MovieChat Forums > The Karate Kid Part III (1989) Discussion > Automatic entry into the championship fo...

Automatic entry into the championship for the defending champion? Really?


I haven't seen anyone really address this but doesn't it seem silly that they altered the rules so the previous years All Valley champion automatically advances to the championship fight?

Imagine the NFL deciding the Bucs get a pass into Superbowl LVI just because the won this year. Where's the sense of competition?

Terrible writing on the movies part and not sure why they went in that direction.

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There really wasn't a plausible way Daniel could have advanced to the final round to face Barnes without a buy.

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It has been addressed many times and despite the many disagreements on these boards everyone agrees this was stupid and poor writing. The writer had actual experience of Karate and competition so it makes it even worse that they would do this. If you delve in to it, the whole movie is a mess and it is believed the writer threw his toys out of the pram because the studio wouldn't go with the story he proposed.

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Terrible writing or lazy, or both.

I guess they were afraid that if Daniel had to fight a full card for that tournament, then the whole Silver/Barnes setup would have been predicated on the idea that Daniel couldn't lose a preliminary bout. There's no way Silver would have gone through the convoluted effort to setup Daniel's beating in the final bout with no guarantee he'd make it that far.



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When Macchio showed up on set 20 pounds overweight, the writers hastily scrambled to change the plot. It would have been implausible for him to advance several rounds in his condition.

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Plot hole

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More a plot contrivance than a plot hole.

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Its easier to type plot hole

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Think Macchio was unable to perform the choreography for several matches in his condition and appealed to the producers to change the script.

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That or they just wanted to skip the lead up fights because it was done already in the original. The whole concept of a defending champion getting automatic entry to the Finals in any tournament/sporting event is so beyond ridiculous

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They could have done a montage of him winning matches before the final.

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Yea but it would be too coincidental if he just happened to meet Barnes in the finals and not in one of the matches prior

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Although it's kinda like when the President runs for re-election he sorta gets a "buy" through the primaries. Not to compare Daniel to a President though. President of Kraft Mac and Cheese maybe....

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The rules were changed so that Daniel would drop his guard and not train hard enough. It was the cherry on top of the master plan.

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That's actually a very good point I've not considered before.
Not that Daniel would have posed any threat even if he did train, it's that kind of meticulousness that made Mr Terry Silver so successful.

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So are you saying that Terry Silver was possibly the person behind the rule change?

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I am. I thought it was pretty obvious that he squeezed somebody to make it happen.

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Interesting

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The rule change had to be made for Mr Terry Silver's plan to work. Daniel wouldn't have made it past the first round otherwise. There is no doubt he kept it all legal and above board though. When you bankroll an entire tournament, I'm sure the committee will happily consider your suggestion for a rule change.

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His plan still didn't work though did it?
It was flawed from the start.

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It also made it more enticing for Daniel to enter.

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And yet he still had to be forced in to entering.
Not as smart a plan as is being made out eh?

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He was originally excited about the rule change, sensing an easy road, before Miyagi discouraged him.

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So then Silver didn't account for Miyagi. Poor planning on his part.

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He didn’t account for how backwards-thinking and unAmerican Miyagi was. Keisuke disrespected the tournament tradition by discouraging Daniel from entering. As Mr Silver correctly points out later on, “A champion should defend his title.”

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He didn’t account for how backwards-thinking and unAmerican Miyagi was.

So in a nutshell Silver failed then.

As Mr Silver correctly points out later on, “A champion should defend his title.”

Hmm, what if the defending champion was now over 18. How would he be able to defend a title in an under 18 tournament?

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That would actually make the stupid change logical. It was Silver pulling the stings of the Championship committee the entire time. It was also Silver who paid Jessica to be a mole. I hope that the writers of Cobra Kai use these plot points. They certainly have used a lot of the fan theories that were floating around on Youtube for years. if they use this one then karate Kid Part III could possibly make sense in places.

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Cobra Kai's next season is coming out at the end of December :D

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This whole movie was crap so stupid stuff like that doesn't surprise me.

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Yep not sure why it was so bad but boy oh boy was it bad?! Danny skipping rounds so he can get the stuffing beat out of him in the last fight? *sighs*

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I'm assuming Johnny won the year before Daniel so why didn't Johnny get a pass to the final in the first movie.

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If you had paid attention it specifically states that it is a new rule.

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It was cringeworthy watching Daniel get all excited over the new rule. He didn’t seem to care that it would be unfair to the other contestants. Sociopathic bastard.

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Sociopathic?
Selfish and self entitled I would think.
But as I've always maintained, why the hell would anybody else enter? You would expect the other clubs to boycott the All Valley, not support this rule.

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The other contestants likely hoped that Daniel would take the honorable path and decline the auto buy.

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Well it seems you have forgotten that is exactly what he was going to do until Silver forced his hand.

All Silvers fault then. Glad you agree.

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I mean he should have opted to compete but not accept the buy to the finals and fight his way up the ladder honorably like Barnes. How can you be so obtuse is it deliberate?

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He was not in a position to dictate the rules. The only position he was in was one of declining to compete. He did that but Silver forced him to compete.

Did I call you stupid? Sorry if I upset you there, I thought you knew!

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He could have competed and opted to not take the buy. Why are you so stupid?

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He couldn't. The rules were the rules. His only option was to not compete. That was taken away by Silvers threats.
Did you actually watch the movie ?

Nearly 1.00am in Hawaii, can't you sleep?

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You seriously believe they would have FORCED Daniel to take the buy if he didn’t want it? Why are you so stupid is it deliberate?

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Seeing as the order of play was already set up it would have been a take it or leave it situation. But hey, you seem to know so much about it having never competed or even been to a Karate competition in your life, so let's all take your opinion as fact eh? Oh hang on, that WOULD be stupid now wouldn't it?

It's after 1.15am in Hawaii and you are obviously suffering from sleep deprivation.

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You’ve never even been to a real karate tournament. Inviting children to your apartment in East London so they can watch you and your roommate do amateur yoga is NOT a real tournament! Then again it’s the only tournament you can afford as you refuse to acknowledge the reality that real karate tournaments are organized and funded by the likes of Terry Silver.

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Oh dear, the sleep deprivation is in full swing now isn't it?

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