User reviews

Cobra Kai is so much better than I thought it would be. I grew up a Karate Kid fan but wasn't sure what to expect from this and thought it would be some cheap kiddy money grab. I'm glad I was wrong. It's so much better than it has any business being, especially William Zabka! He absolutely is the star of this show as Johnny Lawrence. You root for him on this more than Daniel (Ralph Macchio).

Problem is he was typecast and never given a chance to shine. In, Cobra Kai it's his show and he shows a side of Johnny that is a true human experience.

Cobra Kai season 6 started off a bit silly, which is expected, but those final five episodes of the series really stuck the landing and showed why we loved this show so much. It had action, emotion, drama, and a lot of heart. We get to see near-perfect conclusions to these characters we've been following for the last 6 years and redemption for characters that have been a long time coming.

In the end, Cobra Kai season 6 sent this world off in a great way, with a near perfect way to end the series in the final 5 episodes that really gave us a satisfying and enjoyable conclusion.

The series overall was a fantastic return to many of our childhoods, giving us some corny, silly, fun with great heart behind it all.

Brad: 9 Josh: 9.5 Final: 9.

I was a teen in the 80's and enjoyed watching this film - as most guys my age did. I was a little skeptical when I saw that they were making a new series that takes place 30 years after the movie ended. But once I saw the trailers - I felt like they might be on to something. After watching several episodes - I can tell you that they nailed it. This is the best show out there - anywhere. It's not over acted (or under acted). It's not corny or stupid either. It's the perfect match up of seriousness with a few goofs or references from the 80's thrown in here & there. This revival could have been a disaster but it looks like they got the perfect combo of writers, directors & actors. It's funny, because as a kid - I wanted to punch Johnny in the throat as hard as I could. But as a 40-something year old - I'm kinda rooting for him. Great job to the people responsible for making this happen - and of course it couldn't have happened without Ralph & William. Thank you!

I remember watching the Karate Kid films as a kid, and I cannot express enough how impressed and surprised at the level of quality of this series. It successfully brings back the old "feel" of the films, while adding a new and complex storyline. It really embodies the legacy of the rivalry, and yet rebores the spirt of the films to a degree that is just unprecedented. I can't wait to see what they do in Season 2. Amazing job YouTube!

I have just this moment finished episode 10. I am literally on a massive high right now. This is probably the best TV series I have seen since I first watched Game of Thrones. This is TV at its most epic best.

The thing that makes this TV show is William Zabka. Why he has only been in Karate Kid and nothing much more is a mystery as this guy can act and has amazing screen presence and comedy timing.

This TV show was so good it literally makes me want to go out tomorrow and sign up for karate classes and learn Cobra Kai style.

I strongly recommend everyone watches this as this is way better than that stupid remake with Will Smiths son, better than all the sequels and to be honest better than the first Karate Kid movie too.

William Zabka needs to be cast in other TV roles too. He is up there with the best for TV/movie Anti-hero's; Snake Plissken, Tyler Durdan and now after this Johnny Lawrence.

As a typical 80's kid who grew up watching Karate Kid hundreds of times, I can truly say that this show does justice to my childhood memories. It's not perfect and can be a little cheesy at times, but all of that is easily forgiven with the magic instilled in this show.

The creators did a wonderful job in tying in moments from the original and making them fit with the new. The soundtrack is definitely up to par with the movies, but also adds a little bit of a modern twist to it.

Last night I finished episode 7 and all I could think was, "I wish Disney had paid this much respect to the new Star Wars movies as these guys did with Cobra Kai".

It's a great show and I'm trying my best to savor the last few episodes...

This series brought me back to my childhood and how much I loved the movies and characters growing up. It surprised how well the characters are brought up to date and now involve the younger generation. There's still a lot to be taught, and learned.

There are many things to like about this series. Probably the best thing for me is its rejection of political correctness and victimhood culture. Actually, rejection is a strong word and this isn't a protest piece by any means but there is definitely a theme of taking responsibility for one's own fate and confronting adversity with resilience and even some agression. (The show is intelligent enough to portray overt agression or anger as counterproductive). There is one great scene during a karate tournament where a competitor starts pretentiously virtue signalling to the crowd. The reaction of Johnny Lawrence is priceless. Hopefully Hollywood takes note that virtue signalling is not a prerequisite for great entertainment. It's great to see a show that is intelligent with messages to tell but doesn't take itself too seriously.

The first season was awesome, the second was alright but then... Too much repetition (some bad dude is defeated, comes back again -and again!-), the plot took a childish turn (credibility of characters and their relations has been lost somewhere), we didn't need Cobra Kai as a dojo in the last season but instead the new tournament and new rivals could be more than enough (seeing Kreese come back again -and again!- made me say 'enough is enough'). The nostalgia factor and the sincerity of the actors made me love this show at the beginning but over time, it turned into a copy of all those not so high-quality teenage shows around.

All in all, the show lost its charm for me starting with the 5th season and so on...

The answer has finally come to the age old question of "How can you introduce nuance into a cut-and-dry good-vs-evil 80's classic" and it comes in the form of COBRA KAI. While there are many a homage to the film(s) that spawned it, Cobra Kai makes its own name for itself by (gasp) being very well written, and introducing depth to the degree that neither Johnny nor Daniel-San is really "the good guy" or "the bad guy". They both make poor decisions, both are dealing with the traumas of their youth (which, in Danny's case, comes down to Johnny himself in many ways), and they both pass on the positive and negative experiences to their children and/or students in various ways. Danny is often motivated by petty revenge and unable to see any good in Johnny and his Cobras (and not entirely for no reason), and Johnny may be saving himself from....himself and his past and giving his students confidence, but also seems to be making them somewhat into monsters. The show is able to balance all this thematically and do so with poignancy and humor. Unlike, say, an hour-and-a-half long movie, the show is able to burn much more slowly and spend time with its characters and their pasts to provide a tremendous amount of depth. This might even be the thing that makes Youtube Red worth paying for. I'm legitimately hyped for season 2, what the hell. (While I won't spoil the last-minute sting in the final episode, needless to say it's a biggie).

Really watch it, you'll be suprised. Hawk is indeed ourguy

Season 1 of CobraKai is by far the best. Season 4 is teens making childish decisions and adults making childish decisions. If you love the films you'll appreciate the TV show. William Zabka's Johnny Lawrence is excellent as always and Daniel LaRusso will always be the moral heart of the show. Season 4 was a letdown. It's just teens and the adults all making ridiculous decisions.

Its almost laughable how this spiritual successor to karate kid went down the same path of lightning in a bottle beginning, to decent sequel to cheap replica follow ups. Because this show does not have much to offer after the second season. The first season is just brilliant, the writing and acting were grounded, intelligent, funny. The writing was so good, you did not even flinch when people were talking about dojos and karate rivalries in a serious mannr. Thats because you had a very heartfelt portrayal of individual daily struggle of a very relatable teenage and adult cast using karate as a projection tool rather than main narrative device. Sure there were nostalgia baity scenes and callbacks but it was never integral to anything and mostly enhanced most scenes.

The second season got a bit sillier but still felt obliged to tell a decent story with observable growth among characters.

But after that the series does fall into the same trap as many series fall, which is repeating superficial themes, relying heavily on soapy dialogue and love triangles, cartoonifying most aspects till every episode writes itself with cue cards. Many could speculate as how this phenomenon happens but it's just laziness, fear of losing money changing the formula or just going with the motions since a hefty cash check is already in the bank due to the shows commercial success.

The show just became a parody of itself and as cobra kai dialogue already is memefied as "the cringe dialogue" you could guess it's not a great watch overall.

I can't believe how much I enjoy Cobra Kai. I originally thought this was going to be some corny kid show. It's not, any fan of the original trilogy will love this. It takes place 34 years after the events of the first movie and the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. It follows a down on his luck Johnny Lawrence (William Zavala) as he tries to get his life straightened out and opens up the famous Cobra Kai dojo. This reignites his rivalry with the successful Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). I can't say enough about how good Zabka is here. He's absolutely the breakout star here! It's a shame he hasn't become a bigger star over the years because he shows he can carry a show here. Again, if you're a fan of the original trilogy then watch this. I promise you'll love it! Looking forward to more seasons in the future.

It's corny, predictable, steeped in 1980's nostalgia, full of nods to the original... and those are just some of the reasons to LOVE it! Credit to everyone involved in the making of this series. If you are a fan of the original films then this is going to be exactly what you are looking for. John Avildsen and Pat Morita are definitely here in spirit. Perfect for binge-watching and for transporting yourself back 30 years! :)

This show is the perfect mix of nostalgia, great 80s music, and badass karate. William Zabka makes this show as Johnny Lawrence, he is everything. Storylines are interesting, action scenes are well coordinated, and everyone and their brother comes back from the movies. It's lovely.

I was a big KK fan back in the day and this ticks all the nostalgia boxes while managing to be awesome in it's own right. The acting is great, the story is great and it takes the plot in directions I never expected while making you feel for the characters.

Great work, bring on the next season :D

So season 1 blew me away. Very funny lots of great jokes! It was quirky and fun and had a solid story. Season 2 becomes a stupid teen drama where everything is just inconvenient and dumb like river dale. The ending was such a silly teen drama move I miss season 1.. I hope it goes back to the way it was. 8/10 for now season 2 was a 5/10

Edit: SEASON 3 IS A TEEN DRAMA NONSENCE

So that's a wrap. Just finished the last part of season 6 of Cobra Kai and I must say the whole show was just such a great throw back to how I felt as a kid watching The Karate kid. This has been one of them shows you can just switch off, sit back and enjoy. The casting was brilliant and seeing the old cast returning was so good. The show did have an 80s feel to it and that's what makes it work. After 6 seasons tho it has ended and there is a part of me that wished it had gone on for longer. Rember tho Cobra Kai never dies. There is talk of a spin off show and I would definitely be down for that.

I was blown away by how much this TV show exceeded my expectations. Every experience I had with sequels of this kind were suggesting that this one would follow all the generic rehashing and exploitation of loved characters from the past. Instead we got amazing writing, great casting and performances and overall very good cinematography.

The creators chose to follow the aftermath of a legendary rivalry from our teenage years in a brilliant way. The dove in the essence of the characters and what made them the way the were, how the past affected them and they did it brilliantly.

One of the most successful and entertaining things I noticed was the use of political incorrectness. I chuckled every time Johny spat out a seemingly offensive remark to showcase the naivety of his character and how the world has changed around him but also it demonstrated the freshness of the script and how ethics can be promoted without the sterilisation and sanitation we experience in today's movies and shows.

And here comes the almost part. Suddenly the last two episodes malformed this amazing experience. The finale more so. The characters reverted for some reason to one dimensional caricatures, seemingly only to advance the plot. The teachings of Johny, for no apparent reason transformed his students from likeable, intelligent kids to obnoxious - no values thugs in mere minutes. The story woven so meticulously in all the episodes before them falling flat. I could go in detail but I prefer this review to be spoiler free.

Overall, thumbs up to all that worked in order for us to have this exceptional TV sequel.

Personally for me cobra kai was brilliant. Yes sometimes it was a little bit dramactic or a little bit cheesy but the storyline is brilliant which doesnt really have a main character whilst the show is all about jonny lawerences redemption story each character gets there own storlyine with it all tying in with the show them bringing back characters from the karatie kid movies made it really intresting to watch. The actors really know what they are doing which makes it a superb programe to watch. The best series has to be s6 part 3 the last 5 episodes were amazing giving each character all the amazing moments of what they did in the whole show. It really gave it a wholsome send off brilliant 💯 reccomend it.