Just picked up the Karate Kid box set after having not seen hide nor hair of the Karate Kid in quite some time. Here's my most basic impressions of the films, feel free to chime in.
The Karate Kid (1984)- Good film, with a slow yet rewarding buildup. It's a shame most films today don't have the patience that this film displays.
The Karate Kid II (1986)- Nice change of pace from the first film as the setting moves from California to Japan. Kobra Kai, the primary antagonist from the last film is absent almost entirely from the sequel, but an adequote replacement is given.
The Karate Kid Part III (1989)- The return of Kobra Kai! A lot of ends are wrapped up in this sequel and a lot are not.
The Next Karate Kid (1994)- This justifies me not putting OT in the thread title.
I own this DVD set.
It's pretty good with neat featurettes and cast commentary.
The first one is my favorite.
I haven't watched the last one yet.
I also own this collection, for nostalgia and camp value. The final film, with Hillary Swank, is so bad it's laughable, ending the series in a totally unbelievable comic book fashion.
I didn't have the Karate Kid but I did have "Three Ninjas"!
I need to add all of these to my bad martial arts collection....
I'd rather forget about these movies but I do love the part in 2 or 3 (?) where the "evil" trainer makes the karate kid punch his hand into a board until it bleeds and other madness to prove how damn tough he is!