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The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
37 Plays6 months ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris enter the world of evil karate to talk about The Karate Kid Part III, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, and it's also just in time for the start of the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai.
Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita return as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi, fresh from their trip to Okinawa in The Karate Kid Part II. Instead of going to college, Daniel buys a rundown store on the wrong side of town and tries to open a bonsai store with Mr. Miyagi. Unfortunately for the duo, John Kreese (Martin Kove) is looking for revenge after he was humiliated in The Karate Kid and contacts his millionaire friend Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) to enact an extremely complicated scheme to crush Daniel and Mr. Miyagi under the might of Cobra Kai. The guys talk about the over-the-top Bond villainy of Terry Silver, the surprising amount of mountain rappelling in a karate movie, the legality of a 17-year-old leasing a business in 1980s California, the movie's surprising importance to Cobra Kai, the extremely abbreviated All Valley Tournament and more.
You can watch The Karate Kid Part III on Starz or buy/rent it from digital storefronts like Amazon. Next week, we'll discuss The Last Starfighter as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction & Anniversary Celebration
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast for the week of July 1st, 2024. I'm your host Zach. And I'm your co-host Chris. ah Yeah, this week we're diving into the world of Evil Karate, ah talking about the Karate Kid part three, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, came out June 30th, 1989. And also just in time
Karate Kid Part III Plot Overview
00:00:39
Speaker
for Cobra Kai, which is back for its ah part one of three of the sixth season, sixth and final season of the Netflix show. who, ah one of them one of the characters who introduced the movie was a huge factor for a most, for ah some of the recent seasons, Terry Silver, played by Thomas Ian Griffith, who is introduced in Cry of Kipart 3. And yeah, and and he creases back in this movie after, so basically, so we're picking up, ah so,
00:01:13
Speaker
Daniel Alurusa wins the the first tournament, David's Johnny Lawrence, then he and Mr. Maggie go to ah Okinawa and have their Okinawa venture in almost like ah Daniel has a death match with Chosen in in Japan and wins. Yeah, he's there for basically vacation and he ends up, um I don't know, ah defending like generational like revenge. fuel like And that's pretty high stakes compared to like what was before in the first movie. Yeah, like a small, like a regional cry tournament in Los Angeles has become, and then it goes to like, yeah, a death battle and like a bit of death in Japan with like actual weapons. But yeah, they come in- He shrugs that off. Yes. He shrugs that off. That's kind of important in the beginning. So, but yeah, so they come home and
00:02:11
Speaker
Daniel's supposed to go to college, but he spends ah his wad of loose cash for college on ah buying a like a horrifically rundown building on the wrong side of town to ah open a bot side store with Mr. Miyagi. He must have gotten that for pennies on the dollar. i I want to see like the like like that whole scene is like you don't see that scene at all. of Like Daniel like negotiating with the real estate agent or like the real estate agent like just like being like, oh man, I got a life with this time. like Well, okay. Mind you, Danny Russo, even though Ralph Macchio was uh, 27, yeah, 27, he said 27 year old buying a building is like early kind of weird, right? But then a 17 year old just sounds like a shady deal, right? Like just,
00:03:01
Speaker
Danny Russo doesn't have anything. He doesn't even have a home. His home gets condemned. Yes. And his and his mother has to go back to Jersey to help Uncle Louie, who is emphysema. So he is without a ah real legal guardian.
Daniel's Challenges & Real Estate Issues
00:03:16
Speaker
Yeah. And he just has loose money and he bought a building. He bought a lease. That's not even the focus. We move on so fast from that that we just forget that. In the 80s, if you're under 18, could you legally purchase a building? I'm pretty sure you can't because like whatever company is going to be okay with that. My thing is, if he went to a building and was like, I like to rent it out and they did it under the table, fine, right? that That's kind of like, we'll start simple. Or it's like the the Simpsons where Bart walks in that auction and just buys a building for a dollar.
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Even then it's like, if anything, Russo should have done the legwork and then get Miyagi to sign. Maybe that was something, but yeah, the movie just goes, don't worry. Danny bought a place. He uses college money. I think I kind of forget if that was like, I know Miyagi was very apprehensive about it, but I think he did. He was you supposed to go to college and he had like a lot of cash. They was supposed to pay for college with. um But he spends that on the building, and then it's going to endnna use it for like, run of like, maybe like renovate or like clean up the building. And I think I don't say Mr. Gregory has like a stockpile of bonsai trees so they're good there I guess. and for As far as like they're like stock of ah items.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yeah, so he had inventory, he had skill, all he needed was just a location. And he picked basically like skid row. Yeah. They they literally they literally drive across train tracks to end up, and but then like Daniel's like, Oh, it's the right, welcome to the right side town. It's like, I don't know. It's the, you're the wrong side. like Sorry kid. You're, you're, you're, you're, can't care out of your way out of basically gun fights. i I'm surprised there was like a homeless person like living in that building or something that they'd like to kick out. Yeah, i um I don't know if this is the commentary of this movie because it begins with basically ah like ah a new apartment being built on the cheap apartment and that's why all the tenants are being kicked out. yeah ah Miyagi's out of a job because he was the
00:05:25
Speaker
Uh, the super, right? Yep. I thought he lived in that apartment building too. No, he has his own separate, he has like his house last dojo somewhere else. That's, that's, that's where like, that's where like Miyagi do, uh, trains and Cobra Kai. Okay. Cause like his house is insanely nice. And I'm like, yes. Yeah. It was, it was nice. The first movie cause he had like, yeah, he had his collection of cars. He's got like that, Guard in the back with all the training like platforms and everything. He's got the dojo inside. I'm just like, his business is not, I should teach karate. It's okay. I'm going to sell plants. I get it. He doesn't want to do karate anymore. And maybe that's it. It's just like, Danny doesn't get the hint where he's just like, teach me like, Hey, I know we want to do plants, but how about some karate? Some sad
Terry Silver's Villainy and Background
00:06:11
Speaker
karate. Mr. Ryagi is too powerful. As we see this, like he's like the most powerful fighter in the Cobra Kai universe.
00:06:17
Speaker
He is basically a master Yoda in this. Yes. And like this movie definitely is a ripoff of a lot of Star Wars s things going on. And as this is, as you explained it, it gets very um like dark side ish. Yes. terry Terry Silver is like the emperor. he is He is the Emperor Palpatine of like this whole Karate Kid Cobra Kai universe. It's a big reveal that Terry Silver is able to fund Cobra Kai through his evil ah toxic waste business. Yes. He runs a toxic waste business called Dynatox, which is like the best 80s evil company name.
00:06:55
Speaker
And it's kind of a pivotal thing to explain how they're able to be like the best and recruit. And, um, Terry's able to just sort of do it as a pet project. It's like, yeah, it doesn't matter if this makes money or not. He, he just did it as a favor to, to Greece, but, but we still don't know what they did. It just, he saved my life. Like this guy saved your life. there's There's flashbacks in Cobra Kai, like dig into it. They were like, I've been able to get captured and then they had like, Um, they had the, they were forced to like fight over like cobra pits. They were like fighting. on oh So they had to karate and then it's like, that's where Cobra Kai comes from. Cause they were like, it's like, I think it was kind of a Batman thing where it's like, they had like turning what they feared into like a weapon. So we that we, we almost died cause these Cobra pits. Now we're going to like use the Cobra symbol to like strike fear into our enemies.
00:07:45
Speaker
I mean, his plan was solid, I guess, for an 80s evil karate school movie. It just, it's funny to think that this man who is this evil and his like, you know, he has the power to do other things like he could have done. so many other bullying tactics slash threat levels. His plan was getting very personal. Almost take like, I don't know, months off of his day job. Oh, he literally says, I'm not, I'm not doing anything for my job. Like for the company, I like don't and tell me anything about the company. I'm just focusing on revenge. I get the leaders. I was like, I'm going to work on revenge for the next couple months.
00:08:26
Speaker
I'm going to bully this kid from Jersey and this old man because they want to. They beat my friend who I know is an asshole. I'm going to cause physical and like mental trauma on this like teenager. I mean, if anything, Terry Silver could just bought another made another bonsai business. I think that would have hurt me way more. um Like, cause I forget in like rewatching this, that Terry Silver just figures out where Miyagi lives and breaks in. It's never mentioned again. He does it once. And it's just like, that could have been your revenge right there. And he just like leaves. All he had to do was find like some new super clippings and then just sort of, hmm, and just like walks away. but That's way too simple for a Terry Silver plan. Like, and even like even like his like scheme in this movie is like, like,
00:09:20
Speaker
but you could take Cobra Kai when he comes back. like He has like layers of plans and like multiple people. He's like causing each like he's like using like someone's trauma against another person, then then like using backstab another person and like bribing people. and like just like it's like yeah His Cobra Kai plan is like has 10 layers to it. Which you get an inkling of here because he like he's like it's multiple multiple levels of ah like trying to like split Miyagi and Daniel and cause trauma and cause like physical damage. I see. I just find it funny that ah like,
00:10:01
Speaker
again, he's very hands on for this revenge. It just seems like he could have hired way more or better help. And he's just like, no, like for for a man that is so, who has so much power, I think I would refer to it if he was introduced in the first movie and then sort of like, we'll talk about this later. But I think because
All-Valley Tournament Highlights
00:10:21
Speaker
they just sort of made each movie as a, Oh shit. Now what? Yeah. You know, I don't think, yeah. Uh, it just would be funnier if, um, they just digitally edit them in the first movie or something.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, special special edition. Yeah. Yeah. Or he he's in the opening dojo. He's the one that actually pulls Johnny aside and says, like, you know what you have to do. Yeah. Go for the knee. Sweep the leg. Listen to your sensei. So. I, I, again, I didn't mind it. It's coherent now. I don't, I don't remember if this movie at the time was beloved by people because Oh, it was, it was definitely diminishing returns at the time. And it was also like very like critically, not well received visitors. Like, this is just like a rehash of like the first movie with like slightly new things, but it's basically the same thing over again. Uh, and then also the stone of this movie is way different than the first two.
00:11:26
Speaker
It's just like it escalates way quicker. i feel i feel like I feel like the tone of this movie is kind of like the like launching point for like Cobra Kai kind of has the same tone as this movie. that That's where I got that vibe from. where where it's Where it's like everything is everything like is taken to like the extreme, but for like the lowest stakes possible. Yeah, you mentioned in the beginning saying that basically ah you were already expecting it to be that way. So when you when you came back to this movie, it's just like, oh, no, I can pick up from it. It connects better. Yeah. And just just the fact that people are like almost committing attempted murder to like people for this karate tournament in Resita, California, like over and also over like local businesses, that like local karate businesses.
00:12:23
Speaker
I mean, local local karate is apparently big business. Yeah. and I mean, Cobra Kai just takes the e more crazy levels of like but what is happening. And when you think about it, it's just like, this is all about like like yeah just like local businesses and a tournament. And the tournament even ramps up to like insane levels, too, where it's like, we got special guests opening acts for the tournament. And we have like thousands of people watching it. it's It's like the super, it comes like the Super Bowl, but it's like, this is just like you, like you go to like your local like community center, like watch kids like fight each other karate. It's like supposed to be just the parents. Like who else is going to this karate tournament? I don't know. Maybe it's the hottest thing in town. If karate, a high school under 18 tournament is the biggest thing in your weekend town, you need to travel more.
00:13:11
Speaker
I mean, even like, even like like the sidekicks tournament that like Chuck Norris was there. I mean, that's that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So this one is just well, I mean, don't worry, because this movie also shows you very little of all that tournament. Oh, it just drops you into the finals. Yeah. If you if you if you enjoy the tournament part of part one, then you're certainly this way of part three. Did you enjoy the angsty parts of part one? You're going to get a shitload of that in this one. And then did you um Did you enjoy the romance of part two? It's there, but not what you think. Yes. More of a bromance between Miyagi and Danny this time. Well, the issues. So Robin Lively is like the third major love interest of the credit kid series, but then.
00:13:56
Speaker
ah because of like Ralph Macchio's 27 in real life. Robin Lively is a a literal teenager. She's 16 in this movie. They had they changed the ah script where like, oh, they're not ah love interests. They're like, they're become for friends. They're just friends. She's leaving in like a month.
00:14:17
Speaker
Where's she going? Did you even say she's, she's in California helping her aunt at the powdery store. Cause her aunt was the powdery store that she's going back to Columbus, Ohio, where she lives. And then in, uh, in Cobra Kai, like there's actually an episode where like ah some of the characters go back to Columbus and then she just shows back up.
00:14:38
Speaker
i makes It's, it's, ah it's, a it's at like the peak of like Terry silver, like
Character Dynamics and Training
00:14:42
Speaker
tormenting Daniel, like adult Daniel.
00:14:47
Speaker
and making him seem like he's like the crazy one, like, you know, like, restraining orders against him and, like, making it look like he's, like, like the insane, like, person, like, like, destroying things.
00:15:04
Speaker
But, yeah, yeah, Raulio, um, I love that they introduced the fact that she's, like, a mountain climber, only for the fact that they need to, like, rappel down the mountain and get, like, this, like, bonsai tree. Wait, really? I, I, I, their dialogue is so like just reading off of a, like a team talk. So I give him credit. So these sort of name drop things like, Oh, do you like this? Uh-huh. Oh yeah. In the beginning where he comes in looking for like a pot. Yep. And she's just like, Oh yeah. Come on in. Oh yeah. I could do that. Yeah. Okay. All right. And then she's like, Oh, when will I see you again? And he's just like, Oh, maybe later. Okay. Bye. Like,
00:15:45
Speaker
They're, they're really shoehorning it. There isn't like a natural, uh, like they need to get to the point where they're just introducing this for them to meet and that it set up that chemistry. But yeah, there's a bit, she has a, she has a picture of her boyfriend in Columbus with it, with the head ripped off and then, but they're repelling down a mountain. So they establish that she's like, that's her thing is like, she's like a mountain climber. Oh, I missed that. Yeah. So that's, that's how they're able to like repel down. was like the, the, the devil's Casa or whatever, where the, the like, legend younger yeah, it was that like the prize bonsai that is in there. It's it's like an original like bonsai tree. It's apparently worth like, you know, like tens of thousands of dollars.
00:16:33
Speaker
And i there like like, I don't think bonds, like, I don't know. I know bonsai trees. Technically you can make it out of other things. Like you could, Yeah, it's a lot of maintenance to make something to a bonsai. But yeah, is a salt air good for a bonsai like that and in California?
00:16:55
Speaker
Well, when when when you know when it goes wrong, it falls it falls off the cliff into like the ocean. They're like panicking. I'm like, get it out of salt water. Get it out of salt water. Pour your water on it. But it's like on a cliff facing the beach. Yeah. it's it's like costly I i guess higher guess it's high enough enough where it's the mist like the salty mist is hitting it, maybe? I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. I kind of forgot that I was by a beach. and In my head, I thought it was something else. I thought it was somewhere. So when I saw it now and seeing that it's basically just by like the cliff sides of like Santa Monica. I'm like, well, you know, whatever they are in L.A. or California. um But. Yeah, it was cool because you got to focus on the reality of not karate stuff for a while. And then that's why Danny's sort of angst up because it's like this was called it the karate kid. Like I should be doing karate. But not just trying to like help Mr. Miyagi live his dream of running a shop like he sort of flips on the idea. And that's because
00:17:53
Speaker
um
Techniques, Morals, and Final Confrontation
00:17:55
Speaker
he's been issued a challenge by what I assume is like has to be an adult like in that be on a karate magazine right but that's like yeah the new bad boy karate is 17 like what Yeah, there's no there's no much of like age limits or anything to like the all-valley tournament. So no, no, it's under it's the under 18. Oh, yeah, it is under 18. So he's got to be. Yeah, he's got to be like 17 then. But it's like, yeah, he's like but he does not act like a 17 year old. Yeah, like like like bars is like like a 30 year old man. Well, he shows up and he's already comfortable trying to negotiate with a bad guy. Yeah. And he's OK with um doing like thug work.
00:18:39
Speaker
when he's got him and his cronies are there to bully the Miyagi shop. He's like hired, like Terry Silver hired goons for him. Legit goons. Yes. Legit goons that for any reason they could have just done things and Terry just has like, you know, I guess they're not teens so they can't enter the tournament. Maybe.
00:19:05
Speaker
So snake and Dennis. Do they ever come back in the series? I don't think so. Mike, Mike, Mike Barnes did and he, uh, he had guy have a giant Lauren style, like, uh, redemption arc or like a, like, you know, it's like, oh, he's, he's, he changed his ways. Well, that's cool. I mean, just because Mike Barnes, he did it to just run a business because even in the karate world, you have to find gig work because it's not super lucrative. Yeah, just just like traveling around to like other tournaments, just like winning tournaments. I guess because it doesn't say you have to be a resident of the area as long as your school's in the area. But even then, the the all Valley High just seems like all the residential ah karate schools. And that's why this it gets smaller because compared to the first movie where it was like a big tournament and in a big billboard, this one was
00:20:01
Speaker
10. It just seemed like 10 schools. I mean, if you look at like the tournament board behind like, but like, you know, the scoreboard kind of thing, it looks like there's only like four people in the first round. Yeah. that's i say And then each of those are schools and then Danny doesn't have to fight until the semi-finals from what I saw. No, and it he he only had to fight in the final. Like he just had to buy all the way to the final. Like whoever wins all the rest of the tournament, like has to fight Daniel i for the title. That's kind of unfair. I feel like this is an all-day fight. make Make the champ be part of it again. And that's why he's like, oh. That's why Daniel's like so gung-ho in the beginning of like, oh man, it's going to be so easy. I said to fight one fight. It's like, Danny, you fought Johnny and you barely won. And that was the crank kick. You can't use that crank kick again. Everyone saw. That wasn't a secret technique that
00:20:52
Speaker
is going to fool the guy he's going to study. This guy is actually supposed to be like a national recognized champ. You know, it's so weird that Mike Barnes lost to it. And then again, Mike Barnes lost him because Mike Barnes was playing dirty. But I think in a straight fight, Danny wouldn't have a chance to do it. Just thank God. Because like, because Terry Silver and Kreese are like, you got to make it last all the way. You got to make it last as long as possible. Like make it make it feel pain. make them go for three minutes and then we'll do a tentacle knockout where our tentacle win where basically I just gotta get one point from a sudden death rule. I feel like they announced that in the movie. They're just like, hey, by the way, we're going with an on we're going with a point system so you can do whatever you want for the three minutes. But the final time, but ah this if if the scores are the same, be it 10 or zero,
00:21:47
Speaker
If they're just equal the same, we're going to sudden death. We're not counting all the penalties and shit up until that point, then. Yeah. Well, it was going the negatives or no I guess you can. It's it's it's first the three and then crease and silver where we're like having like Barnes be like, get a point and then get a penalty point. So that negates your point. And then so then it's zero zero because they wanted it like to be tied at the three minute mark. But that's
Tournament Climax and Resolution
00:22:12
Speaker
a problem. Like he does it a couple of times. Every time he earns a point, he loses the point. So yeah after. Two times? Shouldn't the judges be like, I know what you're doing. Stop it. I think they they give a warning of like, hey, do that one more time. You're out of it. You're like disqualified. So I think he stops doing like the the penalty points. But then it's like making it so that neither of them get points.
00:22:35
Speaker
Because it's like it's like it's yeah you have to do like a like a square hit on the other person. or like it's it's like It's like a very like technical technical way of scoring points in a cry turn to fight. but they They stress that at the end, but that's also because I guess LaRusso's finding style is supposed to be like a lot of passive hits and yeah softer blows. so um like they're They're powerful that you get them, but they're not like, intently supposed to mess up your opponent.
00:23:08
Speaker
But that's the whole point of this whole movie is that there's evil karate and up until this point, it's been good karate, except for the time Sato shows up or chosen shows up and he had a knife like on the second one. People forget like he showed up in the second movie to do a blood feud about the death in a moat. That was the second movie. Yeah. And the third one, even if they got like this badass karate punk mercenary he's still gonna follow the karate rules like he has to you know he's fighting on the eagle turf yeah well what i mean for a tournament he's doing all kindss kinds of stuff like smashing a store uh pulling up the ropes when uh they're like repelling so that they then it's like threatening basically like if if you don't sign this like document that you're going to enter the tournament we're going to leave you with the tides to kill you yeah no that shit seriously was like messed up that is comes out of nowhere like
00:24:07
Speaker
But at that point, it's like, I'm going to call the cops. That guy threatened me. And they steal they steal all the bonsai trees. um i And they'd never get those back. Mr. Mike has to buy new bonsai trees by selling his truck. They'd never get they never like like like get the the trees back or like at the end, like figure out where they went. It's just like, nope, those trees might just burn them all or something or throw them off a cliff or something. Threw them in like a ah vat of toxic waste at Terry Silver. has I wouldn't be surprised if it had been better if you just burnt them. At least we see what they happen, not just like, oh, they're just gone out in the open in front of this guy's house. Speaking of burning stuff, I love when, like, Daniel burns, like, the first, um, like, all-value entry form and throws it in the fireplace, and then he and Mr. Maggie both leave with, like, a fire burning in their house, and then Terry Silver's, like, in the chimney. Yeah. It's... it's...
00:25:05
Speaker
I guess it's symbolic, but again, in the visual tone of this whole thing, it's so weird because they have not done this at all. So you just got to get used to this wacky version of Karate Kid now. Yeah, yeah have you have to get used to like a ah literal supervillain. like Well, he's like a criminal mastermind. He's like a James Bond villain, basically. Yeah, yeah. He has is like like like hired help. He's got henchmen. He runs an evil company. He's also ah like he's conniving to get in the good graces of the karate tournament because he's able to give like a speech at the end and it's like did he buy this tournament? I think he donates the the new like tournament building that houses like the house valley tournament like at that whole like gym I think he bought it for them. I see.
00:26:01
Speaker
So that's weird cause he's like, Oh, by the way, uh, Cobra, cause we all know he's biased towards the Cobra Kai school. And if you were a legit business that had a karate business there, like this is unfair. Like this is, this is a karate sort of event. I think he also said he bought 20 schools. It is like, why there's only like four teams in that end. He's, he's bought out all the other schools except for like Maggie, dude. Yeah, I get it. Which doesn't even have a school is have Mr. Maggie's house. And then. And then, but he bought, he bought all schools, but then there's no other Cobra Kai students. It's just Mike Barnes. Cause that's the whole thing that sets everything off is that because Cobra Kai lost the tournament and then they have, everyone everyone saw like crease kids asking by Mr. Miyagi after the tournament, like Cobra Kai lost all of the students. And so like crease had to shut down the school and then he's just like, you know, like drunken and destitute.
00:27:01
Speaker
And then, but then he goes like, Oh yeah, wait, wait, I forgot. I, I, I'm friends with like a ah billionaire bond villain. I can go talk to who like, like loves me and like, we'll do anything for me. Yeah, that, that was a good thing that he did just to have that connection, but you really waited too late to figure it out that he should talk to his rich friend about money or have a plan. Meanwhile, Terry Silver has introduced just doing in-house karate, uh, like signing off toxic waste. Everything. I mean, Terry Silver is a mate. This is an amazing character. Yeah. So everything, everything like, yeah, him in like the bath, just like, or like in the sauna, like just but yelling about like, like creases, like make his necklace bees. Like, yeah, Johnny. I love that. Yeah.
00:27:51
Speaker
Which, I don't know if you mentioned it, but like, this, like, Cry Kid Part 3, Cherry Silver is definitely like, seems like he's doing cocaine. And then Cobra Kai, Cherry Silver is like much, he's a much calmer presence, but still just as evil. Well, it's hard to, um, I guess, keep doing that, especially when your big scheme to bully a high school kid failed. And then you gotta be a little bit humble, but Yeah, that's why it's like, it's amazing. Like he is legit like a good villain for such a small stake. Where in the second one, there was just like a roving gang of Japanese teens doing like extortion.
00:28:36
Speaker
and in In Japan? Yeah, in Japan. Yeah. I mean, that kind of comes back when Barnes is like bullying Danny Schapp, but I like how they don't fight over girl. If you think about the first two movies was like, uh, kind of starts with a girl. And then second one is, I don't know, the girl gets like kind of in the way. And this one, no girl, like Jenny, Jessica. Yeah. Jessica. Like she is just, well, she gets kicked in the stomach. This out of nowhere, where she gets kicked in the stomach.
00:29:11
Speaker
That's it. That's her biggest contribution is this being a distraction. And then like Danny's voice, a not give up, but it doesn't come back up. It's still Miyagi and yet Miyagi's there for him and says the right words. It's not like she shows up. the for Yeah. She, she, she like, she's like leave. She's like, well, but I'm going to Columbus over there. We're so fine.
From Karate Kid to Cobra Kai
00:29:31
Speaker
This was a great summer. Bye. We'll see each other in a however many years and I'll introduce you to my cousin.
00:29:40
Speaker
um But yeah, I feel like Daniel should have realize realized something was going on when he starts actually training with Terry. Because because Terry starts out, part of his whole scheme is to ingratiate himself with Miyagi and Daniel by being like, hey, i i'm coming like i but I came from Korea, like my master is apologizing for Kreese and what happened, like we're we're horrified by it. Also Kreese killed himself, or like he's dead, we don't know what happened to him. Don't look at a newspaper. Don't ask anyone. He's just dead. Yeah. And then, and then he's like, he's like, like creating schemes so that he'll like show up and like help. Like, like he sends Mike Barnes in to like harass them and be at his house and like, he shows up and just like, Hey, get out of here kid. Yeah. I do like his plan is to pretend he's not a evil guy. And thank God the internet hasn't existed yet.
00:30:34
Speaker
Cause this falls apart of some dude, just like a soft smoking guy. He has, he has to have been on like, like, like Newsweek or something. He's like, he's an evil toxic waste baron. Like he's got to be showing up on like newspapers, like, oh, Diana, Diana, tox is dumping chemicals and like, for every, they're dumping him. Like, I guess, I guess Daniel does read the newspaper or like read anything. But, but ah but when he starts training and then like, terry's like, I feel like Kerry almost gives, like, kind of gives the way where you're just like, I mean, he switch to the switch and be like, you gotta, you gotta get hurt yourself. I'm not going to put, I'm going to push you like, well, evil karate requires you to yeah break things, scream a lot more. Um, and basically not be in a car, like a street fight. ah He's teaching him street fighting techniques.
00:31:24
Speaker
But like he switches his whole demeanor of like, Hey, I'm just this like, I'm just a nice guy from Korea. That's like those karate to like, push their nose and make them bleed. And then they can't breathe anymore. then' They'll be dead. Like, yeah, push, push their nose to their brain. He, that as soon as those words coming out, he should have been like, I'm out of here. Yeah. Instead of he just keeps going for lessons going, huh? He's getting increasingly more aggressive and ah telling me to injure like my opponents, even though when I do that, I'll get disqualified immediately. And like yeah he's blatantly telling the sheet of like, hey, he ran to your fist, man. That's not it. You won't get a point for that. And the day I was like, good point. Good point, yeah.
00:32:10
Speaker
And then that, uh, yeah, the, like the wooden, the wooden man, uh, like spare bare wood, like tree I, I remember that being a lot more detailed when I was a kid, I thought that was more like aggressive, but it is, I don't know if that's a real thing or that he made that himself as part of the quick silver method. It's like a ah quick silver patented invention. Is this body like, uh, almost like a, um,
Cultural Impact and Series Reflection
00:32:40
Speaker
I don't know, like, uh, like a Tin Man style body because it looks so boxy. Well, I guess like they didn't have, it's like pieces of, it's like pieces of woods, like hooked together with like too big. Yeah. Yeah. And then it's also like piping and it it takes like, I don't know, four feet. Like this big stand.
00:33:02
Speaker
So I was like, oh, okay. So Danny's got to punch this until his hands bleed. And he's like, yeah, I feel the rage. Use it. I do like when like Terry Silver just like destroys it. Yeah, he does it in seconds. Yeah. It's just like, oh, shit, Terry Silver. And the time seeing Griffith is like a legit like black belt, like kepo, like martial artists. Yeah. Yeah, that kind of makes sense. See, I get like once you get to a certain point and you're if you're young and you're doing like karate champions, you get invited to be an actor. But in this world no one gets recruited be an actor you're you get recruited by a anti-environmentalist I Think out of everyone he's the only one one who can say he's actually like a karate champ then Well, I don't know if Terry Silver actually won any like I don't know Yeah, I don't know
00:34:05
Speaker
You know, oh man, what's that guy we always watch? Jeff Speakman. Oh, Jeff Speakman. Yeah. Very, I think, I think a very similar kind of thing. Oh, the Jeff Speakman had like, somehow he had like a much longer career than Thomasine Griffith did. If I was like, cause like, Thomasine Griffith had like three movie, he had a three movie deal after credit card hits part three. Like it was like excessive force, Cracker Jack, and then like one other one. And then they all kind of didn't do that well. And they're all kind of directed videos. And that was like kind of the end of, Timesy Griffith's like leading man action star career. But then yeah, I mean, thankfully Cobra Kai, you know, brought it back to like rightfully like put it back in like the spotlight. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where he was misunderstood. And this one, they use them perfectly. Though I kind of want him in other roles. and And I would I would have watched another hero movie with him in it, him in the lead.
00:35:00
Speaker
They should make, yeah, me just make one now. They give give him some like John Wick style stuff or something to do. Yeah. Like the genre, gen the John Wick style genre is still around. So we're in it until they basically come up with one where we just don't care that he's getting his revenge. But so far, those movies, the older guy getting revenge on a younger generation for some, you know, simple thing. I mean, that's, that's ah the John Wick to me.
00:35:29
Speaker
So just, I mean, technically Cobra Kai is that it's, it turns into some dude getting revenge again through so many complicated steps. Oh yeah. I'm also, I was just trying to figure out like if Quicksilver is actually something that he like, like, you know, believes in, or if it's just like bullshit to like destroy Daniel or like format Daniel. But then he I think he brings, up but I think he brings it back in Cobra Kai. So I think it is like, like, that's like, he thinks that's like a legit like trading method. You're just like pushing it to the extreme on Daniel. Well, he did it just mess with them and we'll make um his knuckles bleed, but okay, but they do. And then the next thing is, all right, we should win this tournament though. yeah like Honestly, the training part was fun. It took months and a lot of manipulation, but we can just clean up this town with our hired help.
00:36:23
Speaker
I love it. Well, I love the one scene where like, um, I think it's like the third lesson where he's like, yeah, he's like making him like punch deals, knuckles bleed. And then, but then like the end of it first of the one do it. So he's just like, well, I don't, I don't train wimps. So he just walks off, but he's like hiding just outside outside the room and Taylor's punching. And and then you get that territory. So we're just like laughing to himself. It's like, ah um my evil karate plans are working. Yeah. And then the reveal creases reveal when he comes back is like so fucking hilarious. We just like jumps out from behind that. Like, like, I think, I think he jumps us from behind a stadium himself. Yeah. Uh, just waits there. and And, um, the dark, I guess does that insane face. Just like, yeah, I'm back to the dead.
00:37:19
Speaker
just like Terry Silver just being like full Emperor Palpatine was like let me reveal my plan to you Mike Barnes is here he's works for me Kreese isn't dead you really should have waited I feel like if they waited like another day it would have worked but uh if you remember the scene Mike I mean uh ah Danny shows back up in the middle of the night. He's going, yeah, he's saying like i like, this isn't working, I'm gonna do it my own way. Like, would like but like I'm out of the tournament again, I'm not doing the tournament anymore. But he shows the middle of the night, no probably knowing that Dojo's gonna be closed. So he took it on the chance that Terry will be there sleeping in the back or something. Or just training, he's constantly training. Yeah. And then, of course, you know, everyone's just doing like a birthday surprise ambush there. So that's what I'm saying, like, did they? Yeah.
00:38:11
Speaker
he was going to come back. He invited him and then he did that. But he legit was just waiting. Snake was like, Snake was like watching Mr. Braggus. I was just like, he left. I got to call Terry Silver. like Get in place. Okay. Get in place. He's coming. You got tell to ah tell, tell, uh, what's his name to change geese and then get in the bag. Everyone's wearing geese as if they're ready to like go to a cry tournament that night. Yeah. John Grease, can you tell him to get behind the John Grease pop-up? Yeah. But then luckily- Wait, one more thing. Yeah. I kind of wish he was also dressed up like he was in that Vietnam photo. Or like like um he's like one kind of other like big action movie that's like in the 80s outside of this, like ah ah was it Cold Steel or like ah
00:39:04
Speaker
Steel Justice. Well, he was also in Rambo Part 2. Yeah. Well, Steel Justice is like his solo action movie. I see. But that was like he had full on the face paint and everything. He couldn't even brought the snake that he has. He has that pet snake.
00:39:29
Speaker
yeah But luckily Mr. Miyagi knows where Daniel went to and then he shows up and then we you know we we see like you know the most powerful karate user in the Cobra Kai universe, Mr. Miyagi, that defeat all of them. but Without breaking a sweat. Yeah. You want to talk about the Miyagi style karate, which is just as if you're trying to tame like a dog. down it's like yeah like Like putting your hand out and like patting them or like kind of like waving them off Waiting for them to throw a kick so you could just like sidestep them. Mm-hmm No, yelling, you know, just just sort of dead staring, you know, because Pat Morati isn't a martial artist He doesn't he never claimed he was just like yeah, they needed an actor that was Asian and I was there I used to be on happy days
00:40:23
Speaker
that's That's why Miyagi-Do is so powerful. And he was he wasn't even using like a secret like offensive technique that could kill people. He's just using it the but like basic like defensive Miyagi-Do. The one where you just most
Cobra Kai's Legacy & Future
00:40:35
Speaker
likely just move out the way. That that is most of Miyagi Harada. I think in the beginning of the movie, they show you his technique where ah Greece wants to try to punch him and Miyagi just keeps dodging left and right. Yeah. So is that really, and then it's like, it's a defensive move. Like he believes Karate is a defense, so you shouldn't attack until you have to. But a crane kick is not a defensive move really. It's like, a I guess it is because I'm misleading because you don't usually wait for them to mess up. Yeah. Your opponent's like running at you to like attack you. So you're like, you know, waiting for the timing and like kicking them in the face.
00:41:17
Speaker
But in this one, there's nothing. It's just what we said in the first movies, The Crane Kick, second movies, The Drum Fist. And this one, this one is just straight up katas. Just stand on this mountain and just do some katas. And then I love in the final fight, when he's doing the kata stuff, Michael Myers is like, what the fuck is this? I don't know. Oh, yeah. How do I fight him? How do I fight him? Yeah. Did you hear the commentary in the background? So in the people are shouting like, oh, he's hallucinating. Get him. they Yeah, because like, like they think Johnny's like brain damage or something. Daniel. There's a man. Yeah. um But Daniel, because he's been like thrown around for one match and obviously he just did like a power up stance because.
00:42:08
Speaker
Uh, he would have, he was tapping. It was like, I can't fight anymore. I'm getting my ass kicked. And Miyagi was just like, no, no focus. And then that was all he needed. It was not like do it for, for, um, Kim, uh, Kimiko do it for, uh, pot girl or do it for Ali. Yeah. Do it for any of them. Do it for those secret Wada cash. you use Do it because you're, ahre you're like a bonsai tree. You have strong roots. That's the only, that's the only like Miyagi lesson for this whole movie. Oh, yeah, you're right. That was the the wisdom he gave. You have strong roots like bonsai tree. So wouldn't the thing be a move where he stands still and is able to just be unmovable? Yeah, make like make like yourself like a ah a strong base or something. Yeah. Oh, I mean, that kind of makes sense when he does the flip. He flips ah like bonsai. But it's not like an actual like Miyagi lesson or anything. Like he's not like you were cutting bonsai trees the whole time and that now you don't know this move, Daniel-san.
00:43:07
Speaker
Or, you know how in the beginning of the movie, Miyagi does the nose thing? Yeah. Which is something that he, you know, did in the second one. But this time around, then he doesn't, like, hold back. He smashed, until like, my cards in the face. It's just like, what? And then he's just like, looks like you've implanted or something. Just just something with a bonsai and a thing, you know, that would have made sense. Yeah. Also, I love how the movie just like ends immediately. i It's like right. But nope, I'm going to show him another trophy. It's like they hug and that's it. Like end the movie. Get out of here. Well, OK, that's what I'm saying. Like, oh, is there more movie because like more to that tournament? Because I know you've defeated this dude, but ah yeah that was the that was the final round. Yeah. Wow.
00:44:01
Speaker
Imagine you watch all day a guy fight through like three people and then he gets knocked out by the big boss, which happens to be Danny Russo. I would shut down this tournament too. That's why I think in, uh, wait, so inco height had had they been more tournaments? since Oh, it's, it's, it's only gotten bigger. Like it gets easy more and more like elaborate and huge. It's like, it's like, it's basically, it comes, it comes like the Superbowl of like Los Angeles. whichs And it's like it's like it's been growing since the one we just saw. Yeah. Yep. And and Daniel's been like, he like joins the board. He's been helping it grow. Cobra Kai got banned because of the events of this movie. So that's why they like and and it started Cobra Kai. They had the Johnny Long resist go and appeal to like the board and be like, hey, I'm starting Cobra Kai again. But it's not like last time. We're not trauma people.
00:44:55
Speaker
But that's what they keep saying between yeah there's two like part one and three. Cobra Kai is no, we're going legit at this time. No, we're not.
00:45:07
Speaker
Yeah, Cobra Kai is destroyed at the end of this movie. But then Terry Silver's fine. He's like, well, that didn't work. Back to my evil toxic waste company. Good luck, Chris. If anything, this is still good for Terry Silver. He helped build this community. yeah He got some good connections. If he wants to take over this karate world, he can do it by just basically buying out this organization, I guess. Because when we meet Kreese again in Cobra Kai, he's in an even worse spot than he is at the beginning of this movie. like He's like in like a homeless shelter. like is this like he is like His life has been absolutely destroyed again.
00:45:47
Speaker
Oh, he's further than before. Like yeah even further before he lost all his students. Now he's got no students. Oh yeah. And then probably did. I'm not sure if Terry gave up on him. It seems like it. Yeah. He did. Wow. Cause cause like Terry, Terry doesn't come back to like season three or four. So then it's just like, Oh, I heard you guys build Cobra Kai back up again. i' I'm back. It's successful again. and
00:46:15
Speaker
Yeah, Mr. Miyagi and Danny really messed this company up.
00:46:25
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, we jump around a bit, but telling this movie very straightforward is really like short, but this movie is two hours long. Yeah. There's a lot going on.
00:46:39
Speaker
There's a lot of, a lot more, uh, repelling that you would think in a chronic movie about repelling. There's like three separate scenes. So that's why I was confused where it's like, would the final technique be a repellent move? It's like, Daniel just like pulls out a rope and like throws it over like the ceiling and he's like just climbing it. Yeah. And just like swinging on it. Like he was like the like human cannonball from like American regulators, like swiggies the mic parts face.
00:47:06
Speaker
little more extreme but I get it like it just it would have been more sense where like if Jess showed up with like a rope and I was like remember the repel or something yeah it's on secret yeah like something to do with like shit they he go the way to be like hey this site you break like ah like hold yourself in place you like wrap the rope around your butt and then put your leg around it like And then he basically makes like a jujitsu move from it. Yeah, like he does like a like a like changes the stance or something to like kind of like imitate that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See, i that that makes what that that would fall in line with the theme. But because we don't get that, that's what stands out about it. Wait, do they bring that back in Cobra Kai? Like gimmicky karate things from what they've been. I mean, they sort they they they just like the the like the like you and the ancient Miyagi technique, which is like a pressure point kind of thing.
00:48:00
Speaker
And then Johnny, like, you know, he brings like Cobra Kai and then like the aggressive style. And then like, but then they like, certainly they start combining. Like it's like, we need to combine our styles and make like a defensive and offense. We have to use office and defense to make the the ultimate karate style.
00:48:18
Speaker
Okay. I mean, I mean, I need a cram like five seasons before season six. So I'll get to that point. because like Because it goes like so like it gets to the point where like somewhat like the best like fighters like you know in Cobra Kai are using like both some ah some some of like Johnny's Cobra Kai techniques, the aggressive techniques, and some of like Daniel's like defensive techniques in tandem ah guess like i guess against pure evil Cobra Kai.
00:48:49
Speaker
I got you. Yeah, it does get me excited to go see Cobra Kai. Watching this is a positive to go watch where the series becomes. Yeah, and definitely if you see Cobra Kai, you'll be like, wow, this is like Karate Kid Part 3 is pivotal, even though it's probably the weakest of the movies. It's so pivotal to the entire universe. I thought maybe the next Karate Kid, where there was a Michael Ironside karate thing going on. Yeah, unfortunately, yet I think they kind of like, that wasn't even wrong. Like, Hillary's Mike has not showed up as a cameo yet, which is crazy. like It's like ah literally every character you could possibly think of almost like showed up. It's like, again, if they can if they if it's like possible for them to show up again, they show up again in Cobra Kai. Like, Robin Lively shows back up. And, yeah, Mike Barnes, Sean Cannon shows back up. And all these, ah like, shows it's back. She goes back. Like, does it she comes back. Yep. Wow. For an episode, yeah.
00:49:52
Speaker
But yeah, no next karate kid characters yet. Which apparently, like I totally forgot, but apparently Goggins is in that movie? Like Walton Goggins? Walton Goggins is in that movie? Where? He's like, um I think he's one of the, maybe one of the evil karate guys or something, I don't know. He plays a character named Charlie. I gotta go back. I don't see a giant set of teeth. like walking around in that first movie yeah he's he's he's a student of like alpha elite which i think is like the evil karate of that movie in the first movie we're talking about no in the next karate kid oh okay no that makes sense yeah like he's probably one of the bully kids that michael ironside is teaching
00:50:46
Speaker
Forgot that. Yeah. Cause I was thinking like, was he in the first karate kid movie? Like he must've been young where the Cobra kid, like he was the way he was. I mean, he wasn't, but like he was the one like, put it with a body bag.
00:51:01
Speaker
yeah i price Like another thing is he, uh, Danny should have used a set of pun where it's like, I'm trying to put you like time to put you in the pot. Trying to defang you or something. Yeah. Yeah. yeah i'm a cal bonza Yeah. See, that may could have been a thing. Oh, do do we we mention like Mr. Miyagi's like magical healing powder at all? No. Why don't you take over that one? Because I think we we're talking before we started recording like that. Like the other movies had like Mr. Miyagi had like mystical techniques of like healing Daniel, like the ah hand rubbing thing in the first movie.
00:51:36
Speaker
um And then this one, he has, he has like a magical powder because like Daniel's obviously like bruising his arms and legs and feet doing quicksilver, like, cause he's like hitting wooden boards constantly. And then Mr. Maggie has this powder that you pour boil boiling water and then like instantly kind of heals like your bruises. this That's, that's how he's able to like maintain like doing this, like trading with Terry Silver.
00:52:02
Speaker
And they never explained what it is. It's just like this like weird green powder. It's like miss re's like, put your foot in there. I know it smells bad. It's like, what did you make this out of? Like, no, no, don't worry. but It's like the healing power of bonsais? It's ground up bonsais.
00:52:26
Speaker
it's it it's pure It's pure wasabi. Yeah. I'm also thinking, is this something is this something that is actually paying? like Mr. Miyagi didn't sell this truck. He's been selling this bank ass drug. He should be. I mean, like that would pay me more money than the bonsai trees if he could make a like a lot of that powder.
00:52:53
Speaker
Because Daniel's foot is like super screwed up after that first lesson. Then like next day, it's like, wow, it's healed. Terry Terry's like, you're a quick healer. Yeah. It's like, good. Terry be worried. Like, what is this? Like, I didn't, I didn't plan for that. I can't, I can't injure him. yeah He's, he's invincible. He's like, I ate my hands in that powder. That should have been series, uh, Terry's thing. Like, cause he's a chemical guy, right? Like he should have been, uh, part of that like scheme was just like, Oh,
00:53:29
Speaker
If I take that and sell it to the right bar super company, I'll be a trillionaire. He's, he says like, Mike Barnes, like bathe in it. Oh man. Like a Wakanda, like flower thing. You are, you're, but you cannot bruise anymore. Your body is invulnerable to pain.
00:53:52
Speaker
Maybe, maybe they'll, maybe they'll show up in a this file season cover guy. I'll bring it back to the the magical powder. Yeah. Bring back the green powder. Just started hashtag. Use the hell out of people.
00:54:07
Speaker
But, uh, yes, I think they'll do it for, uh, Karate Kid part three and definitely, uh, I'm super safe for Cobra Kai to wrap up. Although their Netflix is really like the dragging it out. Cause we like it's five episodes this month. Like it's five episodes, like November this year and then five episodes next year. So the, you know, wait till like sometime next year for like the actual, like, you know, final episodes to error.
00:54:34
Speaker
But yeah, hope, hope it's good. Um, and definitely, definitely, uh, if you haven't seen credit kid part three in a while, I've even been watching Cobra Kai, I would say definitely go back and watch it. At least just like appreciate like the first experience of Terry Silver. It was like such a major factor of the show.
00:54:53
Speaker
um I'm definitely going to see it like from this though. If you're like me who hasn't seen it, time to get on that train.
00:55:04
Speaker
but Yeah. And then, uh, so come back next week where we talking about, uh, the last starfighter, which is celebrating on the its anniversary, uh, next week as well. So we'll jump another eighties classic. We'll jump in into and talk about all the, uh, the, super early primitive CG graphics, like CGI that made it famous. It was like this big calling card was like, look at all the CGI they have. It's computers, computers made it. It's like vector graphics. Yeah. I mean, it's slightly better than vector graphics, but yeah, we'll get it all next week. And however slight we got all of our usual, we got news, reviews, trailers, all kinds of stuff. We got our Game Box 2.0 from this month where you can check out what games you played.
00:55:49
Speaker
um We should have sometime soon um our trip report from too many games. We were just there this past weekend. Did ah did a bunch of panels, saw a bunch of cool stuff. So we'll have that up at some point in the near future as well. And yeah, so for Chris, I'm Zach and we will see you next week. For more for everything action, head to www.everythingaction dot.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook dot.com slash everything dot.action and follow us on X at Evieaction. We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast epic choice and be sure to rate and subscribe.