The Karate Kid is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen.

It is the first installment in the Karate Kid franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, and William Zabka.

[3][4] The Karate Kid follows the story of Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), an Italian-American teenager from New Jersey who moves with his widowed mother to the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Kamen drew inspiration from the real-life events of an eight-year-old Tum Pai student's story in Hawaii when writing the film.

The film revitalized the acting career of Morita, who was previously known mostly for comedic roles, and it earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

At a beach party the next day, Daniel meets and befriends Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader from Encino, drawing the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence, a black belt and the top student from the Cobra Kai dojo, training in an aggressive form of karate.

Miyagi then proposes that Daniel enter the Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championships, thereby compete against Kreese’s students on equal terms, and requests that the bullying cease while he trains.

Their bond develops, and Miyagi opens up to Daniel about his life, including the dual loss of his wife and son in childbirth at the Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where he received the Medal of Honor.

[5] As a Hollywood screenwriter, Kamen was mentored by Frank Price who told him that producer Jerry Weintraub had optioned a news article about the young child of a single mother who had earned a black belt to defend himself against the neighborhood bullies.

[11] A number of actors were considered for the part of Daniel, including Sean Penn,[11] Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer,[12] Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Eric Stoltz and D.B.

[5] The studio originally wanted the role of Mr. Miyagi to be played by Toshiro Mifune, who had appeared in the Akira Kurosawa films Rashomon (1950), Seven Samurai (1954), and The Hidden Fortress (1958), but the actor did not speak English.

[5] Pat Morita later auditioned for the role but was rejected for the part due to his close association with stand-up comedy and with his character Arnold on the sitcom Happy Days.

Zabka responded, "Bruce Lee was smaller than Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but he beat him" in reference to Game of Death, to which Avildsen confirmed it.

[17] Helen Hunt and Demi Moore were also considered for the role of Ali, but Elisabeth Shue was cast based partly on a Burger King commercial that became widely popular in the early 1980s.

[19] The film's fight choreographer for the combat scenes was Pat E. Johnson, a Tang Soo Do karate black belt who had previously been featured in Bruce Lee's American–Hong Kong martial arts film Enter the Dragon (1973) and worked with Chuck Norris at American Tang Soo Do martial arts schools.

[20] The musical score for The Karate Kid was composed by Bill Conti, a frequent collaborator of director John G. Avildsen since their initial pairing on Rocky (1976).

[11] Coincidentally, Survivor also performed the main theme ("The Moment of Truth" Music & Lyrics: Bill Conti, Dennis Lambert, Peter Beckett) for the movie.

Bananarama's 1984 hit song "Cruel Summer" also made its U.S. debut in The Karate Kid but was excluded from the film's soundtrack album.

[22][23][24] Following the release of Cobra Kai, The Karate Kid re-releases in 2018 and 2019 grossed a further $400,529 in the United States and Canada,[25][26] bringing its domestic total to $100,400,529 (equivalent to $294,000,000 in 2023).

The website's critics consensus reads: "Utterly predictable and wholly of its time, but warm, sincere, and difficult to resist, due in large part to Morita and Macchio's relaxed chemistry.

[38] The Karate Kid launched the career of Macchio, who would turn into a teen idol featured on the covers of magazines such as Tiger Beat.

It revitalized the acting career of Morita, previously known mostly for his comedic role as Arnold on Happy Days, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Miyagi.

[8] Upon release of the 2010 remake, Dana Stevens wrote: "The 1984 original ... may have seemed like a standard-issue inspirational sports picture at the time, but (as with another box-office hit of the same year, The Terminator), a generation of remove reveals what a well-crafted movie it actually was.

Rewatched today, the original Kid, directed by Rocky's John G. Avildsen, feels smart and fresh, with a wealth of small character details and a leisurely middle section that explores the boy's developing respect for his teacher.

[44] The film spawned a franchise of related items and memorabilia such as action figures, headbands, posters, T-shirts, and a video game.

[59] Consisting of thirteen episodes,[60] the series abandoned the karate tournament motif and followed Daniel and Miyagi, voiced by Joey Dedio and Robert Ito, respectively, in an adventure/quest setting.

Created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, it stars Macchio and Zabka, who reprise their roles as LaRusso and Lawrence, respectively.

Amon Miyamoto served as the director, with an accompanying novel being written by the original film's screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen.

[70] By November of the same year, Chan officially joined the cast alongside Ralph Macchio in their respective roles as Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso.

Jonathan Entwistle will serve as director from a script written by Rob Lieber, where the plot will involve a teen from China moving to the east coast and beginning to study martial arts.