Kung Fu

Martial arts movies are full of great action and well choreographed fights, from the days of Bruce Lee to the stunning visuals we have with todays wire work and cgi. But Kung Fu is not a martial arts movie/series.....

Kung Fu is about a shaolin monk; Kwai Chang Caine. He travels around the wild west, seeking to help others and avoiding bounty hunters. The amazing thing about kung fu is that the flashbacks show Caine's past, we see that he has been trained to use kung fu, but he is a monk and would not harm a fly if it wasn't necessary. Caine chooses not to fight but when he has no other choice he proves that he can take anyone. The character is really brought to life by David Carradine, it would have been great to use Bruce Lee (Another of my idols) but I don't think the energetic Bruce would have been able to pull of the calmness of Caine.

I was expecting to see a martial arts series in the wild west but kung fu is its own genre. The teachings of Masters Po and Khan are wonderful and make you think about life. Apparently after seeing the series people seeked more information because they wanted to raise their children under the same morals.

It doesn't matter if you don't like martial arts or westerns, you need to see this. It has changed my life and the way I think about life.

David Caradine plays Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest wandering the 19th century American west in search of his half-brother while being sought by the Chinese government on a charge of murder back in China. He mostly does his wandering barefooted, but carries his shoes just in case he has to enter a saloon with a "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" policy. Generally Caine is a magnet for trouble, and although he'd rather resolve the conflicts through peaceful means, he inevitability relies on his highly developed martial arts skills. When I was a kid enjoyed watching hippie Carradine beat the crap out of red necks. As an adult I favor the Shaolin temple flashbacks and the words of wisdom offered up by the priests. The music, the cinematography (love the lens flare), direction, acting and overall production all contribute to making "Kung Fu" an excellent television classic.

Just finished watching disc 1. This show still holds up today. OK more modern technology would make the shots appear better but the story, acting, editing...all awesome. I loved this series it was a major influence in my life as a child. I can't wait to finish the rest of Season 1. The "Extras" on the disc are sort of lame. I guess if you never saw the show or aren't really a fan then they serve a purpose but I know all this stuff already. I'd love to have a version with running commentary from David Carradine underneath. Carradine has allegedly been requesting more interesting "extras" for the season 2 disc like a taped dinner party of some key participants and others speaking to how the series influenced their lives, like Tarintino and his Kill Bill films. I adore David Carradine as an actor I'd listen to him talk about just about anything.

So when is Season 2 released?

I saw this series exactly 20 years after it was released, but its excellence made the viewing experience timeless.

Carradine plays the immigrant drifter Caine, who walks through the Wild West encountering different situations, people, etc, there was a different plot for each episode. This was more a "Drama" than a "Western" but the interesting sparring moves and Caine's relaxed personality made it a decent alternative to the more violent and rowdy martial arts movies that released around that time.

Whenever this series is brought back to your TV station or one episode happens to be on, it would be an excellent show to tape and watch again and again - if not already released, I'm sure they'll have the show reissued on an official DVD/VHS set.

What an inspirational show. Kwai Chang Kaine was certainly one of few role models I remember from TV in my younger years, and although I haven't seen it since it first played, like others I remember the stories and message (as well as the haunting theme music) from so many of the episodes. Kaine was rejected by many and accepted by only few or even one in each town he visited on his journey, but he always made a difference in the lives of those he met. It's true TV was just as much a wasteland in the '70s as it is in the '90s, but I wish we could see something as good as this again. Either that or a re-release of this one.