Sony Pictures | 1986 | 113 mins. | Rated PG
Given the success of 1984’s The Karate Kid, there was little surprise when Columbia Pictures released The Karate Kid II two years later. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi and director John G. Avildsen is back at the helm. While history is littered with bad sequels, or more often than not, ones that shouldn’t have been made at all, a case can be made that The Karate Kid Part II is a stronger film than the first. Though Part II didn’t receive the same level of critical acclaim, it performed better at the box office and has a deeper story.
Picking up where The Karate Kid ended, Daniel is celebrating his victory over John Kreese´s (Martin Kove) top student Johnny (William Zabka). Mr. Miyagi walks Daniel outside, where Kreese threatens the pair and attempts to hurt Miyagi. He dodges Kreese´s punches and renders him immobile, yet doesn´t deliver a final blow. Miyagi teaches Daniel that forgiveness is a valuable character trait in the process.
Six months later, Daniel’s life is in flux. Ali (his girlfriend from the first film), broke up with him at the senior prom, his car has broken down, and his mother’s moving to Fresno for work. Miyagi, being the teacher/father figure that he is, puts Daniel to work to calm his nerves. Working on Miyagi’s home, Daniel learns he is working on an addition that is actually for him to stay in. Soon after, a letter arrives. Miyagi´s father is on his deathbed in Okinawa, and he immediately plans to return home. Daniel decides to buy his own ticket and make the trip.
On the plane ride, the usually quiet Miyagi opens up a bit. It seems he left Okinawa because of a woman named Yukie (Nobu McCarthy), who was arranged to marry Sato (Danny Kamekona), his best friend. Sato´s father was the richest man in town, but Yukie felt more for Miyagi. Miyagi wanted to break the tradition of arranged marriages, but Sato challenged him to a fight to the death, and rather than accept the challenge, Miyagi left the country.
Karate Kid Part II serves to delve into the background of Miyagi character, while giving Pat Morita a chance to shine. When Miyagi’s father dies, the pain in Morita’s eyes is readily apparent, and as an actor, he adds a tremendous amount of depth and soul to a character that’s already been granted much via Robert Mark Kamen’s solid script.
Of course, Miyagi’s newfound frontline status doesn’t mean that Daniel is left with nothing to do. When the two men arrive in Okinawa, they´re picked up by Sato´s nephew Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) who takes them to his uncle´s warehouse. Sato has become a sucess in the fishing industry, hurting the locals who relied on fishing for survival. Sato confronts the pair and challenges Miyagi to combat, while Daniel draws Chozen´s ire. Once they get away, Miyagi goes to his father´s side, and Daniel meets Kumiko (Tamlyn Tomita), Yukie´s attractive niece who, like him, wants something more from life.
Predictably, Daniel and Miyagi become Sato and Chozen´s targets, generating a cat and mouse game that tests willpower and patience. Things culminate during a typhoon rather than a karate tournament, but the film does end with a climactic no holds barred encounter. I won´t reveal who ends up battling whom, but in the end long held hatred loses out to forgiveness.
Besides obvious character development, The Karate Kid Part II is notable because a wiser Daniel is now forced to acquaint himself with Miyagi’s culture and fit in. At the same time, while Miyagi is still the wise old sage, much of the emphasis is taken off that aspect of his character that we know so well and instead we learn about his personal life. While people can debate whether the first film is better than the second, there’s little question that The Karate Kid Part II does a good job moving the story forward.
Sony has done has done a solid job with the video transfer. The film´s 1.85:1 1080p High Definition image is consistently clear and vibrant. The coloration is rich enough to make the setting seem lifelike, but not appear so exotic it may not really exist (The Karate Kid II was filmed in Hawaii, but said to take place in Okinawa). Dark colors have their place, but the brights appear with clear and vivid consistency I noted throughout.
There are no issues with the film´s English 5.1 DTS-High Definition Master Audio soundtrack. The vocals come through very nicely, and the music from Bill Conti is well placedNatural background noise has a presence, especially car engines and machinery, but never takes control of a scene. Additional audio choices include French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MAs and a Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitle choices are English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Unfortunately, The Karate Kid Part II lacks the array of special features that grace the originals’ Blu-ray release. Sony’s Blu-Pop feature here is completely text-based; no video interview clips are included. Viewers can skip to each text bubble by hitting the “Chapter skip” button on the remote. The Sequel (480p, 6:18) is a brief behind-the-scenes piece that features cast and crew speaking on making the picture and the storyline, intercut with plenty of footage from the film. The disc is BD-Live enabled.
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