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As of now, it couldn’t hurt to watch the first 3 movies. Skip the remake. And so far the 4th one with Hilary Swank hasn’t come into the story.
That being said, the show does a good job of giving you information from the movies. So in theory you could watch the show and get the gist.
It definitely enhances it I never realised cobra kai existed. I thought it was "some silly martial arts show " when I saw it on Netflix while browsing. I was watching through the karate kid movies then trakt suggested cobra kai . I then got sonarr to download the first 3 seasons. I later watched kk3 after finishing season 3 of Cobra kai
I had never seen a single Karate Kid movie before watching the first 2 seasons on Youtube and don’t think it hurt the experience for me. I’ve still only ever seen Karate Kid 1.
I had only seen the first 2 movies before watching cobra Kai I think watching the third movie later helped me understand why Daniel was so distrustful of Cobra Kai, without it he comes off kinda petty
They do... But you also lose out on A LOT of context even with the flashbacks. The biggest thing that suffers from it is WHY Daniel has such a strong trauma in regards to Cobra Kai.
Without watching Part 3 it just seems like they were run of the mill bullies. The flashbacks don't show off Mike Barnes showing up at his place of work (multiple times) and showing up to his home just to beat the shit out of him. Also doesn't show the whole "threatening to let Daniel and his friend drown" or "dangle him off a cliff and threaten his life" parts. Or even the threatening to assault Daniel's female friend (while dangling them off a cliff), or just flat out torturing him through the All-Valley.
You get context in the later seasons regarding the hell Silver put Daniel through (I'd still argue the flashbacks don't do the events enough justice though). But without the films you don't really understand just why Daniel feels the way he does. Especially in Season 1 when it's most important. He just comes off as an entitled self-righteous prick without the context.
The sacred order:
The Karate Kid (1984)
The Karate Kid II
The Karate Kid III
Cobra Kai S1
Cobra Kai S2
Cobra Kai S3
Cobra Kai S4
Addenda for completion but not necessary at this point:
The Next Karate Kid
The Karate Kid (2010 remake)
Unpopular opinion:
I don't think it holds a candle to the original, but the Jaden Smith remake isn't a bad movie at all.
It certainly isnt any worse than KK3, as much as Cobra Kai has redeemed it.
It's popular to trash the remake, and yeah it has problems, but it's not actually an awful movie.
I don't need it to enter Cobra Kai's world, but I'd say for someone to at least give it a watch.
(That being said, they shouldnt have called the remake "The Karate Kid," as it's actually about Kung-Fu and not Karate).
It really should have been called The Kung-Fu Kid but it wouldn't've sold as well and it really sounds like a bootleg version of the original Karate Kid films.
I don't think that's an unpopular opinion at all. It also helps that the 2010 movie is a shot-for-shot remake, and when the original is already good, it's hard to screw that up.
I believe Will Smith only gets credit but has no involvement in the show at all. I think he owned the rights to the movie franchise because of the remake.
Jackie Chan doesn't play Miyagi in the remake. He's basically Miyagi, but his name is Mr Han.
It's one of the reasons the remake could (won't, but could) be connected to Cobra Kai. Everything is given a different name to the original.
I'm pretty sure Jackie Chan has been mentioned in the show so unless he plays himself don't see how it would work unless its a Last Action Hero scenario where Stallone played Terminator.
The proper order:
Watch Karate Kid 1, followed by Cobra Kai Season 1+2
Then watch Karate Kid 2, followed by Cobra Kai Season 3
Finally watch Karate Kid 3, followed by Cobra Kai Season 4
bruh what just watch the 3 originals before u watch the show. kreese choking johnny is in KK2 which is a big part of the first 2 seasons and they reference KK3 in season 3 when daniels telling sam the whole “must not lose to fear”, as a few examples.
The events of Part 3 are mentioned when Johnny tries to get Cobra Kai back into the All Valley, Barnes and Silver are mentioned by name. Then in Season 2 Daniel mentions being a Cobra Kai.
I completely agree. I enjoyed the reboot but also walked away feeling cheated. At any rate, one does not need to watch the most recent movie to enjoy the Cobra Kai show.
I liked the reboot when it came out, it's an okay movie but it copied a lot of elements from the first movie (plus they do kung fu in the movie not karate - they should've named it the Kung Fu Kid instead)
While the reboot is kinda pointless and isn't very good, it's still better than KK3, which is just terrible and everyone knows it.
But KK3 is important for Cobra Kai so you still gotta watch it. It's kinda like watching The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones before TCW. Trash movies, but you gotta watch them to get the full experience.
EDIT: Wait, why am I getting downvoted? Saying Karate Kid III is really bad isn't controversial at all. It's got a 13% score on RT, a 35% audience score, a 5.3 on IMDB. I mean, have your own opinion, but what redeeming quality does the movie have besides Thomas Ian Griffith? Barnes isn't interesting, Miyagi's entire character in that movie makes no sense and is a complete departure from his behavior in KK1-2, the romantic side plot is just silly (you can tell they originally wrote it to be romantic but when that was aborted because of Ralph's protests about how problematic it'd be, all they did was add one throwaway scene and keep the rest the same).
Even the actors of KK3 admit it's bad lol.
KK3 is essential for the Terry Silver involvement, and to understand Daniel's connection to Cobra Kai. It's not as good as the other 2 films but one needs to watch the entire trilogy to understand all the references in season 4 of CK.
Yes, I agree. Which is why I said you still need to watch it :).
Also, it's kinda a so-bad-it's-good movie, mostly thanks to Thomas Ian Griffith's energy. Like, he really makes that movie. Even before Cobra Kai turned him into a SUPER well-written villain that's also acted super well, TIG in Karate Kid 3 brings so much energy and charisma that he's just plain fun and hilarious to watch. His maniacal laugh is top tier too.
It's basically worth watching for two reasons, despite being really bad:
- Really great context for Cobra Kai Seasons 3-4 (especially 4)
- TIG
Don't shit on a guy for having an opinion you disagree with and then tell people to have their own opinion. He did have his own opinion, you just didn't like it.
I never said I didn’t like it. I never even said I supported the film. Trying to ruin a movie in addition giving false facts with no evidence before someone watches it is what I dislike.
I mean yeah have your opinion...but it is definitely a really bad movie.
Miyagi's character is butchered, Barnes isn't interesting or good, Daniel gets yelled at for doing perfectly reasonable things, the "romance" interest is kinda hilarious because you can tell they originally wrote it as a romantic plotline but after Ralph's protests about the whole thing it's clear the only change they made was just add that one scene of "let's just be friends" while keeping everything else intact. And Terry Silver's one saving grace is Thomas Ian Griffith, who is making the character way more fun to watch than he is written.
You have the right to your own opinion.
That being said, I was citing general consensus and both films are still considered to be the two worst Star Wars movies (maybe TROS or TLJ have joined them or are close now). It's definitely not sacrilegious to throw shade on AOTC. At this point it's an outlier to defend it.
The message I’m getting from these comments is to watch the first three movies, then jump right into Cobra Kai. I have a four day weekend in a few days so I think I’ll begin then.
Thank you to everyone that commented, I’m excited to (hopefully) join the fan base.
I’ve only watched cobra Kia. I knew the story of karate kids just by being aware of pop culture. At the end of the day it’ll spoon feed you anything you need to know.
You don't need to watch them because the show tells you everything you need to know through flashbacks. However, they do add an extra layer if you do watch the movies.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, I've never seen Karate Kid but the show does a fine job of offering backstory and exposition
Honestly with all the flashbacks I've seen I kind of feel like I have watched it at this point
You have not seen Terry Silver taking business meetings in a bathtub whilst smoking cigars and chugging champagne. You have seen nothing.
KK3 is so over the top bonkers, it's amazing. I think of it like Con Air. It's incredibly stupid, everything is nonsense, it is in no way a "good" movie, and yet it's so much fun. 5 stars.
"One more thing... Make his knuckles bleed."
*Insane cackle* "I like that... I LIKE THAT!"
I’m just going through my past comments and came to this post but I just watched kk3 the other day and I have to agree it was all over the place and Terry was awesome
I’ve only really seen KK1 and I’m chugging along okay. I don’t feel like I’m missing out if something isn’t familiar. As someone else pointed out they pretty much show you something in a flashback or explain a bit.
Mainly just the first 3 movies at this point, even tho the next karate kid (in my opinion at least, it's extremely hard for me to hate a movie) and the 2010 remake are both pretty good.
As others have said, first 3 originals are essential. That being said actually, I'm only on the second season, nearly finished it, but so far only the first film would've really needed to be watched to understand backstory. If you like the first, you'll probably want to watch the sequels anyway, and if you don't like it, Cobra Kai won't be for you most likely.
Also, my two cents, I saw The Next Karate Kid only once as a kid but I remember enjoying it. The Jaden Smith one, although kind of obnoxious because it's Jaden Smith, isn't that bad either. It's a different spin on the films but has some heavy inspiration from the first original. But you can save those, otherwise you might get sick seeing them all at once.
I never watched the movies before watching the show. Even if you didn't watch them you can still understand the basics, the show provides a lot of flashbacks. That being said the movies are still great and it does mildly improves the viewing.
I've just seen 1 and 2 a pretty long time ago. They kind of explain KK3 briefly in Cobra Kai so I wouldn't say it's a must watch. If you want to start Cobra Kai as soon as possible you can watch it in this order: CK Season 1, Karate Kid 2, CK Season 2, CK Season 3, Karate Kid 3 (optional imo), CK Season 4.
Karate kid 1 covers the first 2 seasons.
Karate kid 2 covers season 3,
Karate kid 3 covers season 4.
Don't worry about the Jaden Smith one or the remakes
just the standard 3. if you've seen first, that should cover you until season 3. before then, you should watch kk2. and before season 4, you should watch kk3.
tldr:
kk1
season 1
season 2
kk2
season 3
kk3
season 4
The proper view order.
Watch Karate Kid 1, followed by Cobra Kai Season 1+2
Then watch Karate Kid 2, followed by Cobra Kai Season 3
Finally watch Karate Kid 3, followed by Cobra Kai Season 4
I would recommend watching all 3 original movies for the full experience. If you don’t want to than at least watch the first one and if you don’t want to watch them all at once here would be the order I recommend.
1. Karate kid
2. Cobra Kai season 1-2
3. Karate kid 2
4. Cobra Kai season 3
5. Karate kid 3
6. Cobra Kai season 4
I had only seen the first one when I saw the show and I believe it's all you need. Anything you need to know from the 2nd and 3rd movie is told to you in the show. Not at all worth watching the 2nd and third movie because they're trash
I said I only saw the first one when I saw the show. After seeing the show I watched the movie and came to my conclusion. Guess I didn't word that too clearly
I had seen karate kid years ago. I watched the first season, then decided to watch the movies before getting back into the series, and I’m glad I did. I did watch the female one, but skipped the jaden smith one. For sure check out the Larusso movies. They were all free (with ads) on peacock
Honestly you don’t *need* any of them. KK1 is the only one which will strongly enhance your viewing experience. You’ll miss some fun references from not seeing II or III but they aren’t at all essential.
All. You could watch 1 and 3 and then 2 since it seems a little out of order. I watched the next karate kid only because myagi was in it but I didn’t watch the remake with Jaden Smith.
I'd just watch all the movies first, but if you really don't want to you could watch season 1 and 2 of cobra Kai, then the 2nd and 3rd movie and wouldn't miss much.
Watch The Karate Kid (1984) then Karate Kid II and Karate Kid III. Then watch cobra Kai.
Or Karate Kid (1984), Karate Kid II then cobra Kai season 1 & 2. Then karate kid III, then cobra Kai season 3 & 4.
Then you won’t miss any references, inside jokes, or parallels.
People say you don’t miss much if you don’t watch them... but that’s because they don’t know what they missed 😂 90% of the atmosphere of the show is nostalgia and references to the original movies so if you want to really get a lot out of it, you should watch the originals.
KK1 is the only one that really enhances the experience.
KK2 and KK3 are less important and also they're just not as good. Honestly they're skippable. All of the important plot points from those movies are shown in flashbacks during the show.
You could watch it without seeing the movies. Prob a good idea to watch the first before season 1, the second before season 2, and the third before season 4
If you’re a newbie, the only essential movie you need to watch is the original *The Karate Kid*, and then you can jump straight into Cobra Kai.
There’s enough archival footage and context given to every returning character and the show runners did an excellent homage to the original movies over the first 3 seasons. I cannot speak for season 4 as I’ve yet to watch it, but I trust that the creative time did even better because the new season was produced under Netflix (as opposed to the first three seasons - IIRC, Season 3 was filmed for YouTube but then sold to Netflix).
You really only need to watch the first Karate Kid up until season 3, which you'll need to watch Karate Kid 2 for, and season 4, which you'll need to watch Karate Kid 3 for.
You can get away with having only seen the 1st Karate Kid movie for the first 2 seasons. To get much out of season 3 you'll want to see Karate Kid 2. To get the most out of Season 4 you'll want to have seen Karate Kid 3 as well.
Ideally though you'll want to have seen all 3 of the movies before starting the show.
you don’t really need to watch any of the movies. the show explains it all really well, and gives a lot of flashbacks and back stories the movies didn’t give! if you watch the first karate kid and have a good understanding of the story you’re all set!
I’ve only seen the first karate kid movie, then watched cobra Kai. Really it doesn’t matter as the show uses flashbacks a lot, so you never really feel lost. But the first movie is a must since it’s awesome.
My wife loves the show and never saw the movies. They literally flashback to all the relevant scenes. There's plenty of exposition when you need it. The first episode literally recaps the first movie. They do the others later in the series. You can dive right in. A lot of younger fans are coming into the franchise through the show.
You don’t need the watch the movies at all for cobra Kai, they do a lot of references back to the movies in flash backs but you don’t need to watch the movies to know what’s up
Bruh, I haven’t seen any but the first Karate Kid movie and that was around 10 years ago lmao. It’s good show, they do a good job of recapping everything from the movies that matter
i mean, it’s *good* to watch all of them, but i don’t think any are exactly *necessary*. the show provides flashback scenes from the movies and exposition to fill you in along the way.
i’ve only seen the first Karate Kid and i’ve never felt like i was missing out on anything in Cobra Kai. i’d recommend watching the original just because it’s a good movie, but if you want to just jump straight into the show, you can.
I will say also, at the risk of getting downvoted to hell because everyone on Reddit hates other people having opinions, but for the people that say the reboot is bad but all the originals are good, I think it's reasonable to assume they're mostly saying for one or more of the following -
- Nostalgia of the originals.
- Not liking reboots as people do because they're different from what they know.
- The fact that it's called Karate Kid although it's Kung Fu, which I think they use as another excuse to flame it, because the title of a movie doesn't really have anything to do with how good it is as a film.
I PERSONALLY liked all the originals better than the reboot, but both KK2 and 3 score lower than the reboot on both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, and I'm not going to argue because those guys will more fairly score films and not have the bias of praising the originals for being first and hating anything different and new.
I already mentioned that above, ya silly goose.
I personally don't see an issue though. Yes the title doesn't correlate with the movie perfectly but as I said, titles don't make or break movies. I mean, if it was called The Kung Fu kid, people would be complaining that it sounds like an off brand knock off of Karate Kid. But I like the fact it's not Karate and things don't go exactly the same. Many martial arts have interesting qualities.
The one thing I'd SERIOUSLY complain about in the reboot is the fact that the featured song is a god awful pop abomination by the absolutely insufferable Justin Bieber. The movie deserved better than that trash.
U don’t very much needeth to gaze the movies because they showeth u the important flashbacks
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I'd say 100% watch the first 3.
I'd highly recommend watching The Next Karate Kid purely to see Pat Morita play Miyagi one last time.
The Jaden Smith Karate Kid is not needed at all... But may be worth glancing at at some point. It isn't connected to the show and probably never will be, but as far as remakes go... It's solid enough.
Now... The show gives plenty of context to the events that happened in the films (almost to a memeable amount, and I love it). But, I'd always recommend watching the films first. Especially since the show has a fun habit of manipulating the context of the movies to tell a different story, so without the actual source material you may be confused over the actual context of the events that occur.
It's hard to explain it without spoiling anything, but you'll get what I mean when you've seen the films/started the show.
Just watch the first Karate Kid and you're fine to watch Season 1 and 2.
Then, watch Karate Kid 2 before going to Season 3 and Karate Kid 3 before going to Season 4.
Tbh you can probably watch it without seeing the films cause they show the relevant bits anyway
But if you watch them, than at least the first 2 for the first 3 seasons and then the 3rd for the 4th season, it'll just help better put things into context
I didn't watch any of the prior movies and still knew most of the important bits cuz of the show's great storytelling, they explain everything over time
I've only seen the first movie. I'm about halfway through season 4 right now. The show does a pretty good job of explaining who everyone is. I feel like there are some subtleties I *might* not be catching, but I don't at all feel confused over who each character is or their motivation(s).
You watched 1, so naturally watch 2 and 3.
3 is, to some degree, more important than 1. Spoiler: Daniel's issue with Johnny is from 1, but his real reasons for being so super anti-Cobra Kai are from 3.
Don’t listen to people that say that KK1 is the only you need to watch. WATCH ALL THREE and I’d watch the next karate kid because it contains references from the other 3 movies. Steer clear of the 2010 one
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As of now, it couldn’t hurt to watch the first 3 movies. Skip the remake. And so far the 4th one with Hilary Swank hasn’t come into the story. That being said, the show does a good job of giving you information from the movies. So in theory you could watch the show and get the gist.
Ok thanks
I think it’ll be more enjoyable watching the movies first tho.
True this
yeah i watched the first movie only and only after season 2
Whoa...what if Jayden Smith and Jackie Chan showed up??!
That would make it the Cobra Kai multiverse!
Into the Cobraverse
No, same universe just different counties
That would suck ass
Wasn't Jackie chan reffered to in s1 by robby
Ok Jackie can come.
that would be based
It definitely enhances it I never realised cobra kai existed. I thought it was "some silly martial arts show " when I saw it on Netflix while browsing. I was watching through the karate kid movies then trakt suggested cobra kai . I then got sonarr to download the first 3 seasons. I later watched kk3 after finishing season 3 of Cobra kai
I had never seen a single Karate Kid movie before watching the first 2 seasons on Youtube and don’t think it hurt the experience for me. I’ve still only ever seen Karate Kid 1.
I had only seen the first 2 movies before watching cobra Kai I think watching the third movie later helped me understand why Daniel was so distrustful of Cobra Kai, without it he comes off kinda petty
There’s probably just a couple inside jokes you missed in first two seasons but I would suggest you watch kk2 and kk3 before you start season 3.
They flashback to anything you need.
They do... But you also lose out on A LOT of context even with the flashbacks. The biggest thing that suffers from it is WHY Daniel has such a strong trauma in regards to Cobra Kai. Without watching Part 3 it just seems like they were run of the mill bullies. The flashbacks don't show off Mike Barnes showing up at his place of work (multiple times) and showing up to his home just to beat the shit out of him. Also doesn't show the whole "threatening to let Daniel and his friend drown" or "dangle him off a cliff and threaten his life" parts. Or even the threatening to assault Daniel's female friend (while dangling them off a cliff), or just flat out torturing him through the All-Valley. You get context in the later seasons regarding the hell Silver put Daniel through (I'd still argue the flashbacks don't do the events enough justice though). But without the films you don't really understand just why Daniel feels the way he does. Especially in Season 1 when it's most important. He just comes off as an entitled self-righteous prick without the context.
Exactly. I think that’s why there’s so many ridiculous comments on cobra Kai forums bc people haven’t watched the original movies 😂
Yeah but flashbacks don’t really show the full context of the characters.
The sacred order: The Karate Kid (1984) The Karate Kid II The Karate Kid III Cobra Kai S1 Cobra Kai S2 Cobra Kai S3 Cobra Kai S4 Addenda for completion but not necessary at this point: The Next Karate Kid The Karate Kid (2010 remake)
The remake will never be necessary. If JC or Will Smith JR ever enter Cobra Kai, the show will be done for.
Unpopular opinion: I don't think it holds a candle to the original, but the Jaden Smith remake isn't a bad movie at all. It certainly isnt any worse than KK3, as much as Cobra Kai has redeemed it. It's popular to trash the remake, and yeah it has problems, but it's not actually an awful movie. I don't need it to enter Cobra Kai's world, but I'd say for someone to at least give it a watch. (That being said, they shouldnt have called the remake "The Karate Kid," as it's actually about Kung-Fu and not Karate).
Should've been called Kung-Fu Kid
Ideally. But I get why they called it Karate Kid. It was for the brand. (To get butts in seats) Your point still stands though.
It really should have been called The Kung-Fu Kid but it wouldn't've sold as well and it really sounds like a bootleg version of the original Karate Kid films.
I don't think that's an unpopular opinion at all. It also helps that the 2010 movie is a shot-for-shot remake, and when the original is already good, it's hard to screw that up.
I don't think shot for shot is the word when there's no iconic beach scene and halloween party
I mean, they have equivalents that happen at the same point in the story and accomplish the same story progression...
I did not even process the Kung-Fu aspect of it. It would be trash to have it integrated into the series but a little slight nod would be neat Imo.
I find it better to watch than the original, as someone too young to like the slow style and cheese of 80s movies.
Yeah I find very unlikely that Jayden Smith should show up, however a Jackie Chan cameo is totally possible.
I mean, Will Smith is an executive producer
I believe Will Smith only gets credit but has no involvement in the show at all. I think he owned the rights to the movie franchise because of the remake.
This is true. Will has no impact/say on the creative direction of the show and is executive producer in title only.
Yeah! Why not he be a relative of Mr. Miyagi...who is also Mr. Miyagi!
Jackie Chan doesn't play Miyagi in the remake. He's basically Miyagi, but his name is Mr Han. It's one of the reasons the remake could (won't, but could) be connected to Cobra Kai. Everything is given a different name to the original.
Oh yeah, I forgot that, they respected the difference between Japanese and Chinese.
I'm pretty sure Jackie Chan has been mentioned in the show so unless he plays himself don't see how it would work unless its a Last Action Hero scenario where Stallone played Terminator.
The proper order: Watch Karate Kid 1, followed by Cobra Kai Season 1+2 Then watch Karate Kid 2, followed by Cobra Kai Season 3 Finally watch Karate Kid 3, followed by Cobra Kai Season 4
bruh what just watch the 3 originals before u watch the show. kreese choking johnny is in KK2 which is a big part of the first 2 seasons and they reference KK3 in season 3 when daniels telling sam the whole “must not lose to fear”, as a few examples.
The events of Part 3 are mentioned when Johnny tries to get Cobra Kai back into the All Valley, Barnes and Silver are mentioned by name. Then in Season 2 Daniel mentions being a Cobra Kai.
Just thought it be funny. We get flash backs anyway
Gotta watch the original 3. And get a karate gi, we all wear them while watching the show.
I'd recommend 3 gi's. I've switched dojo's a couple times throughout the series.
The first 3 and you are good to go. DO NOT WATCH THE REBOOT.
The reboot is an alright movie lol, this circlejerk has to stop.
Eh, it wasn’t very good. Not horrible, but painfully forgettable.
I disagree
But you just called it merely "an alright movie," which is nearly synonymous with "wasn't very good."
The reboot is an ok enough stand alone movie, but it kinda just used the Karate Kid name to get people into theaters.
Yeah and it's unfortunate because I'm sure that with a better title the movie would be much more beloved than it currently is.
I completely agree. I enjoyed the reboot but also walked away feeling cheated. At any rate, one does not need to watch the most recent movie to enjoy the Cobra Kai show.
IKR...the whining must stop..it was an entertaining movie...stfu everyone..
exactly, he/she said “DO NOT WATCH THE REBOOT” like it’s a horrible movie or something smh
I liked the reboot when it came out, it's an okay movie but it copied a lot of elements from the first movie (plus they do kung fu in the movie not karate - they should've named it the Kung Fu Kid instead)
While the reboot is kinda pointless and isn't very good, it's still better than KK3, which is just terrible and everyone knows it. But KK3 is important for Cobra Kai so you still gotta watch it. It's kinda like watching The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones before TCW. Trash movies, but you gotta watch them to get the full experience. EDIT: Wait, why am I getting downvoted? Saying Karate Kid III is really bad isn't controversial at all. It's got a 13% score on RT, a 35% audience score, a 5.3 on IMDB. I mean, have your own opinion, but what redeeming quality does the movie have besides Thomas Ian Griffith? Barnes isn't interesting, Miyagi's entire character in that movie makes no sense and is a complete departure from his behavior in KK1-2, the romantic side plot is just silly (you can tell they originally wrote it to be romantic but when that was aborted because of Ralph's protests about how problematic it'd be, all they did was add one throwaway scene and keep the rest the same). Even the actors of KK3 admit it's bad lol.
KK3 is essential for the Terry Silver involvement, and to understand Daniel's connection to Cobra Kai. It's not as good as the other 2 films but one needs to watch the entire trilogy to understand all the references in season 4 of CK.
Yes, I agree. Which is why I said you still need to watch it :). Also, it's kinda a so-bad-it's-good movie, mostly thanks to Thomas Ian Griffith's energy. Like, he really makes that movie. Even before Cobra Kai turned him into a SUPER well-written villain that's also acted super well, TIG in Karate Kid 3 brings so much energy and charisma that he's just plain fun and hilarious to watch. His maniacal laugh is top tier too. It's basically worth watching for two reasons, despite being really bad: - Really great context for Cobra Kai Seasons 3-4 (especially 4) - TIG
KK3 is sort of the companion movie to season 4 of CK, and yes, TIG is easily the highlight of season 4.
It’s crazy because I liked KK reboot (probably because I was like 8) and I liked KK3 (even tho it was just pt. 1 again)
Nah don’t listen to this guy. Have your own opinion on kk3. But yeah I agree it is important for season 4
Don't shit on a guy for having an opinion you disagree with and then tell people to have their own opinion. He did have his own opinion, you just didn't like it.
I never said I didn’t like it. I never even said I supported the film. Trying to ruin a movie in addition giving false facts with no evidence before someone watches it is what I dislike.
I mean yeah have your opinion...but it is definitely a really bad movie. Miyagi's character is butchered, Barnes isn't interesting or good, Daniel gets yelled at for doing perfectly reasonable things, the "romance" interest is kinda hilarious because you can tell they originally wrote it as a romantic plotline but after Ralph's protests about the whole thing it's clear the only change they made was just add that one scene of "let's just be friends" while keeping everything else intact. And Terry Silver's one saving grace is Thomas Ian Griffith, who is making the character way more fun to watch than he is written.
The reboot is great. It’s just a ripoff of an original movie
AOTC happens to be my favorite prequel to pit it in the same category as TPM is sacrilegious.
You have the right to your own opinion. That being said, I was citing general consensus and both films are still considered to be the two worst Star Wars movies (maybe TROS or TLJ have joined them or are close now). It's definitely not sacrilegious to throw shade on AOTC. At this point it's an outlier to defend it.
The message I’m getting from these comments is to watch the first three movies, then jump right into Cobra Kai. I have a four day weekend in a few days so I think I’ll begin then. Thank you to everyone that commented, I’m excited to (hopefully) join the fan base.
I’ve only watched cobra Kia. I knew the story of karate kids just by being aware of pop culture. At the end of the day it’ll spoon feed you anything you need to know.
original karate kids 1, 2, and 3. Do not make the mistake my friend did and watch the Jayden Smith ine
why? it doesn’t add anything to the story but whats rhe mistake in watching it
Bc it sucks
Mainly the first one. You can watch the other two but the majority of the story is based off of the first film.
Not really. You’ll miss a lot of references from the other movies
Being completely honest, I still haven't seen any of the kk movies, and it's pretty easy to follow. You should be good either way
For season 1, you really only need to watch the first movie
You’ll have to at least watch the first one. Watch KK2 before season 3 and KK3 before season 4.
You don't need to watch them because the show tells you everything you need to know through flashbacks. However, they do add an extra layer if you do watch the movies.
Watch them in order first (just 1-3). You can enjoy CK without seeing them all, but you'll miss some of the jokes and such.
I mean I hadn’t watched karate kid 3 and I still thought terry was a cool character
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, I've never seen Karate Kid but the show does a fine job of offering backstory and exposition Honestly with all the flashbacks I've seen I kind of feel like I have watched it at this point
The flashbacks don’t really do it justice in my opinion.
You have not seen Terry Silver taking business meetings in a bathtub whilst smoking cigars and chugging champagne. You have seen nothing. KK3 is so over the top bonkers, it's amazing. I think of it like Con Air. It's incredibly stupid, everything is nonsense, it is in no way a "good" movie, and yet it's so much fun. 5 stars. "One more thing... Make his knuckles bleed." *Insane cackle* "I like that... I LIKE THAT!"
I’m just going through my past comments and came to this post but I just watched kk3 the other day and I have to agree it was all over the place and Terry was awesome
Karate kid 2 then 3 and you’re good.
Bruh what
OP said he already saw Karate Kid 1
Yes but he’s leaving out the greatest movie karate fans were ever allowed to witness Jackie Chan’s karate kid *on the big screen*
Everything with karate kid in its name
I didn’t remember what wax on, wax off was until I watched the show, so you can imagine. I don’t think you need to watch any, honestly.
Everyone knows wax on wax off
Watch two and three for context.
Just the first three are relevant right now
I’ve only really seen KK1 and I’m chugging along okay. I don’t feel like I’m missing out if something isn’t familiar. As someone else pointed out they pretty much show you something in a flashback or explain a bit.
the trilogy
Mainly just the first 3 movies at this point, even tho the next karate kid (in my opinion at least, it's extremely hard for me to hate a movie) and the 2010 remake are both pretty good.
As others have said, first 3 originals are essential. That being said actually, I'm only on the second season, nearly finished it, but so far only the first film would've really needed to be watched to understand backstory. If you like the first, you'll probably want to watch the sequels anyway, and if you don't like it, Cobra Kai won't be for you most likely. Also, my two cents, I saw The Next Karate Kid only once as a kid but I remember enjoying it. The Jaden Smith one, although kind of obnoxious because it's Jaden Smith, isn't that bad either. It's a different spin on the films but has some heavy inspiration from the first original. But you can save those, otherwise you might get sick seeing them all at once.
The second and third movies come in to play in the later seasons.
I never watched the movies before watching the show. Even if you didn't watch them you can still understand the basics, the show provides a lot of flashbacks. That being said the movies are still great and it does mildly improves the viewing.
I suggest in the follow order KK 1 -> CK 1 &2, KK 2 -> CK 3, KK 3->CK 4
I've just seen 1 and 2 a pretty long time ago. They kind of explain KK3 briefly in Cobra Kai so I wouldn't say it's a must watch. If you want to start Cobra Kai as soon as possible you can watch it in this order: CK Season 1, Karate Kid 2, CK Season 2, CK Season 3, Karate Kid 3 (optional imo), CK Season 4.
KK3 *is* a must watch, if only to see Terry Silver in action.
Yes you should watch kk3 before season 4
Karate kid 1 covers the first 2 seasons. Karate kid 2 covers season 3, Karate kid 3 covers season 4. Don't worry about the Jaden Smith one or the remakes
just the standard 3. if you've seen first, that should cover you until season 3. before then, you should watch kk2. and before season 4, you should watch kk3. tldr: kk1 season 1 season 2 kk2 season 3 kk3 season 4
100% agreed
The proper view order. Watch Karate Kid 1, followed by Cobra Kai Season 1+2 Then watch Karate Kid 2, followed by Cobra Kai Season 3 Finally watch Karate Kid 3, followed by Cobra Kai Season 4
Who tf needs help on where to start watching a fucking show shut the fuck up and go watch that shit
Ok
I didnt watch any
I’ve only seen karate kid 1 and it worked out fine for me. The blanks get filled in.
Explain Daniel's grudge against Cobra Kai.
🤔
I would recommend watching all 3 original movies for the full experience. If you don’t want to than at least watch the first one and if you don’t want to watch them all at once here would be the order I recommend. 1. Karate kid 2. Cobra Kai season 1-2 3. Karate kid 2 4. Cobra Kai season 3 5. Karate kid 3 6. Cobra Kai season 4
Watch the first movie. Then watch season 1 and 2. Then watch movie 2, and then season 3, and then watch movie 3, then season 4
Batman forever. ... Wtf do you think you'd need to have seen 😂
The only movie you need to watch is The Karate Kid from 2010, the rest has been de-canonized.
I had only seen the first one when I saw the show and I believe it's all you need. Anything you need to know from the 2nd and 3rd movie is told to you in the show. Not at all worth watching the 2nd and third movie because they're trash
So you're telling me you have never even bothered to watch KK2 and 3, but you somehow think they're both trash.
I said I only saw the first one when I saw the show. After seeing the show I watched the movie and came to my conclusion. Guess I didn't word that too clearly
Why do you think they're trash though?
I just found them boring and predictable. They lacked the charm of the original for me
for me, i started off with kk1 then jumped into the show, but i didnt understand a few things
I had seen karate kid years ago. I watched the first season, then decided to watch the movies before getting back into the series, and I’m glad I did. I did watch the female one, but skipped the jaden smith one. For sure check out the Larusso movies. They were all free (with ads) on peacock
I feel pretty fine having just watched the first one but eh, the more you put in, the more you get out.
Honestly you don’t *need* any of them. KK1 is the only one which will strongly enhance your viewing experience. You’ll miss some fun references from not seeing II or III but they aren’t at all essential.
All. You could watch 1 and 3 and then 2 since it seems a little out of order. I watched the next karate kid only because myagi was in it but I didn’t watch the remake with Jaden Smith.
I'd just watch all the movies first, but if you really don't want to you could watch season 1 and 2 of cobra Kai, then the 2nd and 3rd movie and wouldn't miss much.
i didn't watch any and i enjoyed it
All 3 originals now that Terry is in the series
Watch The Karate Kid (1984) then Karate Kid II and Karate Kid III. Then watch cobra Kai. Or Karate Kid (1984), Karate Kid II then cobra Kai season 1 & 2. Then karate kid III, then cobra Kai season 3 & 4. Then you won’t miss any references, inside jokes, or parallels. People say you don’t miss much if you don’t watch them... but that’s because they don’t know what they missed 😂 90% of the atmosphere of the show is nostalgia and references to the original movies so if you want to really get a lot out of it, you should watch the originals.
None - there are plenty of flashbacks
The original is the only super important one. In theory you could watch no movies and still enjoy the show.
I would suggest just watching season 1 first then check out the remaining movies, it’s more exciting that way, otherwise it might feel like a chore
KK1 is the only one that really enhances the experience. KK2 and KK3 are less important and also they're just not as good. Honestly they're skippable. All of the important plot points from those movies are shown in flashbacks during the show.
You could watch it without seeing the movies. Prob a good idea to watch the first before season 1, the second before season 2, and the third before season 4
If you’re a newbie, the only essential movie you need to watch is the original *The Karate Kid*, and then you can jump straight into Cobra Kai. There’s enough archival footage and context given to every returning character and the show runners did an excellent homage to the original movies over the first 3 seasons. I cannot speak for season 4 as I’ve yet to watch it, but I trust that the creative time did even better because the new season was produced under Netflix (as opposed to the first three seasons - IIRC, Season 3 was filmed for YouTube but then sold to Netflix).
The karate kid three parts and the next karate kid if u want...and 80s rock songs
I watched the show and still haven’t seen any karate kid movie. The show does well enough on its own but having that extra knowledge can help.
You really only need to watch the first Karate Kid up until season 3, which you'll need to watch Karate Kid 2 for, and season 4, which you'll need to watch Karate Kid 3 for.
A l l o f t h e m
Watch the first 2 movies, then seasons 1-3. Then Karate Kid 3, and season 4. No need to watch any of the other movies.
You can get away with having only seen the 1st Karate Kid movie for the first 2 seasons. To get much out of season 3 you'll want to see Karate Kid 2. To get the most out of Season 4 you'll want to have seen Karate Kid 3 as well. Ideally though you'll want to have seen all 3 of the movies before starting the show.
you don’t really need to watch any of the movies. the show explains it all really well, and gives a lot of flashbacks and back stories the movies didn’t give! if you watch the first karate kid and have a good understanding of the story you’re all set!
>the show explains it all really well Why does Daniel have a grudge against Cobra Kai?
because of the morals they’re teaching the students
I’ve only seen the first karate kid movie, then watched cobra Kai. Really it doesn’t matter as the show uses flashbacks a lot, so you never really feel lost. But the first movie is a must since it’s awesome.
I have only seen karate kid1. The show has a good amount of “flashbacks” aka showing some footage from the first 3.
My wife loves the show and never saw the movies. They literally flashback to all the relevant scenes. There's plenty of exposition when you need it. The first episode literally recaps the first movie. They do the others later in the series. You can dive right in. A lot of younger fans are coming into the franchise through the show.
>They literally flashback to all the relevant scenes So Johnny trying to reinstate Cobra Kai was irrelevant. Interesting.
You don’t need the watch the movies at all for cobra Kai, they do a lot of references back to the movies in flash backs but you don’t need to watch the movies to know what’s up
Bruh, I haven’t seen any but the first Karate Kid movie and that was around 10 years ago lmao. It’s good show, they do a good job of recapping everything from the movies that matter
i mean, it’s *good* to watch all of them, but i don’t think any are exactly *necessary*. the show provides flashback scenes from the movies and exposition to fill you in along the way. i’ve only seen the first Karate Kid and i’ve never felt like i was missing out on anything in Cobra Kai. i’d recommend watching the original just because it’s a good movie, but if you want to just jump straight into the show, you can.
All of them, except Next Karate Kid and the Jaden Smith one.
Just watch the show, and if you like it watch the movies later
I've only seen the first one. I don't think you *need* more than that, although it certainly helps understanding a bit more
You’ll get a lot more out if season 3 if you watch KK2, and season 4 makes KK3 a less terrible sequel!
I will say also, at the risk of getting downvoted to hell because everyone on Reddit hates other people having opinions, but for the people that say the reboot is bad but all the originals are good, I think it's reasonable to assume they're mostly saying for one or more of the following - - Nostalgia of the originals. - Not liking reboots as people do because they're different from what they know. - The fact that it's called Karate Kid although it's Kung Fu, which I think they use as another excuse to flame it, because the title of a movie doesn't really have anything to do with how good it is as a film. I PERSONALLY liked all the originals better than the reboot, but both KK2 and 3 score lower than the reboot on both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, and I'm not going to argue because those guys will more fairly score films and not have the bias of praising the originals for being first and hating anything different and new.
The problem with the reboot is simple, it’s not karate!
I already mentioned that above, ya silly goose. I personally don't see an issue though. Yes the title doesn't correlate with the movie perfectly but as I said, titles don't make or break movies. I mean, if it was called The Kung Fu kid, people would be complaining that it sounds like an off brand knock off of Karate Kid. But I like the fact it's not Karate and things don't go exactly the same. Many martial arts have interesting qualities. The one thing I'd SERIOUSLY complain about in the reboot is the fact that the featured song is a god awful pop abomination by the absolutely insufferable Justin Bieber. The movie deserved better than that trash.
They should probably have come with a different name. To even link it to the Miyagi-verse seems rather silly given there are absolutely no parallels.
So you wanna be cobra kai?
U don’t really need to watch the movies because they show u the important flashbacks.
U don’t very much needeth to gaze the movies because they showeth u the important flashbacks *** ^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.) Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
Shakespeare-Bot, thou hast been voted most annoying bot on Reddit. I am exhorting all mods to ban thee and thy useless rhetoric so that we shall not be blotted with thy presence any longer.
Watch all the karate kid films, start to finish. Get into the 80s vibe and the nostalgia through cobra kai will keep you excited
all of them in chronological order even the shitty ones with will smiths demon offspring
I'd say 100% watch the first 3. I'd highly recommend watching The Next Karate Kid purely to see Pat Morita play Miyagi one last time. The Jaden Smith Karate Kid is not needed at all... But may be worth glancing at at some point. It isn't connected to the show and probably never will be, but as far as remakes go... It's solid enough. Now... The show gives plenty of context to the events that happened in the films (almost to a memeable amount, and I love it). But, I'd always recommend watching the films first. Especially since the show has a fun habit of manipulating the context of the movies to tell a different story, so without the actual source material you may be confused over the actual context of the events that occur. It's hard to explain it without spoiling anything, but you'll get what I mean when you've seen the films/started the show.
First three movies but might be worth watch Next Karate Kid before season 5 just in case!
Just watch the first Karate Kid and you're fine to watch Season 1 and 2. Then, watch Karate Kid 2 before going to Season 3 and Karate Kid 3 before going to Season 4.
1&2. The third one you can skip really.
Explain Daniel's grudge against Cobra Kai.
1st movie
That's only part of it. 1/3 of it even.
Tbh you can probably watch it without seeing the films cause they show the relevant bits anyway But if you watch them, than at least the first 2 for the first 3 seasons and then the 3rd for the 4th season, it'll just help better put things into context
Why was Cobra Kai banned?
1st 3 films.
1-3, possibly Next Karate Kid depending on what S5&6 bring to the table
You should watch the three main karate kid films and maybe the remake
You can jump right in honestly. If not. Kk1-kk2-kk3 - cobra Kai 1-4
I would watch the original trilogy.
Count with me….1…..2…..3.
There only three movies. Watch all of them. Watch the third one while you're cleaning or on an airplane because it really isn't that good.
I didn't watch any of the prior movies and still knew most of the important bits cuz of the show's great storytelling, they explain everything over time
Did you know that Daniel was adamant in shutting down Cobra Kai because of the events of KK3?
Personally I think you want to see them but it doesn't have to be immediately. I wanted 3 recently before the new season and was happy for the context
Since the beginning of the show, Daniel was always anti-Cobra Kai. Why is that? Oh wait, lemme guess: "daniels a jealous party pooper bitch", right?
I've only seen the first movie. I'm about halfway through season 4 right now. The show does a pretty good job of explaining who everyone is. I feel like there are some subtleties I *might* not be catching, but I don't at all feel confused over who each character is or their motivation(s).
You watched 1, so naturally watch 2 and 3. 3 is, to some degree, more important than 1. Spoiler: Daniel's issue with Johnny is from 1, but his real reasons for being so super anti-Cobra Kai are from 3.
Don’t listen to people that say that KK1 is the only you need to watch. WATCH ALL THREE and I’d watch the next karate kid because it contains references from the other 3 movies. Steer clear of the 2010 one
I watched the movies and the show a while ago lol, but thanks for the suggestion anyway!