> even experience a life or death fighting match in PART II

I never got this either. In part 2, he fought and beat an Asian karate master, who taught Karate to America GIs. And they kept making the point that if he loses, it means death. You'd think having a fight at home after that would be cake.

But Karate Kid III was such a bad movie, it's almost comical. The acting is terrible, especially Macchio and the guy that played Silver. And there are some real plot holes. These guys are vandalizing his bonsai shop, destroying valuable property, and no one bothers to call the police?

And the end is terrible. He gets beat up and down the mat the entire match, but gets the winning point with that weird kata (confusing Barnes)?