Sometimes the Internet surprises you with something so random and cool, it’s unfathomable that it actually exists. An alternative version of The Karate Kid is all that and a crane kick.

In 1983, director John G. Avildsen was getting ready to shoot The Karate Kid with stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita and others. As part of the rehearsal process, Avildsen decided to film all of the rehearsals and edited it together into a (very) rough version of the movie. It was used as a tool for the actors to give them a sense of what the movie would be like, how their characters would change, all of that important stuff. Presumably, it was never meant to see the light of day outside of the cast and crew.

Then, of course, this small film about a young man from New Jersey who moves to California and learns karate to earn the respect of his peers became a massive hit and, almost twenty years later, fans are still clamoring for more. Now that rehearsal movie has found its way online. After the jump, watch The Karate Kid in its entirety comprised solely of rehearsal footage. It’s the best DVD extra never included on a DVD.

Thanks to Metafilter (via One Cool Thing a Day) for this amazing find, which has actually been online for over a year. I’ve embedded the first three parts and provided links to the rest so your browser doesn’t hate us. Read more about it below.

And here’s the rest of the movie: Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8/9; Part 10; Part 11; Part 12; Part 13.

As you can see from the YouTube videos, they’re all uploaded by user “Avildsen1221” which, it’s safe to assume, is actually the film’s director, John G. Avildsen (whose birthday is 12/21, fitting the YouTube handle.) If you go to the direct YouTube page for each video, he posts short descriptions about each part of the film including which crew members are standing in for actors and more. For fans, not only is this an insane find and great look at the filmmaking process, but it shows scenes that were deleted from the final film, alternative lines of dialogue and other hidden gems. This has to be one of the best thing I’ve ever seen online. Do you agree?