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He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Kung Fu season 1 ::
by Thunderdude
What's your favorite television
western? Does it involve some white dudes that shoot Indians and other bad guys
for the glory of the old west? The good guys and bad eat red meat, ride horses
and drink whiskey. This is all good manly stuff. However, for most martial arts
practitioners, their favorite television western featured a vegetarian who
didn't drink, walked around barefoot most times, and strived to live a peaceful
existence without guns, only defending himself with ......KUNG FU!
Back in the 1970's Kung Fu, first a tv movie and then a series, broke ground in
the United States by going against the usual western and making a western hero
from eastern philosophies. While an entertaining show, the most important thing
the series did was present an honorable martial arts hero to the public, in part
helping to spread the popularity of martial arts in the US. This review covers
the original tv movie and season one of the series. I've spoken to a few people
who have told me that this show was what inspired them to learn martial arts.
For me it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, proving exactly how cool I am
not, or just proving how bad the 80's were in martial arts entertainment.
The story is of Kwai Chang Caine, a half Chinese, half American boy who is
orphaned by the death of his parents while in China. With no place to go he
strives to become a disciple at the shaolin temple in the Honon province of
China. He is accepted into the temple and is raised to become a shaolin priest.
He was trained by Master Kan and the ultra cool blind priest Master Po. After
Caine becomes a priest and leaves the temple, where upon traveling to one of
China's cities, kills the Emperor's nephew when said nephew shoots and kills
Master Po. Caine must now flee China, and naturally decides to travel to America
to search for his American relatives.
All of Caines adventures are shown in flashbacks while his American adventures
in the southwest take place in the 1870's. Caines adventures eventually lead him
to his Grandfather's home where he learns he has a half brother. Caine then
searches out his half brother following a few clues.
Each episode is pretty self contained with no shocking cliffhangers. Every
episode brings a new story with new adventures and new characters. A lot of
celebrities make guest appearances on this show, including Robert Urich and a
very young Jodie Foster. The acting is well done by most characters most of the
time.
There are a few exceptions, but overall fine acting in most episodes. The
martial arts performed look a little hokey at times, but for the 1970's it's
pretty good. One of the hokey things is the "deflecting of arrows and spears
shot at Caine. It looks pretty damned silly. My other major complaint is why the
hell are they speaking English in China in all the flashback scenes. I guess the
producers felt that 1970's American audiences didn't feel like reading
subtitles, so I can almost forgive that foolishness.
The strongest part of the series is David Carradine's portrayal of Caine. He's
delivers Caine's few lines with grace and sincerity, which explains why he was
nominated for an Emmy in the first season. There's been a small controversy in
the history of the show with the fact that Bruce Lee thought up the idea for the
show and was supposed to star in it. This wasn't the case. Now I like Bruce
Lee's movies, and I know the martial arts in the show would have been even
better, but Bruce Lee could never have played the peaceful shaolin priest that
David Carradine did.
Great show, good acting and decent martial arts. Besides a few things that
annoyed me, it was well done. Solid B+
