Elisabeth Shue apparently hated making this movie
At least, that's what she said to the Los Angeles Times back in 1987 when her film, Advenures in Babysitting was out:
https://archive.ph/CMAWkshare
At 19, Shue became a regular on the critically acclaimed ABC-TV series “Call to Glory.” The show lasted barely a year so she returned to Harvard to continue her education. School was again put on hold when her agent called her to come back to Hollywood to audition for the female lead in “The Karate Kid.”
The movie turned out to be a boon for her career but soured her on Hollywood for a while. She says she was disappointed by the way some of the film makers went about their business.
“Doing ‘The Karate Kid’ was not a happy experience for me, and I think my performance reflected my feelings,” she says. “I didn’t feel anyone had passion for the work, at least during what I observed on the set. After feeling such a warm and positive commitment from the ‘Call to Glory’ cast, I thought I should re-think my future. The last thing I wanted to do was a ‘Karate Kid’ sequel.”