The Karate Kid celebrates its 40th anniversary with a brand new special release 4K Blu-ray

Cobra Kai is about to wrap up its run with this last season, but the movie that started it all will be available to experience all over again with new special features.

Be prepared to sand the floor, paint the fence, wax on-wax off and paint the house in glorious 4K. The Karate Kid is already a timeless classic, but Cobra Kai gave the property a surprisingly well-executed extension of Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence’s world. The 1984 film that served as an introduction to the martial art for an entire generation will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. And Sony is shouting “Bansai!” with a new 4K restoration Blu-ray release of the Ralph Macchio-Pat Morita film.

The official synopsis of The Karate Kid 4K Blu-ray release from Sony reads,
“Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coming-of-age classic — from Academy Award®-winning director John G. Avildsen (1976, Rocky) — that will leave you cheering! There is more to karate than fighting. This is the lesson that Daniel (Ralph Macchio), a San Fernando Valley teenager, is about to learn from a most unexpected teacher: Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita in his Academy Award®-nominated performance, Best Supporting Actor, 1984), an elderly handyman who also happens to be a master of the martial arts. His training and these vital lessons will be called into play when an outmatched Daniel faces Johnny (William Zabka), the skilled leader of the Cobra Kai — a vicious gang of karate school bullies — in a no-holds-barred karate tournament for the championship of the Valley.”

Disc details and Bonus Materials on the release include:

4K ULTRA HD DISC 

• Restored from the original camera negative, presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision
• English Dolby Atmos + English 5.1 + English Stereo
• Special Features:
  • ALL-NEW: Commentary with the Creators of Cobra Kai Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg
  • ALL-NEW: Over 30 Minutes of Deleted Scene Dailies – go behind the scenes of this classic favorite like never before with raw footage from a variety of unused scenes!
  • 4 Deleted Scenes
  • Remembering The Karate Kid Featurette
  • Theatrical Trailer

BLU-RAY DISC™

• Feature presented in high definition
• English 5.1
• Special Features:
  • Blu-Pop™ Pop-Up Track
  • Commentary with Director John G. Avildsen, Writer Robert Mark Kamen and Actors Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita
  • “The Way of The Karate Kid” Multi-Part Making-Of Featurette
  • “Beyond the Form” Featurette
  • “East Meets West: A Composer’s Notebook”
  • “Life of Bonsai” Featurette

This special edition crane kicks into stores on June 18.

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.