Contributed by: politeintruder
I saw a Q&A with director Phil Joanu after a screening of Three O'Clock High at the New Beverly cinema in LA and he explained that Spielberg, who discovered him and was mentoring him, was under the impression Joanu was making a Karate Kid type Film; a very commercial teen movie and instead when Joanu showed the first cut to Speilberg, Speilberg said "what happened to Karate Kid? You made a Scorsese Film!"