The Karate Kid was released in 1984 and my son, Jon, was born in 1985, so he never saw the widescreen version. He told me he had never seen any version, even on television. I asked why he wanted to see it and he said "because of all the references to it" that he'd heard in other places.

You can know when a movie has made a cultural impact when it's quoted by later movies and when other entertainment venues use items originated by the story. Wikipedia has a section called "Impact" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Karate_Kid. The movie "Dogma" even has a character who quotes the line "Wax on, wax off" from this movie.

The Karate Kid stars a much younger Ralph Macchio, the late Pat Morita, and Elisabeth Shoe. Here's a video I selected for it:

Big Trouble in Little China is one of my all time favorite movies. Me, my wife and my son sat down and watched it again (on DVD) back in February for the zillionth time.

I love cheesy movies, if they're done well and "Big Trouble in Little China" fits the bill. This movie had humor, action, and fantasy all rolled into one movie. You have to see it to believe it. The funniest part is that Jack Burton (played by Kurt Russell) always talks about himself in the third person, quote:

"Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, 'Give me your best shot. I can take it.'"

Curiously, I started checking blogs to see who else had written about this masterpiece. Here are a few:

Thinking-Out-Aloud – Filmage
Made for Another World
CriticalBlogs – Film's from a Natist Perspective

I could probably find a thousand more that made references to it. The strange thing is that this movie was NOT a blockbuster. Big Trouble in Little China stars Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton, Donald Li and others, here's the trailer:

Sure, The Last Dragon is an older movie, but it's great fun. It's a martial arts comedy played completely straight the entire time. I haven't seen anything quite like it since. The spoof movies can't compare.

Taimak as Leroy Green, actually knew martial arts, but I don't know about the guy that played "Sho Nuff". Vanity, the damsel in distress, went onto other things besides acting and music although I don't care to know what.

The Last Dragon stars Taimak, Vanity, Christopher Murney, Julius Carry, Faith Prince, Leo O'Brien and others. Here's a trailer: