The Karate Kid / The Karate Kid Part II (1984/86, Blu-ray)
Directors: John G. Avildsen
Producers: Various
Writers: Robert Mark Kamen (written by)
Features: Karate Kid: Commentary * Featurettes * Documentary * Blu-Pop PiP Track * BD-Live * Trailers Karate Kid Part II: Featurette * Blu-Pop Trivia Track * BD-Live * Trailers
Characters:
Karate Kid:
Ralph Macchio ... Daniel Larusso
Pat Morita ... Mr. Kesuke Miyagi (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
Elisabeth Shue ... Ali Mills
Martin Kove ... John Kreese
Randee Heller ... Lucille Larusso
William Zabka ... Johnny Lawrence
Ron Thomas ... Bobby Brown
Rob Garrison ... Tommy
Chad McQueen ... Dutch
Tony O'Dell ... Jimmy
Karate Kid Part II:
Pat Morita ... Mr. Kesuke Miyagi (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
Ralph Macchio ... Daniel LaRusso
Yuji Okumoto ... Chozen
Joey Miyashima ... Toshio
Danny Kamekona ... Sato
Tamlyn Tomita ... Kumiko
Nobu McCarthy ... Yukie
Charlie Tanimoto ... Miyagi's Father
Genre: Action/Adventure
Review:
Available on Blu-ray May 11, 2010.
The Karate Kid
There are about a dozen movies from my childhood that I still cherish to this day. "The Karate Kid" is one of them. It's what got me, and thousands like me, into Karate. While I'm no longer a practicing karate master (that fad faded after a few short embarrassing months), the film still stands as a terrifically inspirational sports film, and a great movie about the student/mentor bond. The cast is absolutely fantastic (Pat Morita was even nominated for his take as the mysterious, complicated Mr. Miyagi) and direction, from "Rocky" director John G. Avildsen is just terrific. "The Karate Kid" may be slathered in '80s pop culture cheese, but the message, themes and entertainment are both thoughtful and timeless.
Film Report Card:
Entertainment Value: A
Film Value: A
Final Grade:
A
The Karate Kid Part II
To be honest, "The Karate Kid" and "The Karate Kid Part II" are best watched back-to-back. If the first film is about Daniel Larruso finding balance in his life, the second film is about Mr. Miyagi finding that same balance in his own life. While Daniel gets into his fair share of problems, the narrative core really does hinge on Miyagi's rivalry with an longtime friend named Sato (Danny Kamekona), and how that rivalry has shaped the two men. The sequel is certainly a little lighter in tone, and more exotic -- thanks to the Okinawa setting. But the the film still delivers the goods when it comes to the mentor/student bond. This is one of the rare sequels that really does pay attention to the characters introduced in the first feature, and evolves them appropriately. Plus, the opening moments of the film (deleted from the first film) are simply stunning, even though they set the stage for a lousy third film.
Film Report Card:
Entertainment Value: A
Film Value: A-
Final Grade:
A-
HD REVIEW:
Video:
Click on the image above to see a full-res 1920x1080 screengrab of The Karate Kid!
Click on the image above to see a full-res 1920x1080 screengrab of The Karate Kid Part II!
Both "Karate Kid" features are presented in 1.85:1 widescreen using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a dual-layered BD50 disc. The first film consumes 36.9 gigs of space. The second film consumes 31.1 gigs of space. Both films don't exactly come from an era known for pristine visual presentations. The films are fogged over with heavy grain, shallow depth and hazy, almost cloudy settings.
That said, these presentations look pretty damn good considering. Image depth, details and textures are far more realized than previous DVD editions. And the encode for both films is stunningly flawless. Color replication is dead-on and black levels rarely falter. I did detect some noise from time to time, but it's never very distracting. Obviously, neither film could ever be considered reference -- the stock used in this era won't allow it -- but these presentations easily top any previously released DVD. Simply put, "The Karate Kid" has never looked better.
Audio:
Each film is presented in English and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio ans Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 with Spanish, English, Portuguese and French subtitles and English captions for the hearing impaired. Expect a front-heavy listening experience for both films, packed with minimal bass. Sadly, neither film really offers much zing. Probably the best bit of surround usage comes during the storm sequence of the second film. The first feature never really takes advantage of the 5.1 sound field. But, neither mix was originally deigned with 5.1 in mind, and as such, the high-res upgrades do sound better than average. Like the transfer, don't expect greatness, but expect a thoroughly mixed, clean presentation that complements the film better than expected.
Extras and Packaging:
The single-disc BD copies of the film, provided from Sony, come packed in a blue eco cases featuring the same uninspired DVD re-release artwork. Oddly the "Part" has been dropped from "The Karate Kid Part II." Extras have been ported over for both discs. There are even a few exclusives here! Unfortunately, this Blu-ray release does not include the amusing fan made documentary: "Bonsai! The Karate Kid Fan Documentary," or the Angry Video Game Nerd review of the "Karate Kid" video game.
Here's the first part (of five) of that documentary:
And here's the Angry Video Game Nerd's rant about the "Karate Kid" video game (WARNING: language):
The Karate Kid
• Commentary -- The track features director John G. Avildsen, writer Robert Mark Kamen, Ralph Macchio, and the late, great Pat Morita. The group strolls down memory lane offering their take on this classic film. Never a dull moment, and plenty of trivia.
• The Way of the Karate Kid Documentary (45 minutes, SD) -- A terrific two-part making-of documentary explores how the film came to be, how it got made, and how it's changed karate.
• Beyond the Form Featurette (13 minutes, SD) -- A brief, but interesting discussion with fight choreographer Pat E. Johnson.
• East Meets West: A Composer's Notebook Featurette (8 minutes, SD) -- A fascinating conversation with composer Bill Conti on creating the iconic "Karate Kid" themes. Fans of these soundtracks should be happy to know that the scores for each film are finally available on CD. Click here to buy them!
• Life of Bonsai Featurette (10 minutes, SD) -- A fairly superfluous featurette about Bonsai trees. It doesn't really connect with the feature, but it's interesting regardless.
• Trailers (HD)
The Karate Kid Part II
• The Sequel EPK Featurette (6 minutes, SD) -- A quick, mediocre making-of EPK featurette. It's a shame Sony didn't collect any new interviews for a more thorough retrospective piece. I've always wanted to know more about this film.
• Trailers (HD)
BD-Exclusive Content:
• Blu-Pop -- Sigh. Sony mixes things up once again. I guess MovieIQ has been dropped in favor of this pop-up formula. The first film features pop-up trivia bits, but it also includes video interviews with Ralph Macchio and William Zabka who offer up even more entertaining tidbits about the film. The second feature boasts the pop-up trivia bits, but no video interviews. Why not keep Macchio around for a discussion of the sequel? Very strange. Ultimately, both tracks are interesting, but the clear-cut winner in the first track.
• BD-Live -- Both films sport Sony web portals.
Final Thoughts:
See the original films before you see the Jackie Chan/Jaden Smith remake. While I have mixed feelings about that film, I hope it has the heart and entertainment of this beloved '80s series. If it doesn't, we still have the original films on Blu-ray (well the first two, anyway) to keep our memories intact. Hopefully Sony eventually completes the trilogy and delivers the wonky finale (but forget "The Next Karate Kid," it's best left on DVD).
Blu-ray Report Card:
Video: A-
Audio: B+
Extras: B (for part I)/D (for part II)
HD Content: D
Packaging: B+
Recommendation: Fans should own these two films!
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----R. L. Shaffer