It’s ancient wisdom against teenage spunk. 1,000 years of karate tradition is about to get a kick in the pants.|Jul. 18, 1994|United States|107 Min.|PG
Genre: Action;Adventure;Drama;Family
Description: In *The Next Karate Kid* (1994), Mr. Miyagi travels to Boston, Massachusetts, to attend a ceremony honoring Japanese-American soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from World War II. There, he reunites with Louisa Pierce, the widow of his former commanding officer, Lieutenant Jack Pierce. While catching up on old memories, Miyagi meets Louisa’s granddaughter, Julie, a troubled high schooler grappling with anger and grief after losing her parents in a car accident. Julie’s behavior causes tension with her grandmother, classmates, and teachers. Secretly, she sneaks into her school at night to care for an injured Harris’s hawk named Angel, which she keeps in a pigeon coop on the roof.
Miyagi convinces Louisa to stay at his home in Los Angeles for some rest while he looks after Julie in Boston. At school, Julie befriends Eric McGowen, a student training to become a security guard and a member of the Alpha Elite, a questionable fraternity led by the strict Colonel Paul Dugan. The group enforces school rules through brute force, with the aggressive Ned Randall targeting Julie with unwanted advances.
After narrowly avoiding a car accident and instinctively using a karate move, Julie earns Miyagi’s admiration. She reveals that her father, who learned karate from her grandfather, taught her the martial art. However, while feeding Angel one night, Julie is discovered by the Alpha Elite and chased through the school. Although she escapes, she is arrested by the police and suspended.
Cast director: Christopher Cain
Cast actor: Pat Morita, Hilary Swank, Michael Ironside, Constance Towers, Chris Conrad, Arsenio ‘Sonny’ Trinidad, Michael Cavalieri, Walton Goggins, Jim Ishida, Rodney Kageyama
Original name: The Next Karate Kid