Karate Kid: Legends opens this week, bringing together both the Karate Kid films of the ’80s and the 2010 reboot — which at one time was not meant to be in the same timeline/continuity as the original franchise.
With both Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan now teaming up as karate and kung fu senseis Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Han, respectively, Karate Kid: Legends is bridging these two worlds in ways never before imagined. So in honor of this new culmination, we’ve ranked all five Karate Kid films for you!
And yes, to answer your burning question, Netflix’s Cobra Kai still remains canon for Legends as well. That doesn’t mean Cobra Kai characters will be popping up there, but Legends doesn’t do anything to discount or deny the goings-on in Cobra Kai. Taking place three years after the Cobra Kai finale, Legends involves Chan’s Mr. Han seeking out Daniel LaRusso for help in training and guiding a student, Li Fong, played by Ben Wang (American Born Chinese).
So which is the best Karate Kid film? The originals all feature the late, great Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi, mentoring Daniel (or Hilary Swank’s Julie) through life’s violent conflicts, while the reboot brought in Chan and Jaden Smith to echo the early Miyagi/Daniel roles. Here are the all the Karate Kid flicks ranked!
Honorable Mention: Cobra Kai
It’s a steaming series, so it doesn’t qualify here, but Cobra Kai is a massive miracle in the realm of legacy sequels. It’s a six-season follow-up to the first three Karate Kid movies that brings back just about every old character you can think of, redeems them, sheds new light on them, and spins them around in wondrous ways. All while also introducing a whole new generation of karate students and their own interpersonal drama. Cobra Kai is so fun that it created a new fanbase for the franchise, many of whom started watching not even knowing the movies the show was based on.
5. The Next Karate Kid (1994)
The one true outlier of the Karate Kid saga involves Mr. Miyagi in Boston, offering to house swap with his old war buddy’s widow so that he can try to weirdly monitor her angry, grief-stricken granddaughter, Julie (Hilary Swank).
Yup, nothing’s more ideal than a traumatized teen girl, who just lost her parents to a car crash, living with an elderly stranger because her grandma couldn’t deal with her and needed a break. The Next Karate Kid isn’t a terrible movie, per se, but no one was clamoring for Miyagi wisdom in the mid-’90s (especially when part of it was “transforming” Julie out of her angry phase and into a girl who wears dresses) and no one was suffering the fools that were the Alpha Elite — a squad of uniformed teen bullies allowed to roam the halls of Julie’s high school, led by some weird Colonel named Dugen who apparently had free reign to beat up children and/or command them to bungee-jump dive-bomb the school’s prom. Anyway, Julie, who already knows a good bit of karate before Miyagi trains her, kicks their butts.
4. Karate Kid Part III (1989)
There’s been more and more retro-appreciation for Karate Kid Part III over the years, and some of that might have to do with Cobra Kai and how that show, specifically, has redeemed (or at least called out) a lot of this film’s more bizarre elements.
By 1989 — and especially given how crowded Summer ’89 was with big blockbusters — the Miyagi/LaRusso shtick had worn a bit thin. It wasn’t the right time for a new Karate Kid movie and it certainly wasn’t the right time for these two best friends to have a falling out, with Daniel briefly giving into his Dark Side anger.
But Part III — even though it involves a millionaire toxic waste magnate cartoonishly seeking emotional and physical revenge on a teenage boy because he humiliated his old army buddy — still has its (Terry) silver linings. Sure, Daniel, as the All Valley Champ, weirdly gets a bye into the final round (it’s a dumb new tourney rule), but the movie still culminates in a big showdown. Grown-ass men, and Karate’s “Bad Boy” Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), try to destroy the life of a teenager and it, just barely, blows up in their face. It all results in Cobra Kai getting banned from the All Valley and… well, you’ll have to watch Cobra Kai for the rest. It does get better.
3. The Karate Kid (2010)
2010’s Karate Kid was an effective, satisfying reboot that one would think, given the box office success, would have gotten a follow-up much sooner than 2025. One that might have even continued with Jaden Smith as the star.
One of the more surprising things about this Karate Kid is actually how faithful it is as an actual remake. Like, all the same story beats are there from the original 1984 film. From the mom trying to get her son excited about moving to a new place to Smith’s Dre getting revenge on his school bullies with water to his new girlfriend’s disapproving parents to… it’s almost all a one-to-one. Which isn’t usually what we expect now from reboots. Everything’s usually a new take on old material. Nope, not this. It plays the hits.
Again though, everything still works. Smith’s Dre is a likable new lead, Chan is great as Han (though his backstory here seems a bit too dark), and the China setting gives this story a nice karate-to-kung fu refresh.
2. The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid Part II is a stellar sequel, sending Miyagi and Daniel to Okinawa and embroiling them both in old Miyagi girlfriend drama. It made a ton of money, had a huge hit song (Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love”), and sweetly continued the story of Daniel and Miyagi’s offbeat friendship. Ending Daniel’s relationship with Elisabeth Shue’s Ali off-screen felt like a typical sequel cheat, but Daniel, for our money, has an even better summer fling romance with Tamlyn Tomita’s Kumiko.
While not as singularly great as the first film, Part II delivers the goods as a follow-up, recognizing that it’s Daniel and Miyagi that fans care about, no matter their location. Daniel’s mom is sidelined (though not as hilariously as she is in Part III) and the rest very much echoes the best beats of the first movie: new girl, new bully, secret move, final fight (to the death this time!), etc. It actually has more in common with the 2010 reboot than you’d think. Still though, Part II is more or less the exact sequel you’d want if one was getting made.
1. The Karate Kid (1984)
In 1984, Rocky director John Avildsen (who’d go on to direct two Karate Kid sequels as well) gave us another rousing, emotional underdog story, this time about a teenage boy, freshly transplanted from New Jersey to LA’s San Fernando Valley, who forms an unlikely friendship with an elderly Japanese man and wins a regional karate tournament. The Karate Kid was a soaring sleeper hit, and garnered Pat Morita an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of war veteran/karate sensei Mr. Miyagi.
You know how in Back to the Future they never explain how Marty and Doc Brown are buddies? Like, this kid and this old weirdo are BFFs and no one blinks an eye? The Karate Kid actually dives into this and make you invest and believe in the close bond formed by a tormented teen and a reclusive handyman (who’s secretly a karate master). When Daniel, who’s found nothing but trouble since moving to California, tells Miyagi that he’s his best friend, you believe it. And you buy novice Daniel LaRusso being able to make his way through a karate tournament with, like, just a month or so of training as Miyagi gives him the bare basics of what’s needed to fight and win (a strong emphasis, strategically and ideologically, on defense).
The Karate Kid is one of the most fun and inspiring movies of the ’80s. It’s got a great script, powerful performances, and an exhilarating come-from-behind story. First love, a quintessential ’80s bully (played by William Zabka), and an iconic special ace-up-the-sleeve kick.
It’s still the best around.
What’s your favorite in the series? Add your tier list above, and let’s discuss in the comments!
