1. The Next Karate Kid
2. The Next Karate Kid Dvd
3. The Next Karate Kid Soundtrack

The Next Karate Kid

The three previous films, all of them produced by Jerry Weintraub and directed by John G Avildsen, are the followings: original Karate Kid I (1984) in which are presented the classic characters, Karate Kid II (1986) where the protagonists travel to Okinawa and Part III(1989) where Daniel again battling nasty enemies. Almost everything written about The Next Karate Kid claims that Pat Morita was the only franchise star to return. And while that's true in terms of major roles, it isn't technically correct. The Karate Kid is a 1984 American martial arts drama film produced by Jerry Weintraub, directed by John G. Avildsen, and written by Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, and Elisabeth Shue, as well as William Zabka, who portrays the main antagonist.

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The Next Karate Kid Soundtrack

The Next Karate Kid Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman, January 9, 2019
Director Christopher Cain's (The Principal) The Next Karate Kid is a flat, uninspired effort at softly rebooting a fan favorite franchise that peaked with the classic first which was followed by a pair of decent but decidedly disposable sequels. For Next, Cain and Writer Mark Lee return the fan-favorite Mr. Miyagi as the central figure in the film but replace the perpetually emotional (and somewhat obnoxious) Daniel with Hillary Swank's Julie, another character who is dealing with personal crises that cause her to lash out at life for much of the movie. There's not much difference between Daniel and Julie, which is perhaps why Miyagi, in the movie, takes her under his wing, recognizing not just her untapped potential but also realizing that she has been previously trained in the art of karate, a secret she keeps to herself for the movie's first act.

When Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) attends a ceremony honoring Japanese-Americans who fought in World War II, he meets the widow of the man under whom he served. While the two are catching up, he meets Julie (Hillary Swank), a teenage girl who lives her life in a perpetual state of undisciplined anger, a response to her parents' death some years ago. It is decided that she will return to California with Miyagi in hopes that his wisdom and permanent calm and collected demeanor might rub off on her. Julie quickly gets off on the wrong foot, making enemies at school, and the worst ones at that: she runs afoul of the 'security' detail known as the Alpha Elites, headed by the hard-edged 'Colonel' Paul Dugan (Michael Ironside). She also meets a boy, Eric McGowen (Chris Conrad), who slowly breaks her out of her shell. Miyagi learns that Julie has been taught karate by her late father and attempts to harness her power and raw energy to mold her into a better person.
Like The Karate Kid: Part III seemed hellbent on recreating the original film, so too does The Next Karate Kid seem to believe that retreating back to the same essential story lines rather than craft an entirely new dynamic is its best bet. The film travels to new places and exposes the audience to new characters but it's largely the same formula underneath, with Miyagi sharing nuggets of wisdom that, at first, only frustrate a perpetually angry-at-the-world Julie who only gradually comes to realize the benefits of Miyagi's teachings, much as it took Daniel a good portion of the first movie to come to terms with the value of his sensei's wisdom.
Also in an effort to rebuild the franchise by way of familiar components, The Next Karate Kid introduces a curious, weird, and unbelievable 'paramilitary' style self-defense class/security organization taught/led by Michael Ironside. It's an obvious, and far less believable, antagonistic group meant to duplicate the ferocity of Cobra Kai but it ultimately lacks both the effortlessly sinister vibe (though Ironside, playing a character in his wheelhouse, is appropriately intense and mean) and the natural rivalry that Kai lended to the first and third films that pitted karate student against karate student rather than karate student against whatever it is the Alpha Elite are supposed to be (maybe a precursor to Rasczak's Roughnecks).
The film is well acted if nothing else, with Morita recapturing the Miyagi magic that has arguably made the character the most popular movie sage of all time who isn't green. Ironside, as noted, devours the part, even if the part isn't exactly the most well written, logical, or narratively complimentary on the planet. Then-futrue Oscar winner Hillary Swank shines in the lead, capturing the combination of teen angst, rebellion, sadness, and a generally undisciplined mind and spirit that are more of a challenge to Miyagi than teaching her the X's and O's, so to speak, of karate, as he did with Daniel. Her Julie is already a 'karate kid,' previously trained by her late father, which makes Miyagi's task perhaps more of a challenge, to hone only her mind and spirit, not her punches and kicks.