Karate Kid

Theatrical Release Date: 2010 06 11 (USA)

UPC: 043396359130

Studio: Sony Pictures

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Violence, Mild Language]

Summary: When a 12-year-old from Detroit moves to China with his mother and incurs the wrath of the class bully at his new school, he makes an unlikely ally in the form of his aging maintenance man, a kung fu master who teaches him the secrets to self-defense. Upon arriving at his new school, Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) develops a powerful crush on pretty classmate Mei Ying. The feeling is mutual, although the cultural divide between Dre and Mei Ying makes a friendship unlikely, and romance impossible. When cruel classmate and kung fu prodigy Cheng learns of Dre's feelings for Mei Ying, he harasses and humiliates the young outsider in front of the entire school. With no one to turn to for help, Dre confides his fears in kindly maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), a kung fu master who knows that serenity and maturity -- not punches and power -- are the true keys to mastering the martial arts. As Dre prepares to face down his intimidating tormentor, he begins to realize that the real fight is just beginning. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Drama

Features: Chinese lessons
Justin Bieber music video featuring Jaden Smith
The making of the Karate Kid

Karate Kid

Format: DVD

Release Date: 10/05/2010

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 140 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- The Karate Kid
1. Chapter 1 [7:02]
2. Chapter 2 [3:24]
3. Chapter 3 [4:39]
4. Chapter 4 [4:47]
5. Chapter 5 [4:33]
6. Chapter 6 [6:28]
7. Chapter 7 [3:56]
8. Chapter 8 [4:55]
9. Chapter 9 [6:47]
10. Chapter 10 [3:15]
11. Chapter 11 [5:02]
12. Chapter 12 [5:19]
13. Chapter 13 [4:22]
14. Chapter 14 [5:09]
15. Chapter 15 [4:42]
16. Chapter 16 [5:54]
17. Chapter 17 [3:56]
18. Chapter 18 [6:21]
19. Chapter 19 [3:16]
20. Chapter 20 [1:34]
21. Chapter 21 [6:09]
22. Chapter 22 [5:13]
23. Chapter 23 [3:26]
24. Chapter 24 [5:54]
25. Chapter 25 [2:40]
26. Chapter 26 [4:57]
27. Chapter 27 [7:16]
28. Chapter 28 [1:41]

Perry Seibert

The original Karate Kid was an audience-pleasing sleeper that built on word of mouth to become, surprisingly, the fifth biggest hit of 1984. The 2010 remake might become an even bigger smash, but it has just a fraction of the smarts and subtlety that made the original a generational classic. Preteen Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves from to Detroit to China with his mother (Taraji P. Henson) after she scores a new job. He feels out of place in his new surroundings, a situation that spirals downward when bully Cheng beats him up for talking to a girl. Dre lives under constant threat of attack until one day when, just before yet another beating, the apartment complex's handyman, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), appears and rescues him. Turns out Han is a martial-arts expert, and he agrees to train Dre for a kung fu tournament where he can face off against Cheng, as well as against all the other members of the evil school where Cheng studies martial arts. One of the best features about the movie is the setting. With the help of talented cinematographer Roger Pratt (who regularly collaborates with Terry Gilliam), director Harald Zwart makes day-to-day life in China both exotic and commonplace -- a trick very few American films have ever pulled off. The filmmakers don't treat China like a museum, but a fully functional community where real people live, play, eat, work, and go to school every day. This sense of place helps keep the film from falling apart during a nearly hour-long setup that elongates Dre's suffering to a point where we almost lose patience with him. Will Smith became a worldwide superstar for a reason -- very few performers can win over audiences with such seeming effortlessness as the artist formally known as The Fresh Prince. And while his son Jaden gives a fine performance here -- it's obvious he's absorbed tons from watching his dad -- he doesn't yet possess the intangible quality that makes an actor larger than life. He's got attitude where his dad has charisma. His lack of star power is compounded by the presence of Jackie Chan, a genuine movie star. When Han finally reveals his kung-fu knowledge, dispatching the gang of bullies with such grace and skill that he never actually punches any of them, it's the highlight of the film -- a mix of action, dance, and physical comedy that hammers home why Chan deserves comparisons to Bruce Lee, Gene Kelly, and Buster Keaton. It's Chan that captures our heart, instilling banal lines about controlling the life force in order to properly understand kung fu with fresh authority. Best of all, he's generous -- his young co-star comes off better playing scenes with him than he does with anyone else in the cast. As good as Chan is, the movie can't overcome the fact that the emotional stakes in the film seem low because the main character is so young. The puppy love between Dre and the young girl -- a story element the movie spends a great deal of time on -- has far less weight than a relationship between teens that have driver's licenses. On top of that, while the bad kid's kung-fu skills would be intimidating to someone his age, it's nearly comical to any adult; at some point you do ask yourself why the principal, who seems to understand Cheng is a little snot, isn't willing to step in and stop the little brat. The movie will work for patient kids, who might enjoy seeing so much of a foreign country, but tykes who are in it for the action have to wait an awful long time to get to the slam-bang finale where a giant video monitor offers up instant replays of all the big kicks, flips, and punches for anyone too young or dumb to understand what's going on in the ring the first time they see it. The original Karate Kid still has a following because it works no matter how old you are; that's part of the reason Hollywood would try to remake it in the first place. And while little ones may love this version, they're going to outgrow it. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jada Pinkett Smith  Producer 
Will Smith  Producer 
Ken Stovitz  Producer 
James Horner  Composer (Music Score) 
Jerry Weintraub  Producer 
Susan Ekins  Executive Producer 
Harald Zwart  Director 
James Lassiter  Producer 
Dany Wolf  Executive Producer 
Christopher Murphey  Screenwriter 
Han San Ping  Executive Producer 
Jaden Smith  Actor 
Jackie Chan  Actor 
Taraji P. Henson  Actor 
Wenwen Han  Actor 
Rongguang Yu  Actor 
Zhensu Wu  Actor 
Zhiheng Wang  Actor 
Zhenwei Wang  Actor 
Jared Minns  Actor 
Shijia Lü  Actor 
Yi Zhao  Actor 
Bo Zhang  Actor 
Luke Carberry  Actor 
Cameron Hillman  Actor 
Ghye Samuel Brown  Actor 
Rocky Shi  Actor 
Wang Ji  Actor 
Harry Van Gorkum  Actor 
Tess Liu  Actor 
Xinhua Guo  Actor 
Jijun Zhai  Actor 
Shun Li  Actor 
Tao Ji  Actor 
Chen Jing  Actor 
Wentai Liu  Actor 
Geliang Liang  Actor 
Xu Ming  Actor 

Country: USA