The Karate Kid Part III
Tags: revenge, violence

Plot synopsis:
The movie begins with montages from the first Karate Kid movie, followed by the first scene in The Karate Kid II, where John Kreese (Martin Kove) is severely humiliated by Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) in front of all of Kreese's students.Cut to Kreese going into his dojo. A number of mail envelopes are on the floor, having been slid through the mail slot in the front door. He quickly throws them in the trash and stares reverently at a photo of his stint in the U.S. Army as its 1970-1972 karate champion, before going into his office in the dojo.Ever since his humiliation at Mr. Miyagi's hands, all of Kreese's students have left him and the Cobra Kai. His dojo has been completely empty for several months now, leaving him with no income and now broke. All of his assorted creditors are beginning to harass him for payment on now-long overdue bills. The organizers of the All-Valley tournament that Daniel (Ralph Macchio) won is dropping the Cobra Kai from its membership rolls due to non-payment of dues. As he listens to a recording on his answering machine of his prone provider threatening to disconnect him, he picks up a newspaper clipping article devoted to Daniel's victory in the tournament and crumples it in his hands.Broke, hungry and alone, Kreese goes to the one friend he has left: Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), an army buddy whose life was saved by Kreese several times, and the founder of the Kobra Kai, now a shady and very wealthy businessman dealing with nuclear energy. Kreese goes to hand Silver the dojo keys, saying he is going away, saying good-bye, and will pay him the back rent soon as he finds a new line of work, as he has had no students for nine months. Silver declines, getting Krese to tell him the story of his troubles, and promising to take care of him. Silver learns the story of Daniel and Miyagi and promises to help Kreese make things right. First, he is sending Kreese for some R&R time in Tahiti. Then he's going to formulate a plan to make sure Daniel and Miyagi have to pay for humiliating Kreese. They exchange military salutes before Silver drives off, after dropping Kreese off at the airport.Kreese, walking toward his flight, closely misses passing by Daniel and Miyagi as they are returning from Okinawa (the setting of The Karate Kid II); he does not notice them coming out of their flight, nor do they notice him. Daniel's mother, Lucille (Randee Heller) was supposed to pick them up at the airport, but Daniel told her they were coming in on the following day, mischievously saying that she loves surprises.Arriving via taxicab back at the site of Daniel's apartment, Daniel and Miyagi find that the building has been sold by the landlord, and the new owner has evicted everyone and torn it down to build a spa. Miyagi is now out of a job and Daniel and his mother are homeless. The neighbor who informs them of this, tells Daniel that Lucille asked for Daniel to call her collect at the home of Lucille's uncle, Louie, with whom she is now staying.Miyagi speaks to Lucille on the phone and assures her that he is happy to put Daniel up at his home for a while. Uncle Louie has emphysema and Lucille will need to stay with him a while to take care of him. Lucille sighs with relief and gratitude at Miyagi's kind charity.Daniel talks to his mother and tells her (to her great thrill) that college registration is in just a few days. Unfortunately, Kumiko (the Okinawan girl with whom Daniel was involved in The Karate Kid II) will not be coming to America to be with Daniel, though the reason why is very fortuitous-- she was offered a good job with a prestigious Tokyo dance company and couldn't turn it down.Helping Mr. Miyagi about the house, Daniel finds that Miyagi is emotional about having to give up his prized bonsai trees, as without a job he can no longer take care of them. Daniel suggests he open a store to sell the bonsai trees, and Miyagi admits he dreamt about it, for when he was able to retire.Needing to help his mentor who is now facing hardship, Daniel insists on helping Miyagi open a store-- a proposal Miyagi, of course, is strongly opposed to because Daniel would be using the money set aside for his attending college. To Miyagi, Daniel's college education is far too important to sacrifice.But Daniel disagrees, and secretly takes a cab to a local realtor, holding a classified section of a local newspaper in his hand.Silver is on the phone with Kreese, discussing their plan of revenge. Silver plots to have Daniel intimidated into leaving Miyagi and going to Silver to train him to defend his championship in the karate tournament, where Silver would get Daniel overconfident and thinking he couldn't be beaten-- setting him up for a major fall. He assures Kreese he can get Daniel to participate in the tournament. Silver has bought a number of additional dojos for Kreese to run after he returns from Tahiti. Asked if there's anything else he needs, Kreese stares at his hand and asks Silver to make Daniel's knuckles bleed.As he prepares to be driven off to a social event, Silver speaks to his staff about what portion of his revenge plan he has chosen to share with him. This involves procuring a new wardrobe and vehicle for him that will make him look poor and humble, hiding his status as a wealthy entrepreneur.As he rides in his chauffeured limo, Silver browses through a karate magazine and finds exactly what he was looking for-- a young champion with a record of tournament victories and a ruthless attitude. The article calls him 'karate's bad boy-- Mike Barnes' (Sean Kanan).Daniel is arriving back at Miyagi's home, where Miyagi has just finished preparing supper... and he tells Miyagi exactly what the elderly mentor does not want to hear; instead of registering for college, he used the tuition money to pay for a lease on an available store for Miyagi to open a bonsai shop. Daniel insists that he wouldn't be able to finish college if he was taking courses there just for the sake of continuing his education-- he needs the break from schooling and the store's success can then put him through college once he's ready to go. Gushing with excitement, Daniel drives Miyagi (without them eating supper) to the empty store lot he's leased. The store is run-down but Daniel isn't worried; it's opportunity knocking. He even points out a pottery shop right across the street where they can strike a deal for planters. Miyagi is less enthused than Daniel about the opening of the shop, but seeing that this time, he cannot budge Daniel, consents-- on the condition that Daniel is his full partner in the shop instead of his employee.Silver is sitting in a bath, giving dictation for letters to his secretary, when he's told that Mike Barnes has arrived as per his invitation. Silver introduces Barnes to two young neighborhood toughs named Snake (Jonathan Avildsen) and Dennis (William Christopher Ford) who Silver has hired to assist Barnes with everything he'll need. Barnes will live and train on Silver's property, and if he achieves the goal of beating Daniel in the All-Valley tournament, he'll receive 25% ownership in the new chain of Kobra Kai dojos Silver has opened. Barnes states that he wants 50% ownership, making him a full partner. Silver finds this a little too ambitious and offers 35%. Barnes thanks Silver for the hospitality and starts to leave. Impressed at the young man's moxie, Silver gives in-- Barnes will be a fully equal, 50% owner.Miyagi and Daniel are gathering a wild sapling to cultivate as a bonsai, and Miyagi explains the significance of a bonsai tree's strong roots-- something it has in common with Daniel's inner heart and spirit, where his karate comes from-- only the root of it came from Miyagi himself, and that root allowed Daniel's spirit to grow and flourish. Daniel is puzzled, as Bonsai are cultivated with wires and clippers, but Miyagi says that 'true' bonsai grow wild without any aid from caretakers. Miyagi has seen them in his homeland in Okinawa. In America, he's only seen one-- the one personal treasure he brought from his homeland... which he's planted in a nearby gorge called Devil's Cauldron. Finding a peaceful, secluded spot on a hill, Miyagi begins to teach Daniel a kata, or form, practiced by members of Miyagi's family. As they practice, the camera pans away to show Devil's Cauldron.The next day, Daniel and Miyagi are working in the shop, getting it ready for opening. As they prepare one of the bonsai trees Miyagi has been caring for, Daniel tells him about a letter from the All-Valley Tournament announcing a change in the rules-- as the defending champion, Daniel would only need to compete in the final match; he gets a free bye through all the preliminary and quarter/semi-final rounds. But despite this, Miyagi is unwilling to sponsor Daniel to defend his championship in the tournament. He had done it the previous year in order to help him escape the bullying and harassment he had undergone at the hands of Kreese's students. Now that Kreese was no longer a problem for them, the tournament had no more meaning to them-- karate, to Miyagi, is worthless when used as a sport.Daniel goes to the pottery shop across the street to buy a pot for the bonsai tree. Working at the shop, molding a pot out of clay, is an attractive young red-haired woman named Jessica Andrews (Robyn Lively). Daniel tells her a little bit about the shop he and Miyagi are opening, which stirs Jessica's interest, as she loves bonsai trees. Daniel shows her the size and shape of pots he's looking to buy and arranges for Jessica to make embossments of a bonsai tree on a few of them as a trademark of the shop. As he leaves, he says, 'see you soon,' and Jessica asks, 'how soon?' showing she is interested in him. Taking the offered bone, he sets up a date with Jessica for that night at 7 pm.As Daniel returns to the shop, Miyagi hands him back the application for the All-Valley karate tournament, but Daniel is confused when he sees it is unsigned. Miyagi tells Daniel that the answer lives inside of him-- and he can get rid of his confusion very easily by discarding the application.That evening, as Daniel gets ready for his date with Jessica, Silver sneaks into the home and goes through Miyagi's box containing his war memorabilia. Finding that Miyagi served with the 442nd division in the Army, Silver smiles in satisfaction. He sees Miyagi's medal of valor on the wall, and then happens to spot a flier on the ground advertising the opening of the bonsai shop. Just then Daniel is approaching the room just as Miyagi is arriving home from the other side.As Miyagi picks up a buddha statue to put in the store for good luck, Daniel shows him the All-Valley tournament application and burns it, much to Miyagi's gratitude and satisfaction. After they leave, coughing is heard, and Silver's feet come down out of the chimney, where he had hid to escape notice from both Daniel and Miyagi.Daniel picks up Jessica and she starts to explain that she is in the process of reconciling with a boyfriend she'd broken up with, and was going to see him again when she went back home to Columbus, Ohio for Thanksgiving. She's apologetic for coming on strong, because she'd been in L.A. for two months and has no real friends. Taking the news much better than Jessica had hoped, Daniel says he'll be her first friend in L.A. and offers to bring her to the bonsai store to meet Mr. Miyagi.After making the introductions and Miyagi starts heading home, Daniel brings Jessica inside the store to show her around, and the work they've done on it so far. Jessica is interested when Daniel tells her that Miyagi has been teaching him karate; even more so when Daniel shows how Miyagi can make lessons out of the most seemingly disconnected tasks. He has Jessica do the hand motions she used when she was molding a ceramic pot, and shows how she can use those motions to defend against a mugger.But just then, worse trouble than a mere mugger invites itself into the shop... Snake and Barnes. They've found out that Daniel has chosen not to enter the All-Valley tournament and are here to see that he changes his mind-- Barnes' financial future is riding on facing Daniel for the championship. They have brought a new application for Daniel to sign. When he refuses, Barnes is ready to fight him then and there, but Snakes pulls him back, suggesting they let Daniel 'sleep on it.'The next morning, Daniel and Miyagi are practicing the kata on the lawn. Silver arrives on the property, putting the next phase of his plan into action. He is dressed in very ordinary-looking street clothes, making him look like a simple and humble man. He approaches Miyagi and bows respectfully, introducing himself and saying who his teacher was, and that John Kreese was the teacher's number one student. Silver says that word only reached he and his teacher in Korea two months ago about what happened the previous year at the All-Valley tournament; the trouble Kreese created, and both Silver himself and his teacher are remorseful about it. Silver says he came back to America to help Kreese 'regain balance,' but arrived too late-- Kreese, as Silver tells them, has died of a broken heart after losing all his students. Silver explains that Kreese was once an honorable man and a war hero who saved Silver's life many times during Vietnam-- a point Miyagi understands all too well. Silver feigns being impressed to hear that Miyagi was in the 442nd Army Division. He also gives a humble bow and apology to Daniel over what Kreese had put him through, and suddenly excuses himself, apologizing for interrupting their training. But Miyagi and Daniel both give him a parting expression of condolences on Kreese's death.Later that evening Daniel is doing more work around the shop when Jessica arrives-- she was supposed to have dinner with her aunt, who owns the pottery shop, but the aunt had to cancel out, so Jessica brought over the macaroni and cheese to share with Daniel. As they sit down to eat, Jessica shows Daniel one of the pots she's finished with the embossment. Daniel, in turn, gives Jessica some tickets to a local dance club for her last night in L.A. before she returns home.A dance of a different kind, however, is on the horizon as Barnes arrives with Snake and Dennis to harass Daniel about signing the entry form for the All-Valley tournament. To help deal with Daniel's 'obstinance,' they start to trash the shop. Dennis pushes Daniel, who pushes back. Dennis throws a punch, and Daniel uses his skills to defend himself and defeat Dennis. Snake starts to lunge at Daniel, but Jessica picks up the ceramic pot and jams it into Snake, knocking him down. As Snake falls, Jessica finds that she is right in back of Barnes-- and he is looking over his shoulder right at her.Barnes knows just what button to push-- he kicks Jessica in her belly with a scoop kick and doubles her over. Daniel and Barnes clash, and Barnes quickly gains the upper hand. Miyagi arrives to fend Barnes and his henchmen off. They hurry out of the store back into their car, shouting that they've just begun their 'persuasion.' Daniel, Miyagi and Jessica watch them drive off; Jessica still holding her stomach in pain, which sets Daniel's blood boiling.As he drives himself and Daniel back home, Miyagi tries to soothe Daniel's nerves by singing, and saying that they were fortunate that the bonsai tree was back at home, safe from the trashing of the shop. Unfortunately Daniel is very badly worked up and Miyagi's efforts do very little to calm him down.And even Miyagi himself is not in much more mood for further singing when they arrive home-- the bonsai trees are missing, and in their place on the workbench is an entry form for the tournament. Daniel completely loses his patience when Miyagi chooses to go fishing rather than let himself lose control as Daniel himself has. Daniel gets back into the car to report the robbery to the police.Without the stock of trees, Daniel and Miyagi have nothing to sell. And the police literally laughed Daniel off when he went to them looking to press charges against Barnes for the robbery; Daniel too upset to understand that he doesn't have a whit of solid proof that Barnes was behind it. Desperate, he goes with Jessica to Devil's cauldron without Miyagi's knowledge, to retrieve the wild bonsai tree, which Miyagi had said was worth a lot of money. Scanning the gorge with his binoculars, Daniel locates the site where Miyagi planted the tree. Jessica, skilled in rappelling, knows how to help Daniel get down the gorge so they can retrieve it.The rappel down the cliff proves more formidable than Jessica had anticipated. Daniel loses his footing and she scrambles to steady him. Then, just as Daniel has unearthed the wild bonsai and is starting to carefully pack it away, Jessica loses her own footing and almost falls. The tree drops down onto the rocks at the bottom. Both Daniel and Jessica must rush to retrieve it before the salt water from the tide soaks into the tree and kills it. They rinse it thoroughly with clean water from a canteen before re-packing it. That's when they notice the ropes are being pulled up the cliff.Sure enough, Barnes, snake and Dennis have found them again. They toss down a bundled-up application form for the All-Valley Tournament. If Daniel doesn't sign it, they will simply leave, and the three of them all know that the tide will come into the gorge starting in twelve minutes. Daniel and Jessica would drown and Barnes would never be suspected. Enraged, Daniel signs the form and says that if Barnes wants it, he has to pull Daniel and Jessica up.But Barnes, Snake and Dennis only pull them up to just shy of the cliff face before making him hand over the form to examine it and see that there was no trickery. Each time Daniel becomes obstinate, they let Jessica slide down several feet, threatening to drop her. Once the form is handed over, suddenly the "price" goes up. Now they want the wild tree. Again they threaten to drop Jessica until Daniel does as is demanded. Then, to his horror, Barnes takes hold of the tree's trunk and snaps it apart lengthwise like breaking a wishbone.Daniel is sick with misery as he arrives back a the bonsai shop during a pouring thunderstorm with the broken tree in tow. Miyagi tends to the tree very carefully as Daniel pleads for forgiveness. Miyagi doesn't know if the tree will recover-- he says it depends on how strong the roots are.Later, Daniel is training on the lawn when Silver puts the next phase of his plan into action. Barnes arrives to harass him over calling the cops. He tries to pick another fight when Silver arrives, ordering him to back down. Barnes and Silver stage a mock battle where Silver easily handles Barnes and chases him off. Silver mentions to Daniel that he's re-opening the Cobra Kai dojos so that the school can make up for its past misdeeds. He good-naturedly offers to teach Daniel a couple of moves and shows him a front leg sweep. He says that if Daniel ever needs it, he can approach Silver to help with training.Daniel hurries to the bonsai shop where Jessica is showing Miyagi a number of pots she's finished with the tree embossment. Daniel asks Miyagi to show him 'how to sweep.' He doesn't need any training for the tournament, just to be shown this one thing. Miyagi, of course, knows better. He gives Daniel the pot and excuses himself, saying he will be right back. He then comes out wiht a broom, 'explaining' how to use it in sweeping. Jessica giggles appreciatively at Miyagi's wit, but Daniel gets very upset, thinking Miyagi is making fun of him, and drives off in a huff.Daniel goes to the Cobra Kai dojo to take Silver up on his offer. Covertly covering himself by inquiring how Miyagi feels about it and being assured that Miyagi neither knows nor needs to know, Silver now puts the next phase of his plan into action. He begins to slowly and gradually get Daniel to vent his anger and frustration at being bullied by Barnes. He brings Daniel to a "training dummy" with two 2x4 boards for legs, and several other thick plans for the chest and head. He has Daniel practice sweeps on the legs until his foot is hurt. Silver shows how he easily breaks the boards and 2x4's, saying 'extreme situations require extreme measures.' As they finish for the night, Silver snickers to himself on noticing that Daniel is hobbling slightly on his hurt foot.Daniel hurries back to Miyagi's home, but Miyagi knows that something is going on. He takes an herbal powder and puts it into hot water so Daniel can soak his hurt foot, slyly suggesting that the next day, Daniel will 'remember' how he injured it. In the solitude of his own room, Miyagi looks at a photo of himself and Daniel when he first began training him, saying that Daniel has a lot of confusion in his soul, and Miyagi's own heart is empty without him.Daniel is back at the Cobra Kai dojo where Silver feigns impression at the bruise on Daniel's foot being healed. Silver asks what the last thing was that Daniel learned from Miyagi. Told that they were practicing kata, Silver says that kata is good-- for practice, but not winning a tournament. He has already explained that a man cannot fight if he can't stand. Now he goes to his second 'rule,' that a man has to breathe. He has Daniel focus on delivering forward elbow strikes to the thick heavy boards that make up the chest of the training dummy. Daniel is almost timid about hitting the boards because of how they had hurt him when he was sweeping the 'legs' of the dummy. Silver simply turns the boards for the "head" around where a poster of Barnes has been pasted, slyly suggesting that Barnes is the training dummy. Feigning exasperation at Daniel seemingly being afraid of some pain, he walks away, but then hides behind a wall and listens, snickering quietly again as Daniel begins hitting the boards more aggressively.That night, Daniel sneaks into Miyagi's room and retrieves the herbal powder to soak his elbow. Miyagi's left eye cracks slightly open to show that he was aware of Daniel's actions. Miyagi knocks at Daniel's door panel to ask why Daniel is doing what he's doing to himself. Trying to hide everything and getting exasperated at himself as much as anyone else, Daniel lays into Miyagi, telling him off. Miyagi's face as he turns away, shows increasing sorrow.Daniel is doing kata at the Cobra Kai dojo when Silver arrives to continue training. His third rule is that a man can't fight if he can't see. A solid punch to the nose would leave an opponent down and out. He tricks Daniel into believing that it's "not his fault" if the opponent "ran into his fist" while lunging at him, then has him return to the training dummy. Goading Daniel about what Barnes has been doing and still wants to do to Daniel, he brings all of Daniel's anger to the surface until the young man punches the boards so hard, he lacerates his knuckles, leaving a blood stain on the poster of Barnes pasted over the head-boards of the dummy. Having fulfilled this promise he made to Kreese, Silver then baits Daniel one last time. Daniel, powered by his anger, sweeps through the 2x4 legs, shatters the chest-boards with his elbow and then punches through the head-board, just as Silver had done. Excited for entirely different reasons than Daniel, Silver celebrates Daniel's achievement with him, exchanging whoops and high-fives.Daniel takes Jessica to the dance club 'Downstairs' for her last night in LA. As they dance, a young man and woman are arguing bitterly and the woman storms out in a huff. Hiding behind a pillar so as not to be seen by Daniel, is Silver. Having overheard the argument, Silver carefully approaches the young man and offers him some money to pick a fight with Daniel a little later on.Presently, Jessica has danced long enough that she needs something to drink. She and Daniel are on their way to the refreshment bar when Silver 'bumps into them.' As Daniel is introducing Jessica to Silver, the young man makes his move as Silver had secretly arranged. He starts to come on to Jessica in a rude manner, brushing Daniel aside. Without hesitating, glaring at the young man, Daniel fires a karate punch that sends the young man to the floor with a broken nose. Almost immediately he is in disbelief at what he's done, listening to a horrified Jessica raise her voice at him. Silver quickly hurries Daniel away, out of the club, so as not to be nabbed by the club's security. As he spirits Daniel from the club, Silver congratulates him, saying he's reached the peak of what Silver has been teaching him. But Daniel is not happy with himself-- and hearing Silver talk, he's beginning to realize that what he's been learning from Silver has made him into a different person than what he had become while learning from Miyagi.Daniel goes to see Jessica to apologize for what happened at the club, trying to explain that it 'wasn't him' who she saw turn overly aggressive right before her eyes. When Jessica curtly tells him that she's only seeing him having more trouble keeping his temper, Daniel falls into complete misery, almost losing coherence as he tries to make sense of all that's been happening to him. Moved to compassion, Jessica tries to reassure him that although she was very unhappy at what he did at the club, she forgives him for it and is still his friend, and she knows Miyagi will be the same way-- he'd told her himself that he loves Daniel and has great faith in him. As hard as Daniel feels it will be, Jessica gently insists that once he goes to Miyagi to reconcile with him, and the young man whose nose he broke, everything else will fall into place.At the bonsai shop, Daniel is frustrated trying to get the local hospital staff to put him in contact with the young man he attacked; as he broke the young man'se nose and is positive that the man is at the hospital being treated. He snaps at the reception nurse, who hangs up on him. Miyagi goes up to him, looking to show him something that will help return some balance to Daniel's life. The wild bonsai tree is budding again. It is recovering well from the abuse at Barnes' hands and will once again thrive and be beautiful. Miyagi says that this is because of the tree's strong root. Like the tree, Daniel also has a strong root from which he grows.Daniel calms down and understands that the first thing he has to do to receive forgiveness, is to forgive himself. The next step, he knows, is that he must go to Silver and explain that he can no longer train with him. Daniel feels he must do this right away, and promises Miyagi that he won't be gone long. But as Daniel leaves, Miyagi is seen looking after him with a very worried expression.Daniel goes to the dojo to explain that he's grateful for all that Silver has taught him, but he cannot continue, and he is not going to compete at the All-Valley Tournament. The person who broke the young man's nose at the dance club was not the person Daniel truly is inside. He has come here in person to give Silver a proper goodbye, believing he owed Silver that much.Silver drops his charade at that point. His lessons weren't free and he's been busy making Daniel do things he didn't want to do, from the moment they met. Finally revealing his true colors, Silver shows Daniel that he is the one behind Mike Barnes-- and that John Kreese is very much alive and well, and that Silver's ultimate agenda was avenging Kreese. Daniel does not want to fight, so Silver is happy to use him as a punching bag.But Miyagi suspected trouble and had followed Daniel to the dojo, and shows up to protect Daniel. Even Silver is no match for Miyagi's skill. As Miyagi starts to hurry Daniel out of the dojo, Silver taunts the two with the news that he is going to open Cobra Kai dojos all over California and Daniel and Miyagi will only be a memory. Daniel asks if Miyagi will train him for the tournament now, and Miyagi says that now, he will. Once again, much more than a mere sport competition is on the line.Montages are shown of Daniel and Miyagi doing kata on the beach, as Barnes trains with Kreese and Silver, savaging a sparring partner. After the montages, we see Daniel and Miyagi descending into the Devil's Cauldron gorge to re-plant the wild bonsai. As they re-plant it, Miyagi repeats his lectures on Daniel having a strong root, just as the tree does-- the tree's root allows it to choose which way to grow.The day of the tournament arrives. Barnes destroys his last opponent to reach the finals and face Daniel for the championship. Before the final match, the announcer gives Silver the microphone to address the crowd. Silver has financed the tournament having a permanent new home, and he tells the crowd that he is re-opening the Cobra Kai dojos around California. Daniel and Miyagi listen with distaste as Silver preaches positive karate values that only they know, he has no belief in whatsoever.As they prepare for the final match against Daniel, Silver gives Barnes a run-down of the game plan. Barnes is to score a clean point, but then perform an illegal move with excessive contact, in order to lose the point to penalty. He will continue to score points and then lose them in the alloted time for the contest to ensure that the score is 0-0. When sudden death is called, Barnes will defeat Daniel once and for all, to show that the Cobra Kai is the dominant way.Barnes enjoys beating Daniel from pillar to post; gaining a point and then losing it, gaining another point and then losing it, finally just lacing into Daniel with roughhouse moves that score no points due to excessive contact without proper technique. As time runs out for the match, a one-minute rest period is called before sudden death.As sudden death is called, Daniel huddles on the floor, reluctant to get up to face Barnes again. As Miyagi goes to him, Daniel admits that he is afraid of Barnes and cannot face him any further. He nearly cries in misery and fear before Miyagi shouts to snap him out of it, forcing him to focus. Miyagi tells him that losing to an opponent is perfectly fine, but losing to fear is not. His best karate is still inside him-- it's time to let it out.At that moment, Barnes ruthlessly taunts Daniel, telling him that both he and Miyagi are nothing and will be quickly forgotten by everyone who comes to watch the tournament. This angers Daniel and makes him want to fight again... but as the referee goes through the preparatory steps to start sudden death, Daniel quickly remembers that anger will only make him fall right back into Silver's trap. As the referee signals for sudden death to begin, Daniel centers himself and begins to perform the kata.Barnes backs off, looking at Daniel in complete bewilderment. Silver, thinking Daniel has simply lost it, orders Barnes to score the final point and finish Daniel. Letting his anger bubble to the surface, Barnes charges in with a lunge punch meant to take Daniel down.But Daniel catches the punch and flips Barnes down to the ground, pulling a punch after Barnes falls, scoring a clean point himself to win the contest and successfully defend his championship. All of Silver's carefully orchestrated plans fall to ruin in that one brief second where the referee declares Daniel the second-time champion. Silver and Kreese storm off as the spectator crowd cheers wildly for Daniel. The movie ends with an overjoyed Daniel telling Miyagi to forget about bowing, and then giving his teacher and friend a hug.

Review: 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.
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?
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.
The Karate Kid, Part III、as the title suggests, is the third film in the Karate Kid film series, released in 1989, directed by John Avlidsen, and starring Ralph Macchio as Daniel and Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi.
This review will discuss the problems with the movie as well as what it gets right, with an overall assessment of the Karate Kid original film series as a whole.One of the biggest problems with this movie is the lack of continuity with the Karate Kid Part II, which for all its flaws did genuinely advance the story and develop Daniel and Miyagi's character.
After returning from Japan, Mr. Miyagi & Daniel(Pat Morita & Ralph Macchio again) try to settle in to their lives, only to have old foe John Creese(Martin Kove) return seeking revenge after losing his students, his school, and his money.
He turns to grateful Vietnam veteran buddy Terry Silver(Thomas Ian Griffith) to help him regain what he lost, and punish Miyagi and Daniel.A great pity this is such a comic book level script, with over-the-top villainy(at one point, both Creese and Silver laugh at Miyagi & Daniel like they're the Joker and Riddler!) and redundant character development(Did Daniel learn nothing from the first two films?) Only Pat Morita keeps this disappointment from complete ruin, with his fine performance(he looks appropriately weary of it all!) Ending is predictable, but too abrupt, leaving loose ends never tied up..
He has a point: some films, like Star Wars or Indiana Jones (even Rocky or Rambo, to a reasonable extent), can and in fact deserve to have follow-ups, because the people who made them genuinely think there is more to tell about those characters (Rocky V is too much, though); others, like Top Gun or The Karate Kid, are crippled from the beginning by the fact that they are indelibly connected to the decade that spawned them, and also suffer from having fairly basic scripts and characters that wouldn't really benefit from any continuation of the story.
The "driving force" (assuming there is one) of the screenplay (if you can call it that) is John Kreese (Martin Kove), the sadistic karate teacher whose students got their asses kicked by Daniel Larusso (Macchio).
Broke and lonely, Kreese decides to ask an old army buddy, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), to help carry out a diabolical plan that will make Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) suffer like never before.
Getting them to fight back, however, will prove harder than usual, as Miyagi is more interested in opening a bonsai shop and Daniel refuses to act violently since he is - what a surprise, this - in love.Love, vengeance, honor, blood and gratuitous butt-kicking are all thrown in the mix, though hardly any of them work to full effect.
The final fight, the "bad boy of karate" is whipping Daniel like a government mule, then in sudden death Daniel decides to break into his "Secret Miyagi family kata", which causes both his opponent and his partners to suddenly back away in fear!
Agreeable and likable acting by two main actors, Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita , accompanied by newcomer Robyn Lively along with the ordinary plethora of nasties this time played by Thomas Ian Griffith , Martin Kove , Sean Kanan , among others .
The interesting thing about Karate Kid Part III is the performance of "Mr Terry Silver" who was the bad guy of this film, and I feel that without his performance, the film would've been a joke.
It adds nothing new to the Karate Kid saga, and the whole thing comes off as unnecessary and tired.Daniel's new love interest is nothing special, and the fight at the end, once again, really isn't anything we haven't seen before.I still feel that Part II would have been the right way to end the series.
I was bored that night and figured I'd give part III a try, even though I knew it would probably not be very good as most "part IIIs" of any movie typically pretty bad.I can honestly say, The Karate Kid Part III, is the worst movie I have ever seen - its a shameless rip off of the original.
Martin Kove, aka John Kreese, looked like a puppet with that goofy "evil smile" he had plastered on his face the whole movie.2) The plot was recycled from the first Karate Kid. You know the storyline: Daniel gets beat up by a superior Karate student trained by the evil John Kreese and sidekick Terry Silver.
Mr Miyagi saves the day yet again with his unorthodox teachings, all culminating in a dramatic tournament at the end where Daniel surprises his opponent with some Karate move that looks more like a dance scene.
Honestly, though, I would like to see another Karate Kid movie with Daniel and Miyagi; it would have to contain a spoof premise.
I enjoyed watching Daniel-son progressively develop his karate skills in KK1 and KK2, but then came the third installment of the trilogy.After defeating a pair of formidable opponents in the climax of the first two films, somehow Danny boy transforms back into a complete wimp, relying on a a questionable rule and fluky technique to defend his title at the All-Valley Karate Championships.Since he won last year's tournament, the suddenly weak Daniel is allowed a free pass to the championship bout without having to engage in a single fight.
This one is, well, words cannot describe how awful it really is.I like looking back on this and thinking how funny it is that Ralph Macchio was not only a spell older than the nemesis, Mike Barnes, but was actually a year older than Terry Silver, the evil toxic waste dude who trained him!I think I'll download Vegas Video and redub this, ala Steve Oedekerk style - it's deserving of that fate!.
Naturally, Daniel-san has to win to give some thread of legitimacy to the plot but a neat twist would have him lose then spend at least 15 minutes of movie time figuring out why he lost, then set up a rematch for KK part 4 "the new beginning" or something like that.
So he solicits the aid of business tycoon and martial-arts expert (Thomas Ian Griffith) - unfortunately, the new villain is a silly, shallow, cartoonish caricature - he pollutes, he's corrupt, he's a rich white guy, he laughs diabolically every few minutes, so you KNOW he's evil.Gone is the sweet, father-son, vaguely homoerotic relationship between Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
OK, it's obviously been at least two years between karate kid 2 and 3, so why on earth does the director feel the need to make it look like Daniel is coming back from Okinawa, when it's clear for everyone to see the difference, he's aged, he's got more flip, and yes, the actor has got fatter.
This time Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) goes up against Karate's bad boy Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) to defend his title and prove that karate is not to be used aggressively and repair what damage he did to Mr. Myiagi(Pat Morita) who refused to train Daniel due to the antics led by John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver(Thomas Ian Griffith) Will Daniel regain his title or will Barnes clean the floor with him.
The Karate Kid III in all seriousness actually takes it's formula and provides more action and pumps up the villains to full effect and really it is this reason why I balk at the notion that this isn't the best movie of the series.
John Kreese comes back to kick some butt and this time he has the help of "as bad as he wants to be" Terry Silver.Thomas Ian Griffith gives one of the greatest performances ever captured on film.This movie also contains other classic villains such a Snake (You know it!) and Karate's bad-boy Mike Barnes the tournament terror.A lot of jerks try to say this movie isn't any good but they obviously have no taste.This is better than Jaws even.I would tell anyone to buy this movie because you will want to watch it over and over again.A true American classic..
Then theres the villians Terry , Kreese (from the 1st) , and one who is dubbed "BAD BOY" are just pitiful, lame , and just bitter.In the end you wonder why then even would want to continue this series, and even continue with The Next Karate Kid. Why is Daniel always a wimp and never keep a girlfriend.
This time, we come back to insane karate teacher, John Kreese, who wants revenge on Daniel and Myagi for what happened in the first movie.
Its sequel, although visually better could not fully take up the mantle and couldn't really be as good as the original.This film, the third in the series, would have probably worked much better if it were a standalone film because in essence it seems to be a complete rehash of the first, Karate Kid movie and it suffers because its just the same thing all over.Ralph Macchio is back as the Karate Kid - but instead of learning from his "mistakes" and learning what honor, fear and the values of karate are from the previous films, he instead continues to be the bullied, tortured kid who projects so much pathetic "emotion" that you hope that someone would just should shut him up once and for all.Daniel constantly complains and cries about his predictament and seems to have forgotten any skills that Miyagi taught him over the previous installments to this series.Indeed Daniel's perstant wining is parodyed later on when Griffith starts saying stuff like "look at the trail, I think he peed his pants"...Anyway, Macchio, clearly the only 30-something teenager around wants to fight some kid from Sunset Beach who looks meanancing enough - and is taught by both Kreese and his comerade in arms the rich, smarmy Thomas Ian Grittifth (Thomas would be cursed after this film and be only remembered as being "that bad guy with the pony tail from KK3").Griffith is smarmy and nasty enough for the job as the main bad guy and tempts Macchio into an ideal where he believes he's tough when he really isn't.Anyway, there is a subplot with nuclear waste that is there for no reason, and Kreese is now a dejected drunk guy who can't stop his maniac laughing at Macchio.
And the bad boy karate kid from Sunset Beach seems tough enough to deal with Macchio - so why doesn't he just get rid of Macchio when he has the chance rather than looking dumb when Daniel starts doing his Kata (which probably won't win you a fight, nor any tornament).This is a horrid film which wasn't really needed.
His physique is very 'non-linear, his athleticism and stamina completely non-existent -- his walk is reminiscent of a 'miniature Big Bird.' Everything about him is absolutely 'pathetic' to the point of being a 'parody' of his former self...so much that it is quite 'hilarious' to watch...Throughout the movie he very effiminately talks and screams like Judy Garland -in the Wizard of Oz- and his naive face looks very similar to that of "Princess Leia." The "Karate bitch" is preyed upon by one of Kreese's friends -and an upcoming 'bully karateka' in numerous ways: La Russo is 'coerced' against his will into entering the annual tournament...and the gullible retard LaRusso is easily tricked by Kreese's pal that he wants to befriend and train LaRusso.The movie -a parody of the previous two Karate Kid movies -has many absolutely hilarious moments: The 'bully karateka' slapping LaRusso around inside of the bonzai gift shop and then taking off in his car whilst doing a few 'doughnuts' before narrowly missing a train, LaRusso asking Miyagi to show him 'sweeps' and Miyagi instead showing Danielson how to use a 'broom,' Silver training Danielson to become an aggressive 'pitbull' of a fighter by having Danielson breaking wooden stilts, Danielson breaking the nose of a boy 'hitting' on his girlfriend at a dance, and especially the entire final tournament: the 'bully karateka' yelling profanities at Danielson telling him his karate isn't worth (*bleep*) and then being 'psyched out' by Danielson in the finale and losing the tournament.The 1980s is a decade rife with 'awesomely-bad' movies (perhaps much more than any other decade) and The Karate Kid III -though in most repects a 'bad' movie- is nonetheless somehow VERY 're'-watcheable...and one of the most 'awesomely-bad' movies I've ever seen.
Part 3 is much more like the first film as we watch Daniel get bullied by a rude Karate Hot-shot (and his buddies) that he will eventually fight in the tournament at the end of the movie.
"The Karate Kid, Part III" picks up where the second one left off (like the first one, recapping scenes as flashbacks like in the "Rocky" movies) as both Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi return home to Los Angeles after their trip in Okinawa started working a business of themselves by selling bonsai.
Meanwhile, Kreese is now broken down after losing his students due to his behavior at the All-Valley Tournament wants revenge on Daniel and Miyagi as he calls in his old friend Terry Silver, who they serve together during the Vietnam War. So Terry agrees, and makes Daniel to be a bad influence by teaching Karate in the wrong way; its now up to Miyagi and Daniel to go one more round against Kreese; Terry; and their student Mike Barnes.
The sequels just keep repeating the same storyline: the hero gets his butt kicked, undergoes training, and finally finds the strength and skills to return the favor to the bad guys.In "The Karate Kid," of course Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio, noticeably older and - pudgier?) had a pretty good excuse to be a wimp.
He was the new kid on the block, a socially green transplant from New Jersey to California, he had set his eyes on a cute girl, ran afoul of her ex-boyfriend, he kicked Daniel's butt, Daniel meets Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), learns Karate, wins the cute girl's affections, and kicks the bad guys' butts at the big tournament.Most importantly in that earlier movie, we liked Daniel.
In desperation, he turns to his old Vietnam buddy Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), a slick businessman with a number of shady ties to illegal toxic waste dumping.The two scheme together to get the ultimate revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi by forcing them to enter the tournament to defend their title.
Not Great, But Better Than Part -Two. This isn't a very good film, however it's better than the second one!I just watched all of the Karate Kid movies back-to-back, and Part III did have some good moments.....
The brutal karate teacher from the earlier films, John Kreese, has been run out of business thanks to the bad PR that resulted in his defeat at the hands of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi.
In this film Daniel is forced to defend his title which requires him to fight only the final match.(Easy enough no?) His opponent is some blonde punk who is being trained by Kreese (the disgraced teacher in the first film whose nose Miyagi twists to render him unconscious)and backed by the finances of Terry Silver, a smooth Karate kicking business man.
I loved Part 1, and I couldn't wait for Part 2, and when I heard there was a Part 3 coming out, I was actually counting down the days until the release of the movie but I will say I was very disappointed with this movie, out of the 3 of them, I think it was the worst one first of all, it seems a lot like the first 2, when Daniel comes across someone trying to hurt him and good old Mr. Myagi comes to the rescue, but he hardly does much in this movie - for instance, in the scene when Mike Barnes, Snake and Dennis come into the Bonsai Shop, all of a sudden, Mr. Myagi appears out of nowhere (how he got past the oncoming train is anyone's guess), and all he does is grab Mike's hands, forces them behind his neck and kicks him in his rear-end The only good fight that he did was in the Cobra Kai's dojo against Terry and John Kreese, and he didn't even do much in that fight.
He enlists the help of renegade karate kid Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) to pester Daniel into defending his under-18 title.The funniest thing is that the actor who played Silver, Thomas Ian Griffith, was 27 at the time making him a year YOUNGER than Ralph Macchio.
But, it was another good movie that is worth seeing again.Now, 35 year old (!) Ralph Macchio comes back as the Karate Kid again, and now they are back from Okinawa.
The third but not last Karate Kid movie had no reason to exist in my opinion because the plot was old by it's time but producers thought it would be interesting to have Daniel defending his title.
When the tournament goes into sudden death, Daniel surprises Mike and scores the winning point.This film has the best music in the series, some good fight scenes, and decent acting.