It seems impossible but those "Wax on, wax off" words of wisdom from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) are officially 40 years old—yes, the 1984 martial-arts classic The Karate Kid is celebrating its big quadrennial anniversary on Saturday, June 22, which means it's high time to revisit the memorable coming-of-age flick. And you can have yourself a The Karate Kid movie marathon this weekend, with showings of both the original as well as the 1986 sequel The Karate Kid Part II airing today on TV.
Written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen, The Karate Kid tells the story of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), an Italian-American teenager from New Jersey who moves with his widowed mother (Randee Heller) to Southern California. There, he soon becomes the target of a group of bullies who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo, led by black belt Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of the girl Daniel likes. Daniel soon learns to defend himself, however, thanks to the help of his apartment handyman Mr. Miyagi, who just happens to be a martial arts master. Through training, Daniel learns how to defend himself and compete against his brutal Cobra Kai bullies.
