Posted in: Cobra Kai, DVD/Blu-ray, Movies, Netflix, Sony, TV | Tagged: cobra kai, Jon Hurwitz, pat morita, Ralph Macchio, the karate kid, william zabka

Cobra Kai Creators Commentary Added to The Karate Kid 40th Anniversary

Cobra Kai co-creator Jon Hurwitz on how William Zabka's commentary on The Karate Kid led to the creation of the Netflix sequel series.

It's hard to believe how old The Karate Kid, one of the greatest martial arts franchises in pop culture, is. As Sony Pictures preps the release of a new 40th anniversary Blu-ray and 4K disc release, a new generation of fans will experience the original adventure from director John G. Avildsen and writer Robert Mark Kamen that features Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso as he tries to overcome his bullies led by Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and his dojo Cobra Kai, with the help of Pat Morita's Nariyoshi Miyagi. Things have come full circle with the 4K Ultra HD edition, where new commentary will be included from the franchise's legacy sequel series Cobra Kai from creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg.

Cobra Kai Co-creator John Hurwitz on Commentary Inclusion of The Karate Kid 40th Anniversary Release

Hurwitz wrote on social media, "An interview with [William Zabka] on the 20th Anniversary Karate Kid DVD helped inspire Hayden, Josh, and I to create [Cobra Kai]. Surreal that there's a commentary track of the three of us to help celebrate the 40th!" The Karate Kid fans will also enjoy 30 minutes of deleted scenes, never-before-seen raw footage from a variety of unused scenes, and featurettes like Remembering The Karate Kid on the 4K Ultra HD edition. The Blu-ray comes with the original commentary from Avildsen, Kamen, Macchio, and Morita and featurettes like The Way of The Karate Kid, Beyond Form, and others. The success of the original film spawned three sequels and a 2010 remake. With Cobra Kai's sixth and final season on Netflix looming, Sony announced a crossover film starring Ben Wang as the new featured "kid" of the franchise with Macchio, 2010 star Jackie Chan, Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, and Ming-Na Wen. The latter three are new to the franchise.

Cobra Kai is a legacy sequel series that stars Macchio and Zabka, reprising their roles as Daniel and Johnny, respectively. Also in the main cast are the original antagonist, John Kreese, played by Martin Kove, and Part III's (1989) Terry Silver, played by Thomas Ian Griffith. The series has Daniel and Johnny leading a new generation of high school students with their share of issues and bullying. The series also leans hard on embracing the legacy of the first three films with appearances from Elizabeth Shue, Tamlyn Tomita, Yuji Okumoto, Robin Lively, and Sean Kanan.

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