Watched this on Netflix over the last three days; that streamer of course is responsible for Cobra Kai, one of their longest-running shows at six seasons. Although some wags may remark that getting a second season is long-running for Netflix.
Anywhere, my thoughts on a very 80s movie:
- It takes 41 hours of non-stop driving to get from Newark in New Jersey to Reseda in California. How long would the journey take with all the stops in a car that needs jump-starting on several occasions.
- As is common with many a movie teen, Ralph Macchio was in his early 20s when he did this movie. He manages to look convincingly younger in this, demonstrating the right sort of 'I know more than you, old man' attitude that works for a coming of age piece like this. You do sympathise with him and want him to be happy. He's mentioned in Stranger Things as someone Max Mayfield finds to be hot and I can see why.
- Speaking of attractive people... Elisabeth Shue as Ali. Now I'm more familiar with the older Ms. Shue from her role in the latter seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, but I can see that she must have been popular among certain female-liking types in the 1980s. The term "girl next door" springs quickly and she's definitely got the outfits for it.
- Mr. Miyagi. Now this is a case of "it's trope-y because it wrote the tropes". I'm sure I've seen quite a few characters like him over the years. The broken English, Japanese accent stuff definitely would not fly in this day and age, but the character is more than just a stereotype; he's got a sad backstory involving a darker side of American history not really explored at that point.
- "Wax On, Wax Off". Having not seen this movie before, I figured there was some sort of point to that, but I wouldn't have waited for four days before asking what it actually was.
- My experience with Asian martial arts consists of precisely one judo lesson, but they make the rules fairly clear here. Although my own research seems to suggest under-18s don't get black belts. Not these days at any rate.
- However, I did do fencing at university. The earlier fights in the tournament are over quickly and much more realistic for actual combat. The final showdown... well, that's clearly choreographed.
- Bullies in 1980s movies are particularly creative in their cruelty, while simultaneous being as dumb as a box of rocks. Hey, it comes with the genre.
- Cobra Kai do not seem as a whole to be very nice people, but we get some depth near the end, where they're reluctant to follow instructions from their sensei.
- I see Bill Conti did the music for this - he also did the Rocky series and the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, one of Moore's better movies. It's good, but I can't say it's memorable, bar some of the other songs.
Conclusion
A pretty enjoyable slice of pure 1980s teenage movie with some good performances and generally well-made.
8/10
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