The Karate Kid
Introduction
This assignment will include how the production context
between two films from different decades differ and compare from one another. A
production context is the social and economical aspects around a film. The two
films that I have chosen is "The Karate Kid"(1984) and "The
Karate Kid"(2010) remake. The original Karate Kid was made in 1984, the
film included a variety of production houses: Columbia Pictures corporations,
Delphi II Productions and Jerry Weintraub Productions, similar to the remake
the film included similar production houses however included more than the
original, the production houses for the remake were Columbia Pictures,
Overbrook Entertainment, China Film Group, Emperor Film Production and Jerry
Weintraub Productions. The director for the 2010 film was Harald Zwart and the
director for the original karate kid was John G. Avildsen. Although the both
the original and the remake may not have many differences and may have a
similar storyline the films however do include some noticeable differences. The
main difference of the both films is the setting which is probably the most
noticeable difference, the original Karate Kid was set in California America
where as the 2010 remake version was set in China which sets a beautiful photo
opportunities of the Chinese culture. Another difference in both films is that
the main character in the original film was white as where the bullies he was
up against, and in the 2010 remake version of the karate kid the main character
an African American fighting off Chinese bullies.
Synopsis
The
main plot of the original Karate Kid is Daniel (the main character) and his
mother Lucille Larusso move from New Jersey to California. She (the mother) has
a wonderful and exciting new job, however Daniel quickly discovers that a dark
haired Italian boy with a Jersey accent doesn't fit into the blond surfer
crowd. Daniel (Ralph Macchio) however manages to talk his way out of some
fights, however he was finally cornered by a group of unpleasant people who
belong to the same Karate school. As Daniel is passing out from the beating he
sees Miyagi an elderly gardener who leaps into the fray and saves him from
outfighting the group of bullies. Miyagi and Daniel soon find out the real
motivator behind the boys' violent attitude in the form of their Karate
teacher. Miyagi eventually promises Daniel to become his Karate teacher and
teach him how to protect himself.
The
remake of the Karate Kid is somewhat similar to the original however does
include some differences. After his (Dre Parker) mother (Henson) accepts a job
in China, teenager Dre Parker is forced to move to the new country, 12-year-old
Dre Parker finds that he is a stranger in a strange land. Though he knows a
little karate, his fighting skills are no match for Cheng the school bully. Dre
however finds a friend in Mr. Han who is a maintenance man who also is a
martial-arts master. Mr. Han teaches Dre all about Kung Fu in the hope that he
will be able to face down the school bully and perhaps win the heart of a
pretty classmate name Mei Ying.
Original
Compared to New Film
Both
the original karate kid and the remake have both different budgets assigned,
the assigned budget for the 1984 action/drama film was an estimated 8 million
however the film did eventually gross an overall revenue of 90 million and 800
thousand dollars different to the 2010 remake the assigned budget of the film
was 40 million dollars and the estimated gross was 176 million ($176,591,618).
As you can see the original film had little money to work with however made a
staggering 82 million and 8 hundred thousand profit from the original, however
the remake did make much more money with an extraordinary 136 million dollars
(136,591,618). There are many reasons why the remake of the karate kid as a
better box office success are the main reason would most likely be because of
the different cultural variety and cultural background, for example the main
character is African American fighting off Chinese bullies this would have
attracted a variety of viewers to pay and watch the remake of the film,
different to the original film, in the 1984 film most of the actors included
where mainly white as the main character (Daniel Larusso) was a white American
fighting of many white Americans this would have given the film a disadvantage
as other people would have liked to see a variety of different culture. As you
can see from the shot below in the original film the main character is fighting
a white American and in the remake the African American main character is
fighting a Chinese fighter. On the left is the remake of the karate kid and the
right is the original film.
Despite the fact that the remake made a bigger profit
the original karate kid was a tremendous success as it made a big profit from
the film. Another extensive reason for the success of both the remake and the
original films is because of the actors included in the film, the film is an
action/drama and both films include the biggest action stars in the acting
industry, both films included recognised actors for example the original film
included (Ralph Macchio and Johnny Lawrence) both actors where big in the 1980s and 1990s with both of the actors
filming for big action films of the like of the karate kid 2 and Shootfighters.
Although Ralph Macchio was involved in many action films he however won various
number of awards for different genre films for example in 2002 the actor
conveniently won an award for a film he directed called "Love Thy
Brother". The remake included the likes of Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith.
Jackie Chan who is known by many and has been in the public eye for many years
with him being in many action films for example in 1998 he was the main
character for "Who Am I?" and in 2012 he was included in an action
film called "CZ12". Jackie Chan was awarded many honours in his
acting career he was rewarded a total of 15 awards as an actor, the actor won
an award for the remake of the karate kid he was rewarded a kid’s choice award
in 2011 for "favourite butt kicker”.
The
director for the original karate kid was John Guilbert Avildsen, he was an
American film director who won the Academy Award for best director in 1977 for
Rocky, he was nominated for a BAFTA award for best direction in 1978 and was
nominated for an academy award for best documentary short subject in 1983,John
Guilbert Avildsen was a successful film director in the 1970s to the 1990s,
other than the karate kid he directed on of the biggest film in the industry
(Rocky), this would have attracted many people to watch the Karate Kid knowing
that he (John Guilbert Avildsen) was involved and included in making the film a
success, John Guilbert Avildsen directed 26 films in his entire filming career
making him one of the best at directing movies and made him a big favourite to
the public and the fans of the film he has directed many of his films where an
action/drama so is the karate kid this will influence the film as he was quite
experience in action films. The director for the 2010 remake of the karate kid
was Harald Zwart. Harald Zwart is a Dutch-Norwegian film director who not only
directed the remake of the karate kid he also directed the Pink Panther 2 which
was a huge success and like by many viewers. There are a variety of production
houses that are included in both films; the production houses that are included
in the original film are Columbia Pictures corporations, Delphi II Productions
and Jerry Weintraub Productions. Columbia Pictures corporations is an American
film studio, production company and film distributor that is a member of the
Sony Entertainment; it was founded in 10th January 1924. Although the remake
included more production houses however they were similar Columbia Pictures,
Overbrook Entertainment, China Film Group, Emperor Film Production and Jerry
Weintraub Productions. Overbrook Entertainment is an American entertainment
company based in Culver city, California, United States; it was founded in 1997
in Beverly Hills. China Film Group was also included in the remake it is he
largest and most influential state-owned film enterprise in the people’s
Republic of China, it was founded in February 1999. Emperor Film Production is
a film production and distributor, part of the Emperor Group. The production
was founded in the Hong Kong. As the original film was made years before the
remake with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan there are noticeable differences in
music and technology. In the original karate kid film, the music was provided
by Bill Conti and featured songs were performed by a variety number of famous
artists in the 1980s and one of the biggest and most listened to song was
included in the film (You’re the best) however the Joe Espositos well known
song was initially made for RockyIII however was then replaced with Survivors
"Eye of the Tiger". In the 2010 film remake the lead actor, Jaden
Smith has a hand in the musical aspect of the film. Jaden Smiths song was
included in the film (never say never). Kids of this generation will most likely
enjoy the new karate kid as they have not experienced the original film and
when it was released to the world and mainly kids of this generation will most
likely enjoy the music that is included in the remake rather than the original.
The technology in the remake and the original are both completely different as
the original was initially released on the 31st of August 1984 and as we know
technology has only become exceptionally better as the years went on. In the
remake karate kid at the end of every fight there is a big TV screen to show
the scores and the rankings of the fighters this is different to the original,
in the original film at the end of every fight the scores are shown in written
cardboards, this is most likely because in the 1980s they probably weren't any
big screen televisions, not only did they have a big screen television to show
the score they also had one to show the fight replays which is not featured in
the original film. As you can see below, the image on the left is the original
and the image on the right is the remake.
Another
major improvement for technology in the remake is shown an hour and 29 minutes
into the film when Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and Meiying (Wenwen Han) walked
into an arcade and started dancing on the game as it was giving them
instructions in whether to go left or right, this is different to the original
film as in the 1980s there were no advanced technology as we know now in the
2000s. As the years gone by technology only became increasingly better and developed,
many products that were initially made in the 1980s have become better and
better. The production of the remake was quite big as the production budget was
an estimated 40 million the film also included a variety of Production Company
and also included one of the biggest production company (China Film Group)
different to the original the production budget of the film was 8 million.
There
are a variety of factors that affect the relationship between the film and
their production context, one factor is the financial determinants, as both
films included a large amount of money starting off both films did not have any
trouble with finance and eventually did make an extremely big profit. Another
factor that affected the relationship between the film and the production
context where the funding bodies. The funding body of a film is an organisation
that provides funds for a particular purpose. In the original movie in 1984 the
film was funded by the production companies as not many people knew much about
the karate kid similar to the remake in 2010 the film was funded by its
production companies however as there were more production companies included
in the film the remake had more money to work with so he film can improve and
show its improvement form the original karate kid. The remake of the karate kid
took place in Beijing, China and filming began around July 2009 and ended on
October 16, 2009. The production companies that are included in the film are
Chinese, Hong Kong and American companies, as the film is being made in China
there will be some restrictions, for example Chinas film industry represents
one of the countries most lucrative sub-sectors in its entertainment industry. In
2011 foreign investors are prohibited from investing in film distribution
companies and theatre line companies. There are two types of annual quotas
regulating imports films into China, one is a revenue-sharing quota and the
second is a flat-free quota. A revenue sharing film remits a set percentage of
its revenue from the Chinese box office to the foreign production studio. A
flat-free quota is a Chinese distributor (i.e. China Film Group) pays up-front
a lump sum figure for a film and does not remit any box office receipts to the
producing studio. The original film took place in Los Angeles primarily
location in the San Fernando Valley. All three-production companies (Jerry
Weintraub Productions, Columbia Pictures Corporation and Delphi II Productions)
are all American companies. As the film took place in America the film would of
had some filming restrictions, as the production companies were all American
companies there weren't any filming restrictions while making the karate kid.
The
original karate kid initially took place in the United States, film tax
incentives are tax benefits offered on a state-by-state basis throughout the
United States to encourage in-state film production these incentives came about
in the 1990s in response to the flight of movie productions to other countries.
As the remake of the karate kid was filmed in China, the Chinese government has
implemented a series of tax incentives that specifically seek to promote the
domestic film industry. Corporate income tax for film enterprises recognised as
high-tech enterprises shall be levied at a reduced rate of 15 percent. The
editing of the remake flowed smoothly, captured good action and character
reactions and put together a very coherent story. Although both films had a big
budget there weren't much special effects that were included in the original
karate kid, the film didn't rely on any special visual effects however the
movie still made a hefty profit. Similar to the original the remake also didn't
include any special effects or green screening the director (Zwart) of the 2010
karate kid said "we decided on this movie also- no green screening, no effects,
nothing. We want to go there and be on those locations, and it does give the
movie a different breath" he continued and said "there are
limitations, I think in what you can achieve on green screen and the suspension
of disbelief is always limited when people smell that they've been
manipulated".
The
sounds and music in both films are quite different which is mainly because of
the years the film where made, in the 1980s music was mainly Hip Hop/rock
different to the music in the 21st century, in the 21st century the music is
mainly rap and R&B. This is shown in the original movie when Daniel
Larusso and Ali (his lover) go on a date, the scene includes a 80s rock song
called "feel the night”. However, in the 2010 remake of the karate kid,
during the date scene at the Chinese festival, the sound in the background is
quite soft and the scene starts off with a flute, it then introduces some
strings as she (Meiying) explains the act to Jaden Smith. Throughout both films
the sounds vary in the remake there are a variety of sounds and one sound that
was included was when Mr. Han is smashing his car as he was frustrated and sad.
The remake was firstly shown to the public in the cinema for the audience to
watch it and eventually became available to the public via DVD, similar to the
1980 film starring Ralph Macchio was also shown to the public via cinema
however was then available for the audience to watch it on DVD and is now one
of the biggest DVD seller, to buy the original film it will cost the audience
around 3 pounds and 40 pence and to buy the 2010 remake it will cost the
audience 2 pounds and 90 pence. As both films where filmed in completely
different times it is understandable that the trend was different in the 20th
century than in the 21st century when the remake was made. The two most famous
and popular genres that were a fan favourite was science fiction and action
which is one main reason why the karate kid was such a big hit to the audience,
in the 21st century the most beloved genre was similar to the 20th century with
action however comedy has improved throughout the years and is one of the most
favoured by the public. Both action/drama films included a variety of product
placement, in the 2010 remake the film includes a variety of product placement,
this would be one main reason why the film was such a success in the box office
and why it attracted many different people, the product placement that are
included in the films are well known by many people around the world. The first
product placement that is included in the film is shown 9 minutes into the film
when Jaden Smith turns on the TV, the television was a produced Sony, another
use of product placement in the film is shown 33 minutes into the film when
Jaden Smith is crossing the road, the scene shows a variety of Volkswagens in
the background, the images shown below are some product placements that are shown in the film. As you can see from the
bottom image the kid is also wearing Adidas shoes, which would attract people
to watch the film and increase the films popularity.
The
products that where included in the original films where Nike, Adidas, and
similar to the remake a Volkswagen car is shown to the audience. The actors in
the original karate kid are somewhat similar to the actors in the remake as
most of them are known for playing action/drama films, in the original film the
protagonist (Ralph Macchio) is known for many other action and drama films in
his acting career, for example in 2003 Ralph Macchio starred in an action movie
named "a good night to do", although Ralph Macchio is the main
character in the film other actors such as William Zabka (the villain in the
karate kid) has also been involved in several other action/drama films such as
"Shootfighters" the film was released in 1993, he was also included
in another action film in 2002 called "Hypersonic". Both actors
(Ralph Macchio and William Zabka) were nominated for numerous awards such as an
academy award for best short film and best actor in 1986, however although the
original film includes some big action film stars many might say the biggest
actor is Mr. Han played by Jackie Chan in the remake of the iconic film, the
actor has been involved with a numerous amounts of films and most of them being
action films including the remake of the karate kid, for example he starred in
an action film in 1998 called "Rush Hour" which eventually continued
to make another two extra films, as he was loved by many of the fans,
although Jackie Chan might be involved in many action films his co-star and the
main character of the remake Jaden Smith has only been in one other action
film, nonetheless he would have brought a different aspect to the film, for
example as he is well known and liked by many he would have attracted a large
amount of fans to watch the film. As the film has a similar storyline many
would have followed and watched the remake as they would have been curious and
excited to see what was next for the new wonder kid, despite the change in
characters and tweaking of the storyline many people where interested in seeing
the trailer of the new film, the remake had fifteen million and three hundred
views with the original only making four hundred thousand views.
Conclusion
In
conclusion both films made a massive profit which is the main goal in most
films, although the actors and the characters are different the remake still
was a big hit and was favoured by many fans, both films included big star
actors with the original karate kid having Ralph Macchio star in it and making
William Zabka the villain and the remake including arguably the best actor of
all time (Jacki Chan and making the main character Jaden Smith. As we all know
many people cherished the original karate kid with 82 percent of the critics
enjoying watching it and getting an average score of 6.9 out of 10 however some
critics didn’t find the remake a success with only 67 percent of the people
enjoying the film. Overall I found both films interesting and exciting, however
I believe that the original film is better than the remake as it includes more
drama and keeps the audience on its toes making them wonder what will happen
next nonetheless the remake does also have some great scenes such as when the
actors visited the iconic great wall of China and including the snake in the
film, which would of surprised many like myself however I would have included
more dramatic scenes and more intense music for the remake in 2010.
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