The Karate Kid franchise began in 1984 with the eponymous The Karate Kid and has expanded to comprise four more movies (with another on the way), a canon live-action television series, and a non-canon animated show. 5h2w5l

Netflix’s Cobra Kai is in the middle of its sixth and final season, with spin-offs expected in the future (but not confirmed). The show’s hype and popularity, coupled with the new film, have seen the franchise undergo a renaissance in recent years.

But if you’re new to the franchise and want to watch everything from scratch, you might wonder where to begin. We’re here to help with that, as this is how to watch the Karate Kid movies (and TV shows) in order.

1. The Karate Kid (1984) k592c

The brilliant first movie in the franchise, which made Ralph Macchio a star, is the one to watch first. In the film, Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso moves with his mother from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda, Los Angeles. After encountering trouble with the students from the local Cobra Kai martial arts dojo, he learns karate from the enigmatic Mr. Miyagi, played by an Oscar-nominated Pat Morita. He defeats Johnny Lawrence to win the All-Valley Karate Championship. The rest is history.

2. The Karate Kid Part II (1986) 202d1p

Six months after the original movie, in The Karate Kid Part II, Daniel LaRusso accompanies Mr. Miyagi to his home village on Okinawa Island, Japan, after Miyagi discovers his father is dying. While there, Miyagi’s past catches up with him, putting LaRusso in the line of fire and facing a ruthless local young fighter named Chozen Toguchi (who becomes an important figure later in the franchise), whom he ultimately defeats. This movie marks a notable decline in quality but maintains the original film’s heart.

3. The Karate Kid Part III (1989) 4u2n31

Around a year after the original film’s events, Daniel LaRusso faces a new threat and a dangerous rival in his bid to retain his All-Valley title: The “Bad Boy of Karate,” Mike Barnes. Of course, LaRusso prevails, augmenting his rivalry with John Kreese and gaining a new enemy in Terry Silver — both of whom reappear in his life later in the franchise. Truthfully, this movie is trash, but in the best way. The cheesy B-movie acting is made up for with explosive, exaggerated action.

4. The Next Karate Kid (1994) 6zv3w

In this one, set in 1994, Mr. Miyagi (the only familiar character to appear) travels to Boston, Massachusetts, to attend a memorial for the Japanese-American soldiers who fought in World War II’s 442nd Infantry Regiment. There, he reacquaints with an old friend whose rebellious teenage granddaughter, Julie Pearce, played well by future Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, he takes under his wing. He assists her against Ned, a bully and the leader of her school’s shady security fraternity. It isn’t great and has no impact on the broader franchise, but Morita and Swank make it worth watching.

5. The Karate Kid (2010) 2u6m2t

Many initially believed that 2010’s The Karate Kid was a mere remake of the original film of the same name. However, given that a crossover movie is imminent, it’s confirmed to occur in the same universe as its predecessors. This one, set in the year of its release, follows Jaden Smith’s Dre Parker from Detroit, Michigan, to Beijing, China, where his mother is moving for work. There, he befriends a young girl and gains the ire of a young kung-fu prodigy, Cheng. He meets Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han, a humble handyman, who teaches him kung-fu, enabling him to defeat Cheng in a competition. It’s nowhere near as good as the original but offers a satisfyingly fresh take.

6. Cobra Kai (2018-present) 48512y

Beginning 34 years after the 1984 All Valley tournament, Cobra Kai reunites audiences with Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence as they lead opposing lives. LaRusso owns a successful chain of car dealerships, and Lawrence is down on his luck, but the latter’s reforming of the Cobra Kai dojo reunites them — sometimes as friends, other times as rivals. The show reintroduces many old characters and introduces countless great new ones. Beginning on YouTube, it’s now on Netflix, and all six seasons are well worth watching (despite its often implausible plots).

7. Karate Kid (2025) 10432k

Releasing on May 30, 2025, Karate Kid will somehow bring Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han together, confirming 2010’s The Karate Kid as a canon part of the more expansive franchise. It’s unknown how that will happen or how plausible the events surrounding the meeting will be, but it’s exciting nonetheless. Other cast include Ben Wang as the movie’s young prodigy, Joshua Jackson, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen, Aramis Knight, Wyatt Oleff, and Jennifer-Lyn Christie. Presumably, it will take place after the events of the final season of Cobra Kai.

Not canon: The Karate Kid (1989) 39c32

While it’s not canonically part of the more expansive Karate Kid franchise, the 1989 animated series The Karate Kid does feature familiar characters Daniel LaRusso (voiced by Joey Dedio) and Mr. Miyagi (voiced by Robert Ito). It doesn’t specifically fit in anywhere chronologically, so if you wish to watch it, do so whenever you feel like it. There are no tournaments, as it’s more of an adventure series with quests and whatnot. Honestly, it’s not great — in fact, it’s wildly goofy at times — but if you want the whole experience of the franchise, we won’t stop you from finding that out for yourself.

Ralph Macchio made a name for himself in the ’80s, starring in films like The Karate Kid and My Cousin Vinny, but it was his role in The Outsiders that shot him to stardom. The 1983 coming-of-age movie launched the careers of many actors, most of whom were much older than the characters they portrayed. 

Ralph Macchio connected with his character at a young age 1k2b6q

Years before the movie came out, Macchio connected with the Johnny Cade character after reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in school. (Fun fact: Macchio and I graduated from the same high school in New York!) 

In an interview with Parade, he said:

“I read the book when I was 12 years old in seventh-grade English class. It was the first book that I ever finished cover to cover … I was immediately connected to it.”

When Macchio found out that Francis Ford Coppola was holding auditions for the adaptation, he knew he’d be perfect for the role of Johnny. 

“I always felt [Johnny Cade] sounded like I looked. Big puppy dog eyes, dark hair. He was the runt. I was never the biggest guy in class. But I didn’t come from his backstory by any stretch.”

Macchio auditioned alongside some of the greats 86a42

Auditions for The Outsiders attracted a ton of young actors, including Scott Baio, Dennis Quaid, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Unlike most auditions, these were a group effort and required the would-be stars to read various parts in groups chosen by Coppola.

Ultimately, Macchio was selected to play Johnny, a role he seems to have been born for. He started in the film alongside C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, and Emilio Estevez. 

Macchio portrayed 16-year-old greaser Johnny Cade, who suffered from a home life far different from his own. 

“Johnny was a kid whose mother was an alcoholic. His father was abusive, and home was the last place he wanted to be. Those were the challenges, but I embraced them.”

Apparently, Coppola told Macchio he was “too Long Island” and “too clean” and advised him to sleep outside to help toughen him up for the role.

 “I slept outside one night under newspapers just like Johnny did, and it was not fun.” 

Despite his look being “too clean,” Macchio’s eternal baby face likely helped him get the role. The Outsiders star was 20 years old during filming in the spring of 1982, a bit older than the teen he portrayed. 

He continued to portray teens in the ’80s 7442u

Macchio’s performance in The Outsiders helped him land the lead role in The Karate Kid in 1984. He continued to portray a teenage Daniel LaRusso in two follow-up movies despite being closer to 30. His baby face earned him teenage roles for over a decade in films like Teachers, My Cousin Vinny, and Distant Thunder. 

These days, you can catch 61-year-old Macchio on Netflix’s Cobra Kai, reprising his role as Daniel LaRusso in an epic spinoff series. 

Netflix‘s viewership rankings tend to be the natural habitat of such genres as romantic comedies, action thrillers, and true crime, so seeing such players as Happy Madison and Robert Rodriguez make their best invasive species impression is nothing short of grin-worthy, even if their respective films don’t elicit anything of the sort.

Meanwhile, as fans of Cobra Kai lie in wait for updates on the halted sixth and final season of the martial arts dramedy, the streamer has offered up the best band-aid solution it can muster as the writers’ strike continues tossing tragically necessary wrenches into the entertainment industry.

Cobra Kai fans get a four-pronged feast courtesy of Netflix 5n4tu

The Cobra Kai fandom may end up hungering for the conclusion of their favorite show a bit longer than they would like, but Netflix has fortunately kicked off the month by dropping the four next best things into their watchlists; namely, some Karate Kid films.

Indeed, fans of the famed Netflix show can now feast their eyes on where it all began; from 1984’s The Karate Kid to the 1989 threequel, Cobra Kai‘s ancestors are officially in the house.

The unrelated 2010 film is there, too, but we doubt it will have quite the same mileage with the Cobra Kai faithful as the others.

An unsettling revenge thriller breaks Netflix’s number one rule of high viewership 6s4u6a

Catch the Fair One, Josef Kubota Wladyka’s revenge thriller film, in which a former boxer and Native American woman delve into the sickening world of sex trafficking in search of the latter’s younger sister, pulls absolutely no punches and has no intention of making you feel comfortable. Naturally, it also has no interest in playing by anyone’s rules; not even Netflix’s.

Indeed, while it’s effectively an unwritten rule at this point that Netflix’s top viewership contenders can’t have anything resembling a claim to critical praise, Catch the Fair One dares to break convention with its 94 percent approval rating while tangoing in the Top 10 in 21 different countries. So, if you have the stomach for Catch the Fair One, it will be well worth your time to help it climb.

Sex sells, adrenaline sells, so a quasi-solid erotic thriller definitely sells 556457

Not to be confused with the Paramount Plus series Fatal Attraction, erotic thriller series Fatal Seduction proves that Netflix knows its audience to a fault; whether that fault lies with the streamer or its subscribers is entirely up to interpretation.

As for the facts, however, everyone knows that the Netflix faithfuls are suckers for murder mysteries and precarious, ionate encounters, and the fruits of such a combination, as boasted by Fatal Seduction, have brought it to the Top 10 in 80 different countries. Indeed, there’s a saying when it comes to Netflix; even if it’s kinda broke, don’t fix it.

One of the streamer’s weakest films is also its heaviest hitter at the moment 461w1b

David with critics, Goliath with viewership numbers; such is the natural state of being for Happy Madison films that aren’t Hustle, and The Out-Laws is the latest to be christened with such a distinction.

Starring Adam DeVine as a bank manager whose workplace is robbed by his fiancée’s parents less than a week before his wedding, The Out-Laws is unfortunately one of Netflix’s poorest endeavors ever, boasting a sickly pair of 19 and 44 percent approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, but that doesn’t really matter when you’ve since shot to the top spot of the viewership rankings in 61 countries in the three days since you’ve released. Even when Happy Madison loses, it wins.

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl is one of Netflix’s top films right now; that’s it, that’s the subheading 611h41

In many ways, you have to respect Robert Rodriguez for going above and beyond to get a story written by his then-small children made into a feature film. Unfortunately, that heartwarming sentiment is about all that The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl has to offer, but being an objectively bad film hasn’t stopped Netflix viewership heavyweights before.

Although, breaking into the streamer’s Top 10 isn’t even its most impressive feat; somehow, someway, Sharkboy and Lavagirl managed to nab franchise distinction after We Can Be Heroes, a legacy sequel that’s exclusive to Netflix no less, dropped on the platform just three years ago. Indeed, even history’s finest scribes wouldn’t be able to match the remarkable, if asinine, developments that the real world cooks up on its own.

Update July 11, 12:52 am CT: Previously the headline on this article said “next month”, instead of “this month”. We regret the error.

Fans of Cobra Kai, the martial arts comedy-drama television series and sequel to the original The Karate Kid films, will be in for a treat this July. Netflix has announced that several new shows and movies will be available to stream beginning this month. These include the 1984 Karate Kid, its 1986 and 1989 sequels, and the 2010 remake starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. 

Since production on the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai is on hold due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, fans can rewatch the original Karate Kid flicks while waiting for the show’s return. For those who have never seen the show and wish to catch up, Cobra Kai features Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence from The Karate Kid trilogy of the 1980s. 

The series starts over 30 years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament and focuses on Johnny Lawrence, now a middle-aged man battling unemployment, alcoholism, and regrets over past choices. He chooses to reestablish the legendary Cobra Kai karate dojo, known for its vicious and aggressive teaching methods.

By doing this, he rekindles an old feud with LaRusso, now a car dealership’s prosperous owner. Despite having what seems to be a perfect life, Daniel has a hard time striking a balance without his previous guru, Mr. Miyagi. 

There has yet to be any official news regarding when season 6 of Cobra Kai will premiere, although speculation has it that it will air between mid to late 2024. 

Various franchises are colliding in the sci-fi sphere today. Some in positive ways, as a fan-favorite star from the Harry Potter saga is reportedly set to travel over to the Doctor Who universe next year, but also in negative ways, as Netflix’s ambitious plans to relaunch the Power Rangers saga from scratch may have been depowered by another studio’s reboot of an entirely different franchise. Meanwhile, a Star Wars director reflects on how much has changed in such a short time…

A Hogwarts professor might be about to teach the Doctor a thing or two 1s2j5b

Hold on to your pointy hats, Hogwarts students, as a Wizarding World wonder is apparently ing the cast of Doctor Who. According to The Sun, Miriam Margoyles — most known for playing Professor Sprout — will appear in the show’s 60th anniversary specials, set to air next fall. While this has yet to be confirmed, there’s a good chance it’s real, as Margoyles has worked with EP Russell T. Davies before on spinoff series The Sarah Jane Adventures. We’ll all scream like mandrakes if this happens.

Wax on, wax off? Good Karate Kid news may spell doom for Netflix’s Power Rangers universe 3m2z3g

It might have slipped your mind, but Netflix is in the process of overhauling the Power Rangers franchise in time for its 30th anniversary next year… At least, we think so, as we actually haven’t heard any update on this recently. Now we might know the reason why, as the latest intel points to director Jonathan Entwistle helming Sony’s The Karate Kid reboot. Why does this matter? Because Entwistle was previously announced as spearheading Netflix’s PR plans. It’s a mixed day to be a fan of martial arts-themed franchises.

Rian Johnson couldn’t be happier over how Star Wars has changed since The Last Jedi h4w2g

Much has been said about a supposed rift between Rian Johnson and Lucasfilm since The Last Jedi became perhaps the most divisive Star Wars film ever, but the Glass Onion filmmaker has now done his best to put all that talk to bed once and for all by hyping up how much the saga has grown on the small screen since he helmed Episode VIII. Johnson particularly praised Andor and voiced excitement for the The Acolyte. Even better, his movie trilogy may still yet materialize after Knives Out 3!

Streaming spotlight: A crowd-pleasing, fan-angering reboot boldly goes where it’s gone many times before 3y612z

When it comes to charming wider audiences, 2009’s Star Trek reboot definitely succeeded, as it’s continued to draw in big numbers on streaming over the years — just like right now, for instance. On the other hand, hardcore fans remain dubious about its deployment of a whole new timeline as well as pioneering a different tone and feel that the franchise is still trying to shrug off even now, in the likes of Discovery. Maybe the ever-delayed Star Trek 4 will be able to strike the perfect balance between appealing to casual and consummate Trekkies alike.

Wind your way back here on Wednesday, Power Rangers wranglers, for more scintillating sci-fi news.

Prepare to have some mixed feelings, lovers of martial arts-themed franchises, as the latest intel about Sony’s Karate Kid reboot may spell doom for Netflix’s long-gestating relaunch of the Power Rangers universe. The news that a fifth film installment in the Karate Kid series was in the works was already a contentious one with fans, thanks to the confirmation it would be entirely disconnected from Cobra Kai, but now folks have another reason to be skeptical about it.

According to a report from The Illuminerdi, The End of the F…ing World and I Am Not Okay With This creator Jonathan Entwistle is being lined up to helm the new Karate Kid movie. Given his work on those two popular aforementioned Netflix shows, Entwistle’s hiring behind the camera may seem like a good thing, but there is a hidden downside here. If this info is accurate then it presumably means the filmmaker has walked away from his gig over in the Power Rangers world.

You see, exactly one year ago this month, Entwistle confirmed that he was set to direct a Power Rangers movie reboot for Netflix, as well as spearheading the streamer’s ambitious plans to relaunch the beloved tokusatsu franchise from top to bottom with a myriad of projects. The director hasn’t had a peep to say about this coveted job over the past 12 months, though, so with his Karate Kid appointment, maybe we should take it that he and Netflix have parted ways over PR.

As for the new Karate Kid flick, Murphy’s Multiverse shares that the thinking is that it will be a subversion of the usual formula, featuring a 17-year Chinese boy moving to Brooklyn and mentoring a single father who owns a pizzeria in the ways of kung fu (yes, karate will be replaced by kung fu for this one, much like the 2010 Jackie Chan remake). With a different location and all-new characters, the reboot won’t be connected to the “Miyagiverse” but it won’t contradict it either.

In a turn of events nobody could have foreseen as recently as a few years ago, the Karate Kid franchise is riding the crest of a cultural wave, with Sony announcing just yesterday that a brand new feature film is in the works, while Netflix’s sequel series Cobra Kai remains one of the most popular and talked-about TV shows on the planet.

That’s a far cry from how the franchise initially drew to a close, with 1994’s The Next Karate Kid holding the unwanted distinction of being the worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing installment by a country mile. Thanks to a woeful seven percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a paltry box office haul of just $16 million, it would be fair to say that the number one reason people even the film at all is because it marked the first major starring role for future two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank.

It wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that nobody gave as much as a second thought or the merest hint of a sh*t about The Next Karate Kid until very recently, either, and even then that’s largely down to the creative team behind Cobra Kai repeatedly itting that they’d love nothing more than to have Swank’s Julie Pierce return as the legacy cameo to end all legacy cameos.

Perhaps due to the recent debut of the smash hit episodic offering’s fifth season, though, The Next Karate Kid has found itself riding a wave of renewed popularity on Netflix. As per FlixPatrol, since being added to the library in several major international markets, the derided final bow for Pat Morita’s legendary Mr. Miyagi has landed a spot on the platform’s global rankings, and it’s even embedded itself on the Top 10 in both the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Next Karate Kid was a stain on the brand’s reputation at the time, but if Swank does end up swinging by Cobra Kai eventually, then all sins will no doubt be forgiven.

We are all set to wax on, as Sony has announced a new movie set in the Karate Kid franchise. 

The franchise has not seen a new film since the 2010 reboot starring Jackie Chan and the son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden Smith. However, that does not mean the Karate Kid franchise has been dormant this entire time, as the highly successful Cobra Kai series has just released its fifth season on Netflix. According to Variety, Sony announced that it was making the film by updating its roster of films, with a new Karate Kid movie slated for June 7, 2024.

It’s unclear what the plot of the film will be and whether it will be a continuation of the storylines featured in Cobra Kai or a reboot of the original film. For all we know, Sony could very well bring back Chan and Smith for the film and make it a sequel to the 2010 reboot, or even bring the many storylines in the Karate Kid Universe together somehow with Ralph Macchio and Smith appearing in the same film. Sony has described the movie as the “return of the original Karate Kid franchise,” which could hint that Macchio’s journey as Daniel LaRusso is far from over.

It would seem odd not to capitalize on the success of Cobra Kai and get those characters a larger budget for a movie. But again, whether this will be the case or if Sony will opt to start from scratch with a reboot has not yet been announced. Since the film will be released in 2024, production is sure to begin soon, so we should have an idea of what it will entail sooner rather than later. Let’s just hope that the film does not interfere with the genius of Cobra Kai as they seem to be having a very good run. 

Sony did not just announce a new Karate Kid film without altering its schedule, as two other Sony movies have been pushed back. Surprising nobody they are Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web. Kraven the Hunter now has a release date of Oct. 6, 2023, slipping from Jan. 13, 2023. Whereas Madame Web now has a release date of Feb. 16, 2024, slipping from Oct. 6, 2023. This could be due to Morbius, the other film in their Sony Spider-Verse underperforming, or it could have to do with production issues or reshoots. Interestingly another movie set in that world has been scheduled for 2024. This could be Venom 3 or it could be something else, perhaps a new Spider-Man film. 

All five seasons of Cobra Kai are available to stream on Netflix, while a new Karate Kid movie is scheduled to release on June 7, 2024.

Since the original Karate Kid was released in 1984, the franchise has seen a surprising ability to stay relevant through a series of film sequels, a decades-later sequel series, and a 2010 Jackie Chan-starring reboot. In the original film, Ralph Macchio starred as New Jersey kid Daniel LaRusso who, upon moving to the Los Angeles suburb Reseda, quickly discovers that all the local kids resolve their differences by attempting to murder each other in the streets with karate. Comedian and actor Pat Morita earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of wise old karate teacher Mr. Miyagi.

And now, the show business blog Murphy’s Multiverse has exclusively reported that twelve years after Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan led a reboot to major box office returns, Sony Pictures plans to once again remake The Karate Kid, this time centering around a 17-year-old named Li from Beijing who finds himself living in Brooklyn with his mother.

According to Murphy’s, the plot revolves around Li training a fellow student in kung fu:

“Li is said to be struggling with a past tragedy, which drives a wedge between him and his doctor mom, who has managed to handle the same tragedy in her own way. After Li meets Mia, a student from his high school, and her father, Victor, at a local pizza restaurant, he’ll soon find his life has changed yet again – for the better. Li soon finds himself training Victor in the art of Kung Fu, despite his mother’s stance against violence and fighting, and ultimately back in the ring himself.”

Although there’s no director attached, the film is set to be written by Rob Lieber, a screenwriter who specializes in children’s movies, having written the James Corden-starring Peter Rabbit CGI film, as well as Goosebumps 2: Slappy’s Revenge. With Sony still searching for a lead actor to play Li, it seems this film will still be years away from hitting the big screen.

It’s no secret Cobra Kai is one of Netflix’s most popular series; however, due to their release schedule, fans only get new seasons in bursts. In the interim, there is now even more Cobra Kai content to check out, thanks to its star Martin Kove who plays Sensei John Kreese.

Deadline announced that Kove will be hosting a new podcast series alongside his children Jesse and Rache called Cobra Koves.

The series is set to debut on Jan. 20 and will be released in partnership with LiveOne’s audio platform PodcastOne. In this new series, the three Koves will recap Cobra Kai episodes and share stories from the original Karate Kid trilogy of films and more.

Each episode will also boast a special guest, and according to Deadline, these guests won’t just be actors from the show but also athletes, musicians, psychology experts, and others set with discussing Cobra Kai and other more general topics from the film business and life.

Cobra Kai recently aired its fourth season, the second after being acquired by Netflix. The series follows some of the iconic characters from the Karate Kid films decades later, along with a new generation of Karate students.

If you’re yet to check out the series for yourself, you can do so by binging through all four seasons available on Netflix. The debut episode of Cobra Koves will be available to stream on PodcastOne on Jan. 20.

Thanks to the incredible popularity of former YouTube exclusive and now Netflix original Cobra Kai, interest in The Karate Kid franchise is higher than it’s been for almost 30 years, with the third season recently becoming one of the streaming service’s ten most-watched returning shows ever after drawing in over 40 million viewers in the first four weeks it was available. Long before he agreed to a return in Cobra Kai, though, Daniel LaRusso was already the defining role of Ralph Macchio’s career, one that he gave up trying to escape from many years ago and decided to embrace instead. Of course, that comes with the territory when you’re a young actor cast as the lead in a beloved 1980s classic that embedded itself in the very fabric of pop culture and went on to score critical and commercial acclaim. The first major film appearance of Macchio’s career came the year before in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, where he shared the screen with a bevy of future stars including Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez. And in a recent interview, the 59 year-old revealed that a trio of his contemporaries were also in the running for The Karate Kid, all three of whom would go on to experience huge success in their own right.

“I was found early, I was cast very early, but it was like one of those test deals where you’re not in yet. I walking by and seeing Charlie Sheen hanging out outside producer Jerry Weintraub’s bungalow, thinking, ‘What’s Charlie doing here?’. Nic Cage, I think, and Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. also did the workshop of the part I did in The Outsiders.”

The idea of teenagers Robert Downey Jr., Nicolas Cage and Charlie Sheen auditioning for The Karate Kid is certainly a fascinating thought, given what they went on to accomplish over the next four decades, with all three of them scoring their own breakout roles shortly after Macchio had been cast as Daniel LaRusso in Weird Science, Rumble Fish and Red Dawn respectively.

As usual, it’s been a busy week for Netflix, with the platform releasing a large number of titles for July. With many new and returning series and other original content to look forward to this month, as well as those that are already getting strong notices on the service, it can be difficult to filter out what to watch. To this end, the always-reliable What’s on Netflix have picked eight great movies that’ve arrived this month, and we’d have to agree with the quality of their picks. First up, they’ve selected Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg’s 1993 classic film about the Holocaust. A wide-ranging study of efforts by Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) to rescue parts of the Jewish community by hiring them for a factory purportedly designed to the Nazi war effort, Schindler’s List is both one of Spielberg’s best, and still perhaps the definitive movie on the Holocaust produced by a major Hollywood studio. Also getting some love this week is Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the 1993 movie spinoff from the acclaimed animated series. Focusing on the Dark Knight’s early years, Mask of the Phantasm sees Batman take on a vigilante who represents a different approach to Gotham City crime. Translating the noir aesthetic of the series to the screen, Mask of the Phantasm is well worth a watch. What’s on Netflix have also picked Stardust, Matthew Vaughn’s flawed but still enjoyable adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel. While not everything works with the movie, it’s certainly one that deserves renewed attention for its ambition. Similarly underrated is Splice, the sci-fi horror from 2009 that sees scientists trying to create a human-animal hybrid, with predictably troubling results. Those wanting a shot of nostalgia can now enjoy the original The Karate Kid trilogy as well, with all three movies from 1984 to 1989 available to stream. Furthermore, if you haven’t yet seen it, we’d highly recommend What’s on Netflix’s pick of Nicolas Roeg’s The Witches, a delightfully dark adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel that has many unnerving moments. To recap, the full list of the best movies that hit the platform this week is as follows:

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
• The Karate Kid Trilogy (1984; 1986; 1989)
• Schindler’s List (1993)
• Splice (2009)
• Stardust (2007)
• The Witches (1990)

What do you think of these new Netflix titles, though? As always, let us know in the comments section down below.