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•	2007 Album

•	2020 Album

Much of the musical character of The Karate Kid: Part II is defined by Conti's ethnic element, his specialty instrumentation largely defined by taiko drums, three-stringed shamisen, and synthetic pan flute. That last contributor is a sore point for enthusiasts of the franchise's music; Conti wanted to collaborate again with acclaimed pan flute performer Gheorghe Zamfir as he did on the first score, but Zamfir could not be located at the time. (He would return, however, for Conti's third score in the series.) Because the instrument is sampled in The Karate Kid: Part II, there isn't any attractive performance inflection in its applications to this score, and yet the lower pitch of the pan flute's tone is much more palatable in this work compared to previous one. Even though Conti strives for more ethnic and dramatic authenticity in the sequel's music, the recording is passionless for most of its length, extending issues of excess restraint and repetition from the The Karate Kid. Some of the cues in this work that needed more dramatic weight are rather skimpy, including "What Has Happened?" and "Everything Gone." There are frightfully few cues of heightened rhythmic force or excitement in the sequel, "Miyagi's Attack" and "The Storm" providing that interest prior to the finale. Some of the subdued material in the score is source music composed by Conti or others ("Yui Yo Bon Odori" and "Moon Spots"). Thematically, Conti really struggles to find the right balance of new and old identities in The Karate Kid: Part II. He fails to satisfactorily involve the main theme from the prior score here, and he writes too many redundant new themes for similar concepts. For instance, the movie is supplied arguably three love themes, two in the form of songs by Peter Cetera and Carly Simon, the latter adapted by Conti, and then another from Conti for Miyagi. One overarching identity of romance connecting them all would have made for a better musical narrative. Listeners expecting to hear Daniel's inspirational main theme from The Karate Kid will be highly disappointed by Conti's strategic abandonment of it in the sequel, as it only returns here in the opening scene that recaps the prior film. Its absence in Daniel's scenes of maturation and confrontation in The Karate Kid: Part II, whether in conversation, anticipation, or actual victory, is inexcusable. Instead, the Miyagi teaching motif is the dominant factor here, a nine-note identity defined in "Bonsai Tree" from the previous score and featuring a repetitive, plucked string motif underneath.

The Miyagi teaching motif's outsized impact on The Karate Kid: Part II begins with its explorations throughout "Main Title," integrated into new Miyagi material in "Six Months Later." It's provided more development but not much depth in "Breathing/Daniel Nails It," turning more synthetic in "Chopping Ice," but it shifts at 0:54 into "Daniel's Triumph" towards full victorious action mode. The theme's purpose melds with a new honor motif in the score that opens "Main Title," shifts to low brass by "The Storm," and offers the score's brightest point on higher brass over pulsating bass in "Daniel's Triumph." Miyagi himself is provided an all-new theme of five notes, best heard on the synth pan flute in the middle of "No Mercy," opening "Six Months Later" over the teaching motif, and continuing in "Daniel Nails It." The idea is reduced to sparse solo pan flute continuation in "Ask Drum." The character receives both a love theme and a family theme in the score, the former consisting of ascending string figures and debuting late in "Miyagi's Home" before stewing with muted hope in the middle of "Their Song." The latter, the family theme, is whimsical in the middle of "The Funeral." The quasi-villain of the story, Sato, receives a muted rhythmic formation for taiko and shamisen in "Enter Sato" that becomes more dramatic and elongated in "No Choice." The final new theme of note is one of romance for Daniel, co-credited to Carly Simon as it adapts the song, "Two Looking at One," written for the picture. The strings and pan flute in "Take Me With You" provide more depth to this idea than all the others. It is reprised with more variance in "Daniel Leaves" and figures into the climax of "Daniel's Triumph." The "Love Theme From The Karate Kid Part II" track is more of a direct instrumental reflection of the song. In the end, The Karate Kid: Part II is a step backwards in the franchise's music despite its more authentic symphonic tone. The only cue really worth adding to a compilation with the prior score is "Daniel's Triumph," which finally breathes some (brief) life into the work. Initial albums for the soundtrack concentrated on the songs, with minimal Conti score. In 2007, Varèse Sarabande released a 4-CD set of all of Conti's scores for the franchise, and the same cursory, 48-minute presentation was released alone by the label in 2011. The La-La Land Records label expanded that experience to 53 minutes in 2020 and added a variety of bonus tracks, mostly alternate takes. Look for a hidden percussive effect at the end of that album. All of these products are limited pressings, and none provide the film's Oscar-nominated song, "Glory of Love," by Peter Cetera. Conti's score maintains the basic personality of the franchise, but it lacks the spirited dynamics or dramatic intensity necessary to be truly effective or memorable.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download