The Karate Kid brought the action adventure of a martial arts movie to a modern teen audience in the 80s. A teenage boy, sick of being bullied, wants to bring his life under better control. He begins taking lessons in martial arts from a wise elderly man in hopes of doing just that. The endgame of the movie involves a tournament and a love interest, and it's been a favorite of 80s movie fans since it was released. It spawned a couple of sequels, a television series, and in the last year, a remake.

Ralph Macchio as Daniel
Though he had several roles before starring as Daniel, The Karate Kid was most definitely his break out role, and one he is still recognized for today. Despite efforts to change up his acting image in roles like Crossroads and My Cousin Vinny, to a lot of people, he will always be Daniel. Of course, since he did star in the first two sequels to the film, that might have something to do with it. In an effort to break away from Hollywood a little bit, he's also done quite a bit of stage work over the last few years, which is good because most of his onscreen roles following the conclusion of his Karate roles have been mainly forgotten. He did, however, have a recurring role on the popular television series Ugly Betty from 2008-2009, and recently had a guest spot on the crime drama Law and Order: Criminal Intene. Demonstrating that he still has a lot of love for the franchise that made him a household name, Ralph also showed up at the premier of the updated version of his most well known film, posing for pictures with Jaden Smith on the red carpet, and effectively passing on the torch.

Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi
Though he actually started out as a stand up comic in California, Pat would become known for playing slightly offbeat, but always wise, characters following The Karate Kid in 1984. His role as the martial arts instructor also made him the first Asian-American man to be nominated for an acting Oscar. He seemed to prefer playing the smaller character actor roles throughout most of his career, but he did score the lead in his cop show in the eighties, Ohara, and he also appeared as the grandfather in the nineties Nickelodeon series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. He also lent his voice talents to animated features, as well as English dubbing of Asian films. In fact, he played The Emperor in Disney's Mulan and it's sequel, and he also served as the narrating voice for a lot of Disney's special presentations associated with the film. Pat died of natural causes in 2005, though he had seven more projects released after his death. Ralph Macchio, his Karate prodigy, spoke at the funeral service, and ended his words with "Forever, my Sensei."

William Zabka as Johnny
William, who also gets credited by his nickname Billy in some of his work, has had quite a career since his turn as the bully to Ralph Macchio's hero in the first film. It was only his second on screen role at the time, and he came back for the sequel a couple of years later. Following that, he did a few after school specials that aired on television, and a few guest spots here and there before landing another starring role. Most of his films have been made for television or straight to video releases after the eighties. Since then, he's done a little bit of everything though, from directing to producing to acting to music. He's an accomplished singer/songwriter, as is his brother. He's even directed a few music videos, including one for a song by the band No More Kings based on his character in The Karate Kid films. In 2010, he also gave a nod to his eighties fans, playing a character in the comedy Hot Tub Time Machine that was a throwback to his days as Johnny. He has a couple more projects slated for release over the next year, including one that he has been working on since 2006.

Elizabeth Shue as Ali
You can read all about Elizabeth Shue in last month's article on Adventures in Babysitting.