History Trivia / TheKarateKid1984

* EnforcedMethodActing: To make the All-Valley tournament feel more authentic, the production team [[https://www.si.com/tech-media/2018/05/01/karate-kid-movie-oral-history-cobra-kai hosted a real karate tournament on the set at the same time they were filming the characters' fight scenes.]] All of the background fighters were actually competing.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RalphMacchio. Subverted with Creator/ElisabethShue as she was the leading lady, not the star, an important distinction. This was the first film for the latter after doing several commercials in the early 1980s beforehand. After the success of ''The Karate Kid'', Ralph Macchio became a teen idol who was often featured on the covers of magazines like ''Tiger Beat.''

** The same goes for the actors playing the 17 year old Cobra Kais. William Zabka was 19, Ron Thomas was 22, and Chad [=McQueen=], Rob Garrison, and Tony O'Dell were all 23.

** William Zabka (Johnny) had no martial arts experience prior to being cast in the film, except being an accomplished wrestler.

** Creator/CrispinGlover was considered for Johnny Lawrence before William Zabka was cast.

** Ron Thomas (Bobby Brown) was so skilled in martial arts (black belt in Ju-Jitsu) that he was allowed to choreograph his own fight scenes.

* BeamMeUpScotty: Whatever the parodies might tell you, "You're the Best" is not played over a TrainingMontage, but a montage of tournament fights.

* TropeNamers: WaxOnWaxOff, and formerly "[[OrderedToCheat Sweep the Leg]]".

* DidntThinkThisThrough: The above DeletedScene had Johnny putting a cake where Daniel was about to sit in the school cafeteria, ruining his pants. Problem is, Johnny can handle Daniel in a fistfight, but a harmless prank (no matter how humiliating) like that, Daniel can easily retaliate, which he does, by ruining Johnny’s shirt. The moment Johnny [[OhCrap realizes]] this was a possible outcome is priceless.

** The same goes for the actors playing the 17 year old Cobra Kais. William Zabka was 19, Ron Thomas was 22, and Chad [=McQueen=], Ron Garrison, and Tony O'Dell were all 23.

* DawsonCasting: Creator/RalphMacchio was 21 when the first film was made, playing a 17 year old. Not many people noticed thanks to Macchio's boyish good looks and high-pitched voice,[[note]]although Macchio himself was very uncomfortable being romantically paired with the 16-year-old Robyn Lively in the third movie[[/note]] making this one of the few effective examples of the trope. Avoided in the reboot, as the kids are actual kids. Poked fun at in a 90's commercial for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG3f9T92KsU&ab_channel=LooseMooseProds Brisk Iced Tea]].

** In Japan and South Korea, this film and the entire franchise was released with the title ''Best Kid'' ("ベスト・キッド" in Japanese and "베스트 키드" in Korean) instead of ''The Karate Kid''.

** Daniel's last name was original Weber, and only changed to [=LaRusso=] after Creator/RalphMacchio was cast.

** In Japan, this film and the entire franchise was released with the title ''Best Kid'' instead of ''The Karate Kid''.

** In Japan, this film and the entire franchise was released with the title ''Best Kid'' instead of ''Karate Kid''.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Initially released as ''Le moment de vérité'' (''The Moment of Truth'') in France. The title didn't stick, and ''Karaté Kid'' rapidly replaced it first in most viewers' minds, then with re-releases.

* RealLifeRelative: Creator/ElisabethShue's younger brother Andrew has a small part as one of the participants at the karate tournament. If you look closely he can be seen in the background while Daniel is squaring off against some of the other participants at the tournament.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: There are scenes in an arcade, which have been almost completely replaced by home video game systems. This was excused in the [[Film/TheKarateKid2010 2010 remake]] taking place in China where arcades live on like Japan. Also, the presentation of karate as the ultimate self defense martial art in an otherwise realistic setting is obviously made in an era before UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts, which demystified traditional martial arts. ''Series/CobraKai'' makes a point of alluding to karate being all the rage in the 1980s, and it losing popularity before Johnny's revival of Cobra Kai wins the 2018 All-Valley Tournament with Miguel Diaz.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RalphMacchio. Subverted with Creator/ElisabethShue as she was the leading lady, not the star, an important distinction. This was the first film for the latter after doing several commercials in the early 1980s beforehand.

** Averted, however with William Zabka, who had just had his 18th birthday when filming began, about the same age, if not a little ''younger'' than Johnny Lawrence.

* CastTheExpert: The referee in the final match is Pat E. Johnson, a karate expert and former student of Creator/ChuckNorris. He instructed many movie stars in karate. He is credited as the "fight instructor/choreographer" for the film.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: The above DeletedScene had Johnny putting a cake where Daniel was about to sit in the school cafteria, ruining his pants. Problem is, Johnny can handle Daniel in a fistfight, but a harmless prank (no matter how humiliating) like that, Daniel can easily retaliate, which he does, by ruining Johnny’s shirt. The moment Johnny [[OhCrap realizes]] this was a possible outcome is priceless.

* DawsonCasting: Creator/RalphMacchio was 21 when the first film was made, playing a 17 year old. Not many people noticed thanks to Macchio's boyish good looks and high-pitched voice,[[note]]although Macchio himself was very uncomfortable being romantically paired with the 16-year-old Robyn Lively in the third movie[[/note]] making this one of the few effective examples of the trope. Avoided in the reboot, as the kids are actual kids. Poked fun at in a 90's commercial for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JpVJgSkGgk Brisk Iced Tea]].

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/RalphMacchio and Creator/ElisabethShue, this was the first film for the latter after doing several commercials in the early 1980's beforehand.