InsidePulse DVD Review – The Karate Kid: Part III

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Credit: Amazon.com

Directed:
John G. Avildsen

Cast

Ralph Macchio…. Daniel LaRusso

Pat Morita …. Mr. Kesuke Miyagi

Thomas Ian Griffith …. Terry Silver

Martin Kove …. John Kreese

Sean Kanan …. Mike Barnes

The Movie

Daniel-san’s third time out begins right where you think it would, a recap of what happened in The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part 2. Specifically the recaps deals with Sensei of the Cobra Kai Dojo that Daniel defeated in the series’ first installment, John Kreese (Martin Kove). Not only was his best student defeated, but then he abused his student after Daniel’s victory. Not only that, but then Mr. Miyagi showed him up in public.

Part III’s new footage actually begins with Kreese down and out after the loss at the All Valley Tournament. He’s behind on his bills and has lost all of his students. Before all of his assets are taken, Kreese decides to give the dojo back to his friend who gave it to him, Millionaire Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith).

To Kreese’s surprise, Silver refuses to take the building back. The two have apparently been friends since Vietnam, and Silver feels he owes him. Silver instead comes up with an elaborate plan for revenge against Daniel and Miyagi.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Miyagi return from their adventure in Okinawa to find the building LaRusso was living in is being shut down. This also means Miyagi is out of a job, and decides on early retirement. Against Miyagi’s wishes, Daniel elects to use his college fund to finance a dream of Miyagi’s, to own his own Bonsai tree shop. As the two heroes fix up their new store, Silver puts his plan into action.

Silver weasels his way into Daniel’s life. Silver plan involve Daniel defending his All-Valley Tournament Championship, so he can be defeated and embarrassed by Silver’s new student, Karate bad boy, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan). Silver has Barnes beat up Daniel and threaten him until he decides to re-enters the tournament. When Miyagi refuses to train Daniel, citing that Karate is not about plastic trophies, Daniel turns to Silver instead.

Silver is merciless in his training. Using hard hitting techniques, Daniel suffers through grueling training from Silver, making his knuckles bleed. Worse is the embarrassment Daniel feels after deciding to enter the tournament, only to discover Silver has been playing him the whole time.

Turning back to his Sensei, Daniel-san receives the training needed to defeat Barnes from Mr. Miyagi. The two face down in the All Valley Tournament, with Kreese and Silver watching on. Will Daniel suffer defeat at the hands of Cobra-Kai? Or will the underdog prevail once more?

The word “retread” is made for sequel’s like The Karate Kid Part III. While the first film was a great underdog story and the second was a pretty good tale of honor and love, the third film brings nothing to the series we haven’t seen before. Believable villains are replaced by “Bond-like” evil doers. Think about it, you’re a millionaire running a huge company. You have to worry about government official looking into your company and other problems, but you put everything on hold to get revenge on a teenager that won a local karate tournament?

Ralph Macchio’s Daniel is not nearly as endearing as he is in the first two installments. Macchio merely comes off as kind of whiny this time out. After Miyagi has taught you so much and never lead you astray, why would you turn your back on him? Pat Morita is once again the film’s center. Morita’s Miyagi does nothing here to hurt his status as a pop culture icon. Everybody’s favorite Sensei is still in top form here, giving out advice in old sayings and riddles.

The villains in this film are needlessly over the top. Thomas Ian Griffith’s Terry Silver would be more at home facing off against Roger Moore or Pierce Brosnan than he does here against Ralph Macchio. Griffith is chewing up scenery as much as possible and is in one scene after another illustrating how rich and powerful he is. It seems as if every scene he is in involves him covering up some toxic waste dump or he’s walking with his butler (you know, because he’s rich). Sean Kanan’s Mike Barnes is just a carbon copy villain here. The bully who knows karate is a staple of this series I know, but Kanan’s lack of charisma brings down every scene he’s in. Martin Kove’s Kreese is the only villain here with any proper motivation or real menace. Kove is better in the first film, but not too bad here in his limited screen time.

Director John G. Avildsen tries to bring the same type of underdog story that won him the Academy Award for Rocky, but none of the warmth or style of that picture is shown here. The inspiration that the story of a kid who learned honor and to defend himself had already gone as far as it could go. All this story does is sully the legacy of the two other good movies.

Score: 2.0

The DVD:

The Video

Pretty standard stuff here. The film is presented in a widescreen 1.85:1. It’s a step up from VHS, but nothing special.

Score: 6.0

The Audio

The Dolby 2.0 surround audio track is a little less mediocre than the movie itself is.

Score: 6/10

SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailers for The Karate Kid Series, Godzilla 2000 and A Starship Troopers Cartoon.

So you were maybe looking forward to getting into the heads of the film makers behind The Karate Kid III? Well looking to the film’s DVD for that info is the wrong place. If you looking for Karate Kid trailers, this is the place. All four trailers are here, plus trailers for Godzilla 2000 and some animated adventures of Starship Troopers.

Score: 2.0

Robert Sutton feels the most at home when he's watching some movie scumbag getting blown up, punched in the face, or kung fu'd to death, especially in that order. He's a founding writer for the movies section of Insidepulse.com, featured in his weekly column R0BTRAIN's Badass Cinema as well as a frequent reviewer of DVDs and Blu-rays. Also, he's a proud Sony fanboy, loves everything Star Wars and Superman related and hopes to someday be taken seriously by his friends and family.