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Avildsen shot hours of footage of the tournament from multiple angles

Tale

Decades after their fight at the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, middle-aged Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence find themselves once again as martial arts rivals. During the original filming of The Karate Kid , the late director John G. The team behind Cobra Kai dug through the studio vault and found a ton of never-before-seen clips, which they were able to introduce into the series via flashbacks. One of them includes Zabka’s real-life mother, who was in the stands from different angles that weren’t seen until 2018.

Ralph Macchio told Uproxx that there are three new angles of the famous crane kick

Zabka’s name on his tombstone is a continuity error, as in Karate Kid 4 (1994) his name is Keisuke, but it was actually previously shown on a sign Chozen held for him in Karate Kid 2 (1986) as Nariyoshi. This means that it was The Next Karate Kid who changed his name, while Cobra Kai kept the name previously given to him. Another interesting fact, however, is that the name given in The Karate Kid Part II was not the original first name given to him. Miyagi.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Anthony Mackie/Ralph Macchio/Kiry Shabazz (2018)

In The Karate Kid (1984), it can be briefly seen on Miyagi’s dog tags, attached to the keys of the 1948 Ford given to Daniel for his birthday, that Miyagi’s first name is Hideo. Impressed, captivated, and engaged are the words that come to mind for Cobra Kai. That’s what we need in shows, to take unique and interesting angles. Cobra Kai flips the script and gives us Johnny Lawrence’s perspective, this is really his story.

Cobra Kai intrigues us with its great storytelling

He’s the one who’s lost and turns out to be a real person with very real flaws. No more one-dimensional ‘Good vs Evil’; A story we have all heard a million times. It reflects the feelings of the ‘loser’ from the memorable 1984 film Karate Kid and picks up 34 years later. Because of this narrative and the twist, I find Johnny to be an inspiring figure, trying his best to rebuild his life.

Top marks for a great show

Johnny is a very down to earth and simple character and is making the most of the hand he is dealt, isn’t that how we live our lives? In a funny way we see the arrogance and attitude sometimes of Daniel Larusso who was originally the hero.