The Karate Kid Part III (1989)

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

Writers:

Robert Mark Kamen (characters), Robert Mark Kamen

Stars:

Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Robyn Lively

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Macchio	...	Daniel
Pat Morita	...	Mr. Miyagi (as Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita)
Robyn Lively	...	Jessica
Thomas Ian Griffith	...	Terry
Martin Kove	...	Kreese
Sean Kanan	...	Mike Barnes
Jonathan Avildsen	...	Snake
William Christopher Ford	...	Dennis (as Christopher Paul Ford)
Randee Heller	...	Lucille
Pat E. Johnson	...	Referee
Rick Hurst	...	Announcer
Frances Bay	...	Mrs. Milo
Joseph V. Perry	...	Uncle Louie
Jan Tríska	...	Milos
Diana Webster	...	Margaret

Storyline

John Kreese, his life in tatters after his karate school was defeated by Daniel and Miyagi, visits Terry Silver, a Vietnam War comrade. Terry is a ruthless businessman and martial arts expert, and he vows to help Kreese gain revenge on Daniel and Miyagi, and reestablish Cobra Kai. Upon returning from Okinawa, Daniel and Miyagi discover that their apartment building has been demolished, which brings Miyagi out of work. Going against Miyagi's wishes, Daniel uses his college funds to realize Miyagi's dream of opening a bonsai tree shop, and becomes a partner in the bonsai business.

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Plot Keywords:

teenage boy | vietnam war veteran | underdog | pain | blood | 

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Taglines:

First it was teacher to student. Then it was father to son. Now, it's man to man.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Karate Kid 3

Filming Locations:

130 N. Avenue 50, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$38,956,288

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Weintraub International Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the time of his casting, Sean Kanan was a green belt in karate.

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Goofs

When Daniel and Jessica are hanging off the side of the cliff being held hostage by Mike and his gang. Snake tells Daniel to give him the tree and Jessica, when telling Daniel not to, calls him "David" instead of "Daniel".

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Quotes

Terry Silver: [at the climax of Daniel's training] Visualize: this is not a bunch of sticks and pipes anymore; this is not some pathetic mugger who needs a couple of dollars so he can eat. No! This is a deadly, hungry wrecking machine who wants to detatch your head from the rest of your body and mount it over his fireplace!
[Daniel gashes his fist on the 2X4 with Mike Barnes' picture]
Terry Silver: It's blood. So what? Make believe it's HIS! This guy wants to BREAK you! HUMILIATE you! STOMP YOU INTO THE GROUND! NOW WHAT ARE...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofed in You Can't Do That on Television: Sports

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Soundtracks

Listen to Your Heart
Written by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg
Performed by The Little River Band (as Little River Band)

User Reviews

It's kinda like the first two movies, just without the heart and decent characters

I've gotta say, I was surprised by the ending to THE KARATE KID PART III. Daniel was physically outmatched (yeah, I know, he always is), but it was just nice to see something good come out of all of this. And seeing him outsmart the other guy was kinda nice. But there's a dour tone to this entire movie, and it all seems a bit silly.

Alright, so Kreese has bottomed out, and he's looking to rise from the muck and destroy Daniel LaRusso. That's kinda by-the-numbers for a second sequel, but I can see how they'd go with this for the hook. But the plan is to put the kid through psychological torment and macho head games to finally break his spirit and put the hurt on him. And it's all at the behest of the always-leering Terry Silver. They're just such one-dimensional bad guys. Pitting Daniel against Miyagi didn't make much sense because it could've all been handled with some rational explaining (but Daniel this time around is more hotheaded than ever).

Pat Morita makes this all sorta worthwhile because he well wears the weariness of a character that loses so much in the story. But I was surprised at how unsympathetic LaRusso was in this movie, and it's not very well-written. I've gotta wonder how this movie is different from Kamen's original script because it all feels very off. It's not a bad movie, just . . . silly.

5/10