Fans of the Netflix Series Cobra Kai may want to watch this movie on the streaming service before it leaves next month. The Karate Kid, the movie that started it all, is set to leave Netflix on March 31. It will be one of the many films that will be pulled from Netflix that day.
Cobra Kai is the sequel series to The Karate Kid, which was released in 1984. It tells the story of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his mother Lucille (Randee Heller) moving from New Jersey to California. As Daniel gets adjusted to his new surroundings, he has to deal with a bully named Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) who is a member of the Cobra Kai dojo. To defend himself, Daniel gets help from a handyman named Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) who teaches him karate. Mr. Myiagi enters Daniel in the All Valley Karate Tournament to get Johnny off his back once and for all.
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The Karate Kid also stars Martin Kove as John Kreese and Elisabeth Sue as Ali Mills. Those two, along with Macchio, Zabka and Heller appear in Cobra Kai. Morita died in 2005, but his character is mentioned in the series consistently. The Karate Kid led to three sequels — The Karate Kid Part II, The Karate Kid Part III and The Next Karate Kid. There is also a reboot film, The Karte Kid, which stars Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson.
In an interview with Independent in 2020, Macchio compared The Karate Kid to a favorite food. “The Karate Kid is just one of the films of that era, I guess Back to the Future would be the other, that really has stood the pop culture test of time,” he said. “As much as you have to sell the poster, people already know what the poster is; it’s warm and fuzzy – it’s like the best cheeseburger you ever had. And you get to taste it again.”
As for Cobra Kai, all four seasons are available on Netflix. It continues the story of Daniel vs. Johnny but their kids are now involved in the karate war. The first two seasons were streamed on YouTube before moving to Netflix in 2020. Shortly before Season 4 premiered on Netflix New Year’s Day, the cast and crew wrapped up filming season 5.
