Sidekicks(1992)

SHORT VERSION:
After almost beating Randy in a confrontation at school, Barry gets handed a flyer from him advertising the upcoming Texas Open Team Karate Tournament and tells him to face him there. Barry convinces Mr. Lee and Noreen to be his teammates, but on the day of the tournament, the latter two discover that they need a fourth team member in order to compete. By chance, Chuck Norris himself shows up as a guest of the tournament, and spurred on by Lee, Noreen directly approaches him and ask him to be their fourth teammate, since Barry idolizes him. Surprisingly, Chuck agrees to do it, and he comes up to Barry and tells him of his decision personally.

The quartet make it to the finals against the Stone Dojo that Randy is a student of, and they win the competition when Barry beats Randy in a brick-breaking contest. Outside the venue, Barry thanks Chuck for everything and leaves with Noreen and his father while Chuck mysteriously vanishes. A boy in a wheelchair then finds Barry’s copy of Black Belt Magazine with Chuck on the cover and looks to be inspired to follow a path similar to Barry’s.

LONG VERSION:
Through his training with Mr. Lee (Mako), Barry (Jonathan Brandis) becomes skilled in the martial arts and is able to largely overcome his asthma, and when his enemy Randy (John Buchanan) tries to physically bully him one day, he fights back and almost beats him before their gym teacher breaks it up. Surprised and impressed by Barry’s showing, Lauren (Danica McKellar) starts dating him.

However, angry over almost being beaten by someone he considered a weakling, Randy later gives Barry a flyer advertising the upcoming Texas Open Team Karate Tournament and tells him to face him there. Barry shows both Lee and Noreen (Julia Nickson-Soul) the flyer, and they agree to be his teammates.

On the day of the tournament, Noreen and Lee find out that their team needs four members in order to be able to compete. As they fret over breaking this bad news to Barry, their attention gets drawn to some nearby spectators spotting Chuck Norris (himself) entering the arena as a guest of the tournament. Thinking that they might be able to get Chuck as their fourth teammate, Lee has Noreen approach him directly and ask him to join their team, and she also mentions to him off-screen how it would mean a lot to Barry since he is his hero. Surprisingly, Chuck agrees to join them, and he goes up to a very surprised Barry and personally lets him know of his decision.

The quartet performs superbly (with Chuck mopping the floor with Randy’s arrogant teacher Stone [Joe Piscopo] to win the freestyle fighting portion of the tournament), and they tie for first place with the Stone Dojo. The tie-breaking event is set as a brick-breaking contest between Barry and Randy. Randy decides to end things early by attempting to break a record-breaking nine bricks, but he fails to break the bottom one, meaning that Barry has to break all nine of them himself in order to win. Before he can take his turn, Randy taunts him by saying that he will get a big victory kiss from Lauren after he fails, messing up his focus. Lee counters this problem by dousing the bricks with lighter fluid and setting them on fire so Barry will fully concentrate on breaking them. Barry successfully breaks the bricks and wins the championship for his team.

Outside the venue, Barry chats with Chuck, telling him that meeting him has been a dream come true, and he thanks him for everything. As he heads towards his father Jerry (Beau Bridges) and Noreen, he hears a noise behind him, and turns around to see that Chuck has mysteriously disappeared. As Barry, Jerry, and Noreen head off for elsewhere, a boy in a wheelchair finds Barry’s copy of Black Belt Magazine with Chuck on the cover, and looks to be inspired to follow a path similar to Barry’s.