The Karate Kid Part III

The last Karate Kid with Daniel and Miyagi

Released in the United States on 30 June 1989, The Karate Kid Part III closes the trilogy directed by John G. Avildsen, the director of Rocky, from a script by Robert Mark Kamen. Kamen first wanted a prequel set in 16th-century China, which the producers turned down. Martin Kove had limited availability, so Kreese appears in only a few scenes and Terry Silver was written to take his place. It is the first film for Thomas Ian Griffith, born four months after Ralph Macchio yet playing a Vietnam veteran supposedly twenty years Daniel's senior.

Tournament karate

Pat E. Johnson, a tang soo do black belt and fight choreographer on the first two films, stages the fights again and plays the All Valley tournament referee. The film leans on the contrast between Miyagi's karate, defensive and built on kata, and Silver's method, which teaches Daniel to strike first and bloody his knuckles on a board. In the final, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) scores points and then deliberately gives them away with fouls, sending the match to sudden death. Daniel wins by performing a kata before his final technique, a scene the series Cobra Kai later revisits, adding that the Cobra Kai dojo was banned from tournaments for life because of it.

Reception

On a 12.5-million-dollar budget, the film took only 38.9 million in the United States, against more than 100 million for each of the first two. Reviews were poor: 18% favourable on Rotten Tomatoes, 36 out of 100 on Metacritic, and five Razzie nominations in 1990, including worst picture, worst director and worst actor for Macchio. Avildsen himself admitted it was a pale copy of the original. Griffith's performance was singled out, by Gene Siskel among others. Cinematographer James Crabe fell ill and had to leave the shoot; the film is dedicated to him.

Who it's for

For anyone who has seen the first two films, and for Cobra Kai viewers: Terry Silver, Mike Barnes and Jessica Andrews return in seasons 4 to 6 of the series, which picks up this film's storyline directly. A practitioner will recognise the American point-fighting tournament format, with points awarded on first contact.