The Karate Kid Part III

The Karate Kid, Part III
The Karate Kid, Part III movie poster
Directed by	John G. Avildsen
Written by	Robert Mark Kamen
Produced by	Jerry Weintraub Karen Trudy Rosenfelt (co-producer) Sheldon Schrager (executive producer) Doug Seelig (associate producer)
Starring	Ralph Macchio Pat Morita Thomas Ian Griffith Martin Kove Robyn Lively Sean Kanan
Cinematography	Steve Yaconelli
Edited by	John G. Avildsen John Carter
Music by	Bill Conti
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	June 30th, 1989
Running time	112 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	N/A

The Karate Kid, Part III (1989) is the second sequel to the hit motion picture The Karate Kid (1984). This film stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Thomas Ian Griffith, Robyn Lively, and Martin Kove. Like the first two films, it was directed by John G. Avildsen, written by Robert Mark Kamen, stunts choreographed by Pat E. Johnson, and music by Bill Conti.

Plot synopsis

After his best student lost to Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) at the All Valley Tournament almost a year earlier, Sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) proved himself a sadistic, sore loser. As a result, his students abandoned him. The futures of Kreese and his Cobra Kai dojo appear bleak and uncertain. After giving up all hope and having nowhere to go, Kreese visits his long-time Vietnam War comrade Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who is also a karate expert and president of Dynatox Industries (a multinational company with a record of polluting the environment with toxic chemicals). Silver, a sponsor of Kreese's, tells Kreese that they will get their revenge on Daniel and on his teacher, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) for the role Daniel played in their school's financial collapse. Silver sends Kreese to Tahiti, with instructions to have fun and get himself back together, while Silver plots to put Cobra Kai into success and to ruin Daniel and his mentor.

Miyagi and Daniel arrive home from their trip to Okinawa, only to find out that the apartment complex where Daniel originally lived—and where Miyagi worked—has been sold. Miyagi, now out of a job, is asked by Daniel to start a business with him selling bonsai trees. Unfortunately, Miyagi seems less than optimistic about the idea; he says Daniel should use his money to get a college education, instead of opening a bonsai shop. Daniel leases a shop in the rougher part of town and at length convinces his sensei to help him sell trees. Together, they start the process of opening shop. Daniel decides to visit a pottery dealer, intending use pots for containing the bonsais. At the pottery store, Daniel meets Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively) and they instantly become friends.

Meanwhile, Terry Silver contacts a replenished Kreese in Tahiti by telephone and tells him that he (Silver) plans to make Daniel suffer great pain, using him to make Miyagi experience the same. Silver, looking through a karate magazine, finds "Karate's Bad Boy" Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), whom he hires to help Kreese take revenge and restore their Cobra Kai business.

Daniel receives word about the All Valley Tournament, where he can defend his title as champion, but Miyagi does not support the idea. He feels that after fighting for honor in the first tournament and then for his life in Okinawa, defending his title is merely for reward. Later, Terry Silver sneaks into Miyagi’s house and looks for information to use against him and Daniel. He hides in their chimney, where he hears Daniel tell Miyagi that he wants their karate to mean something, that he will not be joining the tournament.

That night, Daniel takes Jessica to visit their bonsai store. He introduces Mr. Miyagi to her. Miyagi leaves the two, while Daniel shows Jessica the inside of the shop. After a few minutes, Daniel and Jessica are confronted by Mike Barnes and his aide "Snake" (Jonathan Avildsen). They threaten to harm Daniel if he does not join the All Valley Tournament. Mike explains that his financial future depends on him fighting Daniel in the tournament, but Daniel still declines. Barnes leaves in a heated rage, promising to return.

Terry Silver visits Miyagi's home in the morning, now playing the role of a sympathetic and humble man. He introduces himself to both Miyagi and Daniel, explaining that John Kreese has died and feigning displeasure and embarrassment on behalf of his Korean master for the shameless actions of Kreese at the last year's tournament. The two give their condolences. Silver leaves, bearing a guilty smirk on his face. Daniel and Jessica, at the store that night, are again confronted by Mike and Snake-and now Mike's personal trainer Dennis (Christopher Paul Ford). Daniel once again refuses to enter the tournament. The three goons respond by destroying the shop. When Daniel tries to stop this, he and Jessica are attacked. Miyagi shows up and fends off the goons. Miyagi and Daniel arrive home to find their stock of bonsai has been stolen. An All-Valley Tournament application hangs above the display cases used to contain the bonsai.

Having received no help from the local police, Daniel and Jessica decide to dig up a "real" bonsai tree which is growing halfway down the cliffs surrounding the Devil's Cauldron. Miyagi had previously revealed this hiding place as the home of the one true bonsai he had brought from Okinawa, a gift from his late father. Daniel thinks they can use this valuable tree to pay for more bonsai, although Jessica doubts Miyagi would ever condone the selling of a family heirloom. While climbing the cliff, Silver's henchmen take Daniel’s ropes and force him to sign the tournament application. During the ordeal, Barnes forces Daniel to give him the tree, which he snaps in half. Daniel returns to the shop with Miyagi’s now-broken bonsai, of which Miyagi immediately takes care. Miyagi then explains that he had to sell his truck to buy more bonsai trees. Daniel tells him he was forced to sign the tournament application, but Miyagi refuses to train him. Daniel, extremely upset with the whole situation, departs. He once again runs into Terry Silver who offers to "train" him, and soon begins doing so.

During the training sessions, called “Quick Silver,” Terry teaches cheap and corrupt ways of fighting with karate -— including kicks to the knee, forearm-strikes to the ribs, and chops to the nose —- none of which are permitted in the All-Valley Tournament. Silver always has Daniel attack a wooden dummy, injuring Daniel in the process. Miyagi, unaware of these training sessions, is saddened by a now confused and angry Daniel.

On the last of his training sessions, Silver places a picture of Mike Barnes on the dummy. In a previous scene where Kreese, while in Tahiti, tells Silver he wants Daniel's knuckles to bleed (as did his in his own confrontation with Miyagi at the end of the tournament), Silver promises Kreese he'll do just that. He makes good on the promise as Daniel makes his fists bleed by ferociously punching the dummy. Daniel eventually destroys the entire dummy, at which point Silver proclaims that he is ready now to win the tournament.

That same day, Silver coaxes Daniel into assaulting someone while in a club with Jessica. Daniel, unhappy with his behavior, apologizes for his recent actions to Miyagi and Jessica (who is returning to Columbus, Ohio). Daniel thanks Silver in person for his help, but says that he will not continue training with him after what happened in the club. Daniel adds that he will not compete in the tournament. Silver tells Daniel his real agenda and introduces Barnes to him. Daniel tries to escape the Cobra Kai Dojo; to Daniel's surprise, Kreese appears to block his path. Barnes attacks Daniel, but Miyagi shows up out of nowhere and defeats all three of their enemies. Afterwards, Miyagi finally decides to train Daniel for the All-Valley Tournament. They train by Devil's Cauldron and replant the now-healed bonsai.

At the All-Valley Tournament, Mike Barnes makes his way up to the final round to face Daniel. During the entire match, Mike alternately scores points and intentionally loses them by incurring penalties. The match makes it into overtime rounds, where Daniel confuses Barnes by performing a kata that Miyagi has taught him. Daniel becomes victorious once again.

Cast

• Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
• Pat Morita as Mr. Kesuke Miyagi
• Martin Kove as John Kreese
• Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver
• Robyn Lively as Jessica Andrews
• Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes
• Jonathan Avildsen as Snake

Criticisms

KK3 did considerably less business than the first two films, grossing only $39 million at the box-office. It has been bashed by critics and moviegoers who considered it when the series finally jumped the shark. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave KK3 a "BOMB" rating (the worst rating that a movie can possibly get in Maltin's eyes) and regarded KK3 as "an utterly stupid movie that was hopeless."

Many wondered why Daniel's character seems even less effective at karate than before Miyagi first trained him. Throughout the entire tournament, Daniel lands but a single blow on Barnes, and then only at the end. Also in the second film, Daniel ends up fighting for his life; in this film, he is back to fighting for something less. Supposedly taking place approximately 6 months since The Karate Kid, Part II, Daniel appears to have aged considerably. A then 28-year-old Ralph Macchio nearly refused the role, knowing he was almost 30 and still portraying a teenage boy. Interestingly, Thomas Ian Griffith is several months younger than Ralph Macchio in real life, and yet Griffith's character is a Vietnam veteran.

Daniel's bye through to the All Valley Tournament final is an obvious plot loophole to avoid tagging another 20 minutes of footage to the end of the film which would essentially be the same as the last 20 minutes of the first film of the series. The idea of a respected tournament giving a bye to the reigning champion seems without precedent; if this occurred in fact, it would almost certainly be greeted with disdain by tournament competitors.

The Jessica Andrews character is also a topic of concern with fans. Her character never develops into a sexual interest of Daniel's, and disappears entirely later. Some suspect she never became a love interest because of Ralph Macchio's age during the film, which was far greater than that of the underage actress Robyn Lively.

Trivia

• Conforming to the title changes of the first and second Karate Kid films for their releases in Japan, Part III was renamed Best Kid 3 (ベスト・キッド3/Besuto kiddo 3).
• The Chinese title likewise took its cue from the previous films and was called Young Man's Tribulations 3 (小子難纏3 / 小子难缠3 / xiǎo zǐ nán chán sān)
• Miyagi and Daniel wear the exact same costumes as they did at the All Valley in the original Karate Kid.
• When Miyagi says, "Hope confusion end soon, Daniel-San. Miyagi heart empty without you," he is looking at a picture of himself and Daniel in the same costumes they were wearing at the O-Bon dance in The Karate Kid, Part II.
• Actor Sean Kanan suffered near-fatal injuries during the course of filming. While performing stunts, he suffered injuries that led to undiagnosed internal bleeding. Aspirin that he later took for pain-management worsened his condition, leading to hospitalization for hypovolemic shock. He recovered in time to return to filming.
• Karate Kid Part III is rumored to be loosely based on the exploits of New Jersey teen karate champion Richard Kane, a former Goodwill Games participant.
• The person that Daniel punches in the club was played by Gabriel Jarret, who played Mitch Taylor in the 1985 movie Real Genius with Val Kilmer.
• Thomas Ian Griffith uses the generic Japanese noun for teacher, sensei (one who comes before), upon meeting Miyagi for the first time. He had studied martial arts in Korea, but the term sensei is well known for japanese teachers. In Korean he would have used the term "sabon(im)", "chong jae nim" or "kwan sa nim" meaning "teacher" in Hangul.

See also

• The Karate Kid
• The Karate Kid, Part II
• The Next Karate Kid

External links

• The Karate Kid, Part III at IMDb