The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>I took the boys to see it last night. The movie was good enough, although even my 8-yr old remarked they should have called it "The Kung Fu Kid" instead of "The Karate Kid". As far as remakes go, it is better than most; staying true to the original plot while changing a few key elements. The tournament fighting in this one was much better than the original (IMO), but I still liked the training sequences from the original better.

My boys watched the first 3 Karate Kid movies last week before seeing this one and liked all of them. The movie is a good remake for those of us who loved the original and is a great movie for kids who never saw the first one. The only complaint I have was a review I read on imdb which tried to claim this was NOT a remake of the original. It said there were a few similarities, but they were minor and this movie was much different than the first.

BZZZZZZZ! WRONG ANSWER, BUT THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!

It most certainly IS a copy of the first, containing all the major scenes and elements from the first and even keeping the same dialogue in many parts. While there are numerous examples from beginning to end, the most obvious to me was the scene with Dre and Han in the locker room before the final fight.

*Warning - Slight Spoiler*





Dre has been injured (in the knee) and Han is telling him there is no reason for him to go back out. Dre says he won't have "balance" in his life if he doesn't go back out. That was a pivotal scene in the first movie, but in the new one, Han never mentions having "balance" in your life through kung-fu. So they stole part of the original dialogue, but left out all the background leading up to the line.

One other quibble is the final move...it is much less believable than the first, but hey - it's the movies and we're here to see Dre kick the bully's ass.

One thing I DID like was the reaction of the bully and his gang after the final bout. I thought it was done better in this version than in the original. </font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

I want to see it, but I opted for A Team this weekend instead (loved it).

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Bah... I am sick of remakes.
If you're wondering what the Original Karate Kid is doing-- Ralph Macchio, he's a disgruntled actor in a new 'movie'. Check it out, its funny as hell... sad too lol...


Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio from Ralph Macchio

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Yea, I don't think I'll go watch the karate kid. Maybe I'll download it later...legally of course. Hmmm...recent movies that I watched were Robin Hood and Prince of Persia. Robin Hood was garbage, please don't watch it. Especially the ending, which ruined anything the rest of the movie had built up. Prince of persia was a fun movie, not a great plot but good graphics and fun fight scenes.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Best Robin Hood was "Men in Tights". Prince of Thieves wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the title character that made it any good. BTW is it just me or are all of Kevin Costner's characters identical in terms of personality?

Haven't seen the new one. It's got whats-his-face from Gladiator, right? Kinda want to see PoP, but from what I've read, I'll wait till KK comes out on-demand, and watch it at my sisters.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>I saw Robin Hood with a friend and we both liked it. I was glad I went with her rather than my boys, because I think the boys would have gotten bored with the length of the movie and emphasis on character background rather than fighting scenes.

Speaking of which, that is one argument I agreed with critics on regarding KK, it had a run time of 140 minutes, which was a bit long.

I did see Prince of Persia with the boys and we all enjoyed it. Of course it doesn't have a deep plot, but it's a movie based on a video game. Keeping that in mind, I think it did a fine job of bringing the game character to "life" (realistically recreating many of his "moves" which isn't an easy thing to do) and delivering a decent story with plenty of action.

I also saw Marmaduke this week (not by choice). Yeah, it was your basic "talking animals" movie with a simple plot, but it was more entertaining than I expected. All three boys enjoyed the movie and, honestly, I did too. It wasn't a deep, cinematic experience, but it was still fun to watch.

Next movie on my list is "The A-Team". :D</font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Yea I want to see PoP and Robin Hood this week.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

I think I'm seeing PoP this week. I want to see A-Team as well. Looks like a fun movie :). Not sure about KK. I think I'll give Robin Hood a miss. From what I've heard, there won't be enough fighting in it for me.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

There have been many popular actor types that play "themselves". John Wayne and Clint Eastwood come immediately to mind.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>Oh, there is plenty of fighting in the movie. It even starts out with a large scale battle. There is another large scale battle at the end. In between, there are plenty of smaller battles that Robin and his followers must fight. So it does have a good bit of action, but it tries to "balance" that with a deeper plot and character development...and does a decent job of it, IMO.</font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>I think this is true for almost ANY leading actor or actress. When you hear names like Jack Nicholson, Robert Dinero, Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and others...a certain type of "character" automatically springs to mind. Even when they cross genres (like Jim Carrey), we still tend to think of the type of characters they have played the most and really have a hard time picturing them in a different role.

Nicholson and Dinero, for example, are very versatile actors, but we still have a mental image of a character when we hear their names.</font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

I saw Prince of Persia-- It's not really fully based off the first console game (Sands of Time) but it had elements of it there... Pretty good movie.
What really bugged me was the 'Americanized' actors.. Can't they hire actual Persian actors? At least, have them speaking with a realistic accent. :)

Re: The Karate Kid
 

They way the movie was, I think having actual persian actors would have ruined it. It wasn't serious enough to have actual persian actors with persian accents.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

I haven't seen either yet (KK or PoP) and amn't really pushed to. It bothers me that Will Smith had to go a step further and butcher the movie with a "rap" song (if you'd even call it that) just because his son starred in it. Also, I have no idea how Justin Bieber fits into all this yet he too, got his mug in there somehow. Again, haven't seen it, but just seeing all this in the previews got me deterred.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Bieber is in KK?

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Yes, he pits himself against Jaden Smith to see who has bigger teeth.

J/k, no, he apparently "raps" with Jaden Smith for the movie score. That's all we see of him, thankfully.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

One thing I liked about Robin Hood was that it did a very passable job at recreating sets and scenery appropriate for the time period. It's not many period pieces that bother to get threshes right. It's, of course, an "origins" movie and ends with the traditional Robin Hood setting. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

PoP was fun and entertaining. If you wish they'd have gotten a real Persian rather than Jake Gylenhall, blame the video game -- it was where the character was first Anglicized.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>The A-Team - Just got back from watching this movie and, I have to say, I was extremely impressed. It was MUCH better than I expected it to be. Lots of action, but also some background added to "flesh out" the characters. So far, it's one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen this summer.</font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Yea but did their marksmanship improve?

Re: The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>LOL...YES...they actually ACT like trained military special force soldiers and shoot their enemies with real bullets (instead of cabbage cannons). </font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

After we saw the A Team I told my wife about the old cabbage cannon and water hose crew and she was aghast.

I saw KK on Friday and enjoyed it very much.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

When I saw Robin Hood I waited with bated breath for Robin Hood to go "My name is Maximus Robinus Hoodus, and I will have my revenge, in this film or the next".

And When I think about the Karate Kid remake I just feel old... they are now remaking films I watched as a kid. Whats next, A Gremlins remake? if that happens I will sue someone.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

We have only our own generation to blame. When Will Smith saw how well his son was doing with his karate lessons, he came up with the idea of remaking the film -- one from his youth, as well.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

While I loved Gremlins I would think that they will indeed attempt to cash in on this at some point and possibly ruin the franchis. A long-awaited sequel with a new twist on it would do better than a remake I think.

Re: The Karate Kid
 

<font color=plum>It's been too long to just do a sequel. Kids today wouldn't know the original story, so the sequel would have to include so much back story that it would be easier to just reintroduce the information through a remake.

Yes, I know they could rent the original, but my bet would still be on the remake.</font>

Re: The Karate Kid
 

Maybe, but sequels aren't impossible or uncommon after long periods. Look at Superman Returns. I think "sequel" is perhaps the wrong term here. Nowadays they tend to call them "reboots". Many reboots are sequels but they are (a word we use when referring to game expansions) 'standalone' sequels. Usually them being part sequel and part fresh, for a new audience. The backstory can and is many times incorporated but the story in itself can be self-contained. Old-timers to the saga usually recognise some of the easter-eggs and references to what went before, while newer viewers don't feel lost because the plot is accessible.

Anyways, for me, a reboot I can grudgingly live with but a remake I don't think is necessary. I don't even think an exact remake of the old one but with new actors could accomplish much. Other than the Gremlins looking scarier and more realistic. I mean, they were scary back then as it was. Bah, they need to just leave Gremlins alone. The second one was my favourite btw.