11/41
Avildsen shot hours of tournament footage from multiple angles
Plot
Decades after their 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament match, middle-aged Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves once again as martial arts competitors. During the filming of the original Karate Kid, the late director John G. The crew behind Cobra Kai dug through the studio vault and found a bunch of never-before-seen clips that they were able to bring into the series through flashbacks.
Ralph Macchio told Uproxx that there are three brand-new angles to the famous crane kick
One of them features Zabka’s real-life mother in the stands in various angles that weren’t seen until 2018. Many people believe that Miyagi’s name on his tombstone is a continuity error, as in Karate Kid 4 (1994) his name is listed as Keisuke, but it was actually previously shown on a sign that Chozen gave him in Karate Kid 2 (1986) as Nariyoshi. This means that The Next Karate Kid changed his name, while Cobra Kai kept the name he was previously given.
Featured on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Anthony Mackie/Ralph Macchio/Kiry Shabazz (2018)
Another interesting fact, however, is that the name given in Karate Kid Part II was not the original first name given to him. Miyagi. In the movie Karate Kid (1984), Miyagi’s first name is briefly shown on the dog tags attached to the keys to the 1948 Ford that Daniel was given as a birthday present, indicating that Miyagi’s first name is Hideo.
William Zabka does this performance as Johnny Lawrence, he’s everything
This show is the perfect mix of nostalgia, great 80s music, and badass karate. The stories are interesting, the action scenes are well-coordinated, and everyone and their brother come back from the movies. It’s wonderful.
