Karate Kid in the same league as Enter the Dragon?

[flilluka]

Man this brings back memories!! I remember waking up Saturday mornings to watch Black Belt

Theatre. It played on the local TV channel in LA, not sure if it played anywhere else. This

is a pretty good collection of video clips from some of the all-time greats in martial arts

movies http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/videos/kungfu.aspx?film=1&src=gx1146



I don’t know but I tend to be bias towards the older movies. The look and sound is unique

and unmistakable. Some of the newer movies nowadays don’t seem to have the same affect…you

watch them and you are entertained and you soon forget.



I am a bit of a purest when it comes to my martial arts. Not sure about Kung Fu Hustle being

part of this list, and Karate Kid is borderline for me, especially if you are in the company

of Enter the Dragon, Hero and The Drunken Master. IMHO, Karate Kid and Kung-Fu Hustle are

great movies in their own right, but not in the same league. And I would liked to have seen

both One Upon A Time in China and the all-time classic Master of The Flying Guilatine (I

went through the first 10 clips and did not see it).

[The Xia]

"Top ten" lists and the like concerning art are arbitrary. That out of the way, I'll address Enter the Dragon and The Karate Kid.

Enter the Dragon - A defining moment for martial arts movies. It has great fight sequences and a colorful cast of characters. You've got "straight out of a comic book" Williams, Mr. Han, Bolo, Roper, and Bruce Lee all doing their thing. The set is visually appealing, the action is top notch, the plot simple and exciting, it's quotable, and it oozes with 70's soul.

The Karate Kid - A landmark for martial arts in American movies. Like Enter the Dragon, Karate Kid has that retro thing going for it (but this time it's the 80s). Fumio Demura was involved in the film's Karate sequences and who doesn't love Pat Morita (may he rest in peace) as Mr. Miyagi? The movie is like Rocky except with Karate and teenagers.

[GeneChing]

I mean really - Bruce vs. Ralph? You don't see Ralph Macchio shirts in the Gap.

I think Maxim was mostly trying to be current with their top ten list. I was surprised and delighted to see Crippled Masters make the list - even though that wouldn't be one of my top ten, it's certainly 'special'. Karate Kid was definitely a landmark film in terms of the spread of martial arts into American pop culture. It was a huge boon for our industry. Just like Carradine's Kung Fu TV show, you cannot overlook it's impact even though the main protagonist lacked any true martial skill. Strangely, I was more impressed with the women in both of these. The Karate Kid franchise can claim an early Elizabeth Shue and Hilary Swank. Kung Fu can claim an early Jodie Foster. Hmm, maybe it's the Maxim influence that has me thinking about women...:o

[qiphlow]

and maxim does have some sexy-a$$ wimmin'!!! (no pun intended)

[jethro]

I thought Crippled Masters was a tough watch at times. It si pretty cool but it is a pretty bad kung fu movie overall.

I don't know if Karate kid can be considered up there with Enter the Dragon but one American movie that always gets overlooked is Best of the Best. I think the title explains this movie well enough.

[Li Kao]

Wow, Jethro bringing up Best of the Best -- I haven't thought of that movie in years. Like alot of American martial arts movies (Bloodsport, American Ninja, Kickboxer), it spawned some sub-par sequels, but the original was entertaining enough. Similiar to Karate Kid in that it fed off of the tournament karate/tae kwon do that was popular in those days. Obviously, the highlight of that movie was the skills of the Rhee brothers, Simon and Philip. It was fitting to see Tae Kwon Do superstar Hee Il Cho playing the Korean coach, and always nice to see James Lew as well. Suprisingly, I thought Eric Roberts did a decent job in the action department, but for me, Chris Penn (may he RIP -- my personal favorite of his was his hilarious role as the mobster's son in Reservoir Dogs -- who can forget his "Lady E" story) was a tough sell as martial arts bada$$es. Kind of like Ogre (aka Donald Gibb) in Bloodsport -- who was great as a comic relief, but when you watch his fight scenes it's just hard to take seriously. James Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland added some star power that isn't usually seen in movies like this, but still it never really got its due and remains an underground favorite, a cult classic among the likes of No Retreat, No Surrender and The Last Dragon.

Getting back to Karate Kid -- I don't think you can compare it to Enter the Dragon in terms of being films of equal caliber as Karate Kid was more of a Disney-esque, family film; however, in terms of its impact, at least in America, it certainly brought a lot of attention to martial arts as a whole. Put it this way -- my name is Daniel, and since all of my friends/family know I'm a martial-arts afficianado/practitioner -- guess how often I got called "Daniel-san" over the years? Heck, my grandma still calls me that to this day from time to time. And as Gene so astutely pointed out, it was also the debut of Elisabeth Shue, who soon after became one of America's sweethearts. Of course, ETD did have a cameo by one of my favorite old-school kung fu cuties as well, Lady Whirlwind herself -- Angela Mao.

As Xia pointed out, we would all have slightly different lists, but at least in terms of how martial arts movies evolved in the West, Karate Kid has earned its place on the list.

[jethro]

Wow, Jethro bringing up Best of the Best -- I haven't thought of that movie in years. Like alot of American martial arts movies (Bloodsport, American Ninja, Kickboxer), it spawned some sub-par sequels, but the original was entertaining enough. Similiar to Karate Kid in that it fed off of the tournament karate/tae kwon do that was popular in those days. Obviously, the highlight of that movie was the skills of the Rhee brothers, Simon and Philip. It was fitting to see Tae Kwon Do superstar Hee Il Cho playing the Korean coach, and always nice to see James Lew as well. Suprisingly, I thought Eric Roberts did a decent job in the action department, but for me, Chris Penn (may he RIP -- my personal favorite of his was his hilarious role as the mobster's son in Reservoir Dogs -- who can forget his "Lady E" story) was a tough sell as martial arts bada$$es. Kind of like Ogre (aka Donald Gibb) in Bloodsport -- who was great as a comic relief, but when you watch his fight scenes it's just hard to take seriously. James Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland added some star power that isn't usually seen in movies like this, but still it never really got its due and remains an underground favorite, a cult classic among the likes of No Retreat, No Surrender and The Last Dragon.

Getting back to Karate Kid -- I don't think you can compare it to Enter the Dragon in terms of being films of equal caliber as Karate Kid was more of a Disney-esque, family film; however, in terms of its impact, at least in America, it certainly brought a lot of attention to martial arts as a whole. Put it this way -- my name is Daniel, and since all of my friends/family know I'm a martial-arts afficianado/practitioner -- guess how often I got called "Daniel-san" over the years? Heck, my grandma still calls me that to this day from time to time. And as Gene so astutely pointed out, it was also the debut of Elisabeth Shue, who soon after became one of America's sweethearts. Of course, ETD did have a cameo by one of my favorite old-school kung fu cuties as well, Lady Whirlwind herself -- Angela Mao.

As Xia pointed out, we would all have slightly different lists, but at least in terms of how martial arts movies evolved in the West, Karate Kid has earned its place on the list.


Karate Kid defintely earns it's place on the list but Angela Mao in Enter the Draon, whoooooeeeeeeeee. On Best of teh Best. I liked Chris Penn a lot and he was EXACTLY like the guy on Blood Sport and he felt a lot more real IMO. His athletic skill was above average for his size much like Chris Farley. The fighting was all fun to watch but I liked teh sequels action more. The thing that did it for me in #1 was Eric Roberts match and the the final fight with Rhee and teh guy with the eye patch. They just don't make movies like that anymore. For me, Fearless doesn't even stack up to the end of this movie.

[Li Kao]

Well, the action/fight sequences in Best of the Best were certainly more entertaining and skillful than Karate Kid -- and this was mostly due to the Rhee brothers. Phillip Rhee, who played Tommy, hasn't really done much film work other than the Best of the Best films, but his brother, Simon (who played Dae Han, the Korean with the eye patch) has been really busy since those movies, doing stunt work on a ton of movies, including Escape From L.A, Spawn, Blade, Charlie's Angels, Rush Hour 2, Kung Pow, John Woo's Windtalkers, Ang Lee's Hulk, The Last Samurai, and most recently, Memoirs of a Geisha.

Speaking of Fearless -- it's official U.S. DVD release date is today! (as well as Chen Kaige's The Promise :)

[Shaolinlueb]

enter the dragon, sammo in begining and the master bad guy being a real life choy lay fut master are the best parts. other then that it sucked i thought. lame fight scenes and decent plot. did help bruce lee set the standard for fight scenes for the next 30 years in usa though. until matrix came along and changed it.

karate kid! loved it, made me take up martial arts. not any bruce lee movie.

[yutyeesam]

Check it out:

http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/videos/kungfu.aspx?film=1

Do you think they covered it? I think some stuff is missing. Kareem's foot on Bruce's chest is one. "Boards...don't heet back" is another one missing. Jackie Chan's fight on the playground in Police Story 2 is another one.

-123

[GreenCloudCLF]

http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/videos/kungfu.aspx?film=1

All of the flicks are, of course, movies released to some extent in the US...with the exception of Crippled Masters. But it is cool nonetheless.

[Jimbo]

Well, as mentioned, both Enter the Dragon and Karate Kid were successful American-released hits, and each is laden with the flavor of the decades they were released in. I first saw ETD when it was re-released in 1979, and at that time, it was still drawing the crowds. Of course, that was before the proliferation of movies on video. Back then, watching ETD was almost electrical in the theaters; the crowd reactions were the most fun part. No doubt it was a milestone movie, one that successfully brought together the U.S. and Hong Kong film worlds.

In more recent years, when I see ETD, I realize the impact for me has pretty much worn out. Having watched so many other great KF movie performers, I feel that to me, what made ETD was Bruce Lee. He was it. Otherwise, in context, it seems kind of mediocre. Like an Asian-flavored spoof of James Bond (I heard that it was heavily influenced by Dr. No). What seemed so impressive to me back then is not so now. Bolo killing the 4 guards; sure he had muscles, but the guys he was killing mostly looked 100 pounds soaking wet and very lame. In fact, all the guards and white-gi'd karate guys in the big courtyard training scene looked lame, which deflates any impact the scene was trying to impart. And I liked the Han character, but think he was not a formidable enough arch-villain for someone like Bruce Lee. The whole final fight came off like a one-sided butt-whoopin'.

IMO, Bruce Lee's fight scenes looked better in Return of the Dragon and even Chinese Connection. That could also have been the cinematographers; the Asian crews seemed to catch the fight scenes with better camera angles, and knew how to frame them onscreen. In ETD, a lot of stuff in fights was cut off the screen.

Karate Kid was a pretty good film. It was definitely geared toward the '80s suburban mall crowd; a very different audience than ETD tended to attract in its day. It gave a big boost to the kiddie TKD and karate after-school programs that now seem to be the majority of the business in most American karate schools. I kinda liked the Miyagi character, and the movie's general message was good, but I never felt blown away like I did when I saw Bruce Lee the first time. It's not a film I'd want to watch over and over, like I did ETD.

So all in all, and this is just my feeling, KK and ETD were both influential in getting people interested in martial arts; ETD's influence in that regard was immediate and intense, then petered out after a couple of years. KK's influence was milder but remains to this day, for better or worse. I can't say either influenced me to begin training; I began strictly to learn to protect myself where I lived, two years before I ever saw a Bruce Lee film.

As for longevity, ETD wins out. Although it drips with '70s 'coolness', it holds up mainly due to Bruce Lee's ablilties and charisma. KK remains a good family film, I guess, but its '80s-ness seems oddly more dated than ETD. Plus, if you're a kung fu movie fanatic, you can spot all sorts of people in ETD who would later become stars or villains during the 'golden era' of KF movies: Angela Mao, Bolo Yeung (Yang Sze), Tang Wei (Tung Wai), Phillip Ko (Kao Fei), Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Tang Wei-Cheng, Alan Hsu (Hsu Chung-Hsin), Liu Yung, Chen Lung, Huo Hsing, Chung Fa, Chien Yueh-Sheng, Lin Cheng-Ying, etc.