MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
1984. “The Karate Kid”	June 22, 1984

STARRING:

•Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso •Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi •William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence •Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills •Martin Kove as John Kreese •Randee Heller as Lucille LaRusso •Chad McQueen as Dutch •Ron Thomas as Bobby Brown •Tony O'Dell as Jimmy vRob Garrison as Tommy •Pat E. Johnson as Head Referee

SYNOPSIS:

In 1984, 17-year-old Daniel LaRusso and his mother Lucille move from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda, Los Angeles, California. Their apartment's handyman is an eccentric, but kind and humble Okinawan immigrant named Nariyoshi Miyagi. At a beach party the next day, Daniel meets and befriends Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader from Encino, drawing the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence, a black belt and the top student from the Cobra Kai dojo, training in an aggressive form of karate. Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang (Bobby Brown, Tommy, Jimmy, and Dutch) continually bully Daniel. On Halloween, after Daniel sprays water on Johnny with a hose as payback, Johnny and his gang pursue Daniel down the street and brutally beat him, until Mr. Miyagi intervenes and easily defeats them. Amazed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate. He declines but agrees to accompany Daniel to Cobra Kai to resolve the conflict. They meet the sensei, John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran who callously dismisses the peace offering. Miyagi then proposes that Daniel enter the Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championships, thereby compete against Kreese’s students on equal terms, and requests that the bullying cease while he trains. Kreese agrees to the terms but warns that if Daniel does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will continue for both of them. Daniel's training starts with days of menial chores that seemingly only serve to provide free labor for Miyagi. When he becomes frustrated, Miyagi demonstrates that repetition of these chores have helped him to learn defensive blocks through muscle memory. Their bond develops, and Miyagi opens up to Daniel about his life, including the dual loss of his wife and son in childbirth at the Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where he received the Medal of Honor. Through Mr. Miyagi's teaching, Daniel learns not only karate but also important life lessons such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel applies the life lessons Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali. On Daniel's 18th birthday, Miyagi gives Daniel a Karate gi for the tournament and one of his classic cars. At the tournament, Daniel surprises the audience and competitors by reaching the semi-finals. Johnny advances to the finals after scoring three unanswered points against Darryl Vidal. Kreese instructs his second-best student, Bobby Brown, one of his more compassionate students and the least vicious of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, severely injuring Daniel and getting himself disqualified in the process. Daniel is taken to the locker room, where the physician determines that he cannot continue. However, Daniel believes that if he quits, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him. As a result, Daniel convinces Miyagi to use a pain suppression technique to help him continue. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel returns to fight. The match is a seesaw battle, with neither able to break through the other's defense. The match is halted when Daniel uses a scissor-leg technique to trip Johnny, delivering a blow to the back of his head and giving Johnny a nosebleed. Kreese directs Johnny to sweep Daniel's injured leg – an unethical move. Johnny looks horrified at the order, but reluctantly agrees. As the match resumes and the score is tied 2–2, Johnny seizes Daniel's leg and deals a vicious elbow, doing further damage. Daniel, standing with difficulty, assumes the "Crane" stance, a technique he observed Mr. Miyagi performing on a beach. Johnny lunges toward Daniel, who jumps and executes a front kick to Johnny's face, scoring the tournament-winning point and becoming the new champion. Johnny, having gained newfound respect for his nemesis, presents the trophy to Daniel himself, as Daniel is carried off by an enthusiastic crowd while Miyagi looks on proudly.

MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
1986. “The Karate Kid Part II”	June 20, 1986

STARRING:

•Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso •Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi •Nobu McCarthy as Yukie •Tamlyn Tomita as Kumiko •Danny Kamekona as Sato Toguchi •Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi •Charlie Tanimoto as Miyagi Chōjun •Joey Miyashima as Toshio •Marc Hayashi as Taro Opening sequence •Martin Kove as John Kreese •William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence •Tony O'Dell as Jimmy •Ron Thomas as Bobby •Rob Garrison as Tommy •Chad McQueen as Dutch •Pat E. Johnson as Referee •Bruce Malmuth as Announcer

SYNOPSIS:

Shortly after his dojo's loss in the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, a furious John Kreese attacks his student, Johnny Lawrence, in the parking lot after the latter stands up to him. Miyagi intervenes and passively incapacitates Kreese, then threatens to strike a deadly blow but instead tweaks his nose. Seeing Kreese's humiliation, Johnny and the other students abandon him and Cobra Kai. Six months later, Daniel visits Miyagi after his senior prom and explains that Ali has broken up with him in favor of a UCLA football player. Miyagi receives a letter notifying him that his father is dying, prompting him to return to his home village on Okinawa Island. Miyagi tells Daniel that he fell in love many years ago with a woman named Yukie. She was arranged to marry his best friend Sato, son of the wealthiest man in the village and fellow karate student of his father. Upon announcing his intentions to marry Yukie, Sato challenged him to a fight to the death. Instead, Miyagi left the country. Daniel decides to accompany him back to Okinawa. Upon arrival, Miyagi and Daniel are greeted by Chozen Toguchi, who drives them to one of Sato's warehouses and reveals that he is Sato's nephew. Sato appears and demands that Miyagi fight him, which Miyagi adamantly refuses. Arriving at the village, Miyagi and Daniel are welcomed by Yukie and her niece Kumiko. They discover that Sato has become a rich industrialist whose supertrawlers have destroyed the local fish population, impoverishing the other villagers. They are forced to rent property from Sato, who owns the village's land title. Yukie reveals that she never married Sato because of her love for Miyagi. Miyagi's father dies, and Sato gives him three days to mourn out of respect before their fight. Miyagi shows Daniel the secret to his family's karate - a den-den daiko (handheld drum) that twists back and forth, illustrating the "drum technique", a counter-striking karate move that Daniel begins to practice. Daniel and Kumiko begin to develop a romance. Daniel unintentionally exposes corruption in Chozen's grocery business during an encounter in the village. Chozen accuses him of insulting his honor, and they have a series of confrontations. The feud escalates when Chozen and his cronies attack Daniel and vandalize Miyagi's family property, but Miyagi fends them off. Miyagi and Daniel plan to return home before the situation worsens, but Sato threatens to destroy the village if Miyagi refuses to fight. He finally agrees on the condition that Sato relinquishes land ownership to the villagers, and Sato agrees. A typhoon strikes the village on the day of the fight, forcing everyone to seek shelter. Sato's dojo collapses, leaving him trapped in the wreckage. Miyagi and Daniel rush to rescue him, and Daniel later ventures back out to save a child trapped on a nearby bell tower. Sato orders Chozen to help, but when he refuses, he rushes to assist Daniel. He publicly shames his nephew and disowns him, and an enraged Chozen runs off into the storm in disgrace. Sato returns the next day with a work crew to help rebuild the village, asking Miyagi's forgiveness and handing over the deed. He also agrees to host the O-bon festival in a nearby ceremonial castle, inviting Daniel to join. During the celebration, a vengeful Chozen ziplines into the presentation and takes Kumiko hostage, demanding to fight Daniel to the death. Daniel fights bravely but is eventually overwhelmed by Chozen. Miyagi, Sato, and the crowd respond by twisting den-den daikos in unison, inspiring Daniel to utilize the drum technique to defeat Chozen. He then grabs the vanquished Chozen and threatens to end his life, who urges Daniel to kill him. However, mirroring how Miyagi handled Kreese earlier, Daniel instead playfully tweaks Chozen's nose and drops him to the ground. The onlookers cheer as he and Kumiko embrace.

MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
1989. “The Karate Kid Part III”	June 30, 1989

STARRING:

•Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso •Noriyuki "Pat" Morita as Mr. Miyagi •Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver •Robyn Lively as Jessica Andrews •Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes •William Christopher Ford as Dennis de Guzman •Jonathan Avildsen as Snake •Martin Kove as John Kreese •Randee Heller as Lucille LaRusso •Pat Johnson as Referee •Rick Hurst as Announcer •Frances Bay as Mrs. Milo •Joseph V. Perry as Uncle Louie •Jan Tříska as Milos •Gabriel Jarret as Rudy •Glenn Medeiros as himself

SYNOPSIS:

A now-broke-and-destitute John Kreese visits Terry Silver, a fellow Green Beret who has become a toxic-chemical magnate. Silver vows to personally help him re-establish Cobra Kai, while getting revenge on Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi. After sending Kreese to Tahiti for a vacation, Silver hires national karate champion Mike Barnes - known for his vicious personality and utter lack of sportsmanship - to challenge Daniel at the next All-Valley Tournament. Returning to Los Angeles from Okinawa, Daniel and Miyagi discover that the South Seas apartment complex has been sold and demolished; this leaves Miyagi unemployed and Daniel homeless. With Daniel's mother Lucille nursing an ill uncle back in New Jersey, Daniel moves in with Miyagi. Daniel uses his college funds to finance a bonsai shop for Miyagi, who gratefully makes him a partner in the business. Visiting a pottery store across the street, Daniel befriends the sole employee: Jessica Andrews, whose aunt owns the store. Jessica agrees to a date that same night, during which he learns that she's visiting from Columbus, Ohio, where she already has a boyfriend. She and Daniel remain cordial. While Miyagi introduces Daniel to kata training, Silver makes himself known to them both, mentioning that he and Kreese were stationed together in South Korea during the Vietnam War. Silver announces that Kreese has passed away, and apologizes on his behalf. Accompanied by Silver's goons Dennis and Snake, Barnes harasses Daniel and Jessica. The henchmen wreck Miyagi's shop and steal his entire stock of bonsai trees. Daniel decides to dig up and sell a valuable bonsai, which Miyagi brought from Okinawa, in order to replace the missing trees. Abruptly, Barnes appears and forces Daniel to sign up for the tournament by trapping him and Jessica at the bottom of a cliff, while also damaging the bonsai. Daniel accepts Silver's offer to train him for the All-Valley, after Miyagi refuses to do so on principle. At the Cobra Kai dojo, Daniel is subjected to a brutal training regimen which takes a massive physical and emotional toll on him while further alienating him from Miyagi. This culminates in a now-aggressive Daniel attacking a stranger, who was bribed by Silver to provoke him. Disturbed by his own actions, Daniel makes amends with Jessica as she's preparing to go home. She encourages him to patch things up with Miyagi, which he does. While lamenting over forgetting all of Miyagi's lessons, Daniel learns the bonsai that Barnes damaged has begun to bud and heal. Returning to the Cobra Kai dojo, Daniel informs Silver that he's changed his mind about competing in the All-Valley. Silver angrily discards his ruse and brings out Barnes to attack Daniel, whose escape is blocked by Kreese. Just then, Miyagi arrives; after effortlessly defeating Barnes, Kreese, and Silver, he agrees to train Daniel for the All-Valley Tournament. At the tournament, Silver reveals his plan to re-establish Cobra Kai as a business franchise. In the final match, Silver has Barnes torture Daniel by alternately scoring points and losing them via illegal strikes. The match ends in a draw, necessitating sudden death overtime. Severely pummeled (and uncharacteristically fearful), Daniel wants to quit until Miyagi insists that Daniel's best karate is still inside him. Daniel perseveres and performs the kata, thus scoring on Barnes to win the All-Valley and foil Silver's revival of Cobra Kai.

MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
1994. “The Next Karate Kid”	September 9, 1994

STARRING:

•Noriyuki "Pat" Morita as Mr. Miyagi •Hilary Swank as Julie Pierce •Michael Ironside as Colonel Dugan •Constance Towers as Louisa Pierce •Chris Conrad as Eric McGowen •Sonny Trinidad as Abbot Monk •Michael Cavalieri as Ned •Walton Goggins as Charlie •Senator Daniel Inouye as Himself (cameo) •Frank Welker as Angel the Hawk (voice)

SYNOPSIS:

Mr. Miyagi travels to Arlington National Cemetery for a commendation for Japanese-Americans who fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. He is referred to as "Keisuke Miyagi" during the ceremony.[2] While there he also meets Louisa Pierce, the widow of his commanding officer Jack Pierce, and they both listen to the opening speech given by Senator Daniel Inouye. At Pierce's home in Boston, Miyagi is also introduced to Pierce's granddaughter, Julie, a teen struggling with anger issues due to her parents' death in a car crash. Her behavior has led to friction between Julie and her grandmother, along with her fellow students and teachers. She sneaks into the school at night to care for an injured Harris's hawk named "Angel," which she keeps in a pigeon coop on the roof. Miyagi invites Louisa to stay at his house in LA to enjoy tending his garden while he remains in Boston as Julie's caretaker. At school, Julie meets and befriends Eric McGowen, a teenage security guard-in-training and a pledge for a shady school security fraternity, the Alpha Elite. The members are taught to enforce the school rules, mostly using physical force, by a self-styled colonel, Paul Dugan. His toughest and most aggressive student is the short-fused Ned Randall, who makes unwelcome sexual advances upon Julie. When Julie survives almost being hit by a car by jumping into a tiger position, she finally learns to confide in Miyagi when he recognizes her skill. She reveals she was taught karate by her father, who learned from her grandfather, Miyagi's student. While trying to feed Angel one night, Julie is detected by the Alpha Elite, who chase her through the school. Although she escapes them, she is arrested by the police and gets suspended for two weeks by Dugan. Miyagi uses this time to take Julie to a Buddhist monastery to teach her the true ways of karate and how to handle her anger issues. Julie learns through direct lessons about balance, coordination, awareness, and respect for all life. She befriends the monks, who eventually have a birthday party for her, giving her a cake and an arrow that Miyagi had caught in mid-flight in a demonstration of Zen archery. They also concede to her wish that they visit her in Boston, where they go bowling with Miyagi. A local player challenges them, loses the match, and accepts their tutelage in how to bowl a strike blind. Upon returning to school, Julie discovers that Angel was found by Ned, who called animal control. Miyagi assists Julie in releasing the bird back into the wild, using the pain suppression technique from the first film to heal her broken wing. In preparation for the prom, Miyagi teaches Julie how to dance, and buys her a dress. Julie goes to the prom with Eric, but under Dugan's orders, the Alpha Elite bungee-jump in. When one of the members breaks his arm, Eric shows concern, but Ned tells him to stay out of it. Eric drives Julie home and kisses her. Ned follows them and smashes the windows of Eric's car with a baseball bat. Ned challenges him to a fight at the docks, and is joined there by Dugan and the Alpha Elite. They set fire to Eric's car and severely beat him, but he is saved by Julie and Miyagi. Ned tries to grab Julie, but she challenges him to a fight. She holds her own, using the karate she has learned, even when Ned throws sand in her face. Julie defeats Ned and turns her back on him. Dugan bullies the rest of the group to continue the fight, but they refuse. Miyagi challenges Dugan to a fight and wins, leading the Alpha Elite to abandon him. The film concludes with Angel flying freely above the water.

MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
2010. “The Karate Kid”	June 11, 2010

STARRING:

•Jaden Smith as Dre Parke. Based on Daniel LaRusso. •Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, a Chinese maintenance man and Kung Fu master who becomes Dre's mentor. Based on Mr. Miyagi. •Taraji P. Henson as Sherry Parker, Dre's mother. Based on Lucille LaRusso. •Wenwen Han as Meiying, a violinist and Dre Parker's love interest. Based on Ali Mills. •Zhenwei Wang as Cheng Based on Johnny Lawrence. •Yu Rongguang as Master Li. Main antagonist in this film. Based on John Kreese. •Luke Carberry as Harry, a boy who befriends Dre. Based on Freddy Fernandez. •Shijia Lü as Liang, a friend and classmate of Cheng's. Based on Bobby Brown. •Ji Wang as Mrs. Po, the principal of Dre's new school. •Zhensu Wu as Meiying's father. Based on Mr. Mills. •Zhiheng Wang as Meiying's mother. Based on Mrs. Mills. •Yi Zhao as Zhuang, a friend and classmate of Cheng's. Based on Dutch. •Zhang Bo as Song, a friend and classmate of Cheng's. Based on Tommy. •Cameron Hillman as Mark •Ghye Samuel Brown as Oz

SYNOPSIS:

12-year-old Dre Parker and his widowed mother Sherry move from Detroit, Michigan to Beijing, China after she gets a job transfer at a car factory. Dre meets young violinist Meiying, and immediately becomes infatuated with her. Cheng, a rebellious kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Meiying's, keeps them apart by constantly attacking, teasing, and antagonizing Dre. Dre throws a bucket of dirty water over Cheng and his gang. The enraged gang chases and brutally beats Dre. Maintenance man Mr. Han intervenes and fends off the bullies, revealing himself to be a kung fu master. Han heals Dre's injuries using the Chinese medicine methods of fire cupping. He explains that Cheng and his friends are not inherently bad, but are taught to be merciless by their teacher, Master Li. Dre asks Han to teach him kung fu. Han accompanies him to Li's Fighting Dragons studio to make peace. Li rebuffs the peace offer and challenges Dre to fight Cheng. Han counters that Dre compete against all Li's students at the upcoming kung fu tournament, requesting that they let Dre train in peace until then. Li accepts, saying if Dre doesn't show up he will inflict pain on the both of them. Han teaches Dre Kung Fu by emphasizing movements that apply to life in general. Serenity and maturity, not punches and power, are the keys to mastering kung fu. He has Dre repeatedly take off and pick up his jacket to develop muscle memory. Han takes him to a Taoist temple where Dre drinks the water from a Taoist well and witnesses a woman make a cobra reflect her movements. After weeks of training, Han gives Dre a day off. Dre persuades Meiying to skip school with him. After finding out, Meiying’s parents deem Dre a bad influence and forbid Meiying from seeing him. Dre finds Han drunk and depressed, smashing a Volkswagen Scirocco he was working on. He explains that he crashed it years ago, killing his wife and 10-year-old son. To punish himself, he spends a year fixing the car, then destroys it again on every anniversary of the accident. Dre resolves to train harder and help his teacher overcome his trauma. Han helps Dre write and recite an apology in Mandarin to Meiying's father. Meiying's father accepts Dre's apology and in return lets Meiying attend Dre's tournament. At the tournament, the initially unconfident Dre starts defeating his opponents. An enraged Li orders his student Liang to injure Dre in the semifinals. Liang reluctantly does so by delivering crippling blows to Dre's leg. He is disqualified and Dre advances to the finals against Cheng. Dre pleads with Han to heal his leg with the fire cupping method. Realizing this is more about overcoming Dre's fear than anything else, Han complies. The final match starts. On Li's orders, Cheng attacks Dre's injured leg, causing Dre to lose balance. He manages to get up and uses the snake stance he saw at the temple. Dre defeats Cheng with a kick to the head, earning the respect of Cheng and his classmates. Cheng, instead of the presenter, presents Dre with the trophy, and the Fighting Dragon students bow down to Han, accepting him as their new master, leaving Li defeated.