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IMDbPro

The Karate Kid Part III

  • 1989
  • PG
  • 1h 52m
IMDb RATING
5.3/10
66K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,726
345
Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:29
2 Videos
99+ Photos
ActionDramaFamily

Ostracised villain John Kreese attempts to gain revenge on Daniel and Miyagi, with the help of a Vietnam War comrade, the wealthy owner of a toxic waste disposal business.Ostracised villain John Kreese attempts to gain revenge on Daniel and Miyagi, with the help of a Vietnam War comrade, the wealthy owner of a toxic waste disposal business.Ostracised villain John Kreese attempts to gain revenge on Daniel and Miyagi, with the help of a Vietnam War comrade, the wealthy owner of a toxic waste disposal business.

  • Director
    • John G. Avildsen
  • Writer
    • Robert Mark Kamen
  • Stars
    • Ralph Macchio
    • Pat Morita
    • Robyn Lively
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.3/10
    66K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,726
    345
    • Director
      • John G. Avildsen
    • Writer
      • Robert Mark Kamen
    • Stars
      • Ralph Macchio
      • Pat Morita
      • Robyn Lively
    • 196User reviews
    • 57Critic reviews
    • 36Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations

    Videos2

    The Karate Kid, Part III
    Trailer 1:29
    Watch The Karate Kid, Part III
    The Karate Kid, Part 3: Time To Go
    Clip 1:46
    Watch The Karate Kid, Part 3: Time To Go

    Photos155

    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid (1984)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid (1984)
    Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, and Hilary Swank in The Karate Kid (1984)
    Thomas Ian Griffith in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Thomas Ian Griffith in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
    Robyn Lively and Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid Part III (1989)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ralph Macchio
    Ralph Macchio
    • Daniel
    Pat Morita
    Pat Morita
    • Mr. Miyagi
    • (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
    Robyn Lively
    Robyn Lively
    • Jessica Andrews
    Thomas Ian Griffith
    Thomas Ian Griffith
    • Terry Silver
    Martin Kove
    Martin Kove
    • Kreese
    Sean Kanan
    Sean Kanan
    • Mike Barnes
    Jonathan Avildsen
    • Snake
    William Christopher Ford
    William Christopher Ford
    • Dennis
    • (as Christopher Paul Ford)
    Randee Heller
    Randee Heller
    • Lucille
    Pat E. Johnson
    Pat E. Johnson
    • Referee
    Rick Hurst
    Rick Hurst
    • Announcer
    Frances Bay
    Frances Bay
    • Mrs. Milo
    Joseph V. Perry
    Joseph V. Perry
    • Uncle Louie
    Jan Tríska
    Jan Tríska
    • Milos
    Diana Webster
    Diana Webster
    • Margaret
    Patrick R. Posada
    • Man #1
    C. Darnell Rose
    • Delivery Man
    Glenn Medeiros
    • Self
    • Director
      • John G. Avildsen
    • Writer
      • Robert Mark Kamen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ralph Macchio's character was supposed to have a romantic relationship with the character of Jessica (played by Robyn Lively) but he asked to have their relationship be platonic because he didn't want his wife to be jealous. In addition, the age difference was uncomfortable for all involved. As Macchio was 27 during filming and Lively a minor at just 16.
    • Goofs
      When Terry Silver and Daniel are in the Cobra Kai dojo for the first time together and Daniel is attempting to sweep the "knee" of the wooden dummy, the wood is solid and he cannot break it. As Terry Silver prepares to demonstrate the move, a break in the wood of the first leg is plainly visible. Sure enough, that's where his foot makes contact and the wood falls apart. A break in the torso, where he hits it, is similarly visible.
    • Quotes

      Mr. Kesuke Miyagi: [after three minutes of devastating wallops, taken from Barnes at the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Daniel is slumped on the mat clutching his side... when Miyagi rushes up] Daniel-san! DANIEL-SAN!

      Daniel Larusso: Mr. Miyagi, it's over! It's over! Forget about it!

      Mr. Kesuke Miyagi: No! NO!

      Daniel Larusso: I'm afraid! Let's just get out of here! I wanna go home!

      Mr. Kesuke Miyagi: No, cannot! Cannot! MUST not! Is okay lose to opponent! Must not lose to fear!

      Daniel Larusso: Yeah, well, I'm afraid! I'm afraid of him, all right? What do you want me to do?

      Mr. Kesuke Miyagi: HAI! You stay focused. Daniel-san, you best karate still inside you. Now time let out!

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Lethal Weapon 2/The Karate Kid Part III/Great Balls of Fire/Weekend at Bernie's/A Taxing Woman Returns (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      Listen to Your Heart
      Written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg

      Performed by Little River Band

    User reviews196

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Unintentionally hilarious – does it deserve a 1, or a 10?
    I don't know how many stars to give this movie, because a 1 tells you not to see it, and a 10 tells you that it is an excellent movie. Truth be told, this is one of the worst movies ever made, and that is why you absolutely must see it. It is more unintentionally funny than most actual comedies, and it provides as much entertainment value by accident as lots of movies do on purpose. It is like a train wreck, but with this wreck, the passengers are all slipping on banana peels as they exit the train.

    Here is what I think happened – the producers decided that they wanted to cash in on the franchise one more time, so they decided to bring back Mr. Miyagi and Daniel for one last hurrah. The script writers cooked up another story about Daniel fighting the Cobra Kais, getting beaten up, competing in the karate tournament once again, and then winning in the end. Then Ralph Macchio showed up for day 1 pudgy and out of shape, and panic erupted. Quickly, the script was rewritten with all of Daniel's fight scenes taken out, and the tournament rules changed so that all Daniel had to do to defend his title was show up for the last fight. I find it next to impossible that anyone associated with this movie honestly expected the audience to buy this, but they were far enough into the project that they had no choice but to finish it.

    So what do we get? We get an hour and a half of poor Danny getting abused over and over again. He's chubby. He's pushing 30, but he is still 17 in the movie and he sounds like he is about 13. He gets punched. He gets taunted. He gets kicked in the balls. His, uh, "girlfriend" gets harassed and almost assaulted as some bullies trash Mr. Miyagi's shop, but Mr. Miyagi does absolutely nothing but push the bullies out the door. At no point, does it cross anyone's mind to call the cops. At some point, we start sympathizing more with the bullies than Daniel. He is such a wimp with no defensive instincts, and at this point, Mr. Miyagi seems like an insensitive dope because he makes Daniel get beaten to a pulp multiple times before he will finally agree to train him.

    You can tell that just about everybody acting in this movie knows that it's a stinker, so why bother trying? Ralph Macchio totally phones in his performance, and so does Pat Morita (Miyagi). The minor actors in the movie, like Thomas Ian Griffith (the evil pony tail guy) and Martin Kove (the big evil trainer from the first movie) seem to get the joke here. They play over the top, exaggerated cartoon villains, whose only function is to be pointlessly mean. They are grown men, but their lives revolve around torturing a 17 year old boy as revenge for winning a karate tournament. At the end, Daniel finally faces down the big bully. Only this time, he doesn't try to throw any punches or block anything. He just stands there like a doughboy punching bag, yelping out in pain with his girly voice. I have always thought that the greatest achievement of the first two movies was that they made Daniel's triumphs believable and convincing. Since Mr. Miyagi focused on defense and maintaining a positive attitude, Daniel could survive a fight against a privileged bully and a brutal Okinawan street fighter who did not have this kind of positive influence. But in this one, it's just a massive beating. It is just so hard to take seriously that you get a sadistic pleasure out of it, kind of like watching somebody get hammered with a 2X4 in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

    Maybe the worst thing about this movie is that deep down, somewhere buried underneath the terrible acting and the awful script, there were some good ideas here. A Vietnam vet befriending Daniel and teaching him the darker side of martial arts – sounds like a story with a lot of potential. Maybe the world isn't inherently a good place. Maybe life has predators and prey, and maybe a Vietnam vet is an appropriate guy to teach that to Daniel, who up to this point is still pretty naïve. Maybe a movie that questioned the idealism of the first two and dug into some gray areas could have been really good. But, nope! We just got a tired rehash of the lessons from the first two movies, but they don't even seem to make sense here. Our Vietnam vet is actually just a villain – so cartoony that he even goes around a corner for a sneaky evil laugh while he listens to Daniel punch a piece of wood. Ouch! This one shows up on cable somewhere every once in a while, and if you can catch it, I highly recommend it. Invite some friends over, have a few beers, and have a few laughs at the expense of this tire fire.
    helpful•84
    22
    • bayou_hannibal
    • Jul 27, 2012

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    FAQ10

    • What is 'The Karate Kid III' about?
    • Is "The Karate Kid" based on a book?
    • How long after "Karate Kid II" does "Karate Kid III" take place?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 30, 1989 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Karate Kid III - Die letzte Entscheidung
    • Filming locations
      • Ennis House - 2607 Glendower Avenue, Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA(Terry Silver's house)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Weintraub International Group
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $38,956,288
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $10,364,544
      • Jul 2, 1989
    • Gross worldwide
      • $38,956,288
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 52 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Stereo
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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