Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Karate Kid Pt. II

The Karate Kid pt. II
-1986 American martial arts movie; sequel to the 1984 movie The Karate Kid
-Stars Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita and Ralph Maccio

Did You Know?
Plot
-Picks up after the first film. John Kreese(Martin Kove) humiliates Johnny(William Zabka) in the parking lot because of his 2nd place status in the All Valley Karate Tournament. Mr. Miyagi is leaving the place with Daniel, and they both witness it. Daniel rescues Johnny from Kreese and immobilizes him. Johnny and his friends quit the Cobra Kai dojo, with Miyagi saying to Daniel "For person with no forgiveness in heart, living even worse punishment than death." 6 months later, in 1985, it's revealed that Ali has dumped Daniel for a football player from UCLA. With his mother going to Fresno, Daniel now lives with Mr. Miyagi in his guest house. Miyagi receives a letter from Japan telling him his father is dying. He wants to go to Okinawa alone, but Daniel decides to go with him, for emotional support. When Daniel asks Miyagi why he left Okinawa initially, Miyagi says there was a woman named Yukie, who was in an arranged marrige to Sato, the son of the richest man in Japan and also Miyagi's best friend. Sato and Miyagi studied karate together under Miyagi's dad. One day, Miyagi announced he wanted to marry Yukie. Sato, somewhat angry, wanted ot fight Miyagi to the death and rather than fight, Miyagi left Japan

-When they arrive in Okinawa, Miyagi and Daniel are approached by a young man, Chozen Toguchi(Yuji Okumoto), who happens to be Sato's(Danny Kamekona) nephew. Sato has not forgiven and forgotten his fight with Miyagi. He wants to fight him at once. And since he refuses, Sato calls him a coward. Miyagi and Daniel go to Tome village and meet Yukie(Nobu McCarthy) and her niece  Kumiko(Tamlyn Tomita), whom Daniel immediately falls for. They learn Sato is a rich industrialst, who has invented supertrawlers that are destroying the local fish population, making the other villagers who rely on fishing to make money even more poor; these fishers now rely on farming to stay alive. What else is worse is that all the villagers rent their property from Sato, who owns the village. Yukie says that she truly loved Miyagi and carried a torch for him, that she never married Sato.


-After Miyagi's dying father's wish was for his son and student to make peace, Sato insists on fighting Miyagi. He gives Miyagi 3 days to mourn the death of his father. Daniel comforts Miyagi when his father dies, stating that when his dad died, saying that his father thought he was not a good son, but then one day, he did the greatest thing ever: he held his father's hand with him there and said goodbye before he died. Miyagi then teaches Daniel what lies in the secret to his family's karate. This "drum technique" as Miyagi affectionately refers to it, represents the block and defense move Daniel begins to practice. Miyagi warns him that the technique should only be used in a last resort. Later on, Yukie and Miyagi perform the tea ceremony together, which Kumiko explains to Daniel is a sign they are renewing their love


-One day, Daniel accidentally reveals that the grocery store of Chozen and his friends, Taro and Toshio, have been defrauding the villagers with rigged weights. The farmers, now angry, berate him and demand their money back. As a result of this, Chozen accuses Daniel of insulting his honor and being a coward like his sensei. He and Daniel have repeated confrontations, first in the village, then in Naha City, and at a 50s themed dance. Elsewhere, Daniel and Kumiko start falling in love, with Kumiko showing Daniel an old castle on the coast that Sato is allowing to break down to search for relics and things. Daniel can't understand why Sato would allow a historical placer to fall apart and neither can Kumiko


-The problems between Chozen and Daniel come to a head when Sato, at the end of the 3 day mourning time, shows up to fight Miyagi. Miyagi is not there, Chozen and his friends detroy the family dojo and much of the garden, and Chozen attacks Daniel when he tries to intervene. When Miyagi does show up, he defeats the 3 attackers easily. Understanding that he has put Daniel in danger, Miyagi makes plans to go home. Before they can leave, Sato threatens to destroy the village if Miyagi continues to avoid fighting. Miyagi agrees on one condition: That no matter who wins, Saot must sign the titles of the homes back to the villagers. Sato agrees. On the day of the fight, Daniel and Kumiko perform the ancient tea ceremony and share a kiss. During this, the village gets a typhoon. When Sato's dojo is destroyed by the storm with Sato inside, Daniel and Miyagi rush to free him and bring him to safety.When Sato thinks Miyagi is going to strike him, he instead breaks a large piece of wood pinning Sato in place.


-Daniel then rushes out into the storm to rescue a little girl who has taken refuge in a bell tower. Sato roders Chozen to help, but he refuses. Sato then helps Daniel himself. Afterward, he tells Chozen he is dead to him, meaning he has been disowned, and the young man runs off into the storm. The next morning, the villagers start rebuilding the village and Sato arrives to help. He hands over the titles to the villagers' homes and asks Miyagi for forgiveness. Miyagi insists that there is nothing to forgive and he accepts. Daniel asks Sato if the village may hold their upcoming Obon festival on the castle grounds. Sato accepts and grants them the right to do so. His one condition is that Daniel join him and the other villagers.



-At the Obon festival, Kumiko is performing a traditional dance when Chozen, filled with rage and vengeance, interrupts and takes Kumiko at knifepoint. Sato tells him that he was wrong to hate Miyagi and asks Chozen to let go of his hatred of Daniel. Chozen refuses, threatening to kill Kumiko if Daniel does not step up and fight to the death. Daniel accepts, in spite of Miyagi's warning. This time, the fight is real and Chozen will kill him if he loses. Daniel is now going up against an experienced karate fighter, even "The Crane" kick does not work, and he manages to hold on for a while. Miyagi brings out his old hand drum and beats it. The other villagers follow in with it, allowing Daniel to realize he can win. As Chozen closes in, Daniel deflects Chozen's attacks and lands a series of counter-attacks. He grabs Chozen and asks him if he wishes to live or die. When Chozen replies "Die", Daniel responds and takes him to the ground. After winning, Daniel embraces Kumiko with Miyagi looking on proudly.
Cast
  • Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
  • Pat Morita as Mr. Kesuke Miyagi
  • Martin Kove as John Kreese
  • Nobu McCarthy as Yukie
  • Tamlyn Tomita as Kumiko
  • Yuji Okumoto as Chozen
  • Joey Miyashima as Toshio
  • Marc Hayashi as Taro
  • Danny Kamekona as Sato
  • Tony O'Dell as Jimmy
  • William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence
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