The Karate Kid, Part II

The Karate Kid, Part II

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Produced by Jerry Weintraub
Written by Robert Mark Kamen
Starring
Music by Bill Conti
Cinematography James Crabe
Edited by
  • John G. Avildsen
  • David Garfield
  • Jane Kurson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • June 20, 1986 (1986-06-20)
Running time
 113 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $13 million
Box office $115.1 million

The Karate Kid, Part II is a 1986 American martial arts drama film and the first sequel to 1984's The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita reprise their respective roles as young karate student Daniel LaRusso and his mentor Kesuke Miyagi. Like the original film, the sequel was a success, earning even more at the box office than its predecessor, although it received mixed reviews from critics.[2][3]

Plot

Furious over the loss at the All-Valley Karate Tournament, John Kreese attacks Johnny in the parking lot. Miyagi confronts Kreese and passively immobilizes him. Miyagi threatens to strike a deadly blow but instead comically tweaks Kreese's nose and walks away.

Six months later, Miyagi receives a letter notifying him that his father is dying. He plans to return to his home village in Okinawa, and Daniel accompanies him. Miyagi tells Daniel about why he left Okinawa many years ago. He fell in love with a woman named Yukie, who was arranged to marry his best friend Sato, son of the richest man in the village and fellow karate student of his father. Upon announcing his intentions to marry Yukie, Sato challenged him to a fight to the death. Rather than fight, however, Miyagi left the country.

In Okinawa, Miyagi and Daniel are greeted by Chozen Toguchi, who drives Miyagi and Daniel to one of Sato's warehouses, where he reveals he's Sato's nephew. Sato appears and demands to fight Miyagi, who adamantly refuses. Arriving at the village, Miyagi and Daniel are welcomed by Yukie and her niece Kumiko. They discover that Sato has become a rich industrialist whose supertrawlers have destroyed the local fish population impoverishing the other villagers. They are forced to rent property from Sato, who owns the village's land title. Yukie reveals that she never married Sato, because of her love for Miyagi. After Miyagi's father dies, Sato gives him three days to mourn out of respect before their fight. Miyagi shows Daniel the secret to his family's karate – a handheld drum that twists back and forth illustrating the "drum technique", a block-and-defense karate move that Daniel begins to practice.

Daniel accidentally exposes corruption in Chozen's grocery business during an encounter in the village. Chozen later accuses Daniel of insulting his honor, and they have a series of confrontations. Their feud comes to a head when Chozen and his friends attack Daniel and vandalize Miyagi's family property. The group is quickly defeated and runs off after Miyagi arrives. Miyagi and Daniel plan to return home before the situation gets worse, however Sato shows up with bulldozers and threatens to destroy the village if Miyagi refuses to fight. Forced to comply, Miyagi gives in on the condition that Sato signs the village's land title over to the villagers regardless of the fight's outcome. Sato initially balks, but agrees after Miyagi describes the condition as a "small price" to pay for honor.

On the day of the fight, a typhoon appears. Villagers take cover at a nearby shelter, but Sato becomes trapped when his family's dojo is leveled by the storm. Miyagi and Daniel rush to rescue him. Arriving at the shelter, Daniel attempts to rescue a child trapped in a nearby bell tower. Sato orders Chozen to help, but when he refuses, Sato rushes to assist Daniel himself. He disowns Chozen for refusing to cooperate, and Chozen runs off into the storm out of anger. The next morning, as the villagers are rebuilding, Sato returns with his bulldozers – only this time to help rebuild. Sato hands over the land title to the village and asks for Miyagi's forgiveness. Miyagi gladly accepts. Daniel and Kumiko approach Sato about hosting the upcoming O-bon festival in a nearby ceremonial castle, and he accepts.

While Kumiko is performing a dance at the festival, a now-vengeful Chozen ziplines into the presentation, taking her hostage. He demands to fight Daniel alone. Daniel fights well, but is eventually overwhelmed by Chozen who gains the upper hand. Miyagi and the crowd respond by twisting handheld drums they brought to the celebration, inspiring Daniel. Chozen, seemingly confused, closes in for the kill, but Daniel is able to deflect Chozen's attacks and land counter-attacks using the drum technique. Daniel grabs the vanquished Chozen, raising his hand and threatening to end Chozen's life saying, "Live or die, man!" Chozen chooses death, but reminiscent of the way Miyagi handled Kreese earlier, he tweaks Chozen's nose and playfully drops him to the ground. Daniel embraces Kumiko, while Miyagi looks on proudly.

Cast

Other notable cast appearances include B. D. Wong (credited as "Bradd Wong") as an Okinawan boy who invites Daniel and Kumiko to a dance club and Clarence Gilyard as one of the participants in the ice breaking scene.

Production

The opening scene takes place immediately following the finale of the first film to seamlessly tie the two together. It was originally planned as the ending for the first film, although it wasn't shot until after the second film's production began.[4]

Filming

Principal photography took place in Oahu, Hawaii, in the northeastern area of the island known as the "windward side". The local countryside in modern-day Okinawa had been drastically changed due to the presence of military bases, so other locations in both Japan and Hawaii were scouted as alternative filming locations. Filmmakers selected a property in Oahu that was privately owned by a retired local physician who agreed to allow a portion of the land to be used in the film. To form the Okinawan village portrayed in the film, seven authentic replicas of Okinawan houses were constructed along with more than three acres of planted crops. Fifty Okinawa-born Hawaii residents were also recruited as film extras. Filming began on September 23, 1985.[5][6]

Music

The musical score for The Karate Kid, Part II was composed by Bill Conti, who wrote the score for the previous installment. The film's signature tune was Peter Cetera's song "Glory of Love", which was a No. 1 hit in the U.S. and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. When Daniel and Miyagi are being driven by Chozen and his friend after they arrive in Okinawa, Chozen tunes in the radio of the car until he reaches a station playing "Fascination", the same song to which Ali and Johnny were slow dancing at the high-end country club in the original film. The soundtrack is notable as being the final album released by United Artists Records.

  1. "Glory of Love" (Peter Cetera)
  2. "Rock 'n' Roll Over You" (The Moody Blues)
  3. "Fish for Life" (Mancrab)
  4. "Rock Around the Clock" (Paul Rodgers)
  5. "Let Me at 'Em" (Southside Johnny)
  6. "This Is the Time" (Dennis DeYoung)
  7. "Earth Angel" (New Edition)
  8. "Love Theme from Karate Kid II" (Bill Conti)
  9. "Two Looking at One" (Carly Simon)
  10. "The Storm" (Bill Conti)

The score, which features 20 tracks, was released separately on CD by Varèse Sarabande in a box set in 2007 and 2012.

Reception

The Karate Kid, Part II opened in 1,323 theaters across North America on June 20, 1986. In its opening weekend, the film ranked first in its domestic box office grossing $12,652,336 with an average of $9,563 per theater. The film earned $20,014,510 in its opening week and ended its run earning a total of $115,103,979 domestically.[7]

Critical response

The film has a 43% rating out of 23 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[8] Movie-gazette.com gave the film a positive review, stating the film was a "worthy follow-up to the first Karate Kid film, with added interest provided by its exotic locations and characters."[9] The Los Angeles Times also gave the film a positive review, praising Pat Morita's performance as Miyagi and calling the actor "the heart of the movie".[10] Picture historian Leonard Maltin disagrees, however, calling the movie "Purposeless...Corny in the extreme — all that's missing from the climax is hounds and ice floes — but made palatable by winning performances. Best for kids." At the Movies gave the film a mixed review, with both critics praising the Miyagi character but criticizing the villains and action scenes. Roger Ebert recommended the movie overall but Gene Siskel did not. [11]

Awards and nominations

At the 1987 ASCAP Awards, Bill Conti won Top Box Office Films for the original music, which was released on United Artists Records. It also received a different Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Glory of Love".

Video game

Amiga version screenshot
Screenshot from the Amiga version

A video game adaptation titled The Karate Kid: Part II - The Computer Game was released in 1986 by publisher Microdeal on Atari ST and Amiga. It is a fighting game similar to The Way of the Exploding Fist in which the user plays the role of Daniel in five fights based on movie scenes. There are also two mini games with digitized images from the movie: Miyagi catching flies with chopsticks and Daniel breaking an ice block.[12]

In popular culture

The character Ellie Bartowski on the television series Chuck claims that a love-struck recital of "Glory of Love" for her by Morgan Grimes ruined The Karate Kid, Part II for her.

In an episode of Yes, Dear ("When Jimmy Met Greggy"), Greg Warner remembers getting into a fight with Kim's ex-boyfriend and losing. Every time he keeps trying to fight him, he hears the song "Glory of Love" to give himself confidence. Pat Morita guest starred near the end of the episode to teach Greg karate for a rematch; however, as in The Karate Kid, Part II, even the crane kick did not work.

References

  1. ↑ "THE KARATE KID PART II (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. May 23, 1986. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  2. ↑ Canby, Vincent (20 June 1986). "Screen: 'Karate Kid Part II". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Karate Kid Part II". Variety. January 1, 1986. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Berry, Robert. ""Sweep the Leg!" The Billy Zabka Interview". retrocrush.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Bob (November 14, 1985). "'Karate Kid II' Under Way in Hawaii". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ "'The Karate Kid Part II' Production Notes". Sony Movie Channel. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Karate Kid Part II". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Karate Kid Part II (1986)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Karate Kid Part II (1986)". movie-gazette.com. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Wilmington, Michael (20 June 1986). "Movie Review : Let's Hear It For A Winning 'Karate Ii'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Karate Kid Part II / Running Scared / Legal Eagles / American Anthem (1986)". siskelandebert.org. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  12. ↑ The Karate Kid: Part II - The Computer Game at mobygames.com

External links

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