01
The Karate Kid
Why this pick
Its scrappy student-to-fighter arc, memorable training rituals, and climactic tournament deliver the same earnest underdog martial-arts exhilaration, with a warmer mentor-student bond.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1986 1h 25m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
No Retreat, No Surrender
Action
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved No Retreat, No Surrender, try these.
01
02
Best of the Best
Why this pick
A team of flawed American fighters trains toward a high-stakes showdown, matching the sincere, crowd-pleasing 1980s martial-arts spirit and emphasis on perseverance.
03
The Last Dragon
Why this pick
This exuberant martial-arts fantasy shares the Bruce Lee devotion, comic-book villains, mystical self-improvement, and joyous 1980s tone of Jason Stillwell’s journey.
04
Bloodsport
Why this pick
Its straightforward tournament structure, escalating opponents, and Van Damme showcase offer a similarly lean, highly physical dose of earnest martial-arts wish fulfillment.
05
Sidekicks
Why this pick
A bullied karate-loving teenager imagines himself into martial-arts greatness, making it a particularly close fit for the film’s youthful hero worship and training-to-confidence arc.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Jason Stillwell is a young karate student and Bruce Lee fanatic who trains in his father Tom's dojo in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. One night after a training session, the dojo is visited by members of an Organized crime looking to take over all the dojos in the country. After refusing to join the organization, Tom's leg is broken by a Soviet martial artist named Ivan Kraschinsky, one of the boss' hired thugs.
02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Tae-jeong Kim
Sensei Lee (as Kim Tai Chong)
Kent Lipham
Scott
Kurt McKinney
Jason Stillwell
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Ivan Kraschinsky the Russian
J.W. Fails
R.J. Madison