You know, the Rocky and the Karate Kid series have a lot in common for me. Besides both first movies being directed by the same person (John G. Avildsen) I mostly mean that I’m not beholden to the idea that the first movie in each series is necessarily the best, since I actually think the best Karate Kid movie is the most recent one, Karate Kid: Legends.
And yes, I know, I know. NOBODY else thinks this. When ranking the Rocky movies, as well as the Karate Kid films (which I myself ranked), I’m pretty sure the vast majority would say that 1976’s Rocky and 1984’s The Karate Kid are the best movies in their respective franchises. However, before Karate Kid: Legends, my previous favorite Karate Kid movie was the 2010 one, so I’ve already bucked the trend.
