [[Jackie Chan]] is the old mentor, Mr. Han. There is almost no karate in this film; the lead character trains in kung fu instead.
 
'''''[[The Karate Kid (2010 film)|The Karate Kid]]'':''' A [[Continuity Reboot]] set in Beijing, China was released in June 2010, starring Jaden Smith and [[Jackie Chan]]. It has kung fu instead of karate.
Many people have noticed that [[DC Comics]] is credited in the films, but contrary to popular belief, the films are not directly based on a comic book. Columbia Pictures needed permission from DC to use the title "the Karate Kid" because the name was already in use for a character in DC's ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' comic; the films draw no inspiration from the character.
 
'''''Cobra Kai:''''' A Youtube Red original TV series set 34 years after the original movie that focuses on Johnny Lawrence reopening the Cobra Kai Dojo and mentoring a new generation of students. Stars the original actors for Daniel and Johnny.
The movies also inspired a somewhat forgettable [[Animated Series]] involving Daniel and Mr. Miyagi traveling the world in pursuit of a magical healing shrine.
 
Now has a [[The Karate Kid/Characters|character sheet]].
 
----
{{tropenamer}}
* [[Wax On, Wax Off]]
 
{{tropelist|The original film series has examples of:}}
----
{{tropelist}}
== The original film series has examples of: ==
* [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders]]: Ali.
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Miyagi is introduced as a hotel handyman. Likely does it simply as a hobby, given his [[Big Fancy House]].
* [[Apologetic Attacker]]: Bobby begs Daniel's forgiveness after kicking his knee.
* [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]]: Kreese in the first; Silver in the third. Gets more literal in the latest film where he actually uses kung fu.
* [[Artistic License Martial Arts]]:
** The actual crane kick is an almost physically impossible move that few people ''alive'' can successfully perform. (It's a twirling kick in which you jump, kick, and land ''all on the same leg''.){{context|reason=I'd really like to see this and looking it up just leads to World of Warcraft and Karate Kid stuff. So a link to a video would be nice}} As no one working on the film could do it--even the martial arts expert who helped choreograph the fight scenes--they just had Ralph Maccio do a weird, inexplicable flamingo pose into a more standard sort of front kick. (Why couldn't they have used a special effect?) No bother, because in [[Real Life]] there is actually ''no'' move in any martial art for which there is no defense when it is performed well. (See below.)
*** They couldn't have used a special effect because it was 1984 and the days of whipping up realistic CG models of people that could perform feats real actors couldn't and integrating them even semi-believably with actual footage were at least twenty years in the future.
** In a real martial arts tournament, someone with a fractured leg would not be allowed to continue even if they insisted -- the risk of becoming permanently disabled (not to mention a lawsuit) is too high. Also, Johnny's behavior (and his fellow students' taunts) in the final fight makes it blatantly obvious that his teacher is instructing them to deliberately injure other participants. In [[Real Life]] the referee would stop the fight and not only disqualify Johnny, but probably have the entire dojo permanently barred from future competitions.
Line 73 ⟶ 71:
** In the third film, Daniel must rappel down a cliff to retrieve a valuable bonsai tree. Good thing his new girlfriend's hobby is mountain climbing.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Kreese's philosophy reads like this on paper; in actual effect, it's... rather different. He's effectively teaching the kids to be thugs.
* [[Confusion Fu]]: In the third movie, as Barnes prepared to attack Daniel, he was confused by the latter's kata movements. Silver and Kreese realize what Daniel is doing, trying to warn Barnes to hit him already, but Daniel still gets enough time to complete the kata and soundly defeat Barnes.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: Miyagi makes several passing references to "Daniel-san" in ''The Next Karate Kid'', to the point of muttering that it was rather "easier to live with boys" when he inadvertently takes a peek of Julie in her underwear when he walks into her room.
* [[Cool Car]]: Miyagi has several.
Line 79 ⟶ 78:
* [[Crowning Music of Awesome]]: Joe Esposito's "You're The Best" in the first movie, and [[Chicago (band)|Peter Cetera]]'s "Glory of Love" in the second.
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Pretty much every time Mr. Miyagi gets his hands dirty.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: While it still retained the charm of the first movie, ''Karate Kid II'' raised the stakes. It's the only movie in the series to have someone die on screen: Miyagi's father. While the first movie had the bullies risk killing Daniel during their beatings, Chozen actively wants to kill Daniel and Sato actively wants to kill Miyagi. To make matters more tense, the final fight isn't a tournament for points, but a fight to the death.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Miyagi in the first film especially.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: MostJohnny's bullying of Daniel. Hey, Jersey boy stole his girlfriend. That shit don't fly when you're a Cobra. In addition, most kids who bully Daniel quickly move to attempted murder once he tries to defend himself. Inverted in part 3, where Barnes starts entirely too much shit throughout the movie, but gets off with nothing more than a loss by a single point. [[Karma Houdini|Terry and Kreese get no comeuppance at all]].
* [[Fight Magnet]]: For a guy who doesn't want to fight, Mr. Miyagi beats up a lot of people.
* [[Finish Him!]]: Kreese's instructions to the Cobra Kai.
Line 99:
* [[I Have No Son]]: Sato to Chozen after Chozen refuses to help Daniel rescue a girl in the hurricane. "Now, to you, I ''am'' dead."
* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: Daniel and Mr. Miyagi
* [[Japanese Honorifics]]: Miyagi always appends ''-san'' to Daniel's name. A minor case of [[Did Not Do the Research]], as ''-kun'' would be more appropriate to their relationship. Then again, in the 80s, the only honorific the average movie-goer who have known was ''-san''.
* [[Jerkass]]: The Cobra Kai.
* [[Kids Are Cruel]]: In the first film, besides Daniel being bullied by the Cobras, some of the kids ridicule him after being beaten up by Johnny.
Line 111:
* [[Martial Medic]]: Mr. Miyagi.
* [[Martial Pacifist]]: Miyagi.
* [[Meaningful Background Event]]: In the first movie after Daniel leaves Cobra Kai Dojo and talks to his mother at work in a nearby restaurant. While they are talking they are sitting by a window with Cobra Kai Dojo in view. One of Johnny's friends is seen walking out and across the street, he stops in his tracks upon spotting Daniel through the window. He runs back and gathers the rest of his friends, Johnny included to show them where he is. Not too long after this part was when the gang run Daniel off the escarpment.
* [[Motive Decay]]: Terry in ''Part III'' does what he does out of friendship and loyalty to his friend, John. The opening scenes of the movie really do a good job of driving this home. And yet, he's the one who comes up with the idea of completely destroying Danny and Miyagi, and his motivation ends up devolving completely into this.
* [[MST]]: The commentary for the DVD collection invokes this, with the writer, the director, and even Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita themselves snarking over the film.
Line 120 ⟶ 121:
* [[Old Master]]: Miyagi.
* [[The Only Way They Will Learn]]: Daniel's being made to perform menial tasks for Mr. Miyagi to build the strength and muscle memory necessary for effective blocks. For Julie, he sets up his teaching of the waltz as a typical karate instruction.
* [[Opposed Mentors]]: The secondThird ''Karate Kid'' movie has the main character pick up an [[Evil Mentor]] after an argument with Miyagi.
* [[Ordered to Cheat]]: "Sweep the Leg" is the former [[Trope Namers]] (though the "out of commission" order fits much better).
* [[Parental Substitute]]: Miyagi and Daniel form a very close father/son dynamic throughout the films.
Line 134 ⟶ 135:
{{quote|'''Daniel:''' I thought you said you've been in plenty of fights?
'''Miyagi:''' Hai, for life, not for points.}}
* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Daniel.
* [[Training Montage]]: "You're the Best (Around)" (not by Survivor, of "Eye of the Tiger" fame, but by Joe "Bean" Esposito) played during the tournament montage. Not exactly a training montage, but Daniel learned how good he had gotten from Miyagi's training. It makes sense, given that the first three movies were directed by John G. Avildsen, who also directed ''[[Rocky (film)|Rocky]]''.
** Not to mention that, while performed by Esposito, the song is written by Bill Conti, who composed "Gonna Fly Now" for ''Rocky''.
Line 156 ⟶ 157:
 
----
 
== The 2010 remake has examples of: ==
* [[And Your Reward Is Clothes]]: Han gives Dre a white jacket at the end of his training.
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Jackie Chan plays a literal janitor who is also a master in the ancient art of ''being [[Jackie Chan]]''.
* [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]]: Cheng is a sadistic little creep. The rest of the Fighting Dragons too, especially the teacher, Li.
* [[Artifact Title]]: Being set in China, the film uses Kung Fu rather than Karate.
* [[Backed by the Pentagon|Backed by Beijing]]: The remake has [[Scenery Porn|gratuitous shots]] of notable landmarks in China which have probably needed to be directly authorized by some high Chinese officials. In return, China is depicted as a really nice land, mix of ancient civilization, modernity, and natural beauty. Not to forget a puppet play.
* [[Badass Adorable]]: Dre becomes this as the story progresses.
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Viewers who knew mandarin would have pegged Meiying's father as a potential source of conflict early on once they heard Cheng and Meiying's first conversation (which didn't show up in the subs).
* [[Black Best Friend]]: Inversion in that as soon as Dre moves to China a local blonde starts being his friend but then [[What Happened to the Mouse?|disappears after a third of the way into the film]].
* [[Brick Joke]]: On Dre's first day of his new school, he's wearing the school uniform. The principal told both him and his mother that they only wear on uniform day. Later on, it's the school field trip and it's also uniform day. Guess who's not wearing the uniform...
** Also later he meets up with Meiying "look uniform on uniform day."
* [[Buffy-Speak]]: "Fiery cup thing."
* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Snake charming, {{spoiler|which Dre uses to psyche Cheng into losing control}}.
* [[Colour-Coded for Your Convenience]]: The tournament. Dre is in white and Cheng and his team are in black and red. The other teams, which pretty much serve as cannon fodder, are dressed in green, purple, and blue.
* [[Comforting Comforter]]: A rather [[Heartwarming Moments (Sugar Wiki)|sweet]] scene when Dre falls asleep onto Mr Han's lap and a hesitating Mr Han places a hand on his shoulder.
* [[Crazy Cultural Comparison]]: The scene involving the hot water switch.
* [[Contrived Clumsiness]]: Cheng knocks over Dre's lunch tray and then says "Sorry!"
* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: The first fight between Cheng and Dre does not go well for Dre at all.
* [[Death Glare]]: Cheng has a scary one for a little kid.
* [[Defeat Means Friendship]]: Cheng is the one who {{spoiler|gives Dre the winning trophy. Then, him and the other boys who had bullied and fought with Dre also pay their respects to Mr. Han. Master Li is also forced to suck it up and applaud Mr. Han's victory}}.
* [[Determinator]]: Dre {{spoiler|first has his leg ruined, and gets some magic Kung-Fu healing. After that it's ''broken'' and he finishes the match on one leg. We even see him hopping around after the post-win crowd pan}}.
* [[Disappeared Dad]]: The fact that Dre's father had died was made known at the beginning of the movie.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: ''Everybody'' in this film seems to call all types of martial arts featured "Kung Fu", despite the fact that the Chinese would more likely use the term "Wushu".
** Maybe, but "The Wushu Kid" (or "The Wushu Dream" for its Chinese release; more later) [[Rule of Cool|just doesn't have the same ring...]] and lacks [[Alliteration]]
** With a [[Lampshade Hanging]] where Dre's mom mistakes Kung Fu for Karate.
* [[Dragons Up the Yin-Yang]]: As part of Dre's training, Mr. Han takes him up a tall mountain to the Dragon Well, where drinking from it purportedly make one invincible. The well is a shallow fountain with a yin-yang symbol in the center.
* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: One of Cheng's cronies tells him to stop hurting Dre, after he has beaten him up significantly.
* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: subtly done with Li in two scenes. First, when an injured Dre returns to the tournament, the tournament's spectators are impressed, but Li only mockingly applauds, suggesting that he considers Dre's slim chances of actually winning rather than his courage and fighting spirit. Later, when his own students show their respect to Mr. Han by bowing, he is shocked rather than angry. Which means that he fails to understand why young students would respect a successful, yet kind teacher.
* [[Eye Cam]]: When Cheng beats Dre up for the second time, we see that Dre is so badly hurt that [[Impairment Shot|his vision is impaired]].
* [[Finish Him!]]: Master Li screams this at Cheng during the final battle against Dre.
* [[Fish Out of Water]]: Dre moves from Detroit to Beijing, China. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* [[Five-Bad Band]]:
** [[Big Bad]] - Cheng
** [[The Dragon]] - Liang
** [[Evil Genius]] - Zhuang
** [[The Brute]] - There were two [[The Big Guy|Big guys in Cheng's gang]], but I don't know their names.
** [[Evil Mentor]] - Master Li
*** Alternatively:
**** [[Big Bad]] - Master Li
**** [[The Dragon]] - Cheng
**** [[Evil Genius]] - Zhuang
**** [[The Brute]](s) - Those big guys mentioned before
**** [[Dark Chick]] - Liang
* [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]]/[[Asian Speekee Engrish]]: Justified, as Dre is horrible at Chinese and tries to learn bits and pieces. The Chinese people around him either speak English with a heavy accent or don't speak it at all.
* [[Idiot Ball]]: Dre at one point throws a bucket of dirty water on Cheng to get revenge, and gets his ass brutally kicked.
* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: Eventually.
** [[Heartwarming Moments (Sugar Wiki)|Heartwarming Moments]]: {{spoiler|When Dre tells Han he is his best friend and Han gives him a shirt as a present.}}
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Master Li is already known to be a [[Jerkass]], with the way he teaches his students to show no mercy to their enemies. But he steps into this territory when he slaps one of his students who didn't finish his opponent completely.
* [[Kick Them While They Are Down]]: Master Li puts heavy emphasis that his students should never show mercy to their enemies, even encouraging his students to attack them while they are defeated.
* [[Kung Fu Kid]]
* [[Love Triangle]]: A bit of a case with Dre and Cheng who both have a crush on Mei Ying, who chooses Dre.
* [[Magic Feather]]: They don't say it, but the Dragon Well that gives awesome kung-fu powers was probably this.
** This could be more of a subversion as the characters knew full well it was simply folklore and never actually believed that the well would grant any powers.
* [[Martial Medic]]
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Mr. Han. "Han" （汉）, while an actual (but very rare) last name, is also the ethnicity that makes up the majority of China, so it's sort of like calling him "Mr. Chinese Man".
* [[Mighty Whitey]]: Despite obviously not being white, Dre goes to China and learns kung fu better than the native Chinese kung fu fighters. Not much of an issue, seeing as there is nothing in real life to prevent one of any nationality becoming a talented martial artist.
** Somewhat averted in that Dre doesn't become better at Kung Fu than the natives, he simply learns a truer form of the art from Han than the perversion Li teaches Dre's adversaries.
** Plus it's more easily explained by [[Underdogs Never Lose]].
* [[Mythology Gag]]: There's scene where Mr. Han sees a fly and, after chasing it around with his chopsticks, [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|whips out a flyswatter, smashes the fly against the wall,]] picks the fly off with his chopsticks, and [[Squick|continues eating with the chopsticks]].
** The trailer that featured this scene had "You're The Best Around" playing in the background.
** Also, The Flying Dragons use a variation of "No Mercy" for their motto.
** Mr. Han waxing his car.
* [[Non-Indicative Name]]: The movie is called "The Karate Kid," even though no karate appears in the movie.
** They threw in a line about Dre knowing "a little Karate" to justify the [[Artifact Title]], and the term is used as a derisive nickname a few times.
** There are a couple of scenes of Dre trying in earnest to use Karate (albeit trying to learn from an infomercial or some such thing.) The results are less than indicative of the title.
** And Dre's mother mistakes Kung Fu for Karate.
** Some have claimed that the original title was "The Kung-Fu Kid" (with many of the film crew using that name during production), but the name was changed due to its name recognition and nostalgia factor.
* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: The contestant with the [[So Bad It's Good]] hair.
** And [[Michelle Yeoh]] as the woman with the cobra.
* [[Ordered to Cheat]]: Master Li orders two of the Flying Dragons to break Dre's leg.
* [[Overprotective Dad]]: Mei Ying's father disapproved of his daughter's friendship with Dre because he saw him as a bad influence to his daughter, causing her to be late for her recital and forbade her from spending time with him.
** However, he turns out to be much more reasonable than the stereotypical version. {{spoiler|When Dre respectfully approaches him and apologizes (in phonetic Chinese), he reconsiders and is later seen actively cheering for Dre.}}
* [[Parental Substitute]]: Mr Han acts like one of these and a friend to Dre. {{spoiler|In return, Dre reminds Mr Han of his deceased son.}}
* [[Parting Words Regret]]: {{spoiler|Mr. Han towards his family.}}
* [[Pet the Dog]]: a non-villainous example with Mr. Han (who acts like a bit of a jerk when he is first introduced). During the tournament, when Dre knocks one of the Dragons down, it is Mr. Han who helps him up. This little gesture is in sharp contrast with Li's behaviour, who considers showing the opponent kindness a sign of weakness, and even mistreats his students.
* [[Recycled Title]]: Because "The Kung-Fu Kid" would have sounded silly.
** Ironically, this, according to the Other Wiki, is exactly what the film is actually ''called'' overseas!
** Not quite. In China, it's called "功夫梦" ("The Kung Fu Dream"); in Japan, and South Korea, it's called "Best Kid" (the same title that was used for the original movie in those countries), and "The Karate Kid" everywhere else.
* [[Running Gag]]: Possibly Dre's expression when he hangs up his coat for his mom. Mr. Han makes a point of making sure that "attitude" is there during Dre's "jacket-on, jacket-off" training and it practically has a spotlight shone on it when it shows up in the tournament.
** People touching the Parker's hair. At one point, Dre's mother is surrounded by little kids who are happily playing with her hair.
*** Absolutely [[Truth in Television]]. Foreigners with either important or distinctive hair in China have been mobbed by children wanting to touch it.
* [[Sarcastic Clapping]]: This is Master Li's reaction {{spoiler|when Dre decides to stay in the tournament with a leg injury}}.
* [[Sassy Black Woman]]: Dre's mother.
* [[Serious Business]]: This is a tournament for young pre-teen kids. And Master Li wants his students to break Dre's leg and defeat him completely.
* [[Shout-Out]]: A black kid is bad at basketball and gets in trouble with a local gang of tough kids on the court? [[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air|Must be genetic.]]
* [[Sleep Cute]]: Dre, whether it may be in an airplane, a couch or a train.
* [[Smug Snake]]: That ''smirk'' Cheng flashes while walking away in the cafeteria scene transcends cultural boundaries.
* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: Dre.
* [[Underdogs Never Lose]]
* [[Values Dissonance]]: The Chinese tend to stay silent out of respect after a performance of any sort. So after Mei Ying's recital, they were opt to remain silent. However, Dre, who came from United States, cheered and clapped. This invoked anger from his crush's father.
* [[Wax On, Wax Off]]: Jacket on, jacket off, drop the jacket, pick up the jacket, jacket on... it also has the nice side effect of disciplining Dre for his attitude.
* [[We Will Meet Again]]: Dre gets beaten up a few times. A truce is called, pending a tournament.
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: The blond kid, and first English speaking peer that Dre meets in China. He seems to be set up as a friend, a translator and a general supporter and help to Dre. But nope, after about a third of the way in we only see him in passing at the tournament. This is a [[Shout-Out]] to Freddy from the original film, who fades into the background after Daniel starts having run-ins with the bullies, but finally does re-appear in his cheering section.
** A weird case of [[Truth in Television]]. When in a new/unfamiliar location, people of similar backgrounds (national, cultural, and occasionally even ethnic) tend to stick together, if only initially. This is what happened with Dre and the blonde kid - having seen that Dre is an American, the kid offers to help show Dre around the place, but quickly vanishes into the background as Dre figures things out and makes his own friends (and enemies).
*** Alternatively, the blonde kid could have just stopped hanging with Dre once he realized that Dre is going to get the crap beaten out of him, possibly on a regular basis.
** There's also the subplot of Mei Ying practicing for an audition to be accepted to the Beijing Academy of Music. We see the audition, but never find out if she was accepted or not nor just what her instructor meant by "you know what this would mean for your family" since, judging by their home, they aren't exactly living in poverty.
*** Well, that "you know what this would mean for your family" talk was probably a matter of honor rather than money. Like when Dre qualified for the tournament finals (even if just because his opponent was disqualified) and was told he honored his family.
** Actually, if you look closely, the blonde kid is sitting there watching the tournament with Dre's mom and Mei Ying. He just doesn't really say anything or do anything noteworthy.
* [[Your Normal Is Our Taboo]]: Dre applauds one of Mei Ying's performances at a time when it is inappropriate to do so.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Martial Arts Movie]]
[[Category:The Eighties]]
[[Category:Films of the 2010s]]
[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Sports Stories]]
[[Category:The Karate Kid]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karate Kid, The}}
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1272542...2046439"