Kung Fu

This is one of the first TV drams I've seen. In 1980, TV was a new luxury in Sri Lanka. One of the first came on TV was Kung fu.

Though I am a Buddhist the philosophical aspect of it never did hit me till I see this. But this did help me to look in to my own religion in a different way. As a kid I always watched Kung-Fu to see him kicking off people. But the story of the grasshopper was always in my mind...

It's a lovely story. With well narrated script and well controlled action. The best part of this is that it never took more action than needed in the show. After all he is "Kung-fu" master it will be childish to have a full scale fight with any one doesn't know any fighting other than grumbling over a Whiskey...

I wonder whether this is available on DVD. Something I'd buy..

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.

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.

This will always be one of the more original series to come out of the 1970's. Imagine a Western where the main character is half Chinese and half Caucasian and doesn't use a gun. Now think of how this series wound up as one of the great cult classics of its era. Even though this series originally was the idea of Bruce Lee and would have featured him as the star, David Carradine still pulls off the job and comes off as very believable as Caine. You also can see that he tries not to play to stereotype, but he does make this show very mystical, which can be seen as a positive and as a negative. Also wonderful were Keye Luke as master Po, Phllip Ahn as master Kahn and, of course, Radames Pera as the young Caine. This show will always be a cult classic of its era.

I also loved this show when it started airing in 1972. (I was 17!) I enjoyed the artistry involved as the series followed the journey of Kwai Chang Caine as he looked for the American half-brother he had never known. There was a wonderful variety of characters and situations that he encountered, and I liked the way they used flash-backs to his years of training in the temple, and specific situations that somehow related to the situation he was now in, in America. There was a morality, peacefulness and goodness to his character, and Caine was usually able to bring those qualities out in people he met as he taught them lessons by example. Now, here comes the weird part (cue Twilight Zone music)...I had an urge to watch the original movie today (March 14, 2004) on videotape; I have owned it for many years. I had always hoped they would put the series out on tape, or even better, DVD. So, I did some Internet searching today and found that the first season is to be released on DVD in two days!!! Now how's THAT for a spiritual connection?! I look forward to exposing these shows to my kids...