I remember reading an interview with I think Pat Morita's brother (?) from way back when. He stated that Pat was channeling their father in his performance.
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Still takes talent. Morita may have drawn from his own father, but he knocked it out of the park on his own. I'm sure the producers were thrilled with the performance.
To get an Oscar nomination for this film was quite impressive. Movies like Karate Kid don't typically get love from The Oscars. Oscars tend to hate these mainstream blockbusters.
shareIt bugs me seeing the internet jokes about Karate Kid saying things like "Daniel was the real bully" in attempt to cheapen the movie. It takes away from the fact its a beautifully made movie with great acting and the music gets me teary-eyed every time. Pat Morita deserved his Oscar Nomination.
shareIf he was this awesome handy-man (with the sweet classic old cars, and the house he was building...) How come the pool at Daniel's apartment was such a dump?
shareBecause the owner wouldn't pay for the pool to be fixed
shareI always said Miyagi should teach more students karate so he’d have the work force to tackle bigger projects like remodeling that ramshackle apartment building and fixing its cracked up swampy old pool.
shareHere he is discussing getting the role:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoBeHY1Rvs0
Was his father a maintenance man at an apartment complex that knew Karate and how to fish? haha..
Whoever he was channeling, it worked. His performance was quite good. In fact, I wouldn't have cared if he won the Oscar but Haing S. Ngor was pretty damn good in The Killing Fields. But I haven't seen A Soldier's Story or Places In The Heart. Hard to compare him to John Malkovich and Adolph Caesar.
I saw Greystoke and Ralph Richardson was good in that. But I think Miyagi was a much more memorable character.
Yea Miyagi was really good because he was natural & they developed him more than they did Danny I think.
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