Bullet Points: Karate Warrior

I have talked before about the similarities between The Karate Kid and Die Hard… not similarities in content obviously, but the fact that both movies have their fair share of imitators.

I have come to learn that The Karate Kid imitators are not just limited to the United States… Italy seemed to be obsessed with the Ralph Macchio film, producing movies likes Karate Rock and 1987’s Karate Warrior.

• Welcome to the Philippines: “American” teenager Anthony Scott (Kim Rossi Stuart) travels to the Philippines to visit his estranged father. But before he could reunite with his dad that he hasn’t seen in three years, Anthony meets some of the locals… and by meet, I mean a group of guys beat the crap out of him and mug him, taking his money, his watch and his Walkman. But to Anthony’s credit he still manages to make it to the town his journalist father now calls home… but Anthony steps in it again, when he has a bit of a run in with the town badass named Quino (Enrico Tarralba), fortunately for Anthony his dad intervenes before Quino could kick Anthony’s ass.

• Love at First Sight: The next day Anthony’s fortunes with the Filipino people changes when he meets a young lady named Maria (Jannelle Barretto) while she is haggling with a street vendor over a necklace. Anthony spits some game in her direction and Maria lets it slip that she lives on Johnson Street where her dad runs a shop before she takes off. Moments later it is Anthony bartering for the necklace Maria had her eye on. Anthony then returns to his dad’s place where he fixes up an old motorcycle, because he’s going to need some wheels if he really wants to impress Maria.
• The Ubiquitous Quino: Now that Anthony has a sweet ride it is time to cruise over to Johnson Street and see if Maria wants to go out with him. When he arrives he sees Quino shaking down Maria’s father for protection money… he wants to interject but Maria cuts him off and instead the two go off and spend the day together. After a romantic boat ride, Maria takes Anthony to a big happening in town… an annual karate tournament that honors the town’s favorite son, Master Kimura… can you guess who has won this tournament for the past five years? Quino, of course. The reason Quino is the best karate fighter in all of the land is because he was trained by Master Kimura… but when Quino began to use what Master Kimura taught him to harm people, Master Kimura basically said eff this and moved out to the middle of nowhere to live like a hermit.

• His Mouth is Writing Checks His Ass Can’t Cash: When Quino starts taking advantage of some of his lesser skilled opponents, Anthony can’t help but speak up… the rest of the crowd is shocked as NOBODY stands up to Quino. When Quino jumps out of the ring and into to the crowd to confront Anthony… Anthony uses the old camera flash to the eyes/kick to the balls combo to stun Quino and allow him and Maria to get away on Anthony’s motorcycle… but Quino and his boys have motorcycles too and it is time for a motorcycle chase which ends with a spectacular jump by Anthony and a not so spectacular jump from Quino… but Quino gets the last laugh, when he and his boys tracks Anthony down at his dad’s place… trash the house and take Anthony out for a drive to the middle of nowhere… this is where Quino kicks Anthony’s ass and leaves him for dead.

And from there the rest of the movie writes itself… the hermit Master Kimura finds a near dead Anthony, nurses him back to health, then trains him so he will be able to vanquish Quino in the finals of the annual tournament… an annual tournament that either takes place over several weeks OR it is an “annual” tournament is held every few weeks. I am not 100% sure.

But I am 100% sure that I enjoyed this film… even with the distracting dubbing (there were a few scenes where the English dubbing was replaced by Italian dubbing), the predictable story and the fact that it starred a bunch of people I have never heard of.

• AKA: Karate Warrior’s original title in Italy was Il Ragazzo Dal Kimono D’oro which roughly translates to The Boy in the Golden Kimono.
• Not That Ken Watanabe: It should be noted that the Ken Watanabe that plays Master Kimura is not the same Ken Watanabe from The Last Samurai or Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
• Favorite Quote: “You caught one fish… there are two of us.” – Master Kimura
• Montage Alert: The Anthony training montage includes nunchaku, staring down a jungle cat, training while blindfolded and punching a cow with the electrifying “dragon blow”.
• Free of Charge: The cabbie who picked up Anthony at the airport, did Anthony a solid by pointing out the women in town who had crabs. He did not charge Anthony for this extra service.
• Famous Last Words: As Anthony is driving away with his family to return to the United States, he tells Maria “I’ll be back” …a perfect set up for Karate Warrior 2!