39/13
Avildsen shot hours of footage of the tournament from multiple angles
Story
Decades after their 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament match, a middle-aged Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves once again as martial arts rivals. During the filming of the original Karate Kid, the late director John G. The team behind Cobra Kai dug through the studio vault and found a ton of previously unseen footage that they were able to insert into the series through flashbacks.
Ralph Macchio told Uproxx that there are three brand-new angles of the famous crane kick
One of them features Zabka’s mother in the stands at various angles that remained unseen until 2018. Many people believe that Miyagi’s name on his tombstone is a continuity error, as in Karate Kid 4 (1994) his name is Keisuke, but it was actually previously shown on a sign that Chozen was holding in Karate Kid 2 (1986) to be Nariyoshi. This means that The Next Karate Kid was the one who changed his name, while Cobra Kai kept the name previously given to him.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Anthony Mackie/Ralph Macchio/Kiry Shabazz (2018)
Another interesting fact, however, is that the name given in The Karate Kid Part II was not his original given name. Miyagi. In Karate Kid (1984), it can be briefly seen on Miyagi’s tags attached to the keys to the 1948 Ford given to Daniel for his birthday that Miyagi’s first name is Hideo.
There are many things to like about this series
Probably the best thing for me is the rejection of political correctness and victim culture. Actually, rejection is a strong word, and this is not a protest piece by any means, but there is definitely a theme of taking responsibility for your own fate and facing adversity with resilience and even aggression. (The show is smart enough to portray aggression or anger as counterproductive.) There’s a great scene during a karate tournament where a competitor starts pretentiously virtue signaling to the crowd.
Johnny Lawrence’s reaction is priceless
Hopefully Hollywood takes note that virtue signaling is not a prerequisite for great entertainment. It’s great to see a show that’s smart, has a message to tell, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. No need to waste time scrolling endlessly — here’s the full lineup of new movies and TV shows streaming on Netflix this month.