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GilesDaldanus (39)
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Smartest or most intellectual character
The match-up between Mike Barnes and Daniel LaRusso
Why did the hotel concierge take a dislike to Kevin?
Was Mike a bully?
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What I noticed as well while rewatching this scene is that Miyagi doesn't give a bow with an upper body inclination of more than 20° to Silver (Silver's bow was lower on both occasions), which based on what I have read pertaining to the etiquette on bowing in Japan, may suggest that Miyagi regarded himself as being of higher rank in this situation, perhaps due to Silver's young age. Elderly people are very respected in Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvzrki6yCcQ
I would like to think that Miyagi had forgiven Kreese by that point and he did exchange a shocked glance with Daniel when hearing the news, so he must have felt quite sad, but he could have been even more expressive, offering further condolences. Maybe he didn't find the right words, especially given that English was not his first language.
I agree, Daniel must have secretly been hoping that an unexpectedly strong opponent on Mike's side of the draw could do him a favour and put a spanner in the works of Silver and Kreese. In any case, he tried to give it a go, maybe also realizing that the people in attendance deserve to have the chance to watch a great fight. In addition to Miyagi's words of encouragement, I think what helped LaRusso is that by going overboard in his gloating, Mike became way too complacent, expecting the last point to be a mere formality.
Regarding the differences in style of karate - that's indeed a possibility. I think that Daniel (who received a bye to the final) got to watch Barnes during his tournament fights, but it seems as if Mike's opponents were absolutely no match for him, so it's unlikely that LaRusso was able to glean many insights in terms of what strategies could work against "Karate's Badboy".
Maybe I exaggerated a bit, as it wasn't a sustained attack, but he did launch a powerful kick at her...Jessica deserves credit for being quite tough and willing to have Daniel's back.
I think that Daniel initially tries to be diplomatic in his responses to Barnes, Snake, and Dennis regarding his refusal to participate in the All-Valley Karate Tournament. He also does appear to feel uneasy/slightly guilty about turning down Silver, realizing that Terry had invested many hours in his training. Furthermore, one can say that Daniel demonstrates that chivalry is not a foreign concept to him, as he is immediately angered and enters fighting mode when Barnes attacks Jessica.
I almost forgot about Jessica, that's a good call...As for Daniel, it's not totally clear whether he eventually decided to go to college.
I have the feeling that Mike Barnes may have excelled in other spheres as well. He was extremely ambitious and had business acumen, so maybe would have been willing to apply himself at an institution of higher education, especially if good grades were a prerequisite to being allowed to compete for a college karate team.
I am in agreement. It's also the case that the two women were really nice and immediately seemed to grasp that there was no malicious intent on Cohen's part. R.I.P. Judith Dim Evans, it's sad that she passed away.
The lawsuit doesn't have good chances of success:
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/borat-lawsuit-holocaust-survivor-interview-dismissed-1234815936/
I agree that the filming itself may have posed quite a few risks to others and they should have worn masks during some of the events held in the White House. I hope that no one was infected. On the plus side, it's likely that Sacha Baron Cohen and the other actors test themselves frequently for COVID-19, just like most sportspeople (they certainly have the financial means), so they may be somewhat safer to be around than regular people.
It does look like a rather far-fetched scenario, especially in real life. To play devil's advocate, it's likely that Silver was not strapped for time and being a somewhat eccentric billionaire, decided to embark upon a new type of "adventure" while at the same time doing his friend's bidding. However, it's somewhat odd that Silver didn't eventually change his mind about the whole scheme due to developing an attachment to his student, as Daniel was nice and polite to him, perhaps even starting to view him as a mentor figure.
It's never explicitly stated in the movie, but Barnes may have been an emancipated minor. I think that he didn't really hate Daniel or have a personal issue with him...it was more a case of Barnes being competitive to the extreme (always giving his best when fighting) and also being concerned that if Daniel doesn't show up at the tournament, then he won't receive the reward from Silver, as specified in the contract. While I think that Snake and Dennis were successful in providing further comic relief, they were indeed far from being in Dutch's (and Tommy's) category when it came to the intimidation factor.
Yes, this could have certainly been a possibility. On the bright side, we got to see compelling new characters like Silver and Barnes etch their names into the Karate Kid folklore.
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