Tamlyn Tomita Quotes

The Brat Pack is timeless.

'The Karate Kid' was just lightning in a bottle. The second movie is a very worthy sequel, because you got to explore the Okinawan culture and learned about Miyagi's life. The third, as is always the case, was made because the second one made a lot of money.

I used to love ninja movies. That was my thing.

I think one of the reasons 'The Karate Kid' film has stood the test of time, aside from 'Get him a body bag,' 'Sweep the leg,' catching flies with chopsticks, all of that stuff that's become pop culture, is that it worked on a human level.

I remember seeing 'Gremlins' and having my mind blown and seeing 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' at 13, and it was this hugely aspirational experience.

I didn't really discover 'Risky Business' until later in life because I was so young when it came out.

When I was younger I looked a bit like Matthew Modine out of 'Birdy'.

I'm a big fan of 'The Last Dragon' - Bruce Leroy and Sho'nuff - that's one of my favorite movies growing up.

I had never seen the classics with Molly Ringwald, like 'Pretty in Pink' or 'Sixteen Candles,' or '80s horror, like 'Poltergeist,' 'Close Encounters,' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street.' I went back and watched all of those.

Growing up, all of my friends would set their schedules to the showing of kung fu movies on TV.

The first martial arts movie I ever watched was this old Chinese film called 'Five Deadly Venoms.' I was seven years old. My dad and I were sitting in front of the TV on the floor in our living room.

I used to watch 'Private Resort' and laugh all the time.

I enjoy doing action a lot more because my films have a sense of violence. That's because I have a broad structure, and if I hit someone, it looks believable. Maybe my contemporaries are meeker-looking in comparison.

I watched a lot of Jean-Claude Van Damme films and loved his film 'Bloodsport.'

When I make a movie, I make one fighting scene a month.

The period between 1980 and 1995 was my era.

I've never seen 'E.T.'

'Lucha Underground' is like a combination of Lucha Libre, American Pro Wrestling, and gridy action films. It's got a lot of things I like - action, wrestling, and really good storytelling.

I am a huge fan of Jackie Chan and I have seen the 'Police Story' series so many times.

I'm just a product of the '90s, to be honest.

I watched 'Free Willy' probably 100 times. I nearly wore out the VHS tape. That movie was my introduction to Michael Madsen. When I finally saw 'Reservoir Dogs', I was like, 'That's the guy from 'Free Willy'!' - which is probably the wrong way around.

I was, like, a brown belt, which is pretty good. I entered a tournament once, and I punched the guy in the throat and got disqualified. I realized - I don't know if you're familiar with "Karate Kid," but the bad guys in that are called Cobra Kai, and they're, like, the evil karate guys. And then when I went to the tournament, I realized that's what we were; we were like the Cobra Kai of the Jewish karate community.

Getting back into the action genre is like going back home. It's great.

You know you're getting older when they're making TV shows, sequels or plays for things that you did. It's very flattering and very humbling, indeed.

Long gone are the days of the stylised old James Bond films with Roger Moore karate chopping his way through the bad guys - audiences are not going to buy it anymore. The genre has got quite serious now.