40/18
Avildsen shot hours of footage of the tournament from multiple angles
Plot
Decades after their clash at the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, a middle-aged Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves once again as martial arts rivals. During the original filming of The Karate Kid, the late director John G. The team behind Cobra Kai dug through the studio’s vault and found a wealth of previously unseen footage that they were able to incorporate 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 real-life mother in the stands from various angles that remained unseen until 2018. Many people believe that Miyagi’s name on his tombstone is a continuity error, considering that in Karate Kid 4 (1994) his name is listed as Keisuke, but was actually previously shown on a sign held for him by Chozen in Karate Kid 2 (1986) to be Nariyoshi. This means that The Next Karate Kid has changed his name, while Cobra Kai has kept the name previously given to him.
There are many things to love about this show
Another interesting fact, however, is that the name given in The Karate Kid Part II is not the original first name given to Miyagi. In Karate Kid (1984), it can be briefly seen on Miyagi’s dog tags attached to the keys to the 1948 Ford given to Daniel for his birthday that Miyagi’s first name is Hideo. Featured on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Anthony Mackie/Ralph Macchio/Kiri Shabazz (2018).
Johnny Lawrence’s reaction is priceless
Probably the best thing for me is the rejection of political correctness and victim culture. Actually, rejection is a strong word, and this is by no means a protest piece, but there is definitely a theme of taking responsibility for one’s own destiny and facing adversity with resilience and even some aggression. (The show is smart enough to portray overt aggression or anger as counterproductive.) There’s a great scene during a karate tournament where a competitor starts pretentiously signaling to the crowd.
Hopefully Hollywood will take note that virtue signaling is not a prerequisite for great entertainment
It’s great to watch a show that is intelligent with a message to tell, but doesn’t take itself too seriously.