This was never meant to be serious and clearly Is meant to be corny. I just watch this again for first time in almost 20 years , Joe Piscipo Is the man.

I had the pleasure of being a crowd scene extra during the filming of the tournament scenes. Some excellent martial arts technicians showed up to demonstrate their skills.

The movie has been compared to The Karate Kid, but it stands on its own legs. Good acting throughout and a good storyline. I got a kick out of the scenes filmed at Lamar High School - my alma mater.

Barry Gabrewski (Jonathan Brandis) is an asthmatic bullied Texas teen picked on by the other students. He daydreams about being Chuck Norris' sidekick. His only friend is Lauren (Danica McKellar). His father Jerry Gabrewski (Beau Bridges) struggles to reach him. His teacher Miss Chan is concerned about him. Jerry tries to sign him up with Kelly Stone (Joe Piscopo) to learn Karate but the arrogant Stone dismisses the weakling and his love of Chuck Norris. Chan introduces him to her uncle Mr. Lee (Mako) who teaches him martial arts.

It's the Karate Kid except stupider and with lots of campy dream sequences with Chuck Norris. It tries to be funny but it's done badly. It comes off as silly. Joe Piscopo is annoyingly idiotic although his Bruce Lee impression is so stupid that it's actually funny. I like the Chuck Norris dream sequences at first. They're good deliberate camp but even those get a bit tired. I'm not taken with Jonathan Brandis or his boyish charms. Other than the silly weak humor, that's probably my biggest problem with this movie.