CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => Big Ten => Topic started by: Gigem on August 08, 2026, 01:15:36 PM
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(2) The Karate Kid vs. (15) Wall Street
(2) The Karate Kid (1984)
Mr. Miyagi, Cobra Kai, “wax on, wax off,” the crane kick, the headband, the tournament, and the underdog story have remained culturally alive for more than forty years. The later success of Cobra Kai proved that its characters, rivalries, lessons, and imagery could still connect with entirely new generations.
(15) Wall Street (1987)
Few movies capture 1980s ambition, financial culture, corporate fashion, materialism, and greed as directly as Wall Street. Gordon Gekko became an icon, and “greed is good” became shorthand for the decade’s most aggressive version of capitalism. Its seed is low, but its cultural relevance is undeniable.
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(https://i.imgur.com/rcVLSBF.jpeg)
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Wall Street might be the #1 80s movie. The look, the tech....I feel like the Karate Kid could be in any decade.
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Seeding error here.
Two tremendous movies.
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Wall Street might be the #1 80s movie. The look, the tech....I feel like the Karate Kid could be in any decade.
Again, it's one of those where it "COULD have been in any decade," but it wasn't. And the hair, the clothes, the jam box that they fought over, were all super 80s. So I don't really buy into that line of thinking.
That being said...
I'm not sure anything embodies the 80s more in one single line, than Gordon Gecko stating "Greed Is Good."
Wall Street takes it for me, my apologies to Mr. Miyagi.
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It's there, but "poor kid finds himself in a new place and out of place, but finds a mentor...." can happen anytime.
The yuppie culture of the 80s IS Wall Street.
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Wall Street is what OAM thinks capitalism is.
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Wall Street is what OAM thinks capitalism is.
Is it not a documentary?
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Wall Street is what OAM thinks capitalism is.
I think it's weird that tons of people who don't benefit from financially elite people taking advantage of a largely unfettered system defend them so consistently.
I think it's mostly the case that many of you shrug and think everything should go on normally at the severe ends of every bell curve just as it does in the middle, when in actuality, that's where things tend to break down and should be treated differently.
And legal doesn't mean ethical.
And hard doesn't mean just shrug and give up.
But here, you have the numbers, so my lone voice must be wrong and you all must be right.
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Wall Street might be the #1 80s movie. The look, the tech....I feel like the Karate Kid could be in any decade.
I mean, generally speaking, almost all these movies could be set in any decade. War Games could be set in 2026, especially with all the recent AI advances. What made the plot of the original Wall Street so unique to the 1980's? Nothing that I can really remember. I don't remember much about the movie, except that Charlie Sheen was insider trading and pretty much got busted, and then flipped on his boss/mentor Gordon Gecko.
To me, The Karate Kid is so thoroughly totally 80's. First off, back then Karate and martial arts were huge. I guess maybe we have UFC and that type of thing, but do you know anybody actually doing karate and the many similar martial arts? Back then we did. I'm not tuned into that scene, but are there hoards of kids doing karate, kung fu, and related sports?
Secondly, the family moved to California in search of a better life. I knew several people back in the 1980's that did the same thing. This was before, to my memory and knowledge, that California turned into some kind of alt-state where things are so vastly different than the rest of the country. I don't even remember there being a rivalry between California and the rest of the USA. Everybody just knew they were cool, and lots of people moved there. They had it all. Technology, surfing, aerospace, TV, movies, and Hollywood. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that I'm trying to pit the California lifestyle/culture against the rest of the USA. But back in the 80's it really just seemed so much more "like us, only cooler".
Now, you have more people looking to leave California in search of a better life. Indeed, the remake (yuck!) featured an American kid moving to China or something. Totally different than the premise of the original.
Here is my "soft list" of criteria for a movie being the better 1980's flick:
- Staying power - Is it still watched, referenced, and known 40+ years later?
- Quotability - Do people still repeat lines from it?
- Memorability / iconic scenes - Images or moments people instantly recognize.
- Pure “80s-ness” - Does it look and feel like the decade?
- Fashion / hair / style - Clothes, Ray-Bans, leg warmers, Members Only, big hair, etc.
- Music / soundtrack - Especially songs that became inseparable from the movie or decade.
- Technology / cars / stuff - Arcades, Walkmans, BMX bikes, computers, DeLoreans, malls, etc.
- Cultural impact - Did it influence slang, fashion, music, other movies, or popular culture?
- Characters - Did it create characters that became cultural icons?
- Transcends generations - Would someone born well after the ’80s still know it?
- Actually represents life/culture of the ’80s - high school, suburbs, malls, Cold War, workplace culture, teenage independence, consumerism, etc.
- Rewatchability - Is it something people still willingly watch rather than merely acknowledge as important?
And the overriding rule was:
We are NOT asking which is the best movie. We’re asking which is the most ’80s movie.
So with all that in mind, how often do you see the OG Wall Street being played on TV? What are some memorable quotes and lines from the movie, other than "Greed is Good". How often do you find yourself quoting Mr Miaygi (Wax on, Wax off, Daniel San-Whole life about balance).
I really wish I had seeded these differently because even though Wall Street is a terrific movie, I don't think it's the better '80's movie.
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Secondly, the family moved to California in search of a better life. I knew several people back in the 1980's that did the same thing. This was before, to my memory and knowledge, that California turned into some kind of alt-state where things are so vastly different than the rest of the country. I don't even remember there being a rivalry between California and the rest of the USA. Everybody just knew they were cool, and lots of people moved there. They had it all. Technology, surfing, aerospace, TV, movies, and Hollywood. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that I'm trying to pit the California lifestyle/culture against the rest of the USA. But back in the 80's it really just seemed so much more "like us, only cooler".
This convinced me.
Karate Kid could have been set in the 1850s. His mom is panning for gold in a stream. Daniel befriends an Asian man working on the railroad (Miyagi). Pretty good flick!
Or better yet. Set in the 1990s. Daniel goes to CA to be a big star, but gets stuck waiting tables and winds up in the porn industry. He finds a hot pornstar with a heart of gold, but drugs derails things until Mr. Miyagi gets him clean and he gets a job, thanks to the All-Valley Economic Security office.
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^^^ That is one helluva imagination. Kudos.
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Wall Street may be the most dangerous 15 seed in the history of 15 seeds. I didn't see who else you had in this quadrant, but it could easily win the whole damn thing.
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Wall Street may be the most dangerous 15 seed in the history of 15 seeds. I didn't see who else you had in this quadrant, but it could easily win the whole damn thing.
Yeah. Obviously I way underrated it.
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Yeah. Obviously I way underrated it.
I don't know, there are tons of great movies in the bracket. If a 15- seed wins it, so be it.
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Karate Kid taking a round 1 loss makes me want to rage quit this site.
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That's a fair take, but it's the accident of seeding, not the 80s-ish-ness of the movies. Karate Kid is the better movie, it's the more iconic movie, and it's not as purely 80s as Wall Street. Materialism/consumerism/and Wall Street greed are some of the most conspicuous parts of 80s culture. This was a time of the dying private-sector union, deregulation, and the triumph of the unregulated markets. And that's what Wall Street is about.
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That's a fair take, but it's the accident of seeding, not the 80s-ish-ness of the movies. Karate Kid is the better movie, it's the more iconic movie, and it's not as purely 80s as Wall Street. Materialism/consumerism/and Wall Street greed are some of the most conspicuous parts of 80s culture. Timeless. This was a time of the dying private-sector union, deregulation, and the triumph of the unregulated markets. And that's what Wall Street is about.
Fixed it.
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I agree that greed is timeless, but so is an underdog story:
Take your pick: Willa Cather, "There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before," or Shakespeare, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances...Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history...sans everything."
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I think this one is probably done, I'll let @gigem call it.
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Karate Kid taking a round 1 loss makes me want to rage quit this site.
Jesus, I'm truly angry at myself for this bad matchup. I truly didn't give Wall Street the respect it deserves.
Karate Kid occupies a special place in my memories. I didn't expect it to win the whole thing, but I felt like it would be a Elite 8 Contender.
Call it. Wall Street upsets.