Product Description
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Kung Fu: The Complete Series Collection (DVD)
David Carradine stars as a Buddhist monk and hunted man who
wanders the American West in the 1870s fighting intolerance and
injustice with his mastery of an ancient form of high combat
known as Kung Fu.
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Season One
Everybody was kung-fu fighting after the 1972 premiere of this
mystic western starring David Carradine (snatching the role from
Bruce Lee) in his signature, Emmy-nominated role as Caine, a
stoic Shaolin monk forced to flee China after killing the royal
family member who slew his Master. Our wandering hero roams the
west in search of his long-lost brother, while eluding American
and Imperial bounty hunters, and imparting his ancient wisdom on
those he encounters and is compelled to aid. Kung-Fu was never a
ratings force, but its cult status was assured long before Samuel
L. Jackson referenced it in Pulp Fiction. Along with the
inaugural 15 episodes, this three-disc set contains the
feature-length pilot that establishes the series' iconography:
the inscrutable aphorisms ("When you cease to strive to
understand, then you will know without understanding"); the
flashbacks to Caine's youth, where the orphaned half-American and
half-Chinese boy served as disciple ("Grasshopper") to the Old
Man; and, of course, the anticipated moments when the peaceful
Caine, like Billy Jack, is reluctantly compelled by some frontier
bigot to use his fighting skills. Look for appearances by her
John Carradine and brothers Keith and Robert in the episode,
"Dark Angel." That's 11-year-old future O-winner Jodie Foster
in "Althea." Other notable episodes include the Emmy-winning "An
Eye for an Eye" and "Chains," featuring an Emmy-nominated turn by
Michael Greene as a not-so-gentle giant to whom an imprisoned
Caine is chained. "With each ending," Caine observes in the
episode, "The Third Man," comes a new beginning." Kung Fu's new
beginning comes on DVD. Thanks to the timeless frontier setting
and the uniqueness of its genre-bending concept, Kung Fu dates
better than other '70s series. As these episodes demonstrate, the
show still has plenty of kick. --Donald Liebenson
Season Three
While it may not rank with Richard Kimble's eful meeting with
the One-Armed Man in the series finale of The Fugitive, Caine's
reunion with his long-lost brother, Danny, brings Kung Fu, to
quote the title of the four-episode story arc's conclusion, "Full
Circle." The series' rich iconography and episodes featuring
returning characters may make this final season heady going for
newcomers. But those who have faithfully followed Caine (David
Carradine in his iconic role) on his nomadic adventures will be
richly rewarded with some of the series' best episodes. The
season begins with a stellar two-parter, "Blood of the Dragon,"
in which Caine seeks the truth about his grandher's murder,
while Imperial assassins are dispatched to kill Caine. The
venerable Patricia Neal guest-stars as the grandher's
iron-willed, cold-hearted former lover. Eddie Albert also stars
as a doctor who sides with Caine. Other memorable guest stars
this season include William Shatner broguing it up, Scotty-style,
as a sea captain who arrives with an Imperial pardon for Caine
(but at what cost?) in "A Small Beheading." Barbara Hershey
portrays an aspiring Shoalin priest in the two-parter,
"Besieged." In "The Brothers Caine," a pre-Airplane Leslie
Nielsen is a ruthless magnate who puts a $10,000 price on Danny's
head, making for an awkward reunion when Danny thinks that Caine
is a bounty hunter. David's her, John, returns as blind
preacher Serenity Johnson in "Ambush."
This season was distinguished by innovative episodes set in China
during Caine's "Grasshopper" tutelage. In "The Demon God," the
youth, poisoned by a prince, experiences mystical visions of his
older, wandering self, who is stung by a scorpion. In "The Thief
of Chendo," young Caine's Master imagines an adventure for the
aspiring priest. Two Carradine commentaries, and a near-hour long
chronicle of Carradine's 30-years-on visit to a Shoalin monastery
in China (an incredible journey that ends with Carradine's
soulful rendition of "America the Beautiful") help to give Kung
Fu a worthy DVD send-off. --Donald Liebenson