21/15
Avildsen shot hours of footage from multiple angles
Scenario
Decades after their fight at the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, now middle-aged, are once again rivals in the martial arts. During the filming of The Karate Kid, the late director John G. The crew behind Cobra Kai searched the studio’s archives and found a ton of never-before-seen clips to incorporate into the series in the form of flashbacks. One of them features Zabka’s real mother, seen in the stands at various angles that remained unreleased until 2018.
Ralph Macchio told Uproxx that there are three brand new angles of the famous crane kick
Many people believe that Miyagi’s name on his tombstone is a continuity error, as in Karate Kid 4 (1994), his name is given as Keisuke, but previously a sign held up for him by Chozen in Karate Kid 2 (1986) read Nariyoshi. This means that it was The Next Karate Kid who changed his name, while Cobra Kai kept the name given to him previously. However, it is also interesting to note that the name given in Karate Kid II was not Miyagi’s original first name. In Karate Kid (1984), Miyagi’s first name is briefly shown to be Hideo on Miyagi’s dog tag attached to the keys of the 1948 Ford that Daniel received for his birthday.
Cobra Kai captivates us with its great storytelling
Anthony Mackie/Ralph Macchio/Kiry Shabazz (2018) Jimmy Fallon – The Tonight Show (2018) Impressed, captivated and engaged are the words that come to mind when thinking about Cobra Kai. This is what we need from shows: unique and interesting angles. Cobra Kai turns the tables and shows us Johnny Lawrence’s point of view; this is truly his story. He is the one who lost and he turns out to be a real person with very real flaws.
Don’t we live like that too?
No more one-dimensional “good versus evil” story that we’ve all been told a million times. This reflects the feelings of the “loser” of the memorable 1984 film Karate Kid and picks up 34 years later. Because of this narrative and twist, I find Johnny to be an inspirational character as he tries his best to rebuild his life. Johnny is a very down to earth and simple character and makes the most of what he’s given.
Top marks for a great show
In a funny way, we sometimes see the arrogance and attitude of Daniel Larusso, who was originally the hero.