One of my favourite films of all time is the 1983 classic Karate masterpiece: The Karate Kid directed by John G Avildsen. Since 1983 I have watched this film about 10,000 times and bored my friends to death in the process. I'm aware that in reality it is a fairly average take on well trodden narrative, but due in part to nostalgia and in part to just a magical x-factor which even it's own sequels struggled to match, I love it. Even today, like a true saddo whilst typing this I am wearing one of many Karate Kid inspired t-shirts whilst listening to 'You're the best' by Joe Esposito - a truly terrible 80s horror that in context makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Why the heck am I bringing up the Karate Kid at this point, nearly 30 years later? This week some new footage of the original Karate Kid was brought to my attention and it's the 'thing that we love, not done by us of the week'. It appears that during the rehearsals of The Karate Kid, everything was filmed by the director and a rough cut of the movie put together to aid the actors going forward. Please see the first part below, followed by a series of links for where to watch the rest on Youtube. I can't believe that this hasn't made its way to DVD as an extra before this - but as a fan, it's made my day to watch it and offers an insight into the filming process.
I would like to thank Matt Powell for introducing me to the post (Please take a look at his site: BlockPunch) and to Germain Lussier for compiling it in the first place - http://www.slashfilm.com/watch-the-karate-kid-comprised-completely-rehearsal-footage.
Watch the whole of The Karate Kid in rough cut below:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=EZQkwpqFN2E
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CS3P8KaEamA
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MNTzA7QQvAM
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7aaB3geliNM
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5Kwv0RQWb8M
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mtzv20OaGow
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-c2NQMLsiMs
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UfB6140Mxl4
9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yfVkWkfcdoo
10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mHdWarcK0hU
11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pLIiHFyHWVQ
12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BogMLXeYjPI
