Beach party

The south side of Leo Carrillo Beach in Malibu was used for all of the beach party scenes in The Karate Kid. This is where Daniel first meets love interest Ali, played by Elisabeth Shue.

 

Not only was this scene at Leo Carrillo Beach William Zabka’s first appearance in The Karate Kid (he played Daniel's nemesis, Johnny) but it also was the first scene he shot for the film, and was the first time he appeared on screen in either a movie or TV show.

The Cobra Kai make their entrance in the film at the top of this hill next to lifeguard tower No. 2.

 
The Cobra Kai pull up on the south side of Leo Carrillo Beach.

"No mercy, man." Elisabeth Shue recalls filming the night scene at Leo Carrillo Beach where Johnny breaks Ali’s radio. "I do remember hitting [Zabka] really hard," she says of the beach confrontation. "I felt like it was all real because I was so new to it ... the way [the Cobra Kai] treated [Daniel] really made me angry, personally, all the time."

West Valley High School

It’s a cruel, cruel, cruel summer." Daniel rounds the corner on his first day of school in the Valley.

In that first day of school scene, Daniel rounded the corner at Capistrano Avenue and Philiprimm Street in Woodland Hills on his Mongoose 24 BMX bike. Mongoose bikes were first manufactured in Chatsworth.

Charles Evans Hughes Junior High School, located at 5607 Capistrano Ave. in Woodland Hills, was used for Daniel's school. It was built in the early '60s and it closed in the early '80s before filming of The Karate Kid. The school also was used in Carl Reiner’s 1987 film Summer School.

Daniel and Ali in the courtyard at Charles Evans Hughes Junior High School.

The main courtyard at Charles Evans Hughes Junior High School.

Cobra Kai dojo and Oriental Express restaurant

Miyagi and Daniel outside of the Cobra Kai dojo on Lankershim Boulevard.

The exterior of what was the Cobra Kai dojo, located at 5223 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. The building is now a workout gym called Body Theory.

Today, the main difference in the dojo space is that the room by the front door, which was Sensei Kreese's office, is no longer there. Kove has the original cardboard cutout of Kreese, which stood by the office.Kreese was based on a couple of karate instructors writer Robert Mark Kamen knew. "My first karate teacher was very much like John Kreese. He was a Marine ... tough as nails." The second teacher Kamen almost worked with would tell his students to break people’s noses. "He thought that in combat only one person should be left standing and the other person should be hurt," Kamen says of this instructor.

Lucille LaRusso, played by Randee Heller, and Daniel at the Orient Express on Wilshire Boulevard.

This space at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Cloverdale Avenue was used as the Orient Express restaurant where Daniel talks to his mother about Ali.

"There’s an interesting juxtaposition," location manager Davis says. "[His mom's] restaurant was supposed to have a view of [the dojo]." In reality there was a restaurant across the street from the dojo in North Hollywood, but the restaurant didn’t have a view of the dojo. Production ended up shooting in a restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard and re-creating the exterior of the dojo on the next corner.

The exterior of what was the Orient Express restaurant in the film.

Bike accident

Daniel, while riding his bike, is run off the road by Johnny and the Cobra Kai. Macchio's stunt double takes the fall in Agoura Hills.

Just north of the 101 freeway, off of Kanan Road in Agoura Hills, is the location of the bike fall. Ironically Zabka, who grew up in the Valley, recalls getting pushed off his bike the first day of elementary school after moving from New York to L.A.

Miyagi and Ali's homes

Whole life have balance, everything be better." "Miyagi’s house was an absolute gem to find," says location manager Richard Davis Jr.

The block in Canoga Park where Mr. Miyagi's Asian-inspired home was located. At the time of shooting, there were hardly any other houses surrounding it. Today, the same street is fully developed and there is no trace of Miyagi's house, which then stood out from the monotony of Valley architecture.

This driveway was the entrance into the junkyard near Miyagi’s house. "The [original] concept," says Davis, "was to find the junkyard and build the house." However, after finding this "gem" of a structure, train tracks, a junkyard and a garden were created around the house for filming. The house was torn down sometime after filming the first sequel and it was re-created on the Warner Bros. Ranch for part three.

"The house was picked, pretty much, because it had sort of a tacky, pretentious look," says Davis of the Encino hills house where Shue’s character, Ali, lived.

Shue recalls the actress who showed up at the house to play her mom came to the set in her own Rolls Royce, and the car then was used in the scene.

Macchio says, "I remember the brick that I [accidentally] kick off [the wall] in Encino ... at Ali’s house. We just noticed that during rehearsal and then we put that into the film." There’s the reality Avildsen was going for.