The Karate Kid/The Karate Kid Part 2/The Karate Kid Part 3 (Box Set) (DVD)

...with myself for sleeping till the afternoon on a sunny day, i decided to go for a walk in the sunshine around town. I had decided that morning that i was going to have a barbaque, few beers, couple of mates round, bit of music and a DVD.

So i had the Barbaque, music, beers etc but nothing new to watch on DVD. So armed with £3 i started my search for a DVD that would be pleasing to everyones eyes.

I came across a non-commercialised ...
...floor 3 and started in the A sections

After literally 30 seconds a beam of light caught my eye, like when someone shines their watch in your face on a summers day, but no one else was there. How strange i thought, so i thought nothing of it and carried on with my search for that perfect DVD.

10 seconds later it happend again, so being curious i followed this beam of light, past the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J section ... more

So, it was an ordinary summers day, I woke up late, was angry with myself for sleeping till the afternoon on a sunny day, i decided to go for a walk in the sunshine around town. I had decided that morning that i was going to have a barbaque, few beers, couple of mates round, bit of music and a DVD.

So i had the Barbaque, music, beers etc but nothing new to watch on DVD. So armed with £3 i started my search for a DVD that would be pleasing to everyones eyes.

I came across a non-commercialised store that sold 2nd hand DVD's so decided to have a look in there.

Floor 1 was computer games

Floor 2 was CD's

Floor 3 was DVD's

So off i went to floor 3 and started in the A sections

After literally 30 seconds a beam of light caught my eye, like when someone shines their watch in your face on a summers day, but no one else was there. How strange i thought, so i thought nothing of it and carried on with my search for that perfect DVD.

10 seconds later it happend again, so being curious i followed this beam of light, past the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J section on the come across a shiny cover over one of the DVD's. Once all the colours had gone away out of my eyes and i could see again, i saw something unbelievable, something that i would have only dreamed of.................................Karate kid 1,2 AND 3!!!!!!

Would you believe it?!?!

I thought to myself, i only have £3, looked up at the price tag................WAS £14.99, NOW £4.99.................Now thats a bargain if ever i had seen one. What the hec i thought........You only live once, out came the debit card and on the card it went.

As i got home i opened up the box, only to find that in there was Karate Kid 2, 3 and the Next Karate kid.................. Where was Karate kid 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Furiously i ran back to the DVD store, pushed my way to the front of the que, slammed my hands on the desk and damanded they found Karate kid 1. after 15 mins of searching, there it was, in an old dusty corner of the shop!

BRILLIANT!

SO HAPPY!

Anyway i am sure that you didnt want to hear my whole life story so i shall leave that till another day and tell you about the films:

Karate Kid 1 (1984) 122 mins

Ralph Macchio stars as Daniel LaRusso, a teenager who moves with his mother Lucille (Randee Heller) from Newark to California. His mother has a wonderful new job to go to, but Daniel finds it harder to fit in with the Californian kids at his new school. Daniel ends up being the victim of bullying, and although he does manage to talk his way out of a number of fights he is eventually cornered by members of an aggressive karate club who beat him soundly. These are the Cobras, who have taken a dislike to Daniel because he has struck up a relationship with Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), the Cobra leader's ex-girlfriend. As he is passing out from the beating, he sees the old Japanese handyman Kesuke Miyagi (Pat Morita) coming to the rescue and beating the karate students at their own game.

Together Daniel and Mr Miyagi find that the Cobras' attitudes to fighting are coming from what they are being taught at their karate club by their aggressive teacher John Kreese (Martin Kove). Miyagi agrees to teach Daniel his karate style, so that he can fight at an upcoming karate competition, but much of what Miyagi has to teach is so unconventional Daniel wonders if he will ever learn enough to win. Daniel will have to learn that fighting isn't always the answer to a problem, and will need to find the self-confidence and faith in himself to deal with the problems he faces.

This fine coming-of-age drama set the standard for the genre when it was made, and still holds up well. The basic story is sound and the plot moves along well, but it is the characters which particularly appeal, especially Daniel and Miyagi. Ralph Macchio does a fine job as the put-upon lad who has much to learn about himself, and the evergreen Pat Morita is outstanding as the humorous but intelligent old Japanese handyman. The message of the film is clear, that the development of maturity and self-confident is more important than the learning of fighting skills, but the message is not so heavy-handed that it put kids off. Instead, the film provides an inspirational story that motivates the audience to find the same qualities in themselves.

Karate Kid 2 (1986) 109 mins

Ralph Macchio once more stars as Daniel LaRusso, the lad who found his self-confidence through karate in the first "Karate Kid" film. Part II continues from the point where the first film finishes, with a triumphant Daniel leaving the karate contest. However, life doesn't settle down for him, as he breaks up with Ali after several months and tries to move on. In the meantime, Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) receives a letter from Okinawa telling him that his father is very ill so he makes plans to return home. Daniel, keen to do something different for the summer, decides to accompany him to Japan.

On their arrival, they are met by Miyagi's once best friend Sato (Danny Kamekona). Miyagi and Sato fell out many years earlier over a matter of honour, and Sato still wants to fight Miyagi in order to settle the conflict. Daniel too finds himself facing a fight - Sato's nephew Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) is a bully who takes a dislike to him. Daniel also makes friends with a girl from the village called Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), who advises him on Japanese culture and tries to keep the peace. When Sato threatens to destroy Miyagi's old village, Miyagi finally accepts the challenge to fight him. In time, Chozen will also challenge Daniel to a fight, and this time it is not just his honour at stake but his life.

Sequels are often a disappointment, however this one is in many ways as good as the original and occasionally surpasses it. The basic California setting of the first film is replaced with exotic Japan, and the scenery and locations are used to great advantage to add atmosphere to the film. The story is a successful follow-on from the first one, with greater threats for Daniel and Miyagi to face and the development of much tension. The character of Miyagi, popular since the first film, is developed to great depth with Pat Morita successfully portraying the emotion Miyagi feels at the turn of events in his home village and his fondness for the people there. Daniel is convincingly out of place, but could use more exploration of his character this time round. However, all in all this is a touching and atmospheric film that rarely fails to please.

Karate Kid 3 (1989) 108 mins

Ralph Macchio returns for a final outing as Daniel LaRusso, in this third film in the series. It picks up immediately after the last one ends, with Daniel's return from Okinawa with Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita). They find that things have changed while they were away, with their homes due to be torn down, leaving Mr Miyagi without a job and Daniel having to move house. In the meantime, the villainous karate teacher from the first film John Kreese (Martin Kove) is back for revenge - since the defeat by Daniel and Miyagi, he has lost his students. He plots with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), an old Vietnam War buddy, to undermine the relationship between Daniel and Miyagi, and recruits a vicious karate fighter called Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) to take on Daniel in a tournament.

Daniel suggests that Mr Miyagi open a shop selling bonsai trees. At the shop, he makes friends with Jessica (Robyn Lively) who is also interested in the trees. Barnes' gang keep coming to the shop and trying to persuade him to participate in the tournament, although he is not keen. When he refuses, the gang wreck the shop and steal the trees making Daniel feel he must accept the challenge. As Mr Miyagi will not train Daniel for the tournament, Terry offers to train him at Kreese's school. What Terry is teaching is too violent and will not be acceptable at the tournament, so Daniel decides to quit, but he has no idea of the extent of the plot and there is still a tournament to fight.

This third film in the 'Karate Kid' series is very much a let-down after the previous two. The difficulty was always going to be in providing Daniel with a foe that posed a greater threat than in the second episode, and the film fails to rise to the challenge - Kreese we've seen before, and no matter how tough the kids at the tournament might be we already know that Daniel has faced worse. The only exciting villain is Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver - he is a stylish and clever foe, which does add some interest to the conflict. One never gets the impression that either of the main characters has developed any further since the end of the last film, and although both actors do a workmanlike job it is clear that there is only so much they can do with the script they've been given.

Available to buy from £4.99 as a i pleasantly found out

I must point out that Mr Miyagi has now passed away -RIP

Thanks for reading

Damob123 

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