Episode Transcript
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Jason Connell (00:01):
Whoa, just
curious. Welcome to Just curious
media. This is let's talk CobraKai. I'm Jason Connell.
Sal Rodriguez (00:11):
And I'm Sal
Rodriguez.
Jason Connell (00:12):
All right, Sal,
we are back for another very
special episode.
Sal Rodriguez (00:20):
You know, do you
feel like our listeners are like
specialists? But they are veryspecific context? No, it's
because it's the absolute truth.
It's not just embellishment,they are very special episodes.
And that's why, you know, when Icall our podcast, the number one
Cobra Kai podcast, I'm notsaying it to put down any other
podcast. No, I'm saying itbecause I believe no other
(00:41):
podcast of the Miyagi verse isas thorough and as comprehensive
as
Jason Connell (00:48):
ours. I like that
when you leave a review for us,
Sal Rodriguez (00:51):
I will leave a
five star review on Apple
podcast.
Jason Connell (00:55):
Very nice. I
totally agree. And why is it
special Sal, because we arecoming back and exploring
something from the past and thatis the Karate Kid part 219 86
scene by scene breakdown.
rerelease a rerelease of ourscene by scene breakdown, Sal,
which was episode 22. And ourCobra Kai let's talk Cobra Kai
(01:23):
universe. And we recorded thatepisode. So long ago, I can't
believe it. Do you rememberwhen?
Sal Rodriguez (01:33):
Well, I know it
was a very interesting time for
everyone across the globe,everyone, which because of the
time frame we're dealing with,makes this even more
significant? Because I think Iremember I was just like
quarantining and Pandemic Ng,and you call me you're like,
hey, what do you do? And I waslike, What are we what am I
(01:53):
doing? I'm locking myself in myroom. That's what I'm doing.
Let's
Jason Connell (01:57):
get that scene by
scene breakdown of the Karate
Kid underneath our belt. Yes, itwas April 11 2020. Pandemic
starts in March. We're all onlockdown still live in Los
Angeles. And not only were onpandemic lockdown, there were
riots out of the gate. So wewere had curfews. Oh, that's
(02:17):
right. It was a crazy, crazytime. In fact, that's when I
started. Let's talk movies.
Because I was like, What am Igoing to do sound I can't do
episodes of let's not Cobra Kai.
There were no episodes. Weweren't doing special episodes
yet. So I started let's talkmovies just to keep my sanity.
And then it was like, Well, hey,we're doing this model, the same
(02:40):
scene by scene breakdown. Let'sget Karate Kid, Part Two in the
bag. So we recorded that night.
However, truth be told, April4 2020. We actually did it for
the first time. We recorded twotimes because it was the
actually this was the firstthing that I had done remote. So
(03:00):
I take that back. I wanted to dothis. And I was excited. And
then quickly spawned, let's talkmovies. But I had to figure out
the technology. Wait a
Sal Rodriguez (03:12):
second, wait a
second. This was our first
remote recording. When you and Iwere not in the same room,
right? That's right, yes.
Jason Connell (03:19):
Because I had to
figure out how to do it how to
record remotely. And it was likeI was thinking I use the
software. I'll use this well, inthe end, recording locally was
the way to do it. I get thefiles, and we have high res but
I tried a service. And this is along time ago, services have
improved, everybody wasscrambling. And we recorded it
(03:42):
and I started to edit it. And itsounded dis mechanical. And I'm
really into audio and justproduction value. And I was
like, oh, so I cannot edit that.
Yeah, we weren't like ma'amOmar, but it was just some tones
and some, some things cut out. Ithought Yeah, you know what,
it's probably better off just todo it and do it. Right. And you
were down with it. And we hit itout of the park again. So maybe
(04:06):
someday I'll release thatversion.
Sal Rodriguez (04:12):
That's funny.
Yeah. Original version. Alldiversion. So are they are they
different? Other than quality? I
Jason Connell (04:18):
only got so far
and and we moved on. So I
remember coming back and doingit again. And feeling we had you
know was what, seven days later.
So we were excited again,because it was a couple of
hours. You know, speaking ofwhich, the running time was two
hours and 38 minutes. The moviesound Guess how long part two, I
(04:39):
was gonna say the next car toget the Karate Kid. Part two is
what's the running time forthat?
Sal Rodriguez (04:45):
Well, if our
running time for the show was
238 I'm going to assume that itwas around two hours. Yes.
Jason Connell (04:51):
Our 53 So the
first credit card was over two
hours just over this is thesequel. It's a little under but
yet we went longer.
Sal Rodriguez (05:01):
Well, you know,
because here's what starts.
Okay, here's where we see whathappens is, the reservoir starts
increasing. And before you knowit, look at where we are today,
look at how much history andlegacy we have to pull from. As
a matter of fact, now that youmentioned, if we were to go back
to any of these movies today,let alone credit get to by
itself. It might even be longerbecause we have so much to draw
(05:22):
from today.
Jason Connell (05:23):
That's exactly
true. Yes. Well, we released
this episode, which we'rehighlighting rereleasing here,
June 19 2020. So that is thesequence there. And I was just
gonna look one thing up reallyquickly, which is funny. So the
first episode of Let's Talkmovies of which you were on an
(05:46):
American Werewolf in London,1981. He might seem break down.
It came out May 20 2020. Soahead of this, but it was
recorded, after I said, Yes,April 20 2020. So again, I
learned a lot through that trialand error with the service
(06:09):
decided to record locally getyou set up as well. And then we
were off to the races. So yes,this was a big thing, a big
touchstone. And it was waybefore Netflix got involved with
Cobra Kai. I just knew I wantedto do the sequel. And we had no
episodes, we were not exploringanything else in the Miyagi
(06:31):
verse at that point in time, wewere just on hold waiting for
season three. That's all wewere.
Sal Rodriguez (06:37):
No, and I have to
credit you because, you know,
there's been a lot of thingsI've done professionally. Since
you've reached out to me fromthe beginning, with let's talk
Cobra Kai and just curiousmedia. And I would say a lot of
keeping me loose as a talkinghead as an entertainer as a
podcaster. As an actor. I mean,I was sitting around
(07:01):
quarantining, that's what I wasdoing. I was doing nothing.
Yeah. When you reached out,you're like, Hey, man. Let's do
something. I was like, oh, yeah,sounds good. But I hadn't
thought of that. I hadn'tthought of it. Well, thank
Jason Connell (07:13):
you. And Sal,
you're welcome. No. So this is
the summary of our episode thatis out there. So again, the plan
last episode, we wererereleasing the Karate Kid,
scene by scene breakdown. Theplan is to put all of the
franchise the trilogy. By theway, this is the poster over my
(07:35):
shoulder there. The Karate Kid,Part Two poster, that's,
Sal Rodriguez (07:38):
oh, you know
what, yeah, beautiful poster.
But for some reason, I don'tknow why I expected to see like
other people, like maybe seeSato on there or something. They
kept that clean. It's just thetwo of them, okay.
Jason Connell (07:48):
But the plan is
to put those and the next credit
card because we did do a sceneby scene breakdown in order this
April, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, I mean, so many booms,
boom, boom, boom, boom. But forthat way, our fans can easily
find it, revisit it, and thinkabout this backstory about it.
Now. We weren't doing that. Justcurious yet. I mean, there's so
(08:11):
many wrinkles, the intro wasdifferent. The outro was
different. Heck, this was onlyepisode 20 to sell. So it's just
funny to go back and go, Oh, mygosh, yeah, it was it's just a
little different. We've evolvedin a good way. But I'm so proud
of where we were. And this is achance to kind of reintroduce
that. And I think it's great.
And we should go back and listento them as well and enjoy them
(08:33):
as well. And then maybe someday,one fan said, Hey, you should
just do the Cobra Kai all overagain, from today's viewpoints
like, yeah, that rewatches a bitmore to chew on and buy it off.
But maybe we do that at somepoint in time.
Sal Rodriguez (08:47):
Wait, you're
talking about all the Cobra Kai
episodes? Yeah. Somebody hadmentioned that on redo of the
Cobra. Yeah, let's talk. Yeah.
Wow. I would not be againstcould
Jason Connell (08:56):
be fun, whatever
winds up and then go back and
watch it. Yeah, it could be alot of fun. But
Sal Rodriguez (09:01):
yeah, it would be
fun. I would not be against
that. It would just be a matterof time and logistics and money.
Because no, no charge now. Imean, now you have to pay me by
the hour. But aside from that,yeah.
Jason Connell (09:11):
So this is the
summary. This is what's out
there and it will be on thisepisode as well. But Jason
Connell and Sal Rodriguez, breakdown the classic movie and talk
about visiting Okinawa, the endof Cobra Kai and Peters said
Tara's glory of love.
Sal Rodriguez (09:28):
Very sweet
because, you know, one of the
reasons one of the reasons whythe Karate Kid two is especially
near and dear to me, because Ihave visited Okinawa in the very
spot. Where was it called? TokyoVillage is a Tokyo village. I'd
have to look and see. Okay,where Miyagi is hometown is
where he's going back. Yeah,that place that is now occupied
(09:51):
by Kadena Air Base. I have beenthere I have slept there.
Jason Connell (09:54):
Although in the
movie saw they're cheating that
because they're in
Sal Rodriguez (09:58):
Hawaii, Hawaii.
That's true. Yeah. You know whathere I am always kicking and
screaming about Cobra Kai beingin Atlanta and yet they weren't
even in Okinawa there. Yeah,geez from the beginning they're
messing messing with our heads.
Jason Connell (10:10):
And I didn't mean
to make Peter Sutera sound like
Peter was plural it's Peter saidterrorists glory of love but a
great song and Sal Why don't yougive us just a little sample
Sal Rodriguez (10:20):
just like a
knight in shining armor from a
long time ago. Like a kid who Iforgot who I was saved the day
take it to my castle far awayand that part where he says take
you to my castle far away andthey're running right? Show ha
she's castle. They must havegood they must have plan that
they align that intentionally.
Course. No, it just happened.
(10:42):
They just happen that way.
Jason Connell (10:44):
Am I gonna sell
goods so there's also a mistake
Mistakes happen right? And youcan't edit out everything
especially if you don't know ituntil many episodes later, but I
was still on the trend. I'd callit the minority. I was still
calling the SE apartments theseven C's that that you're still
doing it here. Okay, I'm alreadyhard enough on myself.
Sal Rodriguez (11:07):
You're telling me
after all this time you were
still
Jason Connell (11:10):
episode 22 We
weren't that far and I was on
lockdown. I hadn't seen theSouth Seas apartments in a
while. Although when we recordedthis. It was only a few miles
away. But it's the Mandelaeffect of which you put on my
radar. Actually, I forget Ithink I put that on my right now
you definitely did put that onmy radar.
Sal Rodriguez (11:30):
Your Mandela
Effect. Yeah.
Jason Connell (11:33):
So I went there
one day way before we were even
doing the show took photos, thefonts really cool. And in my
mind, I connected the arithmeticsong Sweet Dreams, which they
mentioned seven seas and I justconverted it. And it wasn't
until a few episodes later thatwe were talking and it just like
hit me like oh my gosh, it isSouthies Of course it is I knew
(11:56):
that I mixed it. And in someepisodes along the journey. It
snuck in and this is definitelyone of them because they're at
the South Seas apartments in theKarate Kid part two. Well for a
little bit, right.
Sal Rodriguez (12:11):
Are they at the
Celsius department in part two?
Jason Connell (12:15):
The actual said
that out loud but I'm thinking
Sal Rodriguez (12:18):
Well hang on in
your defense wasn't Miyagi Iwate
Miyagi spoke to Lucille she wasin New Jersey
Jason Connell (12:24):
and actually it's
the third one they go back there
so actually I don't thinkthere's any scenes there and the
credit there's no south seas incredit after all, there's that
flashback and the beginning ofthe credit card Part Two there
is a flashback if you recall ofthem moving there were no just
like, montage of the Karate Kidone. The original and the
(12:47):
credited part two. Were godless.
I was still hanging on to what Ithought it was. So there is a
mistake when you hear it laughlet's all laugh at it and we
moved on. I finally caught itbefore The Next Karate Kid not
the next guy to kid but theKarate Kid part three, it gets
tricky. The Next Karate Kidthat's its own movie, you know.
But anyway, so this is thesynopsis for the credit card
(13:09):
part two. Let's see if thisholds up. So Daniel accompanies
his mentor, Mr. Miyagi to Miyagiis childhood home and Okinawa.
Miyagi visits his dying fatherand confronts his old rival,
while Daniel falls in love andinadvertently makes a new rival
of his own. What's pretty good,so I think it's pretty
Sal Rodriguez (13:32):
good. I think I
would just want to mention a UK.
Yeah. Because he was one no,because Daniel falls in love
with Kumiko Yeah, yeah, you canmention Kumiko and then Miyagi
his his dying father alsorekindles an old flame and UPA?
Yes. So I think just that littlepiece could have been added
otherwise. Yeah, I think it'spretty good synopsis.
Jason Connell (13:51):
Well, I would
actually go one step further and
have a Sato appearance at theend. And he would say what?
Sal Rodriguez (13:59):
Come out, come
out.
Jason Connell (14:02):
Yeah, this
synopsis would go off the rails
at that point in time, but yeah,really well written because we
actually on the last episode, weread the synopsis from the
Karate Kid, according to IMDb,and it was a little clunky,
didn't love it. So
Sal Rodriguez (14:15):
this one's more
on point. This one's a little
more streamlined. I
Jason Connell (14:18):
think. So why
don't you do the honors of just
giving us the hitlist of allstars who put the Karate Kid
Part Two out there in theuniverse for us.
Sal Rodriguez (14:30):
Director John G.
Albertson writer Robert MarkKaman. Cinematographer James
crepe. Cast, Ralph macho PatMarita Nobu, McCarthy Tamlyn
Tomita, Danny kamekona Ug akamoto Composer Bill Conti.
producer Jerry Weintraub.
Jason Connell (14:51):
Wow. Amazing
legends. We've lost a few of
them. Absolutely. Abelson MeridaWeintraub. But
Sal Rodriguez (15:00):
Robert Hang on.
Robert Mark came and out thereliving on a vineyard on the
vineyard. Because he bought hebought a vineyard may
Jason Connell (15:07):
now. He's had an
incredible career. But yeah,
please go explore our RobertMark came and filmography
episode. That's right
Sal Rodriguez (15:14):
we have a special
episode dedicated to Robert Mark
Kaman. Yeah, that's true.
Jason Connell (15:19):
So yeah, it's no
doubt that this movie was I
wouldn't say it's as good as thesequel. You would, I would say
it's a great sequel. And and,and this one could have been a
standalone movie. This guy hasbeen a standalone movie. Many
sequels try to recreate theoriginal and and yeah, there are
(15:40):
some components in here thatthere's I roles in this movie, a
few, a few. Santos kind of onenote until he's not and he turns
a corner and a half second. It'slike, well, he
Sal Rodriguez (15:49):
does like a
Christmas carol Ebony's.
Exactly, yeah, 180
Jason Connell (15:54):
and chosen is
just too bad. It's like there's
nothing redeeming about him,which is shocking that he has
come back and rehabilitatedhimself in such a way on Cobra
Kai, because he was like, as badas it gets. And just there's not
one ounce of goodness in him.
Sal Rodriguez (16:10):
way. But hang on,
hang on a second. Just one
second. Listen, I agree withyou. He was you know, a OneNote
bad guy. But at the very end, wesee his fear. Doesn't that open
up a little bit of sympathy forus just a little bit. You know,
he starts to have a he has abreakdown is what he has at the
end. And he runs off right?
Jason Connell (16:30):
Or he gets beat
up. So
Sal Rodriguez (16:32):
what doesn't he
just like? Hey, you remember
what such as like, Go save thatkid. And he's like, I'm out of
here. He like took off runningdidn't he? Wouldn't Oh no. He
turned his back and coward. Whatdid he do? He showed cowardice
is what
Jason Connell (16:43):
he did. No. But
then he tries to kill them at
the bone dance.
Sal Rodriguez (16:46):
Oh, yeah. That
was later.
Jason Connell (16:48):
Yeah. I was like,
wait, wait, no, he's
Sal Rodriguez (16:50):
learned his
lesson. Oh,
Jason Connell (16:52):
that guy tried to
murder everybody. Okay. That's
what I'm saying.
Sal Rodriguez (16:57):
I was just
thinking about what?
Jason Connell (17:00):
But that
motivated him to like, well, if
I can't get my uncle's respect,I'm gonna kill some people.
Okay, slow down. So
Sal Rodriguez (17:08):
so at that moment
was his opportunity. Yes. To do
a turn will feel sorry for him.
We'll forgive him. And we'llmove along. Yeah. So no, it took
us many years. Decades to dothat.
Jason Connell (17:21):
So incredible
film it really is holds up and
we are promoting our scene byscene breakdown of that. We hope
you enjoy it. We really do.
We're gonna listen to it againourselves, and, and hopefully
not cringe too much. But yeah, alot of fun are first not in the
same studio recording. What'scrazy, Sal is since that time,
we have only recorded togetherone time in person since then.
(17:44):
And like hundreds remote. Sothis set the stage this put that
technology in motion. Now wehave full fledged studios, and
yeah, that was it as a gamechanger. We could have hung them
up. And that would have been theend of just curious but no, just
curious media turned a corner.
And we're still going
Sal Rodriguez (18:04):
and look at you
are you're in now sitting in a
professional sound booth. Hey,you know, it just gonna be leaf
blowers behind your back. I'dnever know.
Jason Connell (18:12):
Yeah, exactly. It
took some time. It took some
time. So without further ado,please enjoy
Sal Rodriguez (18:20):
the Karate Kid.
Part two.
Jason Connell (18:24):
All right, Sal.
Here we are. The Karate Kid.
Part Two special edition.
Sal Rodriguez (18:31):
I never thought
we'd make it this far.
Jason Connell (18:34):
I know, right?
Sal Rodriguez (18:35):
I mean,
considering what's going on. I
mean, we're not even in the samelocation. This is the first.
Jason Connell (18:40):
This is the first
this is the first time that you
and I have not been side by sideat the studio, because we are
practicing social distancing.
And we're trying this virtually.
And we'll see how it goes.
Sal Rodriguez (18:55):
Yeah. And now I
know why we're so into the 80s
because the 2020s suck.
Jason Connell (19:01):
Especially March.
March had like 90 days and itfelt like but hey, nothing like
karate kid to lift your spirits,I should say
Sal Rodriguez (19:10):
yeah. Big time.
Excited to be here. It's beentoo long. Let's rock and roll.
Jason Connell (19:14):
All right. So
what I've read, Sal is that
there was debate over to makethe sequel about the revenge of
Cobra Kai or Mr. Miyagi storyand traveled back to his home
country. Obviously, the latterone out. And I think it was a
wise decision. We're not rushingback into Cobra Kai territory,
(19:36):
although I would have lovedthat. I think it was a really
nice way to take this to thenext level and get to know Mr.
Miyagi, his backstory, and Ithink you probably agree.
Sal Rodriguez (19:47):
Yeah, I
definitely agree. Because I
don't think that you know, creesGod loves them. God loves them.
He's not the primary stars. Theprimary stars are Danielson and
Mr. Miyagi. So I wanted to goalong with them a little more.
Before I go back around to thehigh jinks of crease. And Terry
(20:07):
silver, which you see in creditget three.
Jason Connell (20:10):
Exactly. And so
reading more about some of the
trivia behind the scenes things.
It looks like they went intoproduction of the sequel, like
10 days after the release of theoriginal, which is kind of crazy
Sal Rodriguez (20:26):
and risky because
the franchise hasn't had time to
prove itself. So that'sdefinitely a gamble.
Jason Connell (20:30):
Yeah, I guess
they had early numbers. So they
just knew 10 days in that thisthing, you know, they had a hit
on their hands. But there wassomething there. And obviously,
I don't think the cast wasoverly expensive. You know, it
wasn't like they had all thesebig names. So they were able to
lock everyone up except for theCobra Kai students. They didn't
(20:51):
have them. They had to bring insome new people. But we did lose
one character as well, whichwe'll get into later. But
Elizabeth Shue was not part ofthe sequel, which I know saddens
me a great deal.
Sal Rodriguez (21:03):
Well, that was
her choice. Well, her choice,
right? Wasn't she going toschool to Harvard at the time.
Jason Connell (21:08):
So it was her
choice. To a degree, what I had
read was that they were going tothey were going to have some
scenes with her in the beginningof the film. And then it was
just too complicated. And shehad agreed to this. But it was
just something they couldn't getworked out. So they scrapped it.
So she was going to be a smallpart. And they just kind of
(21:29):
weren't able to do that. So thatsaid, Sell Karate Kid was the
only appearance and all of thisand Cobra Kai and all the
sequels of the Karate Kid thatElizabeth shoe is in.
Sal Rodriguez (21:42):
Well, there's
speculation about her appearance
in season three. We'll see. Idon't think anybody knows. I
know. You haven't told me anyspoilers regarding season three
of Cobra Kai. I haven't heardanything or read anything, you
know, back toward the end ofseason two, or when you and I
were we're recording Season Twoof Let's Talk Cobra Kai. There
was speculation about ElizabethShue returning in season three
(22:03):
of Cobra Kai but I have seen noconfirmations and no evidence of
of that being the case.
Jason Connell (22:09):
Well, and I know
nothing either. I was just about
to say it's just about time forher to come back. I'll be at
season three or another seasonour if there's a Karate Kid,
Cobra Kai movie reboot, youknow, taking where the show has
now taken things and coming outand making a feature length
movie. Hey, I don't know. But Iam hopeful. I'll just put it
(22:31):
that way.
Sal Rodriguez (22:32):
Well, if you look
at the way this movie starts,
which we'll get into in asecond, if you look at the way
it starts, I would have no careto see Elizabeth shews character
again. I would have no care tosee Ali again after she dumped
our primary. Yeah, main actor,so we're gonna get into that
again. But I would have no careto it was only because of what
(22:52):
has occurred on Cobra Kai seasontwo, where I would have any care
to see Ali
Jason Connell (22:56):
return. Yeah,
they kind of throw her under the
bus. But what we'll get intothat.
Sal Rodriguez (23:00):
Can I just
mention a couple things here.
Just a couple things that areinteresting. Just to bring us up
to speed. Noriyuki Pat Merida is54 at the filming of this movie,
rough macho 25 at the filming.
If you look at Karateka two onIMDb, there are 80 photographs
associated with it. Number 74.
So again, you gotta go in thereshows George Bush. That's not
(23:21):
George W. The son but theoriginal George Bush. Yeah.
Senior George Bush, BarbaraBush, along with Pat Morita and
Ralph macho on the set apresidential visit to the set. I
did not know about this.
Jason Connell (23:33):
Wow. That's
pretty impressive. I have not
seen that I couldn't make itpast 40. So you trudged on to 74
That's really cool. I'll have tolook at that photo. I'd like to
post it on our social media.
Sal Rodriguez (23:45):
Check that out.
And also this movie is set inOkinawa, but it's actually
filmed in Oahu, Hawaii.
Jason Connell (23:51):
That's right. So
how did you feel about that?
Because I know that you havetraveled to Okinawa,
Sal Rodriguez (23:57):
I have traveled
to Okinawa. I'll get into that a
little more specifically as wego along. But the reason that
they chose Hawaii is because ait's the United States so makes
things a little bit easier withfilming. But B it has a similar
climate see that a lot what alot of people don't know when I
learned this, I believe me Ilearned this when I went to
Japan, when you go to themainland of Japan, Tokyo, etc.
(24:18):
And then you work your way downto Okinawa. It's different. It's
a different feel. It's adifferent vibe. It's more of a
Polynesian feel. It's more of aHawaii type feel. People are
even a little bit darker. It's adifferent vibe in Okinawa than
it is in Japan. I loved it justas much, but definitely more of
an island vibe on Okinawa thanin mainland Japan.
Jason Connell (24:39):
Okay, well, there
you have it. So besides Hawaii,
the rest of the movie was filmedat the Warner Brothers Burbank
studios lot if you will, aswell. Yeah, it's true. This is
according to IMDb. And therewere even some scenes filmed at
Mr. Miyagi his house over inCanoga Park, which has since
(25:00):
unfold gently, as you alreadyknow, has been demolished. Sad
to say. But my opinion thatplace should have been a shrine
or a museum for Karate Kidlovers for years to come. But
they have recreated it verynicely. It looks like in Georgia
where they shoot Cobra Kai,
Sal Rodriguez (25:19):
but wait, did
they tear that house down?
Before Cobra Kai?
Jason Connell (25:23):
Oh, yes, yes,
it's been taught for many years.
Sal Rodriguez (25:26):
Okay, so if it
has stuck around long enough to
at least meet the advent ofCobra Kai, and maybe, yeah,
maybe yeah.
Jason Connell (25:35):
So to stay on
point and true to form, I will
give the ratings so on IMDb,this movie gets a 6.0. And on
Rotten Tomatoes, it gets a 42%.
Now, that's just not crazy high.
But just to give you somecontext, this is how the
original does on thoseplatforms. There Karate Kid 7.2
(25:58):
on IMDb, and 88% on RottenTomatoes. So the original is
more loved, and rightfully so Ithink it's a superior film. And
if it wasn't for that film, youwouldn't even have this sequel,
or all the subsequent ones, oreven Cobra Kai the show. So it's
(26:20):
hard to compare with theoriginal. But this was the
second installment. And that'swhat we're focused on.
Sal Rodriguez (26:25):
Are you saying
that you love Karate Kid
Original Motion Picture overKarate Kid to just because of
the Heritage now with theoriginal? Or because you
actually independently thinkit's a better film?
Jason Connell (26:39):
Oh, it's a much
better film. The story is more
complete. Listen, I won't getinto Crytek get to and we're
about to and we kind of alreadyare. But yeah, I have a lot less
eye rolls and the Karate Kid.
Okay, not to put the sequeldown. But at the box office,
this movie made at least the USgross. And I don't know when
this was cut off. But it made$115 million. So it made more
(27:01):
than the original. But that wascoming. You know, it only came
out what a couple years afterthe original. All the hype was
still there. And so it didn'tmake more because it's a better
film. It made more because therewas demand and the timing. And
the industry was very differentback then.
Sal Rodriguez (27:22):
It was in the
wake of the original. So the
timing was good. Yeah,
Jason Connell (27:26):
they waited a
decade or you know, sometimes
sequels take a long time to comeout. But yeah, that's a good way
of putting it it was in the wakeof. And so I don't attribute
that to quality. But anyway, so
Sal Rodriguez (27:39):
it sounds like
you're bashing movie before we
even started. I think
Jason Connell (27:42):
quality wise,
yeah, this is absolutely an
inferior picture. But it's stilla pretty good movie. I think at
one point in time you even said,Could this have been a movie at
least the Plot The story if itwasn't related to the Karate
Kid? And I thought that was aninteresting question.
Sal Rodriguez (27:58):
Outside of the
Karate Kid universe. I believe
this movie could stand alone. Ifyou took away their names just
made it a different universe. Ithink it would have been
absolutely just as great.
Jason Connell (28:07):
Yeah, I agree
with you. I think it would have
found an audience it would havedone well, because there was a
lot of martial arts moviescoming out in the 80s. And
that's an interesting story.
Disciple follows his master backto the homeland. And there's a
story. Absolutely, it couldhave. Well,
Sal Rodriguez (28:23):
he doesn't he
doesn't just again, we're gonna
get into this as soon as we getinto the movie, but he doesn't
just follow him. He literally isa very supportive friend at that
exact Yeah. So we'll get intothat. We'll get it.
Jason Connell (28:36):
So who else came
back for the sequel where you
had Jerry Weintraub stillproducing probably the person
that said, Hey, let's get intoproduction on the sequel.
Immediately, we got ourselves awinner here. You had John
Allison, the very talenteddirector who did karate kid 123.
He also did the original Rocky,which one best picture. And he
(28:57):
came back and did rocky five.
They had Robert Mark came in thewriter who created all the
characters and grew up inmartial arts. He really doesn't
get enough praise. I would sayyou had Bill Conti come back as
the composer. And of course youhad Pat right and Ralph Macho.
So they had you know, the coreteam coming back. And what you
see a lot of times in sequels isyou're missing some of that you
(29:19):
don't have the same director,you don't have the same star or
whatever. But that's what Ithink helped this movie capture
some magic.
Sal Rodriguez (29:30):
I like when the
crew can come back. It's um,
it's almost like a band, like,hey, let's get the band back
together, you know, and then youyou create a new old sound that
the listener is familiar with,or the viewer is familiar with.
And it's got a real nice flow toit. For the fan. It flows easier
than if it's just a whole newgroup.
Jason Connell (29:49):
I totally agree.
It is like getting the band backtogether. And here we go. So
this movie starts with thisopening montage. It's a fly
catching scene. Ain't cranetechnique, the Medal of Honor
Halloween night, Cobra Kai dojo,all leading up to the all Valley
karate championship.
Sal Rodriguez (30:11):
I liked it, it
brings, it brings the new viewer
up to speed. I like that.
Jason Connell (30:15):
It is it's kind
of like watching a season finale
of a show. And then they giveyou all what you've taken in the
first five seasons. But I don'tever remember this in a movie.
And I watched a lot of moviesfrom the 70s and 80s. But had
you seen this done before thiskind of five minute montage to
(30:36):
get things started?
Sal Rodriguez (30:37):
I didn't realize
it at the time, but I don't
think I have seen that. WhereYeah, the sequel? Does this
rehash in the beginning? No, Idon't think I've seen that in
any other sequel. No.
Jason Connell (30:46):
Especially for a
movie, as you said earlier, that
was in the wake of the original.
So I wouldn't say that peoplewere forgetting it did disappear
for a decade.
Sal Rodriguez (30:56):
Yeah, not not a
lot of time had elapsed. You can
imagine the people were sittingin the theater like the first
five minutes like, yeah, weknow. We know. Yeah. Yeah,
exactly. Been there. We've beenthere. Well, I
Jason Connell (31:07):
saw Godfather
two. I don't remember a quick
like, well, here's what happenedin the first one. Michael became
it didn't do that. However, as Isay this allowed, you know what
popped in my mind. I think Rockytwo starts with the fight
sequence from Rocky one.
Sal Rodriguez (31:24):
I know outright
and again, that Edelson Yes.
Well, he didn't
Jason Connell (31:28):
mean he didn't
direct to that was Stallone, but
still we're in Apple sins. Youknow, he crafted the first one
that the masterpiece. So I thinkthose movies did it. But it was
all about the fight that endedthe movie prior. This gave us a
whole montage. But anyway, hey,it was cool. It was nice to see.
You and I are up on our stuffbecause of the let's talk Cobra
(31:50):
Kai show. But if you weresomeone revisiting the Karate
Kid to like on Netflix, or Huluor Amazon, some random viewer,
the montage will be very nicefor them even today. So there it
was. And as soon as we getcaught up in real time, the
first scene that is brand new tothe audience is a shower sing,
(32:12):
which just cracks me up. It's aninteresting choice. Yeah,
because I've been in thosetournaments. And I never
showered afterwards. We justwent home with our GI and
hopefully with some hardware.
And I like how Mr. Miyagi he'sin there with Daniel. Which is,
which is pretty funny.
Sal Rodriguez (32:31):
Well, wait to be
clear. Hang on. Hang on. He's
not in there. He's waitingoutside the showers. Well,
Daniels taken he's in the lockerroom. He's in the locker room.
Yeah, he's in the locker roomwith his back to the wall of the
showers, chatting with Daniel asDaniel is in the shower with all
these other guys. Who are thoseother guys? Were those other
competitors, I guess, was wasentirely possible that Johnny
(32:54):
Lawrence was in that showeralong with Daniel Russo.
Jason Connell (32:57):
Yeah, and crease
who also was an ag. So he
Sal Rodriguez (33:01):
had showers was
in the shower with
Jason Connell (33:05):
they probably
kept the Cobra off to the side,
although Johnny had just givenDaniel the trophy. So maybe
there's less bad blood now. Butthe only thing that could have
made this more funny or strangeis this Miyagi was in the stall
next to him. And they're soapingup. Nothing, you know, nothing
below board, of course, butthey're soaping up and just
(33:25):
talking and that would have beenlike, what we already jumped the
shark and we're like one scenein the movie. So we come out of
the shower scene. And as you andI know, we do not see Ali or
Daniel's mother this entirefilm. So Miyagi immediately gets
out of the way and says, Ali andMother wait for us at restaurant
on Daniels. Okay, yeah, sure.
And that's it. That's it. Boom.
(33:48):
Like they're not we're not gonnasee him right then. Because
we're gonna go to therestaurant, and we never see
them. But I don't know. It'skind of funny.
Sal Rodriguez (33:55):
I completely
forgot about that line. But
yeah, so Daniel is carrying hischampionship trophy, limping
along next to Miyagi walking outof the auditorium. They stop and
chat crease exits. The building,starts manhandling people. Which
I think is hilarious. He startsmanhandling people in
(34:16):
particularly actor Eddie Smith,who recites the line. Hey, man,
what you're doing to a brother?
Which I love. That line reallyshow caught on? I love that. I
should have been on T shirts. SoChris walks between Miyagi.
Daniel. The tournament announcerplayed by Bruce Melmoth.
Remember that name? Bruce.
Melmoth. We're gonna berevisiting that again.
Jason Connell (34:39):
Well, it real
quick on Bruce the announcer I
got contacts. I love what hesays. He says paper we're going
to be talking about that lastkick for years to come.
Sal Rodriguez (34:50):
And sack about a
foreshadow. Yeah, he nailed
Jason Connell (34:53):
it. Yeah, they're
gonna build a series around that
kick. Amazing.
Sal Rodriguez (34:58):
He didn't know
that he was predicting Cobra Kai
And then he breaks through theannouncer and referee Patty
Johnson, who is also the fightchoreographer for the movies,
right? He shoves them aside. AndI wonder at that moment, I
actually pause and wonder atthat moment, when he pushes
aside, Bruce and Pat, theannouncer and referee is that
(35:18):
when he gets his lifetime ban,is that the very moment right
there?
Jason Connell (35:23):
i But no, I think
it happened. About two and a
half minutes later. I was there.
We're almost there.
Sal Rodriguez (35:30):
We'll get to
that. Okay. How about a habit at
this moment when Chris keepswalking on? And Daniel says, Why
does he act like that? And thenwe hear a voice off camera says
that guy just doesn't know whatkarate is all about. Was that
Johnson? Or was that Mamos? Wasthat announcer? Was that the
referee? I don't know. Becauseyou don't see. I'm curious what?
So Chris heads over to thestudents. And then right at that
(35:51):
moment, kids run right up,asking Daniel for an autograph.
And these kids are from receitato C's or local kids. Daniel
signs the autographs for them.
One kid is back with to thecamera the whole time. I felt
bad for them. I would haveredirected them if I were
Adelson, I wouldn't say let'ssee a little face there. Now one
thing I want to mention a littletrivia here, it could be
suspect. These kids are GarthJohnson and Brett Johnson. are
(36:13):
the sons of Pat E. Johnson. It'sthe same scene practically. Why
not? If these are relationagain? Well, we remember Bruce
Melmoth. So there's a lot of inthe family going on here. So I
wonder if those were kids ofchoreographer and referee Patty
Johnson.
Jason Connell (36:32):
Yeah, could be a
good spot there. We'll find out.
So what this is leading to andwe've talked about this on the
Karate Kid special episode, aswell as I'm sure episodes of
Let's Talk Cobra Kai is whereyou reflect on the show. But
what is coming was supposed tobe the end of the Karate Kid.
(36:53):
And the scene is where crease ishaving a confrontation with his
students, because he's so madabout losing. And he basically
attacks Johnny. So this scenewas going to end the movie and
sound thank goodness, they didnot do that. And they saved it.
(37:13):
And they said, hey, if we everdo a sequel, we'll start with
this as opposed to any othermovie, because the first movie
and so beautifully with the youknow, he gets the trophy and
there's the shot of Miyagi, andthen we're out. I couldn't
imagine having one more beat.
You know, it feels like a fourthact or something. So kudos to
everyone
Sal Rodriguez (37:32):
on it. No. I like
when a movie ends on a happy
note. I really do. I like towalk out of the theater. A
little a little happier. I don'tlike walking out of a theater.
All bummed out. Yeah. Even ifthe movie was good, you know? So
yeah, I like the choice thatthey made. I like it. They
didn't end the original moviewith crease you nothing. You
lost your loser. I'm so happythat they didn't do that.
Jason Connell (37:55):
And to be clear,
they didn't shoot it. They just
had written it and practicerehearsed it, I should say, but
they didn't shoot it. So itwasn't that close to happening.
So enough about the setup. Let'stalk about the scene. Okay,
Sal Rodriguez (38:09):
so can I can I
gotta mention one thing I found
so interesting. Yeah, you and Iboth enjoy looking at all the
actors in the scene, includingthe extras. And one thing I
found very funny was creases upagainst the car with Johnny.
There's an extra on the otherside of the car on the driver's
side, who has his back to thecamera the whole time. There's a
fight going on behind you. Andyou don't have to turn around
(38:30):
once. That was Dutch. No, no, itwas on the other side of the car
was when he was wearing a hat.
Jason Connell (38:34):
Well, there was
two guys on their side of the
car and one was the guy fromhead of the class. He was one of
the Cobra guys, we've talkedabout this. He was in the judge
no and Dutchess next to him, soI went back and as we prepared
for this episode, I also wasnoticing those extras having
made a movie a documentary aboutextras called strictly
background, I always look at thebackground players and think
(38:57):
What's that guy doing? And whenI went back and interviewed
again, it appeared to be Dutchbecause Dutch is in the sequel,
and that was him.
Sal Rodriguez (39:05):
Wow. Okay, so why
didn't you have them turn around
at the rockets that was takingplace? I just found that
interesting.
Jason Connell (39:11):
He was too cool
for school. He is Steve McQueen
son. So you know, Dutchess gothe does his own thing. So what's
going on in the scene Sal? As Ialready said, he comes over and
starts to kind of go off on thestudents but maybe just talk us
through what's exactlyhappening.
Sal Rodriguez (39:26):
Crease borates
Johnny for a second place loss,
calls him a loser. Johnny reactsgoes no, you're a loser man.
Chris grabs the trophy breaks ittosses it aside and gets Johnny
Lawrence in a chokehold otherguys come in he elbows one guy I
don't know which guy was had agood elbow on the left. And
another guy shows up I forgotwhich guys they were another guy
(39:49):
shows up Chris like don'tremember that line. Don't
Jason Connell (39:52):
I think it was
like Tommy and Bobby. Those guys
were close by but anyway, yeah,it's not looking good.
Sal Rodriguez (39:58):
Miyagi
approaches. Let him go. And then
Chris Beck has another student.
And then this thing I foundinteresting because I'd never
really noticed this before Ireally listened intently. So
Chris says, beat it slope areyour next. Now, I never knew
about this word slope, which Isaid what? Okay, so I looked it
up slope, a derogatory term orslur used for the purpose of
(40:22):
describing a Vietnamese or Asianperson describing the slope of
their eyes.
Jason Connell (40:29):
Oh my gosh,
Sal Rodriguez (40:30):
I never knew it.
So it's, you know, it's one ofthese moments where like, it's
one thing to be an asshole. Butnow you're a racist asshole.
Jason Connell (40:38):
He's the worst.
So this leads to a showdownbetween crease and Miyagi. And
this is one of the knocks I havein this film, although I do like
the film, but I would have likedto see a, you know, like a
really good fight. And these areguys are both very skilled, they
have different styles. They cantussle for a minute or two. But
(41:00):
that's not what happens.
Sal Rodriguez (41:04):
If you're talking
about the fight sequences that
we all know and love. This wouldprobably be if you visit all the
fight sequences that we all knowand love throughout cinematic
history, this is probably notone of them. It was
disappointing crease did notshow any skills. I mean, I could
have done as well against Miyagias creased it.
Jason Connell (41:24):
So for anyone
who's unaware of what really
goes down, so let's pick it upwhere we left off. So Chris
still has Johnny in a chokehold,and Miyagi comes towards him.
Then he hits one student. And soSal then what happens,
Sal Rodriguez (41:39):
Miyagi steps in
and uses a maneuver to get
crease to release Johnny. So heforces the release of Johnny by
crease through a manipulationfor sure.
Jason Connell (41:49):
And super upset
and full of rage. He already
lost in the tournament. He'salready mad and throwing all of
his students under the bus. Andhere's the protagonist, it's
caused this him and Daniel Mr.
Miyagi. And so he charges himout of rage. And what happens
Sal Rodriguez (42:10):
when you see the
difference, you talk about the
difference in styles, but justin this moment, the difference
in emotion. So Greece is full ofrage and anger, lost control.
Miyagi is so calm, so very calm,Chris goes in to punch him.
Miyagi moves right out of theway, turns around, goes into
punch him, he moves out of theway, again, effortlessly. And
(42:34):
thus, crease has to bloodiedfists from hitting two car
windows.
Jason Connell (42:39):
And he's kind of
in shock that he's done it. He
looks at his bloody knuckles,and he's in shock. What's
occurred?
Sal Rodriguez (42:45):
You would call
this one of Chris's low light
moments? Yeah, maybe
Jason Connell (42:49):
he's got a real
problem with blood, because he
became kind of a web.
Sal Rodriguez (42:54):
He was in
Vietnam. Right?
Jason Connell (42:56):
I know. I know.
I'm telling he says so he says.
Sal Rodriguez (43:00):
Okay, so that
picture could have been doctored
the one in the dojo of him. Imean, it looked more like a
theatrical headshot. But
Jason Connell (43:07):
can you trust
anything out of his mouth,
knowing what you know now aboutcrease? I mean, seriously, come
on.
Sal Rodriguez (43:12):
You know what,
now that you mentioned it, it's
starting to become clear. It'sentirely possible that Chris was
never in the military at all.
And that picture was fakehanging up in the studio.
Jason Connell (43:23):
Yeah, I don't I
don't believe him. He's done
anything. Well, except for he'srun Cobra Kai, and he's made
some real tough bullies. Butanyway, so Chris is distraught.
He can't believe his buddyknuckles. And this leads to the
end of this, if you want to callit a fight sequence. And so go
ahead and tell us what happens.
Sal Rodriguez (43:43):
So I know you and
I talked about this once before,
where you thought maybe creasefainted, but it was just sort
of, I think, an emotional andphysical collapse where he just
kind of caves into himself.
Yeah, and he just falls intothis heap. Before he falls into
the heap. Miyagi is about togive him the death blow. You
think this is gonna be it forcrease creases on his knees on
the ground, about to be finishedby Miyagi? Miyagi has his hand
(44:06):
raised and a karate chopposition ready to give the death
blow?
Jason Connell (44:13):
Miyagi is in that
pose when he knocked the bottles
off of his truck? Oh, yes, knockthe caps off. That was one of
the only issues I had with theoriginal Karate Kid. I think
they were held down to believethat they could have been he
could have knocked the tops offoff loose bottles on a truck and
far fetched but he had that samestrike so he was going to do
that too really could havekilled crease if he wanted to.
Sal Rodriguez (44:35):
He could have
that's why I say could have
delivered the death blow. But hedidn't instead of delivering the
death blow, or at least a blowto give the final humiliation to
crease in his moment of existinghumiliation. Hey, might as we go
step further. Instead, Miyagicomes in close, grabs his nose
and goes honk. I mean, it ishumiliating, but it's not beaten
(44:59):
to a pulp humiliating
Jason Connell (45:01):
That's when he
falls into himself creased and
that's
Sal Rodriguez (45:04):
when he kind of
just caves and crumbles into
himself and falls into a heap onthe ground. Miyagi and Daniel
walk away. And at this moment iswhere Daniel says, and I believe
this little interaction here, Ithink sums up. I think the
entire movie. I mean, this isthe summarization, I feel is
where Daniel says, You couldhave killed him, couldn't you?
And Miyagi says, I, well, thenwhy didn't you them. And Miyagi
(45:27):
says, because Daniel son, forperson with no forgiveness in
heart living even worsepunishment than deaf. Mine,
there you go. And that leads usand by the way, I always want to
mention the car that they aregetting into is the truck is a
1941, Chevrolet light delivery,beautiful truck.
Jason Connell (45:49):
Beautiful truck.
So that is the end of Cobra Kaicrease Johnny, the whole bunch
for this entire film. There's nomore mention of them. You don't
see them anymore. We don't knowwhat's going on with them. We're
off on a different adventure.
And so now the text comes onscreen six months later. And we
(46:14):
come in on Miyagi, who is of allthings trying to catch the fly
with a chopstick. And this time,Sal, unlike the previous film,
he does it.
Sal Rodriguez (46:27):
Yeah. And I
really liked that he doesn't
make a fuss over it. He doesn'tPat himself on the back. He's
not so excited about doing it.
He does it. He gives a littlegrin. And then he moves on.
Jason Connell (46:38):
And Karate Kid
folklore. What does that say
about someone when they are ableto catch a fly and chopsticks
Sal Rodriguez (46:45):
man who catch fly
with chopstick accomplish
anything? So he's got that goingfor him? Well, that's also a
foreshadow than to Yeah, ofcourse.
Jason Connell (46:54):
And you know,
Daniels had that going for him
for a while. So it's not a beatlater that Daniel arrives. And
this whole film goes on adifferent course. And so he
shows up, it's post prom. Thecar's been crashed Sal, go ahead
and tell us what type of carthat is, again,
Sal Rodriguez (47:15):
Daniel arrives in
the 1948, Ford Super Deluxe,
which again, for the newlistener, is the same car used
in Greece that is greasedlightning.
Jason Connell (47:26):
So it's crashed,
which really brings a tear to
all of our eyes. And he comes inand he's blaming Ali, who
wrecked it. I mean, you got thebumper hanging off the steam
coming out of it. He's evengoing on to say that Ali's now
fallen in love with somefootball player from UCLA. And
Miyagi. He's kind of listeningand he goes out there to start
(47:48):
to repair the car immediatelybecause that's what Miyagi does.
And then Daniel is just on this,rant it and he goes on about my
mom's taking another job. Andthis time, it's in Fresno, we
leave tomorrow. And it's just alot going on. I mean, they came
up to like zero to 60 with allthis exposition, which is pretty
funny, but it does get the moviemoving. I guess out I guess
(48:12):
that's the point.
Sal Rodriguez (48:13):
One thing I
noticed interesting is when
Daniel arrives, there's musicplaying, and then he shuts off
the car, the music stops, whichlets the viewer know that the
music is actually coming fromthe car and not part of the
soundtrack necessarily. So thatcar 1948 Ford had a stereo in
it, or I wonder if that stereowas added later. I just found
that interesting.
Jason Connell (48:31):
Yeah, I think
Miyagi probably would drop that
in there. For him.
Sal Rodriguez (48:34):
His kid probably
had a cassette player, do you
think? Yeah, probably
Jason Connell (48:37):
cassette player.
And I also liked Daniels bluetux, which was very reminiscent
of Dumb and Dumber, which ispretty funny. So Miyagi is just,
you know, helping out kind oflistening. But he's got one way
to help Daniel kind of clear hishead. He's got some more work
for him to do on the old Miyagiestate. And what's he have him
(48:59):
do Sal?
Sal Rodriguez (49:01):
Well, he takes
him out back, and he has him
start hitting nails. So this isone of those moments where I'm
thinking, Okay, how does hittingnails to this attachment to the
house to build a new room? Howdoes this translate to a karate
move? I mean, this is not wax onwax off. This is not sand the
floor. This is not, you know,paint up, paint down. How is
(49:24):
this going to translate to akarate move? That's what I want
to see. So Daniel startshammering these nails finally
gets a little frustrated, sayshe's all out of focus. Mr.
Miyagi shows him a breathingtechnique to help bring his life
and feelings back into focus. Sothen, Daniel goes back to
hitting the nails and he startsto get the hang of it starts to
(49:45):
feel pretty good. And then oneor two walks are gone.
Jason Connell (49:48):
I want her to
kind of work there, but
Sal Rodriguez (49:49):
okay, well, it's
actually two it's like, do boom.
It was actually like three hitsto get it in. The first two are
like setup hits. Then the thirdwas to get it all the way.
Jason Connell (49:59):
Yes to hit it
with one strike. I agree you go
tap tap towards holds on itsown, and then it's to focus and
hit it on the head and drive onethrough. So I think it's about
focus. I think it's abouthitting your spot. And it also
kind of reminded me of BruceLee's one inch punch. It's like
a lot of power and you're barelymoving, you're moving like an
(50:20):
inch with a hammer in your hand.
So your hand is, you know, likea fist if you will, but that
sort of kind of reminded me of,but it was a cool technique, but
that's as far as we get with it.
It's not like Miyagi sets Danielup and then disappears for the
day and goes fishing. We don'tkind of go back and shut on that
water like we did in theoriginal. And the next thing we
(50:41):
see Daniel has made a beautifulRosewood metal display. For Mr.
Miyagi is Medal of Honor. Yeah,
Sal Rodriguez (50:49):
he makes a nice
gift for him displaying the
Medal of Honor because Danielsproud of it, for Mr. Miyagi
wants them to display it. AndMr. Miyagi, though that's not
really his style. He says, Well,why should I show it off? For
what it doesn't really occur toMr. Miyagi, to show off his
medal of honor, which is very
Jason Connell (51:07):
Miyagi esque. He
doesn't care about trophies,
medals, or even belts. As werecall, when Daniel asked him
what belt he was, and karate,and he said, What'd he say JC
Penney's?
Sal Rodriguez (51:20):
Is that what he
said? Was that from the first
one? I don't remember that.
Yeah, as the
Jason Connell (51:22):
original. But if
Miyagi didn't care at all about
this metal, in my opinion, itwould have been at the Goodwill
a long time ago. So he has somesort of attachment to it, but he
doesn't want to be boastful. Hedidn't care about putting it on
the wall, but he's touched. Youknow, it's a nice thing that
Daniel did for him. And soMiyagi out of nowhere, gets
(51:43):
Daniel out of having to move toFresno.
Sal Rodriguez (51:46):
Yeah, what we
learned is that this attachment
to the house, this new room thatDaniel was hitting nails into is
a new guest room. And Miyagisays it's for a refugee. And
Daniel says a refugee fromwhere, Miyagi says, Fresno,
which I thought was really cute.
Jason Connell (52:04):
That was a clever
way of saying that you can stay
here. Now, here comes the mailcarrier, who doesn't know me
augis name after 40 years?
Sal Rodriguez (52:13):
No. Well, we
don't know how new this guy was.
But he says guy, Mr. Miyagi. Andthen Daniel, I love how Daniel
like, jumps to his defense andcorrects him. It's Miyagi. And
the postman played by will hunt.
I do think this scene is funny.
I wanted to mention that becauseOh, it's great. Postman starts
going on about how he goes, Oh,this someplace you have here?
Can I bring my wife by to have alook at it? Like I just thought,
(52:35):
what was the point of thisinteraction, but I guess it
gives time for Miyagi, to signthe letter to start reading the
letter, as the postman is goingon about how nice the places,
the postman says, maybe someother time, and then he walks
off. And then Miyagi startsreading the letter, which is a
special delivery from Okinawa.
Jason Connell (52:52):
Right. So that's
why the postman had to come in
the back to find him in thefirst place, which wouldn't have
happened in today's world, theywould have left a note saying
that you've got to come to thepost office to get this special
package. Or we'll tryredelivery. So the postman comes
back to him sign for it, becauseit is coming from Okinawa, and
it was a special delivery. Andwhat cracks me up is that the
(53:17):
postman is blown away by what hesees back here and much to my
earlier point, this place couldbe a museum, it's a spectacle,
what Miyagi is built. But what Ilove is nobody responds to the
postman. Miyagi is caught uplooking at the letter. And Dan,
do you think Danny would stepup, say much like he did a
second ago, but maybe say, hey,ya know, thanks so much for the
(53:38):
time, but no one says anything.
And the postman is on his own toretreat and say, Yeah, I guess
I'll see you guys later, whichis pretty funny. So the letter
Sal is informing Mr. Miyagi thathis father is sick. And he wants
to see him, essentially. Yeah.
Sal Rodriguez (53:57):
And Daniel didn't
even know that he had a father.
We for sure. Didn't know. Anddefinitely Daniel didn't know.
So this is all a big shock toboth Daniel and the viewer.
Jason Connell (54:06):
Yeah, exactly. So
that sets things in motion. And
this next thing kind of cracksme up because I was watching and
going, Wow, is that how it wasin the 80s. But Miyagi goes to
get a passport. And he's flyingthe very next day to fly
International to go back toOkinawa. And he's in line with
(54:27):
Daniel, and he's getting apassport. So I guess now, you
could do that on very, veryshort notice back then.
Sal Rodriguez (54:35):
Well, let me tell
you this, just as a point of
reference, and this isabsolutely true. There was at
one point, I think I was ateenager where I had to get an
ID for some reason. I think Iwanted to start working. So I
needed an ID and I didn't haveone. There was some issue with
my birth certificate. My motherdid not have my birth
certificate. For some reason. Mymother then took my baptism
certificate. I mean, howofficial is a church baptism
(54:58):
certificate? My mother took mychurch's back baptism
certificate and got me a stateID from that. That was the 80s
My friend.
Jason Connell (55:07):
Okay. All right.
I think I flew with ablockbuster card once. That's
how lacks It was now. I'm justkidding. So here we are this
interesting scene with me hoggy.
And Daniel having a chat about,you know, we're learning not
just about his father, but abouthis lost love and his friend
(55:30):
that they kind of were on theouts and how Miyagi has left and
never gone back. But all thiswhile they're in this line to
get a passport. And Daniel isnot, it's kind of funny, because
he's not next to him. He's kindof behind him as if he's in line
himself.
Sal Rodriguez (55:46):
Yeah, I thought
that was sort of a funny
positioning of why they chosethat. Yeah, he was, you know, if
you say to your friend, hey,let's go Go with me to the DMV
or whatever, they're gonna standnext to you in line, right,
they're not going to be or maybeeven sitting off on a bench,
they're not gonna be behind you.
So I did think that was a funnypositioning is the Daniel is
behind Miyagi in this passportoffice. So obviously a state
(56:08):
officer, a federal office, butthis is the moment where we
learn all about what went on, orwhat went down in Okinawa. And
why and how Miyagi wound up inreceita?
Jason Connell (56:20):
Well, first, to
your point about DMV and a
friend going with you, that's agood friend, who's gonna go to
the DMV with you. There's that.
And secondly, I guess, when Ithought about this scene more,
they just wanted to get us outof the house. Because Miyagi
could have read that letter, andcut to suitcase, you know, and
he's packing. But I guess theywanted to take us away for a
(56:44):
minute and give some exposition,rather than just cutting right
to that, because that was theonly purpose he that we don't
need to know that he doesn'thave a passport, but they wanted
to show him and Daniel doingsomething on point,
Sal Rodriguez (56:58):
I think it was an
opportunity for Miyagi, to
explain the history of Okinawa,you know, his personal history
and what went down? You know, I
Jason Connell (57:07):
think that's sort
of a done anywhere. He could
have done that at the breakfasttable. He could have done it as
soon as he got the letter. Yeah.
So I think they just wanted toget us out of there. And maybe
him getting a passports sayingthat I've never gone back, and
I've got to get a passportbecause when I left that was it
anyway, not a bad thing.
Sal Rodriguez (57:26):
I just realized
something I just said he went
from Okinawa, to receita. We doknow that he spent time in the
military. So exactly. We don'tthere was a whole group of years
between when he left Okinawa, towhen Daniel met him there was a
whole bunch of years. I wonderwhat happened in those years?
Jason Connell (57:42):
Why he was
married, and they were going to
have a child so there's a wholestoryline which we've never get
to know beyond the first filmshedding just a little bit of
light on it. You know, theMiyagi last years. Have you ever
seen
Sal Rodriguez (57:57):
are like his late
20s 30s 40s 50s Those are the
Miyagi last years.
Jason Connell (58:03):
Yeah, maybe in
Cobra Kai, Daniel will stumble
on some old book you know, someold photo album and we'll be
able to piece some more thingstogether hidden in a wall
somewhere and when they're atthe Miyagi House, who knows but
I'd sure like to see a littlebit of more of Miyagi story play
(58:23):
out much like they did in CobraKai last season, showing Miyagi
do the initial build out on hisplace? That was a really great
same.
Sal Rodriguez (58:31):
Yes, so after
they leave the passport office,
and Daniel learn some of thestories about what happened in
Okinawa next scene, Daniel looksat old pictures of Yuki Yuki A
is Miyagi is old girlfriend,Sato is as old best friend who
was engaged to be married toYuki a Miyagi tells Daniel the
whole entire story about why heleft Okinawa and that is the
(58:55):
crucial element. Becauseunfortunately, Miyagi throughout
the movie doesn't live that downand has to revisit his old best
friend who is turned into hisnemesis Sato.
Jason Connell (59:06):
And he seems to
have a lot of sad feelings over
what happened with UPA, which isinteresting, like it's almost
representing his first lostlove. Or maybe the one that got
away. He had been married, andhe had a child on the way so,
but for some reason, this moviereally harkens on this
(59:28):
relationship with UTA andMiyagi, he's kind of has a lot
of regret. He carries a lot ofregret around.
Sal Rodriguez (59:36):
Do you think
there's also this one moment
because in this one beat whenMiyagi is looking at a
photograph and Daniel is kind ofpeeking in and looking at
Miyagi, look at this photograph,and then he kind of lets his arm
hang down, and then he kind ofputs his head down, like almost
dread. Like he's almost dreadinggoing back to have to confront
(59:56):
his past.
Jason Connell (59:57):
Oh, totally. He's
moved on. This is a new life.
He's lived here longer than helived in Okinawa. Yeah. So this
is his life. So now I like thisshot we see this cab roll in the
frame and it says Valley cabcompany love Oh
Sal Rodriguez (01:00:16):
yeah, just like
the all Valley tournament.
Jason Connell (01:00:19):
Exactly. This
franchise love the valley. So
now Daniel is supposed to seeMiyagi off and he's not there.
And so Miyagi is forced to leavein the cab. And thanks well,
okay, you know, Daniels nothere. Let's go. But this leads
(01:00:39):
to a another scene that cannothappen in today's culture. But
Sal, what happens?
Sal Rodriguez (01:00:45):
Well, when you
talk about the airports, you
have, when I talk about theairports, I talk about pre 911
and post 911 pre 911 airports.
You know what I used to like totravel. I used to enjoy it.
After 911 No, Miyagi isliterally boarding the plane.
He's talking to the stewardess.
(01:01:05):
He's literally getting on theplane at this moment. Daniel
runs up right up to Miyagi andthe stewardess
Jason Connell (01:01:13):
and not the game.
He's literally at the plane,like right
Sal Rodriguez (01:01:17):
at the door
plane. Yeah, yeah, he's at the
plane door with his ticket,
Jason Connell (01:01:21):
which means they
don't check you in right before
you go down the long runway. Youjust go to the plane and say,
Here's my ticket.
Sal Rodriguez (01:01:29):
Well, you also
when you and I have discussed
this before, the fact that wereto get his passport did he have
a passport? Do you get apassport the day he was the day
before with Miyagi at thepassport place? Did he get a
passport so Mr. Miyagi? Wouldn'tknow when did he get a passport?
Jason Connell (01:01:43):
Is that why he
was behind me? Auggie? He got
his he's like, I'll meet yououtside in just a second. Yeah,
that suspect.
Sal Rodriguez (01:01:52):
And then Daniel
convinces Miyagi to let them go
to Okinawa with them. Yeah,
Jason Connell (01:01:57):
exactly. He
bought a ticket, you know,
several $100 He got a passport.
But Miyagi still could havesaid, No, thanks for no thanks.
He asked to talk him into it,and he lets him go. But that
Sal Rodriguez (01:02:10):
moment when
Daniel says, Thank you to Miyagi
for letting him go, thank youfor letting me go. And then
Miyagi says, No, Daniel, son,thank you, at that moment is
where kind of the tables getturned. And the student is there
to support the teacher.
Jason Connell (01:02:27):
This is true.
This is true. It now it's abuddy flick. So next, we're on
the airplane. And I know it's along flight. Well, you know,
firsthand. But what I thoughtabout immediately, Sal was the
fact that the entertainment onan international flight was a
good book.
Sal Rodriguez (01:02:46):
Yeah, there was
no movies, the right there was
no movie either in the seat infront of you. Or on a laptop.
That's it. You had a book or youslept, or you chatted that was
it? Oh, no, they
Jason Connell (01:02:56):
would show a
movie though. They did show like
one movie and they just told youwhat is going to be and then
everyone can look ahead. Theydidn't do that.
Sal Rodriguez (01:03:03):
Oh, they would
have the one big they would have
the one big screen up. Yeah,
Jason Connell (01:03:06):
they say the
screening will be the Black
Stallion. Yeah. Yeah,
Sal Rodriguez (01:03:14):
screening is
whatever we are going to play
and you're gonna watch it. And I
Jason Connell (01:03:18):
don't even know
at one point in time, they
probably didn't have individualheadsets at one point in time, a
pod will just turn it up loud.
And if you don't want to see it,sorry, I am sure that that was
that happened at one point intime. What do you say? says he
loves her but he doesn't want toleave her. Alright, so now
Miyagi then shares that hisfather also train Sato. And Sal,
(01:03:40):
what else did we learn aboutwhere this conflict was going?
Had Miyagi stayed in Okinawa,what would have happened?
Sal Rodriguez (01:03:55):
Okay, so Daniel
is still probably reeling off
his victory of the all Valleyunder 18 tournament. Now, but
what Miyagi let let him know isthat no, you don't understand.
He wants to fight me to thedeath. This is not, there's not
gonna be a referee or judges. Hewants to fight me. And the
winner is the one who's stillliving. That's what he says in
(01:04:17):
so many words. So that's when welearn that this is not just a
fight, you know, to tap out.
This is not a tap out fight.
This is a fight to the death.
Jason Connell (01:04:26):
No. So have you
ever been in a fight to the
death?
Sal Rodriguez (01:04:31):
I've been flight
where I thought I might die. But
no, I have not been
Jason Connell (01:04:36):
mean either.
Thank goodness. Alright. So assoon as we get off the plane,
not a bit later. I love how wesee the branding. And it's plain
as day and there's this hugesign for Sato and this is before
we even see Sato in person andit says, learn karate at
Okinawa's biggest Dojo withMaster Sato. For 40 years
(01:05:00):
official instructor of the USmilitary proven in combat. So
South Sudan was a big deal.
Well,
Sal Rodriguez (01:05:10):
he's not only a
big deal in karate, because if
you look at the entirety of thisview, so you see the Sato karate
poster, but surrounding the Satokarate poster, or these other
smaller ads on the left Satobank and Sato reality, and on
the upper right, Sato, escortservice. So this guy has his
(01:05:33):
rods and a lot of fires.
Jason Connell (01:05:35):
He showed us and
he stayed there and he became
very successful. And it allstarted from learning from Mr.
Miyagi his father, who's alsoMr. Miyagi, actually. So that
leads to the question, what isMr. Miyagi? His name?
Sal Rodriguez (01:05:52):
How many movies?
Wait, hang on, we have seen 20episodes of Cobra Kai. We have
seen what five karate KidsMovies You know, you got the
Karate Kid. 123 And then you gotthe sequel? The sequels? We
still don't know what Mr. Miyagiis. First name is?
Jason Connell (01:06:07):
No. So how do we
refer to his father? You know
what, Mr. Miyagi senior Mr.
Miyagi Jr.
Sal Rodriguez (01:06:14):
in the credits of
the movie of this here movie,
and the credits. Miyagi isfather, that's what he's known
as.
Jason Connell (01:06:20):
Okay, so they
both learn how to fight from
Yagis father, they were probablyequal, I'm assuming Miyagi is
very skilled. And we'll get intosockos disposition later, he's a
bigger man. And the way hetalks, but he stayed and became
very successful, obviously, justjust see this one poster or see
(01:06:43):
this one kiosk, and you have anidea. So they walk out kind of
hail a cab, but there's thischaracter there and his name is
chosen, which is a pretty funnyname. And chosen is there to
pick them up from the airport.
And Sal, I immediately do nottrust this guy. There's just
something about him and andmaybe it's that super heavy
(01:07:05):
handshake, plus this fly collarand gold chains, but I don't
know. I don't trust him. Andmuch like I felt about Crease
all along. Although Chris I'mintrigued by because he's
charismatic. This guy I don'tlike I don't trust him at all.
How did you feel?
Sal Rodriguez (01:07:24):
Well, I think
that it's normal to have a
mistrust of people with an openpolyester shirt with chains.
It's just a normal instinct andperson Showzen is chosen is
played by actor Ug okumoto. Histwo sidekicks Joey Mia Shima is
Toshio and Mark HYAH she asToro, Toro we don't see at first
(01:07:46):
we see chosen and Toshio, theygreet Miyagi and Daniel at the
airport, picking them up in a1958 Cadillac, Fleetwood,
beautiful car, very beautifulcar, actually. And yeah, that
moment where he gives them theextra firm handshake, and then
he does this little thing, whichI do know, I used to watch in
karate movies from the 60s and70s. He does this little extra
(01:08:09):
tag at the end of hisstatements, if you listen to his
words, he doesn't at least threefour times in the movie and he
doesn't hear for the first timeis where he says, I hope your
stay here is a pleasant one.
Yeah, he does a little. Yeah, hedoes that at the end. I love
that because that's such karate.
In the old days, Kung Fuvillains. Do that Allah. Oh, you
(01:08:30):
think you're gonna be big in histongue. So he gives that extra
firm handshake and for sure atthat moment, any guy maybe some
women too, but any guy who'sever shaken another man's hand,
you know, these guys that dothis death grip handshake. And
that's exactly what he does.
It's a show of dominance. AndDaniel says that but he and
Miyagi get into this 1958Cadillac, Fleetwood,
Jason Connell (01:08:52):
good point. Well
said and I would say the only
positive that I can think aboutthat is going on with the
current state of affairs in ourcountry in our world is the fact
that a heavy handshake isprobably a thing of the past.
Imagine handshake in general.
Yeah, exactly. A handshake ingeneral is probably like an
(01:09:13):
assault it's probably no longeracceptable so I have you want it
that you're not going to seethose for years to come?
Sal Rodriguez (01:09:25):
Well, you know
what, I think we will live to
see the day where someone willsay officer arrest that man,
they shook my hand
Jason Connell (01:09:32):
and they
attempted to shake my hand
that's attempted murder. Yeah,so don't trust him but at this
point in time, Mr. Miyagi thinksthat hey, you know they know I'm
coming to town they sent someoneto pick me up that's great. But
right away post handshakebecause Miyagi did not see this
take place. Right away, Mr.
Miyagi notices they're going thewrong direction, away from the
(01:09:54):
village. And where does chosendrive them to.
Sal Rodriguez (01:10:02):
Well, I have to
mention the music chosen puts on
some music. To to he's toattempt to like, Hey, you're old
you like this music that musicthat he put on in the car that
chosen put on was calledfascination waltz. And if you
look at trivia is the same songthat was playing at the country
(01:10:24):
club party in the first KarateKid movie so long there at that
Country Club. That song isplaying. So yeah, realizes, yes.
Jason Connell (01:10:31):
I recognize that.
I didn't recognize it to be thatbut I knew it was that time and
era and I always liked that. Ithink even Caddyshack had a
scene where they had a verysimilar song if not the same
song, but good spot. Nice. Nicejob.
Sal Rodriguez (01:10:44):
So Miyagi though
realizes Yes, like you said he
realizes something's amiss. Hesays a village south. Why we go
north now. Now I got to be clearhere. Okay. And I'm being
absolutely truthful here. Ifigured this out myself. And
then I validated it lateronline. So Miyagi says the
village so they landed in? Nah,ha. They were at Naha airport.
(01:11:04):
He says village South why we gonorth. Now. They are supposed to
go north, because Kadena wherewe're going to visit Kadena Air
Base we're going to meet in amoment is north of Naha. And
Tomi village is in Kadena, whichis north of nah. So they got the
geography kind of screwed uphere. I have to fault the
production on this. But heshould have said, village north.
(01:11:25):
Why do we go south now that'swhat Miyagi should have said to
be geographically correct.
Jason Connell (01:11:31):
But either way,
they weren't taking them into
the village. They were takingthem to some hanger. So they
could meet Sato. And now we getto confront Sato who, despite
all of the riches, and all ofhis prestige and power is still
has this vendetta against Miyagias if it was yesterday.
Sal Rodriguez (01:11:55):
Sato played by
actor Danny kamekona. I liked
the first thing that he says tome how you the first his first
words, he hasn't seen his oldfriend in 45 years, the first
thing he says, So callate, youreturn. I love that.
Jason Connell (01:12:11):
That's it. It's
on. Just like that's the first
the first thing. And thebackground, I could see another
huge building and it had sockosname on that. So we get he, he
owns this town. So they have anexchange. And we know that the
stakes are still very high.
Miyagi is not just going to popin and see his father and then
get out of town. He's going tohave to deal with Sato
Sal Rodriguez (01:12:33):
while Sato I
believe says if I'm not mistaken
in the actual quote, you see,Father, then you'll see me.
Jason Connell (01:12:41):
That's it. And
then there, will there even get
a ride? They're just left totheir left there. And they've
got Yeah, they've got to get acab and now they're at the
village but this village theyget to is now a US military
base.
Sal Rodriguez (01:12:57):
Yeah, so they
arrive in a taxi. The cabbie
seems lost. He doesn't know Tomivillage so they arrive upon
this. They're doing constructionthere's military guys. So
they're asking where's TommyVillage? Now? I don't know why
the cab he doesn't know wheretold me villages as a cab
driver. Right. They greet asoldier. The soldier says this
is Kadena Air Base. In otherwords, told me village used to
be here, but now it's Kadena AirBase.
Jason Connell (01:13:18):
Now we know what
happened to the village. So they
find the right place. Thingshave changed. I mean, hey,
Miyagi has been gone for twoyears things change. And the
first person we meet is Kumiko,who's played by Tamlyn Tomita
her first movie, but she hasgone on to have an incredible
(01:13:40):
career. I mean, countless showsand movies, but it all started
here. Yeah, and she is. Andwhere was she from? Sal? Well,
Sal Rodriguez (01:13:49):
originally from
Okinawa, born in Okinawa. 20
years old at the time of thismovie. Absolutely beautiful. I
mean, I'm a little tongue tietalking about her she I just
think she's so beautiful anddoes a fantastic job. And this
is indeed her debut role. So welearn that Kumiko is Yuki A's
Nice. Now you ka the former loveof Mr. Miyagi, right?
Jason Connell (01:14:12):
So now we meet
UK, and it's a beautiful scene
you have you know, her andMiyagi seeing each other for the
first time and 40 years. But wealso learned that UPA not only
did not marry Sato, but she wasnever married. Yeah, it's kind
of a sad thing to hear thatsomeone didn't get married
(01:14:34):
because who knows why, but shenever got that opportunity.
Miyagi probably only makes himfeel worse, Sal. I mean, if he
come back and Yuki aid had afamily, he could feel happy for
her. But now he's probably evensuper hard on himself for
leaving, and it's just reallyemotional. And that's the
emotional chord of this entirefilm is their relationship and
(01:14:58):
Yagis regret and regret thehidden I get to spend the last
40 years with his father. Andthat's what got me. That's what
made this movie compelling. Andthat's why I like that this was
such a departure from the firstfilm. And we weren't just
prepping for all valley to,although I've been really cool,
but I love that this has thisstoryline in it. It's more of an
(01:15:21):
adult storyline,
Sal Rodriguez (01:15:23):
even though the
original movie has the love line
with Daniel and Ali. I do thinkamid the romantic backdrop of
Okinawa, we see thereinvigoration of UTA and Mr.
Miyagi there over the body ofhis ill father. They are having
their reconnection. Now, by theway, I just want to give a
(01:15:45):
couple of cool trivia here.
Miyagi is dad, played by actorCharlie Teddy moto actually died
only two years after the filmingof this. And Nobu McCarthy, who
plays Yuki, I think has aninteresting story. Born in
Canada, raised in Japan lived inthe US then died in Brazil in
2002, at age 67, and was alsoonce Miss Tokyo. So I think had
(01:16:08):
a very storied and interestinglife.
Jason Connell (01:16:12):
Wow, yeah, she's
very attractive and really great
in this role. So next, we seeMiyagi and he's training in the
dojo, and he shares the familyhistory with Daniel as well as
the secret to Miyagi familykarate.
Sal Rodriguez (01:16:29):
Yeah, this is
where we first learned about the
den den dicho hand drum. Now Ido want to say as a point of
reference, and I'm prettycertain it's not spoken at all
in this movie is the phraseMiyagi dough. Now Miyagi dough
we know about from Cobra Kai,Miyagi dough karate, but there
is no reference to Miyagi dough.
And throughout this movie atsome early called Miyagi family
(01:16:49):
karate,
Jason Connell (01:16:52):
I think Daniel
coined that phrase out of
respect.
Sal Rodriguez (01:16:55):
Okay, so that was
not original. He coined it later
with Cobra Kai.
Jason Connell (01:16:58):
And so there's
another quick scene here which
we've talked about on Cobra Kaibecause they have a flashback to
this very scene. But while we'rehere in the midst of this movie,
where it came from, we have totalk about it because I always
loved it. So this leads toMiyagi showing Daniel the rules.
And Sal please tell us what ruleone and rule two are.
Sal Rodriguez (01:17:22):
There they are in
the Miyagi family dojo and upon
the walls in the sort of scrollsvertical scrolls, I believe
Japanese writing is done up anddown also like Chinese writing,
rule number one, karate fordefense only, and then they go
back Rule number two, First,learn rule number one. So there
(01:17:42):
we go. That is that is theoverall theme of Miyagi karate
or Miyagi dough later, karatefor defense only,
Jason Connell (01:17:50):
and that's very
true Miyagi takes a defense
approach with crease, even withthe Cobra Kai's when he had to
save Daniel, and they all havethe wonderful skeleton outfits
on shore. He used his offense,but its defense first and then
offense to kind of you know, putdown the attack. It's a
(01:18:11):
wonderful tribute to that style.
And I love that but Rule numbertwo is just that it's so
perfect. See, but
Sal Rodriguez (01:18:18):
this but but
later on, and I say later on,
we're going to visit this again.
Yeah, yep. Miyagi is dad taughtSato. So theoretically, Sato and
Miyagi would be sort of at thesame level. Sato teaches chosen,
Mr. Miyagi teaches Danielson. Sotheoretically, Chosun and Daniel
son both have the same skill setor near same and know the same
(01:18:41):
secrets, going back to theDenton dicho handrim. So later
on, I'm going to think whydoesn't Chosun know about Denden
dicho.
Jason Connell (01:18:53):
So now we explore
the village and Sal, everyone
seems to recognize Miyagi andit's been so long
Sal Rodriguez (01:19:01):
Well, I think
that we have to assume his
father is a renowned martialarts teacher. It seems like
people are happy to see meAuggie. I don't think people are
I mean, except for Satoobviously. I think he's seen as
just sort of a old hometown boy,come back to visit. Okay, so
(01:19:21):
Miyagi and Daniel are walkingalong and Miyagi is teaching
more about the village historyto Daniel, we look over we see
Ishiro playing music for thekids in front of the Shinto
shrine. Miyagi keeps tellingmore about the village history
to Daniel Kumiko teaches theOban dance to little kids now
Oban, which will be quiterelevant as we progress in this
(01:19:43):
movie. Oban is a JapaneseBuddhist custom to honor the
spirits of one's ancestors butthat gives a little bit of
history on the dance and thefestival which we will be seeing
shortly.
Jason Connell (01:19:55):
Okay. And the
dance is really beautiful and
can make us really good at it.
She's good with the kids andIt's a nice sequence. So now
Sato arrives along with chosenwho's got a different shirt, but
yet same flight color and goldchains and Santos have set and
he wants to fight right then inthere until UTA steps in. So So
what do you think would havehappened? Had she not stepped
(01:20:21):
in? Okay, so
Sal Rodriguez (01:20:23):
this is where
Sato says, You give me no choice
and he takes off his jacket andhe starts to get into position,
ready to strike. Miyagi? Well, Idon't think Miyagi would have
been there. I think in an actualfight. And I say this as a fight
fan. I say this as somebodywho's been watching martial
arts, his whole life mixedmartial arts since 93. I think
that Miyagi would be too fastfor Sato. Now, you don't want to
(01:20:47):
get hit by a guy like Sato. Youdo not want him to connect with
you. But I think that you canelude him. And that Miyagi is
fast enough to get out of theway of Santos punches. So in an
actual fight between Miyagi andSato, I think that if Miyagi
just stayed out of Satoshis wayhe could possibly wear down Sato
tire out Sato and then finallydefeat him in the end.
Jason Connell (01:21:06):
Okay, I like it.
Yeah, probably be a great fight,but it's not going to happen
right here. So when UK breaks itup, she also summons them to go
see Mr. Miyagi his father, whois on his last breath, if you
will. And so Sato and Miyagi goto see his father, and they hold
hands, kind of out of tradition,I guess. Although there's this
(01:21:29):
beneath the surface, they'reabout to kill each other,
literally. And they have to putit aside and mourn together. So
it's kind of a classic moviedeath as we see the last moment
of his life. And so I just wishthat we had gotten to know him a
little bit better. I know thatwe showed up and he's already on
(01:21:50):
his deathbed. And there's that,but it would have been nice to
see some flashbacks to a littlebit younger Miyagi, who could
have played himself just lookinga little bit younger, you know,
take some of the gray out. And amaybe a young Sato, I think that
this movie could have used justa little bit of that. I don't
know what your thoughts are. ButI didn't feel enough for Miyagi
(01:22:11):
father because I just didn'tknow him. But I felt for Miyagi,
Mr. Miyagi. That is,
Sal Rodriguez (01:22:19):
I think that the
movie at this point is letting
us know that the Father is sortof an ancillary character to
propel the plot, and not asimportant because what at that
moment though, on his deathbed,if you recall, the father Miyagi
his father, grabs Satoshis handgrabs Miyagi his hand and puts
their hands together he tries tomake peace with the two of them.
(01:22:41):
Miyagi is okay with Sato is theone who pulls away so the father
wanted to give peace between hisson and his number one student
other than a son. And theunfortunately Sokka was not
having it Miyagi was okay withit. And yeah, he just kind of
just kind of plops definitely acinematic death, where he just
goes, it's almost like sayinghis last words like those were
(01:23:01):
his last words. His last wordswere, I want peace with you,
too. Those were his last words.
Jason Connell (01:23:07):
Whenever nice to
see some sort of flashback or
something, or even photos orjust just give me a little bit
more. I was yearning for that.
Sal Rodriguez (01:23:15):
After this movie,
and after Cobra Kai, I am
looking forward to the entireuniverse opening up not only for
the future, but in the past. Iwant to see little Miyagi I want
to see little Sato. I want tosee them as kids. They obviously
grew up together, they spenttheir whole entire life
together, up until Miyagi was 18and headed out due to disgracing
(01:23:40):
Serratos. Honor. Otherwise, yes,I would love to explore their
paths. And I think that leavesit open to a whole nother
franchise to come along andexplore Miyagi is childhood in
Okinawa.
Jason Connell (01:23:53):
Yes. So then Sato
says you have three days to
mourn and then fight. So if I'mMr. Miyagi, hey, guess what? I'm
out in two days, we can justavoid this whole thing. I got
two days to mourn. Y'all hangout with UTA showed the ideal
route them out of here. Sothings are in motion we're going
(01:24:16):
to be able to spend three daysmourning and tying up some loose
ends and rekindling some thingsand there's least pause now
which we didn't have beforebecause Sato was ready to go to
blows you know, just a fewminutes ago. And I love when
they when everyone morning, litthe candles on a little What
(01:24:37):
would you say if that is howlittle rafts for these candles
are?
Sal Rodriguez (01:24:41):
Well by
appearance for any of you
familiar with the southwesterncustom of luminarias where they
sort of a paper bag with acandle inside, right? So this is
yeah, this is very similar, justa different decor, and obviously
they float so it's like themputting these colorful black
luminarias with a candle insideon the wall. otter, almost
(01:25:02):
sending off your loved one. Soin this scene they're all
gathered about. And they're allputting these luminaria type
little rafts on the water tosignify the departure of the
loved one. In this case, Miyagiis father,
Jason Connell (01:25:15):
that's very
touching, and especially a great
visual, it's at night, you haveBill Conte score, swelling, it
was really a beautiful moment.
And just a nice closure to thepace passing.
Sal Rodriguez (01:25:28):
And also at that
very moment, if you notice, Sato
is right there next to him. Soyeah, there is a pause, there's
a pause here. And I'm almostreminded of they say, We're
taught that during the CivilWar, the north and south would
take a break for Christmas. So Iliked that. It's like, let's
take a break here, you know, andI really liked that a lot. So
(01:25:49):
here, there's an actual break,he does give him three days, I
don't think it's very long, buthe does give him some time to
mourn. And there is a momentarypeace here.
Jason Connell (01:25:58):
And this leads to
perhaps, I would say, for me,
anyway, the most emotional scenein the entire franchise. And
it's when Daniel shares aboutlosing his father, and to your
earlier point, here's thedisciple kind of leading the
teacher, and he's sharing aboutlosing his father and you can
(01:26:20):
see the pain in Miyagi his eyes.
In fact, Miyagi doesn't sayanything for this entire
sequence. And it's the firsttime that he's vulnerable, and
human. And we've never seen himlike this before. And while this
scene is going on, from anacting standpoint, just the
scenery, it's such a beautifulshot of them sitting next to
(01:26:40):
each other, and Daniel puts hisarm around him as the sunrays
come through the clouds above,and there's a banzai just in
front of them. And it's justit's such a magnificent moment.
So it just, it makes me tear upevery time I see it.
Sal Rodriguez (01:26:59):
It really is.
It's beautiful in every way.
It's beautiful for thecharacters and for fans of The
Karate Kid universe. But alsofrom a naturalistic perspective.
I have been to Japan and thosesunsets are beautiful. They have
some beautiful sunsets there. Soyeah, this was a fantastic scene
in every way. And if you noticeon the right hand side of the
screen is a little bonsai thereas well. Yeah, so just that two
(01:27:20):
shot from the back with theclouds and the ocean and yeah,
Daniel with his arm around, Mr.
Miyagi, powerful scenefantastically acted scene.
Definitely, definitelybeautiful.
Jason Connell (01:27:31):
And Miyagi is not
even really crying or bawling,
but there's just tears in hiseyes. I mean, that's, that's
incredible moment for him as anactor, and all of our collective
hearts break to see Miyagi, whois this rock. Like you said
earlier, we've all wanted himMiyagi in our life. So to see
him in pain, it's like too muchfor us to bear. You know, it's
(01:27:54):
just too much. And we've neverseen it before.
Sal Rodriguez (01:27:57):
But this is also
another example of how Daniel
steps up to the plate. Everytime Daniel has to do something,
whether it be fight someone, orcomfort someone. I mean, you
know what, the more I aminvolved in the Karate Kid
universe, the more I actuallyfall in love with Daniel's
(01:28:17):
character. I really do. I thinkthat he's way more multifaceted
than he would appear at first,especially based on the first
movie, you know, he comesaround, he's like a belligerent
teenager, he's annoyed with hismother in the very beginning of
the movie. But you see hisevolution, and you see how he
changes and grows. I'm veryproud of broth, macho as an
actor, and very proud of Danielis a character.
Jason Connell (01:28:38):
Yeah. And I think
that gets lost a lot as well, is
that Ralph Macho is anincredible actor. And for some
reason, that just getsoverlooked. Sometimes I think he
doesn't get the credit is duebecause it's so convincing of a
role. Daniel Russo that peoplejust take it for granted, but
he's incredible. He really is.
Even on Cobra Kai, you just seeit like, this guy's got range,
(01:29:01):
and he can turn on a dime and bethis guy and be charming. And
he's really, he's reallysomething. And there's a reason
why these movies work so well.
There's a reason why 35 yearslater, there's a TV show. That's
wonderful. And it's based onthese characters because they
(01:29:23):
not only had the story, right,and they got the right director
and they got the right producer,but they get some incredible
talent, and Pat Merida and roughMojito. So here we are, we leave
this great scene. And now we'reback to training. And we see
Miyagi and Daniel and Daniel Ibelieve is improving. I think
(01:29:45):
he's a better fighter now thanhe was at all valley. He's
learning more and sell I lovethis flying cable technique.
Please describe this for ourlisteners.
Sal Rodriguez (01:29:58):
Well, Miyagi
wants to connect He knew the
training so this scene opens upwith them doing some martial
arts training. Then he takes himdown to this cannery, which was
a part of his childhood therewas owned by Santos father and
Santos father gave me Auggie,his first job at this cattery.
But while Miyagi worked thisCanary, he would use this. I
(01:30:21):
mean, jeez, I'm not a fisherman.
It's this swinging hook. It's adouble sided hook. It's about as
big as an axe, it's prettylarge. And it swings. And you
have to get out of its way or itliterally impaled you. So he
uses this as a training device.
He demonstrates Daniel wants todo it. Daniel wants to say I
(01:30:43):
want to try it. At first, Miyagiis reluctant, because this is a
this is a deadly trainingexercise, literally. But then
Miyagi says, Okay, fine, and heattaches a block of wood. Now,
when he's attaching this blockof wood, I'm thinking to myself,
Okay, maybe he's not going todie, but he still can be
seriously injured. When a blockof wood is flying at your face,
Jason Connell (01:31:03):
the impact of
this is still going to be
strong. Yes. So
Sal Rodriguez (01:31:06):
Daniel convinces
Miyagi, Miyagi says, Fine, let's
the swinging rope go with thelog on the end. And Daniel jumps
out of the way, he doesn't knowhow to properly get out of the
way. So he kind of jumps out ofthe way falls into the water,
right next to this rope swingingthingy, at the can it
Jason Connell (01:31:23):
hits, it hits
really hard, and he would have
been hit hard. And I thought itwas like cork, but whatever,
it's coming down really hot. Andso true to Daniel's form, you
know, he sometimes attemptsthings that he's not prepared to
do. But there's a second one ofthese hooks up there. And this
one, since Miyagi is coming downthe ladder, there's not a cork
(01:31:47):
on the end. So this is literallya hook, Daniel gets back up out
of the water, and he pulls thislever, and the next one comes
down full speed unprotected,there's a huge hook, you could
very easily get impaled, getkilled. And so what happens this
time?
Sal Rodriguez (01:32:05):
Well, this is the
initiation of the drum
technique. Yes, this is where westart to see the drum technique
employed, as brought to usoriginally by the dead and die
coup, and we will see later aswell not to spoil. So now Daniel
employs the drum technique,which involves a twist, getting
out of the way. And this hookgoes, so close, actually cuts
(01:32:27):
part of a shirt. That's howclose this hook was. So that's
how, how sheer that space wasbetween him and that hook. So he
barely moves out of the way,employing the drum technique.
Jason Connell (01:32:38):
And then the hook
goes into this wood and just
sticks with his piece of theshirt with it. And he's like,
Oh, that was close. But you cantell that what I liked about
that moment, is that he isfearless style. And he is a fast
learner. Now he doesn't have itdown yet. But I know from
(01:32:58):
martial arts, too, and allsports that I've played, it's
about repetitions. And, andthat's how I am it's like, do it
1000 times and master. ButDaniel's one of these guys, at
least in these movies, that hepicks things up very quickly.
Sal Rodriguez (01:33:12):
The word prodigy
is not used not much in our
culture, let alone with thesemovies or Cobra Kai. But I think
you could probably say at thispoint that Daniel would be
considered a prodigy.
Jason Connell (01:33:22):
Yeah, well, he
has to because if he was on a
normal trajectory, to become ablack belt, or be doing these
things, these movies that wouldnever pan out. So he has to kind
of be that character, you know,they can go from zero to 60 very
quickly. So not that he's aMiyagi he's class, but that he
is ahead of others, if you will.
And so the next thing we haveis, Daniel is now going to
(01:33:48):
expose chosen in thisinteresting sequence. If you
want to elaborate a little bit,
Sal Rodriguez (01:34:00):
Daniel meets for
the first time officially each
row now each row was the oldfriend of Miyagi, who was
playing that instrument there atthe Shinto temple for the kids.
So each row drops a wholecartload of carrots. Right
before Daniel, Daniel helps himwith the carrots. They then go
take the wheelbarrow of carrotsover to the scales and weights
(01:34:22):
that are set up by chosen andhis thugs. Now, if you see a guy
like chosen operating a scale,you pretty much can guess
there's something crooked goingon here. And that's what we find
because as they approach thescales, there's a movement
somebody bumps into the scales,these weights fall down, and we
learn and realize that theseweights are little false
(01:34:44):
weights. So therefore the scalesare not true and are not
properly calibrated. And chosenand his buddies. Maybe Sato is
behind this. I mean, we don'tknow if Sato is behind this
exactly. But we see chosen andhis buddies are ripping off
these villagers of theirvegetables.
Jason Connell (01:35:01):
and chosen knows
it's Daniel that's done this and
he's pissed but he has all ofthese villagers coming after him
so chalk that one up to Danielhe won that battle
Sal Rodriguez (01:35:11):
but chosen gets
mobbed by the villagers the
villagers start attackingchosen. Hey you're cheating us
so it's a good moment to seechosen get mobbed by these
villagers. I wish we could haveseen him get attacked and beaten
up, but unfortunately we don't.
Jason Connell (01:35:22):
Right. So now we
see Miyagi. And he confesses
that he should have taken UTAwith him to America. Now, so
that's just really sad. Now tohave that kind of regret really
reminds me of the ClintEastwood, Meryl Streep film
Bridges of Madison County toknow that they turn their back
(01:35:44):
on what could have been, andthat that's very sad.
Sal Rodriguez (01:35:47):
Yeah, the what
could have been or the one that
got away stories. Very sad.
Yeah, definitely.
Jason Connell (01:35:53):
So now Kumiko is
teaching Daniel the dance. And
again, Sal, he's a quicklearner. He's picking this thing
up right away.
Sal Rodriguez (01:36:06):
He is and what I
like about Daniel, especially in
this moment, we see it. At firsthe doesn't want to he doesn't
want to do this dance out hereon the road. But yet he does it.
He does it anyway, even thoughhe's not. He's very reluctant,
you know. So I like that, youknow, you don't have to want to
do something yet you do it. So Irespect that. So he starts
getting his dance lesson fromKumiko. She shows him what's
(01:36:29):
called the bond dance, whichagain, we're going to be
visiting later. And then at thatmoment, it seems like every time
Daniel and Kumiko are startingto get closer starting to get
more intimate. Somethinghappens. And again, we see now,
yeah, chosen and his thugsarriving. Chosen takes the
Denden dicho from Daniel shoves.
Kumiko kicks, Daniel. And thenas they're walking away, Kumiko
(01:36:55):
throws a tomato at chosen hitshim in the back of his polyester
shirt.
Jason Connell (01:37:00):
Right. So this
really reminds me of the beach
scene from the original KarateKid, here comes this bully, and
Daniel's bested yet again. Butthis is also another iral for me
on this film, as much as I likeit, and it has a lot of
strengths. It's got someweaknesses, and just, it's
(01:37:21):
chosen yet again. He's alwaysthere. He's got nothing else to
do, but try to rip off villagersand hang out with these bullies,
and pester Daniel and I thinkeven threatens to kill him in
the same.
Sal Rodriguez (01:37:37):
Oh, yeah, he says
if you disrespect my honor,
again, I will kill you. Yeah, soDaniel isn't even doing
anything. No, nothing. Yeah. Andyet this guy, his honor is all
bent out of shape because ofDaniel. You know, what, is it
possible? And maybe do we learnin this scene? That it's
possible that Chosun has had athing for Kumiko? Because
(01:37:58):
remember when he throws theshirt back he's like, you know
you like it like he sayssomething like that some sort of
smart as you know, you like myshirt? Like maybe he's known
Kumiko maybe he's had a crush onher. She never felt the same
way. Maybe there's a littlesomething there's remember
there's a history there inOkinawa before Daniel got there.
Jason Connell (01:38:14):
Yeah, I don't
know. History repeats itself.
This is a very Miyagi Sato UTAstoryline for sure. So they walk
away and stumble on to yetanother beautiful scene. And I
noticed that most of thesebeautiful touching scenes are
with the adults in this movie.
And I think that's maybe waslost on me when I saw the movie
(01:38:37):
for the first time. But as anadult, I'm more moved by it. But
yeah, we see Miyagi and UPAhaving a tea ceremony. And Sal,
why don't you explain that forus?
Sal Rodriguez (01:38:51):
Well, to the
casual observer, like myself, or
in this case, Daniel, you lookon you see two people in Japan,
drinking tea together, you don'treally know what's going on. So
Daniel asked, Kumiko, what'sgoing on? And that's when Kumiko
lets Daniel know, they arefalling in love again. So we
learned that this is a ceremony.
That is an expression of love.
Either reacquainted love or newlove.
Jason Connell (01:39:13):
Yeah, that's
pretty heavy, though. They're
falling in love again. Wow.
That's big.
Sal Rodriguez (01:39:19):
I like this. I
like it. I like ceremonies. And
that was one of the reasons whyyou select to go to church, not
necessarily that I went for allthe rules and so forth. But I
like ceremony. And that's whywhen you Yeah, when you look at
the tea ceremony later on. Ilike how every movement is
intentional. Ceremonial, isdeliberate. I like that stuff.
(01:39:39):
I've always enjoyed watchingceremonies occur. You probably
like structure as well. Yeah, Ikind of do. Maybe that's part of
it.
Jason Connell (01:39:46):
No, I'm really
drawn to martial arts because a
lot of it has to do with theceremonies or this the structure
or the way things are done. Andthen there's achievements and
you get to the next belt and soI'm really drawn to never had a
tea ceremony. which I think isreally cool, but I to share the
fondness for ceremonies. And Ithink that's why I've kind of
(01:40:08):
been so captured by martialarts. Okay, so now Daniel and
Kumiko are going exploring. Andwhile they do so, we hear the
infamous Peter Sutera trackglory of love.
Sal Rodriguez (01:40:24):
Yeah, and I think
it's an interesting moment
because the music starts to playas they start to go observe King
Shahar she's castle ruins and Ilike the words who just I don't
know if they just kind ofhappened. Or if Peters Matera
wrote it this way the lyricsjust like a knight in shining
armor from a long time ago, justin time I'm a save the day take
(01:40:47):
you to my castle far away asthey're at the castle. Did that
happen accidentally or was thaton purpose?
Jason Connell (01:40:53):
So why don't you
give us a little rendition of
the chorus from the song it's agreat track,
Sal Rodriguez (01:40:58):
just like a
knight in shining armor from a
long time ago. Just in time I'mgonna save the day ticket to my
castle far away. All right,there we go.
Jason Connell (01:41:09):
Great song. Yeah,
I'm not sure to answer your
question if it was written forthe scene was this song not
written for the soundtrack.
Sal Rodriguez (01:41:19):
This song was
originally scheduled for Rocky
for was it it was one of theRockies that they had hoped the
song to That's right. But yeah,but instead it was replaced by
another song and they decided touse this song for the erotica
too.
Jason Connell (01:41:33):
And Bill Conti
was supposed to be the composer
for Rocky four because he haddone rocky one through three
thus far and chose to do karatekid part two, but along with
Appleton they both came back andworked on Rocky five. So yeah,
so
Sal Rodriguez (01:41:49):
what happened was
glory of love was supposed to be
in Rocky but was instead, heartson fire was chosen over glory of
love for the Rocky films. Sothen the glory of Love came into
the Karate Kid too.
Jason Connell (01:42:00):
So now we're in
the city. And both Daniel and
Kimiko are looking at TVs in thewindow of a store. And she
shares her dream of being adancer. And then out of nowhere,
actor BD Wong appears. We'vealways loved BD Wong from many
movies and TV shows, includingJurassic Park and the Jurassic
(01:42:24):
worlds. And he invites him to adance. So she's dreaming of
being a dancer. And now she cango to this dance and show off
some moves.
Sal Rodriguez (01:42:34):
He's credited, I
think, as flyer kid. Yeah. Yeah.
And he's credited as Brad Wongwith two Ds, Brad won. And then
he became BD Wong. I'm curioushow Brad one became BT one but
yeah, so Brad Wong who we'veseen in on all these crime shows
here he has as a kid passing outflyers for dance on the street.
He does
Jason Connell (01:42:53):
look so great in
the scene like so out of place.
Here's this like, kid, you know,he looks like he's running a
Hollywood like extras castingand giving them a flyer. Sure.
Bring your friend. He's superexcited, upbeat. And next we see
Santos dojo. It's right acrossthe way and Daniel has to get a
(01:43:14):
closer look, of course. And ashe peeks of the window, very
reminiscent of Daniel, walkingup and looking through the
window at Cobra Kai. And he seeschosen is head of the class much
like Johnny Lawrence, and hetakes on four attackers, and of
course, best them all. Yeah, he
Sal Rodriguez (01:43:34):
has two guys. One
guy grabs his right arm, one guy
grabs his left arm. So you gottwo guys holding you. And then
you have two guys attacking youand you have chosen beats up
four guys in his class. Heessentially beats up four of his
students is what he does,
Jason Connell (01:43:46):
right? And they
train hard, very Cobra Kai style
here at Santos dojo. So they seethat and then Daniel wants to
keep moving, and they stumbleinto I guess it's a bar. Um, I
don't know if people are gettingdrunk in there, but it's kind of
like a bar and Kimiko isresistant. She doesn't want to
go in there. Because she says,you know, bad people, bad things
(01:44:07):
happen in there. But Daniel, youknow, he's stubborn as we know
he is and he takes them in. Andwe can see that gi 's are all
over the place. And one inparticular is attempting to
strike through sheets of ice andtell us who this particular Gi
(01:44:28):
is Sal.
Sal Rodriguez (01:44:29):
This guy is
credited as being gi number one.
His name is Clarence Gil yd Jr.
Jason Connell (01:44:35):
Well, Clarence
was an diehard and Top Gun so he
went on to be in some other bigmovies. I recognize him right
away. But he fails in hisattempt to hit through the
sheets of ice and for those whohaven't seen this film or it's
been a long time, there's thesesheets of ice. I don't know what
they about an inch thicker. I'mjust be guessing
Sal Rodriguez (01:44:58):
I probably say
about 18 inches tall. Oh, each
one and yeah, I would probablysay about an inch thick, I would
say,
Jason Connell (01:45:04):
and they have
them kind of slotted. So with
gaps in between, you've got tohit it Sal, I guess like with
kind of a side motion, you know,like a ridge. And because it may
be kind of, can you describethis to the listener at all,
Sal Rodriguez (01:45:17):
you would be
slicing at a horizontal chest
level, right? Because thesethings are in front of you, I
think what you should hope to dois that you hit the first one,
if you can break that first one,that first one breaks a second
one, that second one breaks, thethird one and cetera, et cetera.
So you really got to make surethat you can crack that first
one, hit it hard enough so thatit then subsequently breaks the
(01:45:37):
rest of them. But yeah, it'slike right in front of you. Six
slots, six pieces of icevertical, and then you got to
slice through them horizontallyand with a karate chop,
possible. I mean, I don't thinkI could do it.
Jason Connell (01:45:49):
I don't think gi
number one had six sheets of
ice, I think he only had threeor four.
Sal Rodriguez (01:45:54):
Yeah, and his
form was something to be
desired. I mean, again, I'vewatched enough fights to say he
had no prep, he had no poise, hehad no skill, he may be able to
fight in a barroom fight. Butwhen it came to, using proper
technique to slice these things,they left a lot to be desired,
Jason Connell (01:46:09):
right? So Gi,
number one, he fails, and he
overhears Daniel saying why hefailed. And of course, he says,
Hey, if you can do better, youknow, do it, go for it. And
Daniel has already figured itout. Again, back to my point
that he might be some sort ofprodigy, or at least a fast
learner. I'll give him that. Sohe's challenged. And so what
(01:46:32):
happens now?
Sal Rodriguez (01:46:33):
Well, he's
challenged, but he's not going
for it. You know, he doesn'twant to do it. He may think he
knows how to do it. But here heis, in a foreign country what
and this is only what eightmonths later after the all
Valley so he may not even be 18yet, we don't know when His
birthday is. So here he is avery young man or older
teenager, here on this island,being challenged by these
(01:46:53):
American GI guys to do somethingridiculous. So yeah, he may have
had his opinions on how itshould be done that he shared
that with Kumiko on how heshould use the hips and all
that, but he doesn't want to doit. And so he's like, I'm out of
here. And he wants to get out ofthere. And who arrives who
arrives of course chose,
Jason Connell (01:47:13):
of course. And he
doesn't just arrive style. He's
fully dressed in street clothes.
It wasn't two minutes earlier,that he was taking on four
attackers at sokos dojo, and hewas in his full Gi. And so now
we led to believe that hechanged, it looks like he
(01:47:33):
showered. And he did all thatand got over here in two minutes
and happy to know thatsomething's going on. And Daniel
is here, another irell from me.
Now these are starting to mountthese are starting to mount.
Sal Rodriguez (01:47:48):
I think it's
entirely possible that there was
more time elapsed between themseeing chosen in the dojo, and
then this icebreaking happen.
There was more time that elapsedthere, which I don't think the
movie properly displayed. Ithink they should have maybe
added another scene or we shouldhave seen the clock or
something. Because if youremember as the scene
progresses, who else arrives?
(01:48:10):
Everyone arrives?
Jason Connell (01:48:10):
I will get to
that. I know. But I still feel
even if that's the case, even ifyou're right. I wish we had
established it. I wish we hadcut to Miyagi and UPA and then
cut back. I wish we had cut tosomeone running to chosen and
the locker room and saying, youknow, blah, blah, blah, Daniels
(01:48:33):
over there doing this. I justwish there would have been
because these are the momentsthat I just can't stand when
things just don't make sense.
Now maybe there was a scene cut,you know, could have happened.
Sal Rodriguez (01:48:43):
Toshio sees them
as soon as Kumiko and Daniel
walk into the bar. Toshio,remember one of the thugs. Yeah,
he runs out, and he goes to getchosen. I could only imagine
that it's entirely possible thatif there wasn't a lot of time
elapse, then chosen wears hisclothes under his GI.
Jason Connell (01:49:01):
Or just comes in
and his GI. You know, I'm cool
with that.
Sal Rodriguez (01:49:06):
Maybe chosen even
thinks that that would be
disrespectful to the game. Maybe
Jason Connell (01:49:10):
we didn't do it
earlier in this film, either. So
maybe there's something to besaid for that. Yeah, I mean,
Sal Rodriguez (01:49:14):
you're not
supposed to walk around in your
gear or you know, you don't seepeople
Jason Connell (01:49:18):
walking around
their GI but if he had to go
over there so quickly, thatwould make more sense. Anyway,
but literally not 10 secondslater, Mr. Miyagi and UK are now
here and give it a beat sow andout of nowhere here Sato. So I
(01:49:39):
have no idea how on earth,everybody knew something was
brewing. And Daniel had gothimself in yet another pickle.
Yeah,
Sal Rodriguez (01:49:50):
it's such an
interesting convergence that
there's the village over there.
Here they are in the city, andyet everybody's everybody shows
up. Everybody shows up small
Jason Connell (01:49:58):
is the city.
There's sata stojo There's someTVs for sale at the store. And
then there's the place where theGI saying, Yeah, that's it. It's
all out there. If you're not atone, you're at one of the
others. So anyway, so now thebet is on it's $600, to hit
through six sheets of ice. Andso I believe six is the max that
this can hold. Am I mistaken?
Sal Rodriguez (01:50:21):
It looked pretty
full. Yeah, I think that this
only holds up to six, then theseguys are trying to do three. And
now here's Daniel trying to dosix.
Jason Connell (01:50:30):
Now Mr. Miyagi
gives some classic Miyagi
advice. And what does he say? So
Sal Rodriguez (01:50:36):
he tells Daniel,
to focus, and Daniel says, and
what are you going to do?
Jason Connell (01:50:41):
Pray. And thus
begins the breathing technique.
From the beginning of the film.
Sal Rodriguez (01:50:49):
This is where you
see that everything that Daniel
learns from Miyagi ends up beinga fight technique, or that he
can employ it. In his fighttechniques,
Jason Connell (01:51:01):
Sato oversees the
breathing technique and
recognizes it, because Miyagi isdoing it and Daniel's alongside
so he's getting him in the rightstate of mind. And this leads to
Daniel, who's never done thisbefore. By the way, it's not
like he got one shot at these.
No, he got the right state ofmind. And he hit it claim and
broke the first one, like yousaid, and succeeds. And what
(01:51:23):
happens after that.
Sal Rodriguez (01:51:29):
So Daniel is
successful at giving a karate
chop to these slats of ice.
Everybody's excited. They wonthe bet. They walk over to to
Sato sitting there I think in astate of shock, chosen doesn't
want to give him the money. Satomakes chosen give them the
money, they walk out and leavehim behind chosen very pissed
off about losing so much money.
(01:51:52):
And Sato they're in a state ofshock sitting there at the bar.
Jason Connell (01:51:56):
Exactly. And so
they walk out and Miyagi gives
Daniel half the money and says,you know, this is for college
because he spent around $300 onthe plane ticket, and they're
gonna go off for some Chinesefood. So yet again, chosen loses
that battle, but yet, we'restill in the mourning period. So
(01:52:17):
Sato is standing down at thispoint in time. So now we're at
the dojo, and Miyagi plays aprank on Daniel and fake hits
him and the growing and calls itWhat Sal
Sal Rodriguez (01:52:30):
primary target,
Jason Connell (01:52:32):
primary target.
And he got a real kick out ofthis moment, which I thought was
hilarious. Although this is someforeshadowing, so remember that.
Sal Rodriguez (01:52:41):
Remember that
every time Miyagi teaches you
something, you're gonna have touse it later.
Jason Connell (01:52:46):
Every time every
time. And then can we go brings
Daniel some dance clothes, whichis amazing that she has the
presence of mind to either makeor find or has access to dance
clothes, and sell. Have you everworn dance clothes like this? Do
(01:53:06):
you have any dance clothes?
Sal Rodriguez (01:53:08):
Well, no, because
I don't think at this moment in
time. We know that this is goingto be 1950s dance right now when
flyer boy Brad Wong brought theflyer to Kumiko and Daniel, he
just had come to the dancetonight. So she made him special
1950s apparel for tonight'sdance. She's no, no, no, I've
never had any. Nobody made meclothes. I never had any special
(01:53:31):
clothes to wear to the dance.
No. So
Jason Connell (01:53:33):
the next thing we
hear, of course, is chosen,
calling for Mr. Miyagi. And thenhe and his thug friends destroy
one of the gardens.
Sal Rodriguez (01:53:45):
Well, because he
says my uncle told me to come
pick you up. Your three days ofmourning are over. Right. And
then of course, Miyagi says I'mnot gonna go fight your uncle.
So then that's when chosen goesOkay, fine. And then they start
to destroy the garden that'schosen and Toshio and anyway,
the third guy.
Jason Connell (01:54:03):
Yeah, thug number
three. Step number three. So
Miyagi does decide to go visitSato and his beautiful home and
garden. And Sato is wearing aghee with a red belt, which gave
me pause for a moment Sal,because in my martial arts and
(01:54:25):
have keto, or I train itAmerican hapkido karate, the
belts go is such white, orange,yellow, green, blue, brown, red,
black, and then their seconddegree black, third degree
black, and up from there. Mymaster, for instance, is an
eighth degree black belt, so tosee Sato who we know to be, you
(01:54:49):
know, renowned and a master inhis own right. I didn't
understand why he was a redbelt. So I went online. I
researched it. And here's what Ifound out. I red belt is one of
several colored belts used insome martial arts to either
denote rank or differentiateopponents and a competition. And
(01:55:10):
some schools, especially thosewith lineage related to judo, a
red belt signifies ninth or 10thdegree Dan rank, the highest
rank attainable. So SOCO mustfall into that because he's
obviously reached the pinnacle,I would say,
Sal Rodriguez (01:55:30):
Well, I was so
wrapped up in him hitting an
inanimate piece of wood that Iactually didn't notice his belt.
Now I know you might havenoticed his belt, because you
recently obtained a higher beltin hapkido. Is that true?
Jason Connell (01:55:42):
I did. Thank
Sal Rodriguez (01:55:43):
you. Go ahead and
give us a humble brag. So you
went up? No, no, no, no. So whatbelt? Were you and where are you
at now.
Jason Connell (01:55:51):
So I will tell
you and the reason I'm excited
by this is because as you know,when I got involved with Cobra
Kai and wanting to do thispodcast, it tapped into what was
missing something that wasmissing in my life. And that was
martial arts. And I got backinto it and found the new dojo
and kind of started this journeyagain to pick up where I left
(01:56:11):
off and go much further. I hope.
So I was a white belt in thebeginning. And I tested and
became an orange belt severalmonths ago, but I recently
tested again, and I'm now ayellow belt. So I've gotten
white, orange, yellow.
Sal Rodriguez (01:56:28):
Is there a red
belt in your future? Or is it
only get up to the ninth degreeblack belts? Oh, no.
Jason Connell (01:56:33):
I mentioned the
red. Yeah, red is right before
Black Belt.
Sal Rodriguez (01:56:37):
Oh, okay. So you
will hit red but not that
ultimate red that Sato wears
Jason Connell (01:56:41):
no once you hit
the red it's right before the
black and then it's black fromthen on out.
Sal Rodriguez (01:56:46):
Okay, I never
knew about the red belt before
tonight. I never knew about it.
And by the way, congratulationson your recent belt of yellow
belt and I look forward toseeing your thank you continued
advancement. So okay, so Sato ishitting this wood. Miyagi
approaches him tries to reasonwith him he asked about the
wood. He asked Is this the woodthat we found that one time and
(01:57:06):
then sought two answers same?
What do you want and Miyagiwants to reason with him, Sato
is not having it walks away. AndI forgot what happens when he
walks away here. But Sato is notgoing for the reasoning of
Miyagi. And then he walks away.
And then Miyagi is left standingthere, kind of caressing the
wood. I think going back intime, probably thinking of the
(01:57:29):
lighter days, the fonder days ofwhen they were kids, and when
they found this piece of wood,but yeah, the scene ends with
Miyagi, just kind of there alonewith the piece of wood.
Jason Connell (01:57:39):
So Sal Sato had
chosen, go and get Miyagi to
bring him to him to fight to thedeath. Miyagi chose to show up
on his own. There he is, his onSantos property, how come he did
(01:57:59):
not fight him to the death,right here. And now?
Sal Rodriguez (01:58:03):
I think Sato must
realize that he came for other
purposes, and didn't come tofight. He has the sixth sense,
you know, when someone isthreatening toward you, or you
know, when someone is fearful ofyou, me, he's not like that in
this moment. So I think that itwas just his fighter sense, his
martial arts Sixth Sense, whichled them to realize that Miyagi
(01:58:23):
is not there to fight. But yeah,you're right. I hadn't thought
about that. That was right onthe coattails of chosen being
sent over to go get Miyagi. Andnow yeah, a beat or two later,
Miyagi shows up. So yeah, thatshould have been sockos cue. But
yeah, it wasn't. That's correct.
Jason Connell (01:58:37):
Maybe Sato
dislikes a crowd, or he's got to
be in a fighting mood, you know,and he was ready that one day
and then Miyagi his fatherpassed. And so he just wasn't
feeling it. And maybe he tookhis frustrations out on that
moment on that wood, which heprobably thought was Miyagi. And
maybe he was not as angry afterworking out some of that
(01:58:58):
tension. But yeah, this seemslike they're meandering around.
It's like, there's always areason why they're not going to
blows and that and that themecontinues in this whole movie
yet, maybe another eye roll forme. But that's just kind of how
it goes. So he leaves. You'reright, Santa walks away. He's
left. And so now Daniel andKimiko are at the dance. And as
(01:59:24):
we've already talked about, itis a glorified sock hop.
Something right out of the 50s.
Sal Rodriguez (01:59:29):
Yeah, so they're
at the dance. And this is where
we get into some more cooltrivia. I would call it a triple
whammy with happy days. Thetelevision show happy day. Oh,
yeah. Because not only is thesong rock around the clock that
was playing at this dance thatDaniel and Kumiko rat rocker on
the clock was the theme song forthe television show. Happy days.
Now. Noriyuki Pat Merida, whoplays Mr. Miyagi had a role as
(01:59:54):
Arnold. He was on 26 episodesfrom 1975 to 1983. And here's
the third Were we for Happy Daysin the last time, Nobu McCarthy,
who plays UK played Momo.
Arnold's fiance. Remember that'sthe role that Pat Morita played
on Happy Days in 1976. So that'sa triple happy days time
Jason Connell (02:00:18):
went UTA played
his fiancee, Yuki a played
Sal Rodriguez (02:00:22):
Momo, on an
episode of Happy Days. Momo was
Arnold's fiance on an episode in1976. That's right.
Jason Connell (02:00:31):
That's awesome. I
did not know that. That's really
cool.
Sal Rodriguez (02:00:34):
I find it all I
bring that information to you.
Jason Connell (02:00:36):
Thank you, sir.
So back to the dance. It's funnyhow Daniel was very reluctant to
dance earlier with Kimiko andthen picked it up in other
traditional dance and enjoyed itand had some fun with it. But I
had no idea Sal, that Danielcould do this 50s dance. And he
was out there strutting hisstuff. And apparently, he
(02:00:59):
learned all this from hismother, which is hilarious.
Sal Rodriguez (02:01:04):
He did a really
great job at the sock hop and I
gotta tell you as soon as hewalks into the dance, I started
having PTSD going back to theHalloween dance. That was only
nine months earlier. Right? Goodpoint. I cannot relax in this in
the scene yet.
Jason Connell (02:01:20):
So anytime in
this entire film. We're having a
good moment. It is quicklyfollowed up by an appearance
from chosen and true to formchosen and his thug friends
arrive at the dance.
Sal Rodriguez (02:01:36):
Yeah, chosen is
the ultimate cock blocker in
human form.
Jason Connell (02:01:41):
Yeah, absolutely
is. And what happens next Now,
Sal Rodriguez (02:01:46):
Daniel gets
roughed up, chosen takes Daniels
money, which Chosun believes ishis money just from losing the
bed. Please still as the moneyreturns the wallet dropping it
on the ground. So while Danielis kneeled down, grabbing his
own wallet, that's where heremembers primary target. And at
this moment, one of the thugshas Kumiko in a rear will be
(02:02:10):
called a rear choke. So whileDaniels down there remember his
primary target and puncheschosen? Right in the family
jewels?
Jason Connell (02:02:17):
Yes, the family
jewels. So yeah, I think Kimiko
is kind of an A Johnny Lawrencehold of which crease had even
earlier in the film, if I'm notmistaken.
Sal Rodriguez (02:02:28):
Yeah, it would
almost be a rear naked choke. I
don't know if if we're nakedchoke has to do with the leg
wrap around to I think if youjust get somebody with a neck
choke from the back, it's Ithink it's called a rear naked
choke.
Jason Connell (02:02:38):
So yet another
sequence that never gets too out
of hand, although Daniel didtake a hit, but he gave a hit
back. And that escape, and hegot his money back. So later
that night, Sato and chosen andpals. They arrive at the village
and they're summoning Mr.
Miyagi. Who's not there? By theway, right? He's not there at
(02:02:59):
this point in time.
Sal Rodriguez (02:03:01):
Yeah, Daniel
settling in for the night. He's
like, ready to hit the hay.
Yeah. And then that's when youhear yogi. Yogi. Come out. We
argue. We fight now.
Jason Connell (02:03:13):
cusato needs to
fight at midnight. You can't
fight
Sal Rodriguez (02:03:17):
such a it's such
an odd time to fight someone.
Yeah.
Jason Connell (02:03:20):
And so he leaves
but then chosen and thugs began
to destroy the dojo and Bondseyes while holding Daniel.
Sal Rodriguez (02:03:31):
Want to jump
ahead if I may. Yeah, please.
This is why it was so painful.
In Cobra Kai. So painful forDaniel the destruction of the
Miyagi dough dojo, because hewas having flashbacks to the
Miyagi family Dojo beingdestroyed in Okinawa. Yeah, now
I get it now I get it. Or the
Jason Connell (02:03:53):
dojo being
destroyed in Karate Kid three
but we'll save that one for
Sal Rodriguez (02:03:57):
Oh my god. Okay.
So so karate dojo is gettingdestroyed is just is now
embedded in Daniel psyche, and Icould only imagine he has PTSD.
I know I do. So just seen rulenumber one. And rule number two,
being speared by chosen as helaughs You know, these guys,
these villains in these movies.
(02:04:17):
It's one thing to do evil it'sone thing to laugh as you do
evil and that's what chosendoes. So he's they're laughing
and smiling, having a great timebeing destructive because Sato
told him leave them a messageand that's what they're doing.
They're leaving a message.
Jason Connell (02:04:32):
Exactly. And
luckily, Mr. Miyagi arrives. And
Sal, this is a pretty good fightsequence.
Sal Rodriguez (02:04:41):
It is well,
Miyagi arrives says enough.
There's some wonderful musicperfectly in sync with that.
Toro and Toshio are dispatchedby Miyagi pretty quickly chosen
is also subdued but as spared byMiyagi and of course chosen
calls it act of coward to bespared by Miyagi and also
(02:05:02):
apparently there was one momentI read some more trivia that
that moment when Chosun does hitMiyagi on the back with that
spear is the only time in KarateKid folklore when Miyagi is
struck was right there with thatstick by chosen.
Jason Connell (02:05:17):
That's
interesting. So but also during
this whole sequence, Daniel isnot able to help he's being held
off and then he never reallygets involved. So Miyagi best
all three of them. And it's in areally neat setting though,
because it's in the garden andthey're using like a walkway.
And then there's this one staffthat has a spear on the end of
it. And I didn't notice anystunt double sow, it really
(02:05:40):
looked like it was Mr. Miyagidoing his own stunts.
Sal Rodriguez (02:05:43):
Yeah, I was
pretty impressed. I would
imagine by this time, our actorshave had plenty of time to
train. And I would say overall,I was pretty impressed by
Noriyuki. Pat, I say always wantto say Noriyuki. That's what
he's officially born as Noriyukiand then he still uses it later
on up until his death. SoNoriyuki Pat Morita had plenty
of time to train for this. And Iwas pretty impressed by some of
his kicks, some of his swiftbackhands and yeah, this is a
(02:06:07):
very interesting setting, andDaniel couldn't do much he was
kind of subdued. But all therest of these guys got taken out
by Miyagi. But one thing I foundpretty interesting is that at
the end of the fight, Daniel andMiyagi retreat inside back into
Miyagi his home, chosen kicksover a statue, right? So really,
(02:06:27):
the guys are still out there.
And you just walked back in itwas at the end of it. I mean,
these guys just gonna go homenow. I mean, I just didn't
really see that that would bethe end of it. If these guys are
still right outside your home,which doesn't seem to have real
high security. Miyagi says toDaniel, that they're gonna go
home tomorrow. So at this pointin time, we're assuming you know
what, this is the end of it.
They're finally gonna go homeand be out of this mess.
Jason Connell (02:06:48):
Exactly. And then
Miyagi talks with UTA and it's
another touching scene becauseshe asked him to take her with
him.
Sal Rodriguez (02:06:57):
Yeah, Miyagi
asked, What can I do to ease
your pain and UK answers Take mewith you. I mean, whole. If this
woman doesn't love Miyagi, Idon't know what love is. I mean,
look how long she's held on tothis. But yeah, Daniel's packing
his suitcase, looks outside seesKumiko standing lonesome on the
pier, she's doing a sort ofceremony. He heads out, that's
(02:07:18):
when he hears Miyagi and UPAsaying their goodbyes UK is
crying. Daniel approachesKumiko. On the piers, she's
doing an old fishing custompouring rice into the water for
a quick return. Because that'swhat Daniel asked was, Oh, are
you doing that for a big catch?
She goes, No for a quick return.
So we know that at that momentthat she's doing a special
(02:07:40):
ceremony for a quick return ofDaniel and possibly Miyagi. They
have a wonderful moment theytalk about America, she asked
about America, he tells herabout America, he professes his
love for her. So this is wherewe officially see Daniel
professing his love for Kumikoin this scene, and then just as
they're about to cry
Jason Connell (02:08:00):
before that, I
think this would have been a
good time to play Peter Suterasong one more time,
Sal Rodriguez (02:08:06):
like a shot and
shot a long time ago. Yeah,
yeah, you're right.
Jason Connell (02:08:12):
He's also trying
to recruit her to to live in the
US to come over. And you know,she's taking this in. There's no
dance studios there sounds likean interesting idea. But as
you're getting ready to say, andyes, true to form. It's not
chosen this time. But it isSato.
Sal Rodriguez (02:08:32):
Yeah, big ruckus
behind them construction
equipment coming through behindthem in the village so they get
up leap up from the pier wherethey're having this romantic
moment, and then head back tosee what's going on and they see
this bulldozer running through agarden there's all these
villagers are standing there andhorror and Miyagi approaches.
Sato casado, standing there,what are you doing? And Sato
(02:08:52):
says he sold all the land Idon't know if he said he sold
the land or and he's gonna sellthe land. Basically, he
Jason Connell (02:08:57):
owns the land so
he can do whatever he wants and
he's going to destroy thevillage.
Sal Rodriguez (02:09:02):
Yeah, well, he
threatens to destroy the village
if Miyagi will not fight him. Sofinally, Miyagi, kind of feeling
forced and pressured agrees tofight. Sato on one condition
that the title to the landpassed to the village forever.
And Sato reluctantly agrees, butwarns that if Miyagi doesn't
(02:09:23):
fight, the village will becompletely destroyed. Everything
will be gone. their homes, theirchurch, everything God so Miyagi
knows that he has no choice. Hehas to stand and fight. Yeah,
Jason Connell (02:09:36):
I sat is really
an angry person. And what's
interesting is this whole thingstems from UTA not following
through to Mary Sato because herMiyagi had feeling so Miyagi
fleas. So Sal, correct me if I'mwrong here, but with Miyagi out
(02:10:00):
of the picture. Sato had 40years to woo Yuki or any other
woman because he doesn't seem tobe with anybody. And he has
failed. So maybe a lot of hishatred is inward. Sato is
carrying around a ton ofbaggage. And taking it all out
(02:10:21):
on Mr. Miyagi.
Sal Rodriguez (02:10:22):
Well, Sato has no
game, apparently. No. Because,
okay, so at one point in time,he was promised to marry Yuki
she was promised to marry him.
So once Miyagi was out of thepicture, then yeah, Sato could
have made his move. And if notimmediately, at least within a
couple of years, been able tofinally marry UPA, but ya know,
he didn't. Maybe he was just toofocused on building his business
(02:10:45):
empire. And romance was not apart of it. So that's what
obviously happened.
Jason Connell (02:10:50):
But this hatred
burns like this happened
recently. It's amazing thatsomeone is this upset. Now
listen, I'm not that familiarwith the Japanese culture and,
and maybe, you know, this is hispride was forever scorned, was
Sato and UK and arrangedmarriage. Is that what I'm led
to believe?
Sal Rodriguez (02:11:10):
It was an
arranged marriage, because if
you remember, Mr. Miyagi, toldDaniel, that Satoshis family was
richest and village that'sright, UK family poorest and
village. So it made sense. Soyeah, they were an arranged
marriage. And if you rememberalso, when Daniel and Kumiko sat
down at the sock hop, he askedif she was arranged to be
(02:11:30):
married to anyone remember, sheasked, I thought that was cute.
She asked him, Are you arrangedto be married to anybody? And
that's when he says, No, I'm afree agent. So yes, right. This
is ancient history. Your This isunknown to the topic, but the
concept of dating, as weAmericans know as dating is new
in human history. Nobody dated,nobody dated 1000 years ago,
(02:11:51):
they were they were set up byfamilies 1000 years ago, or you
didn't get together withanybody. So this whole thing is
dating is new. You aredefinitely set up by families
back in the old days, and thisis as far back then as 45 years
in Okinawa.
Jason Connell (02:12:04):
So that would
lead me to ask this Miyagi
leaves didn't work out with UPA,maybe she sought her true
failings and no longer wanted tobe part of this arranged
marriage. But with thisincredibly powerful, influential
and rich family of Santos, howdoes someone not arrange another
(02:12:25):
marriage for him?
Sal Rodriguez (02:12:26):
Yeah. And why
would Satoshis family arrange a
marriage with Yuki A's poorfamily? What What would they
have to gain from that? So yeah,if you dig into it, it probably
doesn't make as much sense as,as it should. Because I believe
in the old days of arrangedmarriages, a rich family would
try to arrange a marriage withanother rich family, not a poor
(02:12:47):
family. So I don't think yeah,in that respect, it doesn't make
sense. So the arrangement makessense. But as far as the
families doesn't really makesense. So I'm thinking then,
that if Sato coming from a richfamily was going to be arranged
with UK coming from a poorfamily, he really loved UPA. So
that's why this anger burned for45 years. But I think that he
(02:13:08):
should have let that anger, heshould have used that anger to
win over UPA, instead of beingpissed off hitting a piece of
wood and thinking of Miyagi for45 years.
Jason Connell (02:13:18):
Yeah. And it
might have made more sense in
the storyline had Sato and Yukia married they wed let's just
say, but it was never, theynever had the sparks, because
I'm sure a lot of arrangedmarriages just kind of hit a
certain threshold. And theydon't, because they weren't
built on a mutual attractionadmiration. Maybe some of them
(02:13:39):
turn into that, but othersprobably didn't. They didn't hit
those high notes. And let's justsay that they were married, and
Miyagi came into town, due tohis father's health. And Sato
saw that they had something hedidn't have. And now what almost
makes more sense to me. Why Satohas this anger in him, and
(02:14:00):
jealousy, but that would thenpaint Miyagi in a different
light. And I think that it'smore innocent to have UK be the
single person, but trust me,I've had time to think about it.
I've watched this film twicerecently, preparing for this
episode. And another plot pointI have a little bit of issue
with and is why I look at thismovie is the best of the
(02:14:22):
sequels, but it just fall shorton many occasions, in my
opinion. Yeah.
Sal Rodriguez (02:14:28):
No, no, I agree.
I agree. I think that that wouldhave made sense but the problem
is though, you then wouldn'thave been able to have these
tender moments between Miyagiand UPA if she was married to
Sato is so
Jason Connell (02:14:40):
me argue would
look like a bad guy. He would
look like homewrecker. I totallyget it. You can't have that he
would
Sal Rodriguez (02:14:47):
have been twice,
Homewrecker then. If that's the
case. Remember, Miyagi leftOkinawa in shame he broke
tradition. He broke culture. Heembarrassed everyone. So Miyagi
left Okinawa on bad terms and Ithink that if you were to then
go back and then get involved ina marriage that was current with
Sato and Yukia Yeah, thatwouldn't have been looks good on
(02:15:08):
Miyagi No.
Jason Connell (02:15:09):
So anyway, just
ref in there, but things I've
thought about and things I haveissues with. So now we get to
Mr. Miyagi, and he's givingDaniel his last will and
testament. He's getting hisaffairs in order, so to speak,
Sal, and what does he giveDaniel and his will?
Sal Rodriguez (02:15:28):
So he gives
Daniel the house in Canoga Park,
and the truck, the 1941, lightduty Chevrolet, but of course,
Daniels, like I don't want thehouse in the truck, I want you
you know, let's just get out ofhere Daniels trying to convince
them, let's just hop on a planeand get the hell out of here.
Forget about it. Forget aboutthis. Honor garbage. But Miyagi
says it is impossible. ButMiyagi says no matter what
(02:15:51):
happens, the village is safeforever. So at this moment in
time, Miyagi stuck, if heleaves, the village gets
destroyed. If he stays in fight,he may die. He is screwed either
way. You know, sometimes inlife, I talk about this with
friends all the time. Sometimesin life, you have two bad
choices, and you got to choosebetween two bad choices. Hell,
(02:16:12):
you can say a lot of ourelections are this way. So you
got to choose between two badchoices. So no matter what,
they're both bad choices, but atleast he knows the village is
safe, no matter what he does.
Jason Connell (02:16:22):
Well, in a guy
like Mr. Miyagi, and maybe the
Japanese culture as a whole todie of honor is not a bad way to
go out. You know, and he knowswinning or losing saves the
village. So he's at peace withthat, I would say, that's why he
stepped up to fight him.
Finally, to end this only tosave the village forever, no
matter what happens. And a mess.
(02:16:46):
That's kind of big of him. Butthere's no way Miyagi is gonna
back out now is what I'm tryingto say. No, no, he may have
bailed earlier, if there was noreason to fight, but now there's
a reason to fight. But my lastpoint on the will, my question
to you is, what about all theother classic cars? I mean, not
the one that Daniel owns, butthere's three others is, is that
part of the will?
Sal Rodriguez (02:17:06):
Yeah, they kind
of left that out in this movie.
I think that they appear again,in credit cut three. But yeah,
the cars are not there in KarateKid two, I think we only have to
assume now, obviously, to thenewcomer, they would not know
about these other cars. But forthose of you familiar with the
franchise and longtime fans, youknow, there was a collection of
cars in the first movie. Whereis that collection of cars in
(02:17:27):
the second movie? And yeah,Daniel should be getting all
those cars too. Unless, ofcourse, for all we know, Mr.
Miyagi, left those cars to thePeterson on Wilshire,
Jason Connell (02:17:36):
maybe he left
them to the Peterson Automobile
Museum, which, by the way, is anincredible place and should be
visited by all but maybe he willthem to someone else. Someone
else from the seven seas orsomeone else in the Auggies life
of what you perhaps who we'venever met, will never know.
Sal Rodriguez (02:17:55):
Yeah, I mean, why
should Daniel get everything?
Surely there are some people,some nice people, hell, maybe
the mailman gets a car, youknow, there are some nice people
in Miyagi world who maybedeserved something. So the
dental doesn't necessarily needto get everything hell, a house
in a car is plenty two carsactually right, he would get the
truck and the car that hasalready been given. So Miyagi
will at that point, given himtwo cars and a house. I think
(02:18:17):
he's good. Anything else can goto any other beloved ones.
Great.
Jason Connell (02:18:22):
So now we see
Daniel walking around the
village. And he sees Sato Prain.
And Sal, he looks quite scaryand focused in the same.
Sal Rodriguez (02:18:33):
Well, I did like
the scene that we get to see
another side of Sato, but Iwasn't certain what was actually
taking place. Was he just goingabout his normal daily ritual?
Or was he literally preparingmentally, for the upcoming
fight? Is that what he what doyou saw him doing?
Jason Connell (02:18:48):
That's what I
thought, you know, you get your
game face on. He's getting intoit.
Sal Rodriguez (02:18:53):
Okay, so this is
at the Shinto temple, where each
arrow was playing the instrumentfor all the kids. So this is a
center point of the village,which becomes even more
important soon. So yeah, that'swhere Daniel sees Sato. They're
in the Shinto Temple, which Iwas vitally very surprised to
see. I was very surprised to seehim in there. But yeah, he's in
there, then getting his, uh, hisgears ready, revving up for his
(02:19:17):
fight. And so yeah, at thispoint, it makes it even scarier
than at that point. And I
Jason Connell (02:19:21):
know from playing
sports for my entire life, yeah,
you kind of, well, I don'tusually fight to the death and
anything. But I do know whatit's like to get focused. And
you lock in and you visualize,and I'm sure this guy is doing
that. And you almost play outwhatever battle you're going to
participate in. You try to playit out mentally before you
(02:19:41):
actually physically do it. Ifind it incredibly valuable and
I'm sure someone have sought tohis skill level and his
experience in the martial arts.
It's just gonna get him lockedand loaded. And yeah, and
honestly, I know that we bothpredict Miyagi could win. I
would still have have my doubts,because someone is skilled as
(02:20:02):
Sato is not someone you want togo up against and a fight to the
death in a match with points andOkay, sure. But these are high
stakes. And that was one coolthing the movie had going for
it. I think it was the highstakes. It created some anxiety
in me. We're all worried for Mr.
(02:20:22):
Miyagi. And Sato looksunbeatable, and many senses. So
now Daniel walks away from Satoand he stumbles into his very
own tea ceremony with Kimiko andsell. This is such a great
scene. And it was just reallytouching like so many others.
(02:20:45):
And this film,
Sal Rodriguez (02:20:46):
one of the things
I really liked about this movie
is the romance factor, which Ithink is greater than the first
one with Daniel and Ali. Oh,yeah, there's such a romantic
air about this film, both withMiyagi and UPA, but now with
Daniel and Kumiko. I think thatthis scene here in the Canary
with the Japanese tea ceremony,rivals, the clay sculpting scene
(02:21:10):
in Ghost, as far as cinematicromantic moments that just make
you nearly cry. So there'sKumiko inside with the tea
ceremony all set up, Danielenters kneels at the table, he
tries to crack a joke is thisseat taken? Kumiko is
disappointed at the attempt. Idon't know if she disappointed
that the joke was so bad, orthat he cracked a joke in
(02:21:33):
general. But she looks verydisappointed in his attempt at a
joke. Daniel apologizes, the teaceremony continues. Now here's
one thing I definitely learnedwhen I visited Japan. And this
is why I love Japan so much. Oneof the reasons is because
everything has a purpose andappoint and everything is
specific and deliberate and hasa meaning. There's no
(02:21:54):
haphazardness there going oneach movement, and this tea
ceremony by komikko is specificand deliberate. Daniel drinks
the tea prepared by komikko, sheremoves the stick that holds up
her hair, they both lean in, I'mloving this scene so much they
both lean in. And then again,not chosen this time. Candle
(02:22:15):
blows out, boom storm, they bothgot a rush out of there. So it's
almost a cock block. But insteadof chosen this time, it's a
storm, right as they're havingtheir first real romantic kiss.
Coming out of a fantasticallybeautiful scene.
Jason Connell (02:22:28):
It was a
beautiful, same as we've both
attested to, and this movie, andyou spoke to it. So I have to
chime in. It did get the romanceright. And really adult themes.
It really did. And that's wherethe movie succeeds, as well as
the high stakes. And in thismovie, wow. Miyagi can be hurt
(02:22:50):
emotionally, and he could die.
And so that's where this moviesucceeds. And then all the
wonderful romance and falling inlove and courtship, if you will,
which the first movie had ithad, it was different. You know,
it was new kid rich girl, arethey going to work? Is it going
to mix? It worked for what itneeded to be. But that's where
(02:23:11):
this movie succeeds. And if ithad gotten some of the other
things, right, are smoothed outsome of the things and maybe
there's just scenes that wereomitted. So to me, it feels like
they're bigger gaffes. You know,in my opinion, it could be even
higher rated. But this is one ofthose great saints. I think it's
a bit of an homage to 16candles, when Jake Ryan kisses
(02:23:33):
Samantha, over the birthday cakein the candles at the very end
of the movie. I'm thinking aboutmoment, and then you're right,
and not one second and maybe twoseconds. And then here comes the
storm. And the storm is likeit's not even sprinkling. It's
already on a full blown storm.
(02:23:56):
Like ridiculous hide the kidstake cover. We've got a monsoon
or hurricane on our hands,
Sal Rodriguez (02:24:04):
while Fumiko and
Daniel run out of the cannery
run toward the village. Yeah,it's almost like they were not
in the loop because by the timethey run it back to the village,
and that little girl is up onthe bell tower ringing the
warning bell. Everyone else hasalready was piling into the
shelter, bringing luggagebringing some prized
possessions. How come Daniel andFumiko were out of the loop this
(02:24:26):
whole time but they obviouslywere so they kind of arrived
late in the game. The bellsgoing off the storms come and
people are running into theshelter. We see Miyagi and UPA
running into the shelter. Sothat little girls up there on
the post are ringing the warningbell and Daniel and Kumiko run
into Miyagi and UPA. They all gointo the shelter. They look
(02:24:47):
outside see a woman carrying ababy now that kid look at the
scene again, that kid isfantastic because they really
seem to be doing all the specialeffects as far as the practical
effects with the wind and therain but they look outside See
this woman carrying the baby,they go back out to help. And as
they do they see the Shintotemple crumble. And remember,
(02:25:07):
that's where we saw Sato. So,for all we know, Sato is under
the rubble of that Shinto churchor temple rather.
Jason Connell (02:25:15):
Exactly. So now
Sato is stuck. And when we say
storms come in, is it ahurricane? Or a monsoon? Or
whatever it is, it's high windand rain, and destructive,
Sal Rodriguez (02:25:27):
you know, a
hurricane or monsoon? Yeah,
thanks. Yeah, one of
Jason Connell (02:25:30):
the two. And
growing up in Oklahoma, we dealt
with tornadoes. Oh, and I dealtwith one in particular, that was
quite scary. I mean, it killedneighbors. It hit our property.
We were very lucky to live. Andthat's a story for another day,
but it's quite a tale. It was anf5 on our property. And it was
(02:25:52):
terrifying. But it came out ofnowhere. It just wasn't there.
And then bam, it wasdestructive. Little tornadoes
are coming off the big tornado.
So I understand how somethingcan just happen.
Sal Rodriguez (02:26:06):
Wait, wait, how
much time you talk in your how
much warning? Do you get
Jason Connell (02:26:08):
a man that thing
was on us? Maybe 20 seconds, or
30 seconds? Yeah, it was thenight that it happened. It was
eerie. It's a certain time ofyear where the warmer weather
and the cooler weather kind ofmix. It's always in April in
May. And the skies just lookedreally creepy that night. So
(02:26:29):
maybe our warning was somethingfeels off. Our neighbor had
horses and they were actingfunny about something they get a
real sense of weather. So butthat was on us very quickly. And
thank God, it just didn't hit ushead on it map I would have
killed us. But I could see howsomething happens so fast. Not
ever been in a hurricane or amonsoon. But it's very
(02:26:51):
destructive. As you can see, youbring high winds into play. And
it just takes things down.
Sal Rodriguez (02:26:56):
I mean, what do I
know? You know, I grew up in Los
Angeles. I know nothing aboutany of these things. But did you
have like a basement that you gointo or something?
Jason Connell (02:27:03):
No, at this point
in time, we did have basements
while I was in Tulsa. But we hadleft Tulsa for about six years
and moved to outside of the citymore into the country and had 10
acres. And my parents built ahouse and so we had left the
bigger city, bigger city,relatively speaking. But there
are no basements in this housethat we built. And only one of
(02:27:27):
our neighbors had a stormcellar. So no, we did not. We
took refuge in the bathroom, acentralized room in our house
and discovered up and literallyprayed. And it lasted about a
minute and a half after we madeit and other people did as well.
Everyone got storm cellars. Sofor anytime it sprinkled after
(02:27:48):
that my sister and I took refugeand the storm cellar. Meanwhile,
we never had another tornadoincident but it just takes one
to forever scar you for years tocome. So you know, I totally get
it. I totally get that bam, it'son them. But this is a different
type of storm. A tornado is onething it can plop down and it
(02:28:09):
moves in such an unpredictablepath. It just jumps up it skips
the house it goes five over sothis is a monsoon I'm assuming
these are super heavy winds. Andit's powerful enough to knock
over buildings and reallyflatten the village. I mean
tornadoes flatten, you knowcities. So anyway, so Sato is
(02:28:31):
underneath the rubble. And so sowhat happens because as strong
and as tough as he is, he cannotget out on his own.
Sal Rodriguez (02:28:40):
So Daniel and
Miyagi rush toward the temple as
chosen is headed the oppositeway. I think Miyagi says where's
your uncle? And he says, hisuncle is dead. So we're going oh
my gosh, so Sato is dead. Danieland Miyagi look toward the
temple. They see sat all of asudden as gust of wind comes and
releases some debris. They seeSato and they rush over there.
(02:29:02):
Sato is on his back under a beamof wood. I love this this
moment. Cassatt toes layingthere, under this beam of wood,
and he says, Miyagi, now you'llcome to fight, coward. He thinks
Miyagi is coming to kick hisass, but instead Miyagi is
coming to rescue him along withDaniel. Miyagi breaks the beam
that's laying over Santos.
Jessie frees him with a karatechop.
Jason Connell (02:29:25):
Kind of like the
wood that Sokka was hitting at
his house.
Sal Rodriguez (02:29:28):
Yeah, very
similar, reminiscent of that
word for sure. They all threerun back to the shelter Daniel
looks back sees the girl stuckup in the bell tower. And he
orders them back as he headsover to help Miyagi and Sato go
into the shelter they seechosen, chosen says, Uncle I
thought you were dead. Satoorders chosen to go outside and
(02:29:50):
help Daniel save the girl chosensays he cannot and he heads
deeper into the shelter. So weknow that's a crucial moment
there between Sato and chosen
Jason Connell (02:30:00):
apps. salutely
And just to speak on the scene,
because we haven't really talkedabout it from a filmmaking
standpoint. But this is a reallygreat scene. I mean, it's
terrifying. There's piecesmoving, it's high winds. I mean,
this is like the most elaboratesequence in any of the Karate
Kid movies.
Sal Rodriguez (02:30:21):
Well, you talk
about the stakes, and I haven't
actually hadn't thought aboutthat. But yeah, you raise the
stakes. This is definitely lifeor death, which the original
movie did not really visit. Thisis life or death scenario
happening right here.
Jason Connell (02:30:32):
So this a great
action sequence, you know, they
have debris blowing. And you cankind of see Stockdale. And it
was not an easy thing to shoot.
So I give them credit. And I'dlove to see some behind the
scenes footage of, of just themaking of this sequence. Because
it was really impressive to me,
Sal Rodriguez (02:30:51):
assuming it was
all done with practical effects.
You had the wind machines, didthey actually film it at night?
Maybe they filmed that inside ofa studio. I mean, who knows?
Maybe it wasn't all exteriors, Iwould be interested to see how
they did that. I have not heardof any behind the scenes of
cretica to let alone thatparticular scene. But yeah, I
think that would be interestingto see how that was actually
done. See the big fans working,and see the rainmakers working,
(02:31:14):
that would be interesting.
Jason Connell (02:31:15):
I'll have to get
us the credit kid to DVD, like I
got us the original film on DVD,which had all these cool special
features. So there still is aplace for DVDs in this world
because you get content that isnot online, like special
features. And maybe it's onYouTube sometimes, but then the
quality is suspect. So we'llhave to look into that.
Sal Rodriguez (02:31:38):
I realized that a
few years ago when I was
streaming content from YouTube,or rather from Netflix. And I
was saying, wait a second, thismovie doesn't have the behind
the scenes, like the DVD has,you're missing so much content,
if we're only doing streamingextremely exclusively, we're
missing all kinds of coolcontent, director's commentary,
special features. So Idefinitely do appreciate DVDs
(02:32:00):
for that
Jason Connell (02:32:01):
you make a good
point, because the commentaries
on films are kind of forgottenabout much like the special
features, but in particular, thecommentaries, and I wish that
some service like Audible, oreven Netflix had that as an
option. You want to do thecommentary, just click here, it
would cost hardly anything verysmall amount of bandwidth. I
(02:32:24):
don't even have to see themovie, I just want to listen to
the audio. So that is a goodpoint. That's why DVDs will
still have a place in blu raysfor years to come and are until
you can stream everything. Soanyway. So you're right chosen
has shown his true colors. He'sa bully when he's got his crew.
But when asked to put his ownlife on the line, he cowers
(02:32:46):
away, and hides in shame. SoDaniel is left on his own and
gets the girl comes down. She'stoo big for him to carry her. So
Sato, who had just been saved byDaniel and Mr. Miyagi comes out
of the shelter, and carries thegirl gives Daniel a look or a
(02:33:09):
smile. And they both, you knowstruggle back in and take
shelter
Sal Rodriguez (02:33:14):
while Sato
availed himself to go out there
because at first Miyagi wasgonna go out there, right. But
then remember, Santo says,Miyagi, let me go. So he offered
himself to go, so he went upthere to help complete the task.
And yeah, Daniel, remember that,that maneuver with the belt. So
Daniels up there on the belltower with this little girl.
There's like some sparks comingoff the Y and hit the bell. And
(02:33:36):
then he took off his belt andlike, hit the wire to get the
wire down. So he totally savedthis little girl's life, she
would have been electrocuted.
Jason Connell (02:33:44):
And then it was
great to see Sato who he wasn't
injured, he was stuck. So hestill had the strength and the
wherewithal to come out and helpcarry the little girl and help
Daniel in. And that was nicemoment. But meanwhile chosen is
is stewing. But you kind of knownow things are different, right?
(02:34:05):
It feels like triumphant, if youwill, I no longer felt like
there was going to be a fight tothe death. And sure enough, the
next day, which is a beautifulclear day, sunny, and Sato shows
up. And what happened Sal
Sal Rodriguez (02:34:23):
Sato arrives in
the Cadillac, and he's in these
work clothes, like we wouldnever we've only seen him in
these expensive suits. He comesin these like work clothes, like
he's working with FEMA. He goes,I come help rebuild. And he
gives here's the deed to thevillage he gives the deed to the
village to Miyagi. And he saysto me, forgive me, I beg you so
(02:34:43):
he really humbles himself,before Miyagi, because the night
before was a real turning point,a huge turning point for
everybody in the characters andthe village itself. Miyagi
Pat's, him on the shoulder.
There's nothing to forgive. AndDaniel asked Sato if they can
have the bond dance, are they abond dance? at the castle, Sato
agrees. So, not only does thedeed get given back to the
(02:35:05):
people of the village, but theyget to have their celebration
and the bond dance at the castlewhere it belongs where it should
be.
Jason Connell (02:35:14):
I totally agree
it does belong there. It's
wonderful to see Sato come tohis senses and, and just for the
first time be more like a humanbeing in touch with his feelings
and his friendship. My onlycomplaint would be that it has
happened so fast, you know, is180 but I know it was a big
(02:35:35):
traumatic thing the nightbefore. But I'm just shocked
that he couldn't see thekindness and goodness in Miyagi
to come around sooner. But hey,nonetheless, he's here. It's
wonderful to see and all as wellin the village.
Sal Rodriguez (02:35:51):
Hang on, though,
because you bring up a very good
point. Like I personally don'tnecessarily believe people can
do these 180 degree turns, letalone overnight, but I bring up
from a cinephile perspective. Ibring up a Christmas carol, one
of my favorite Christmas tales.
Ebenezer Scrooge did a 180 inone night. It was one night that
he does the 180. So if Ebony'swould have 3x Okay, but he was
(02:36:14):
given truth serve. He was givena kick in the in the rear. And
that's what Sato had Sato saw,he saw the truth behind chosen.
He saw the truth behind Miyagiand Daniel, so he was able to
see the truth. He had a lessonand he was able to do a 180
degree turn in one night. Now,does that happen in real life? I
(02:36:35):
don't know. Does it happen inmovies? Obviously, it does.
Jason Connell (02:36:40):
Yeah. Well, he
was just so angry, you know, had
he not been over the we nevereven saw another side to Sato.
It's not like it started at oneand it grew to this 10. Now he
was always like, ready to kill.
And then it's a total change. SoI think some of that, you know,
it was just a little bit. Hedidn't feel like a real person.
(02:37:01):
And all of a sudden, here he is,he's a human being. And he's,
he's got a motion and he caresabout a city. So I kind of
dismissed him as the stuck.
Sal Rodriguez (02:37:12):
It's one of those
things where a popular cinema
device is to allow the audienceto sympathize with the villain.
That's a prior I think thingdevice happening back in the
80s. I don't think we sympathizewith the villains yet that come
about till later. So thevillains are kind of one
dimensional, until they'reeither killed, or have their
(02:37:35):
change of heart as EbenezerScrooge or Sato? Yeah. So I
think that these characters wereunfortunately a little bit ahead
of their time, where we didn'treally get to see. Well,
Ebenezer Scrooge, we did get tosee some of his youth. Yeah. But
you know what, now that youmentioned it, so we could have
seen another side of Sato Yeah.
So that his turn becomes alittle more believable.
Jason Connell (02:37:53):
Flashbacks could
have helped, because anything to
show me that he was a goodperson, rather than just hearing
about how they trained together.
They were friends. I needed tosee it. But I was thinking about
what movie have I seen thathappening? And interesting
enough, is the Rocky franchise.
Apollo Creed started as thevillain, right. And through the
(02:38:17):
movies, he became friends withRocky, he trained him in Rocky
three, he eventually dies.
Spoiler alert, he dies in Rockyfour. And so that was an
interesting way to take thevillain and bring him in as one
of the heroes. That was aninteresting thing. This is just
done at a breakneck speed withSato and something's dismissing,
(02:38:39):
you know, if it's timing, ifit's some scenes that were cut,
for whatever reason, maybe theynever shot them. Maybe the
script is more flushed out. Andhey, we can't do that we've got
these special effects in thismovie. We've got a lot going on,
we have to focus on thesethings. And I think there's this
is something a little false hereand there and this movie. That's
(02:39:02):
all. I'm happy to see him atthis point. Yeah, it's awesome
that him and Miyagi can shakehands again, and the village is
saved. And yeah, of course, it'swonderful. So all that to say,
it leads up to the village isgoing to have their huge
celebration. And it looksfantastic, Sal, it's well
(02:39:26):
orchestrated. It's supercolorful with his costumes and
music and dancing. And ofcourse, you have Kimiko there,
and she takes center stage. Andwhat does she do?
Sal Rodriguez (02:39:42):
She's getting
ready to do a solo fan dance.
And she's a little nervous.
Daniel gives her encouragement.
And by the way, Daniel is in asweet, sweet red robe. Where did
this come from? We've never seenthis before. This is not a part
of the Miyagi family traditionis this sweet red robe that Like
any self respecting pimp wouldwear. This is a who's the
(02:40:05):
Playboy guy?
Jason Connell (02:40:06):
Hugh Hefner?
Sal Rodriguez (02:40:07):
Yeah, this is
Hugh Hefner style rope. Where
did this come from?
Jason Connell (02:40:10):
Awesome. Did
Kimiko also make this because
she's amazing.
Sal Rodriguez (02:40:14):
That would have
been funny if she made the 50s
dance clothes. And this robe byhand.
Jason Connell (02:40:20):
Yeah, it's pretty
cool. I'd like to have one and
maybe there's a figure that youcan get with Daniel wearing
this.
Sal Rodriguez (02:40:27):
You know what,
that would be an interesting
thing because the toy makershave explored the Karate Kid
universe, namely the originalmovie Karate Kid. They have not
really explored karate kid too.
Yeah, if they made it a DanielRusso action figure with this
red rope. I am buying it. I'dalso
Jason Connell (02:40:44):
like to get
Daniel on the blue talks with
the car all day.
Sal Rodriguez (02:40:49):
What if What if a
Daniel Russo blue Tux X figure
actually came with the the 1948Super Deluxe
Jason Connell (02:40:59):
breakout with a
break off bumper to be great. So
can Miko is preparing for thisis like the big number.
Everything is kind of leading tothis moment in the film.
Everyone's watching her all eyeson her. So what happens now?
Sal Rodriguez (02:41:17):
Well, there she
is. Kumiko looking fantastic and
beautiful beginning her solodance starts the dance opens up
a fan As is the tradition. Verysoon. We see chosen sliding in
behind Kumiko on an overheadwire sliding in on this thing. I
like ziplining in. Yes, exactly.
Exactly. He puts a butterflyknife and it's definitely a
(02:41:40):
butterfly knife because I usedto have one myself, puts a
butterfly knife to cubiclesneck, threatening her life. He
challenges Daniel. Miyagi tellsDaniel it's not a tournament.
It's for real. He's letting himknow. There's no points here.
There's no referee here. Danielwalks over chosen says no
bridge. So Daniel kicks away thebamboo bridge. Chosen throws
away the knife and throws awayKumiko and now it's Daniel
(02:42:04):
unchosen facing off.
Jason Connell (02:42:07):
So Kimiko was
doing her dance on the stage.
But there's kind of like thishuge moat around it, if you
will. It's a big drop off. Andthere's a little bit of bridge
and everyone's sitting, youknow, and like auditorium type
seating, but natural like stoneor whatever this cave is made
of, and watching her. So when hecomes ziplining and Daniel came
(02:42:29):
over the bridge, he makes himthrow the bridge. And now it's
this the three of them really inhere and no one can save them. I
mean, no one can make the jump.
There's probably another bridgesomewhere. But they're all just
watching and banking on Daniel,which it does make me think that
they they did all of this assumeDaniel could find him and Kumiko
his life's at danger. I'msurprised that someone else
(02:42:53):
didn't have like a backup plan.
Sal Rodriguez (02:42:57):
I know that when
Kumiko was just laying there
after having been hit by Chozen.
She was laying there for a whileI really wanted somebody in the
crowd to say, Hey, let us grabher. Let us take her. And then
you guys go about you know, youguys go about your fight because
she was laying there for a whilehow she could have been dead for
all
Jason Connell (02:43:15):
they know. So
there's no one have like blow
darts or something that couldreach chosen. Like everyone's
just sitting there like Okay,let's go Daniel. I mean,
theoretically, Daniel could dieand Kimiko could die.
Sal Rodriguez (02:43:29):
Yeah, I mean,
start throwing stuff.
Jason Connell (02:43:32):
Yeah, our staffs
or someone's got a bow and
arrow. It's like no one wentinto a backup mode. I mean,
maybe there was maybe there wassome sort of Sniper at the top.
And we Auggie would just nod tohim or Sato Misato works for the
military.
Sal Rodriguez (02:43:48):
But it's not to
have only those three thugs and
when they're gone, he has noreplacements because if he did
have some backup thugs that hecan assist them on chosen. So
what the hell happened with thathe only had three guys and that
was it.
Jason Connell (02:44:02):
I mean, he's
trained US military for 40
years. He's got an F G eyes onhis payroll, but it caught him
by surprise. They're out ofcelebration. Anyway, that's just
me being nitpicky. But I justthink the stakes are high. You
know, he
Sal Rodriguez (02:44:18):
did warn him. He
said, chosen. Don't do this. And
then Miyagi said, Don't dishonoryour uncle here. I'm trying to
do my Japanese accents.
Jason Connell (02:44:29):
Oh, that's good.
It's good. Yeah. But the fightis on. And this is it all Valley
and chosen, does theunthinkable. Sal. He does the
unthinkable. And he counters thecrane technique, the infamous
Crane Kick. Of which Miyagi saidWhat Sal
Sal Rodriguez (02:44:49):
if done Correct.
No can defense but
Jason Connell (02:44:52):
yet chosen did
and maybe it wasn't as good a
form. But nonetheless, there itwas. He defended it and how did
he defend a Saudi remember,
Sal Rodriguez (02:45:04):
okay. So, this is
gets into what I mentioned
earlier. So you look at thelineage, you had Mr. Miyagi his
dad teaching his son, Mr.
Miyagi. And Sato, then thelineage goes down, Miyagi side
to Daniel and it goes down Satoside chosen, theoretically
chosen should know all themoves, Daniel knows, right, it
should stand to reason based onthe lineage of the master
(02:45:26):
disciple,
Jason Connell (02:45:29):
I would assume
when Mr. Miyagi fled, that
Miyagi his father was no longersockos active teachers since a
master, that just be myassumption that a father
wouldn't continue to trainsomeone after all of that bad
blood had spilt. And I wouldthen assume Sato probably sought
(02:45:50):
out another master or since theyare developed his own style
based on everything he'd alreadyknown. And so maybe new
techniques happened, kind of thecrease way, took place. That's
just my assumption.
Sal Rodriguez (02:46:04):
The reason why I
would disagree with that is
because Sato was there at Mr.
Miyagi, his dad's deathbed. Andthen he was he was there in the
village, I think that Sato hasbeen a part of Mr. Miyagi. He's
dad's life, all these years, inone way or another, maintaining
some sort of closeness with him.
Jason Connell (02:46:23):
I don't think he
turned his back on him, I just
think they may be stoppedtraining together, not out of
hatred, but almost out ofrespect, maybe Miyagi father's
like, I'm no longer doing thatanymore. I could see that. And
Sato is like, great. You know, Iunderstand, I'll go over here.
Now I'll fight thesetournaments, or I'll start my
own dojo, he must haveimmediately got into it. And
(02:46:46):
he's working with GI is on hisown, and kind of, you know, how
you learn everything you canfrom your parents, and then you
go on and become your ownperson. I could see how Sato did
that.
Sal Rodriguez (02:46:58):
So in other
words, you don't think that
Chosun should know the moves ofDaniel Russo, just because you
go to their upline lineage findthe same teacher?
Jason Connell (02:47:08):
Well, I think
they would know a lot of the
similar things, right? Becausethey have the core of training
initially. But I think at somepoint, it could just change. So
yes, I think Daniel is a lotless skilled. Let's be honest,
he's not even been in class. Butwhat one year with Mr. Miyagi?
How many months? Is it sixmonths, beginning of this movie?
(02:47:30):
And what was it like threebefore that? So he said, I've
been training martial arts for ayear. So he's far less
experienced than someone likechosen. I always saying Sato
probably then started to bringin different aspects, more
aggressive training, he wastraining with all these military
(02:47:50):
people. And that's all I wassaying it was probably more
robust. I think Daniel unchosenprobably do know a few things
the same and chosen is obviouslyseeing the Crane Kick and
someone who's a little bitslower and probably not good at
disguising it, or I don't know,but he just seen it a lot.
Which, you know, Miyagi is lyingabout, there's no defense
(02:48:10):
forever. If you always seen it,like I said, in earlier
podcasts, you don't have to gointo it. You could just wait it
out. But anyway, it wasinteresting to see that that's
Daniel's go to, and chosen hadno problem with it at all.
Sal Rodriguez (02:48:27):
No, no, no.
Jason Connell (02:48:28):
So Daniel is
definitely a better fighter now.
But he's never faced someone,the skilled. And I do think he's
hanging in there. He'sdefinitely getting some shots
here and there, but it's beingoutmatched, and it's not looking
good. So Well, one thing
Sal Rodriguez (02:48:46):
I realized, and I
didn't realize this until the
last time I watched the movie,Daniel's wearing jeans. So how
difficult Do you think it wouldbe to get some major kicks in
wearing jeans versus youropponent who may be wearing
something that allows you alittle more mobility?
Jason Connell (02:49:05):
Oh, you make a
good point. Maybe it was the
jeans it was the denim thatslowed the crime kick down, just
enough for chosen to get a holdof it? Yeah, not my preferred
choice. I've never gone to classand tried to do all of our kicks
with jeans on I much prefer a GIthat is looser. So yeah, not
(02:49:26):
ideal for Daniel didn't helpthem. But even beside that, I
mean, this is a fight to thedeath, and he just doesn't have
as much to draw on as chosen.
But things begin to change. Thethe essence of Miyagi karate
begins to unfold, and whatstarts to happen
Sal Rodriguez (02:49:49):
all of a sudden,
and I say all of a sudden,
because I don't think anybodywas expecting this. Miyagi
starts on the Denden dicho handdrum, then everyone starts on
their own and you have a wholearena In this castle ruins, a
whole arena of people doingtheir twisting Denden dicho
drum. So Daniel then whips intothe drum technique as taught by
(02:50:13):
Miyagi karate. It's aninteresting sequence in the way
that it's film because you don'tnormally see fight sequences
filmed this close up, you seeabout a quarter shot of Daniel
from the waist up, and then yousee over the shoulder of chosen.
And then you see Danielinitiating the drum technique,
which is the side to side torqueside to side side to side. And
(02:50:34):
you see him besting chosen usingthe Denden taiko drum technique.
And this goes back to what Isaid before, why doesn't chosen
know this also. So somewherealong Sato is teaching last, the
origins of Miyagi karate, whichis the drum technique.
Jason Connell (02:50:54):
Yeah, he probably
omitted that, or who knows. Or
maybe he caught him by surprise.
So now Daniel does a series ofhits. And it is a super tight
camera. And it kind of lookslike to me that his hands are,
he has him clasped together andhe's doing a double handed hit,
but it's so tight, you justcan't tell. So whatever it is,
(02:51:14):
he does a series of hits to theright hits with the left hits
with the right hits with theleft and chosen is reeling, and
just kind of succumbs to it,which leads us to this big
finale.
Sal Rodriguez (02:51:30):
So he delivers
the drum technique. He
conceivably has won the battle.
He goes over to chosen grabs himby the hair by the back of the
head. And he says live or die,man. I think he says man, right.
Live or die, man. I think hedoes. Yeah. And chosen says die.
And then Daniel says wrong andgives them a honk on his nose.
(02:51:53):
Just like Miyagi did to creaseoutside of the all valid
tournament.
Jason Connell (02:52:01):
Oh my gosh.
Another honk.
Sal Rodriguez (02:52:04):
Well, you don't
like the honk to you.
Jason Connell (02:52:06):
I didn't mind
this one as much as the first
one. That it's fitting itbookends the movie, the two big
intense scenes. I mean, I guessthat well, that first fight
sequence was supposed to be moreintense with Creason Miyagi, but
it wasn't. But no, I didn't mindthis one as much because
obviously Dan is not going tokill chosen, and he'd already
won. And chosen his life is,well, he's gonna live without
(02:52:30):
honor. So hey, Daniel is oneKarate Kid and one karate kid
too. Here's the letter, justlike the first film. Daniel gets
the girl.
Sal Rodriguez (02:52:40):
Yeah, so two
films in a row, Daniel gets the
victory and gets the girl.
Jason Connell (02:52:45):
And just like the
first film, The ending is quite
similar, isn't it?
Sal Rodriguez (02:52:51):
We have Miyagi
looking on at his students
victory and smiling. And that'sthe end.
Jason Connell (02:52:59):
The only
difference is in the original it
was a still shot. And then weyou know, we're on Miyagi. And
this one it's live action. Yeah,Miyagi. And that's the only
difference, but I loved it. Idid. That's a great send off.
And that's it. Karate Kid. Parttwo.
Sal Rodriguez (02:53:19):
I loved it. I
really did.
Jason Connell (02:53:20):
It's a really
good film. I enjoy it. I think
it is so much stronger than theother two karate kids that have
Mr. Miyagi in them. And yeah,like I said, a lot of adult
storylines, incredible scenes ofthe romance high stakes. And
it's a really good film. Andyes, it could have been even
(02:53:43):
stronger. But it holds up andit's nice to go back and when
we've lost Pat Marita many yearsago, and his legacy and Mr.
Miyagi his legacy lives on. Andthis movie, I mean, Had this not
been part of the Karate Kidfranchise, it would be very sad.
You know, there's a lot thatcomes from this movie.
Sal Rodriguez (02:54:04):
I would
definitely say Miyagi lives on
he lives on in all of thesequels, and lives on in Cobra
Kai, Miyagi is will always live.
And that's why I really foreseesome time in the future. We see
a world a Karate Kid universethat goes backward, and we begin
to see Miyagi as a child. And ofcourse, you will probably see
(02:54:24):
Sato as a child, you get to seehis father maybe get to see
Miyagi his mother. So I thinkthat there is a wonderful
opportunity here, consideringwhat has occurred recently with
Cobra Kai, a wonderfulopportunity to revisit the
Karate Kid universe. Way backwhen?
Jason Connell (02:54:40):
Yeah, I totally
agree. I've spent Pat Marinus
gone but yeah, Miyagi, hischaracter will live forever. And
they've already had that onescene and Cobra Kai, which leads
me to believe maybe it's them,and maybe it's someone else.
He's just such a greatcharacter, that you could do
more with them. You could recastit and you could do Miyagi the
early years. He is Endless to dothings with. So I like that idea
(02:55:05):
for sure. And at some point intime, we might have to watch
this Karate Kid cartoon to seewhat they did. Want again, I'm
unfamiliar with
Sal Rodriguez (02:55:12):
no, I haven't
seen that either. So yeah,
Jason Connell (02:55:16):
I mean, what we
do know about the third movie is
that unfortunately, UPA andKimiko are not in it. Spoiler. I
know. Well, you've had enoughtime the audience has had no
time to seek credit get three. Ithink there's an expiration on
some boilers
Sal Rodriguez (02:55:34):
is like, like,
Hey, man, I want to see Gone
With the Wind, but I don't wantany spoilers before I see. I
don't
Jason Connell (02:55:40):
need spoilers. So
yeah, you know, that's
unfortunate. I would love tohave seen UPA and Miyagi, you
know, come back to the US.
Sal Rodriguez (02:55:50):
What because
Karate Kid three opens with them
coming back, coming back fromOkinawa at the airport, right?
Jason Connell (02:55:55):
empty handed?
Absolutely.
Sal Rodriguez (02:55:57):
Why aren't there
ladies with them? Yeah, wow.
Jason Connell (02:56:00):
We will answer
these questions and explore many
more things on the Karate Kidpart three special episode. I
don't think sat us in it. Sothank you so much for listening
and please be sure to subscribeto the let's talk Cobra Kai
podcast, and the let's talkCobra Kai YouTube Live Channel.
(02:56:23):
You can also really help us bygiving the show a five star
rating on Apple podcast.
Sal Rodriguez (02:56:28):
And for all your
listeners that enjoy sharing
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Jason Connell (02:56:37):
We also highly
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podcast and visiting justcurious media.com
Sal Rodriguez (02:56:44):
No Mercy