Kung Fu - The Complete Second Season
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DVD Review
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Review
For those unfamiliar with the name of Kwai Chang Caine, Kung Fu was a very popular 1970s TV series starring David Carradine as a half American, half Chinese Shaolin monk wandering the old West of the 1870s. When the newly qualified Caine (Carradine) and Master Po (Keye Luke) get in the way of the Emperor's nephew, the royal coward shoots the blind Master Po and in a spontaneous act of revenge, Caine kills him.
Now Caine, with a $10,000 price on his head from the Emperor, flees to America in order to avoid the bounty hunters and to search for his half-brother Danny. As you'd imagine, a half-caste Chinese was not universally welcomed in the wild west and he continually finds himself at odds with every kind of bad guy at large at the time - bandits, robbers, desperados, corrupt ranchers, etc. while still being pursued by the bounty hunters.
Anyway, being a series, what we get is Caine travelling from place to place in his search but also coming up against a problem or bad guy and having to use his formidable martial art skills and the teachings of his Shaolin masters to prevail. This is Season Two so here's a brief synopsis of the episodes…
The Well - Sickened by tainted water, Caine recovers at the farm of an ex-slave who has a working well but whose embittered spirit keeps him from sharing the water with his drought-stricken neighbours.
The Assassin - A long-festering blood feud keeps young lovers from hostile families apart and puts Caine on a showdown course with a murderous ninja employed by one side.
The Chalice - Caine promises a dying Catholic priest that he will return the golden liturgical chalice the priest stole, plunging the Shaolin into conflict with covetous thugs and sparking Caine's recall of events that followed Master Po's death.
The Brujo - A powerful male witch paralyses a small town with fear and death. Caine, drawing on the experience gained when he fell under a sorcerer’s sway while he was a boy, knows how fight evil.
The Squawman - Marcus is welcome as long as the townsfolk don't also have to welcome his Indian wife. Caine helps Marcus to see there's much more to self-worth than the whisky and approval of others.
The Spirit Helper - Is Caine the answer to a young Indian brave's prayer? The youth is convinced Caine is his spirit guide as the two set out to rescue the boy's kidnapped mother.
The Tong - Slave child Wing flees his master and is sheltered by Caine and a missionary woman, leading to a confrontation between the Shaolin priest and Chinese crime lords who demand the return of the boy.
The Soldier - His duty is to shoot to kill when so ordered but a cavalry lieutenant unable to take a life finds another way to prove his heroism after he falls under the influence of a fugitive he captures, a fugitive called Caine.
The Salamander - Caine seeks work in a mining boomtown gone bust and becomes a confidant to a mentally troubled youth and a target in a claim jumper's treachery.
The Hoots - Members of the peaceful Hutterite religious sect offers no resistance when persecuted by bigoted cattlemen until they learn from Caine that, like the chameleon, they can change and yet remain the same.
The Elixir - Caine rescues the hawkers of the cure-all Theodora's Elixir from a hostile crowd, earning the come-hither gratitude of Theodora and the resentment of her jealous male partner.
The Gunman - The nature of love is explored in this tale of a gunslinger whose quick-draw defence of Caine and a ranch widow makes him the object of a posse's search and the victim of an itchy-fingered bounty hunter.
Empty Pages of a Dead Book - A son tries to honour his deceased Texas Ranger father by bringing to justice the criminals the lawman had listed in a book. Good intentions based on wrong premises lead to trouble for the son and for Caine.
A Dream Within a Dream - Caine reports that he saw a corpse hanging in a marsh, but no one in town believes him and no body is subsequently found - yet the town's populace is mysteriously on edge.
The Way of Violence Has No Mind - The gun or the priest: which will triumph? A Chinese immigrant gang that has adopted the violent ways of the American outlaw is challenged by the physical and spiritual strength of Caine.
In Uncertain Bondage - When Caine and a southern belle are held captive in a deep pit by kidnappers that include the woman's servants, it prompts his recall of lessons about the server and the served.
Night of the Owls, Day of the Doves - Land bequeathed to brothel prostitutes will help them build new lives if vengeful cattleman don't seize the land. Caine defends the women and also rights a long-ago wrong done by the Shaolin priesthood.
Crossties - Caine is the man in the middle during a land-rights war between farmers and railroad security agents, trying to persuade farmers to accept an offer of amnesty and trying to stop agents from using amnesty as a trap.
The Passion of Chen Yi - Unable to visit a wrongly jailed ex-Shaolin disciple, Caine commits a crime so he can be put behind bars near him, hoping to right an old misunderstanding and help free the ex-Shaolin.
Arrogant Dragon - Judgement is clear: Wu Chang must take his own life or face death at the hands of a Tong executioner. Caine contemplates a third option, one that can help Wu Chang fake his death and escape the Tong terror.
The Nature of Evil - An ominous killer holds the town of Nineveh in his evil grip and only fearless but aged blind preacher Serenity Johnson and his devoted friend Caine dare to confront him.
The Cenotaph (Part One) - Logan McBurney hijacks the armoured gold transport Old Ironsides to haul the enormous box that he says contains his wife. As Caine rides with him, the eccentric Scotsman's devotion prompts priestly memories.
The Cenotaph (Part Two) - What's inside McBurney's big box? What happens to Caine's love affair with Mayli? And will McBurney ever understand that The Tao is not a cow? Patience, grasshoppers, all will be revealed…
Review
If you grew up in the seventies this was compulsory viewing, especially for most young males. Westerns were still popular at the time and what could be better than to add the mystique of the oriental martial arts, something that was doing well at the cinema but still fairly new to television at the time. Also, on top of the martial arts was the mystery of the Shaolin priests, regarded as the experts in the ancient art of Kung Fu but essentially men of peace, seeking only enlightenment and contentment in a chaotic world - It is said a Shaolin priest can walk through walls. Looked for, he cannot be seen. Listened for, he cannot be heard. Touched, he cannot be felt.
Unlike most martial arts movies of the time, and that hasn't changed much since, the violence and fight scenes are not the main focus of Kung Fu. Even though Bruce Lee was deeply involved with the development of the series and originally intended himself to be cast as the lead, this was never intended to be just another beat-em-up series but extolled the peaceful teachings of the Shaolin Temple.
David Carradine excels in the role of Kwai Chang Caine and this second season continues with well written and directed episodes and good acting all round. Regulars Keye Luke (Master Po), Philip Ahn (Master Kan) and Radames Pera (Young Caine) continue to delight during the flashbacks to the Shaolin Temple and the philosophical and Taoist teachings that help Caine solve his weekly problems. There were also a few recognisable faces guest starring in the episodes - this season sees the likes of Benson Fong, Don Johnson, Slim Pickens, Tina Louise, Harrison Ford, John Carradine, Gilbert Roland and Nancy Kwan appearing in the storylines. There are also a fair number of other actors that you'll no doubt recognise from other shows of the time and some that are still on the go.
The picture is presented in a 1.77:1 widescreen aspect, which translates to as close to 16:9 as you can get and it also means that it must have been cropped from the original 4:3 ratio made for television. That said, there are no obvious "bad" cropping so obviously some care has been taken in the process. With the exception of the episode titles and credits, which suffer from a fair amount of dirt and damage, the picture is actually quite clean and clear - much better than I'd have expected for its age. Visual effects are mainly limited to the use of slow motion during combat moves to give a more fluidic feel to the action.
The sound, however, has been left in its original mono format and while adequate in this mostly dialogue driven series, the fight scenes would definitely have benefited from an upgrade to stereo at least, although they were different from most martial arts films of the time as they lacked the unrealistic sound effects usually added at the post-production stage. Still, can't complain really, it's pretty old material. Jim Helms' theme music certainly works as well with its slightly haunting and serene melodies.
Released now, the mix of Western and martial-arts may not have worked as well as it once did - today's audience is much more demanding, Westerns are on a down-turn and special CGI effects are almost mandatory. However, Kung Fu is an excellent example of a well-written and acted series that doesn't rely on superficial effects to boost its ratings. It's a pity that it only ran for three seasons but that was apparently down to David Carradine who felt that he couldn't go on taking the injuries sustained during the filming.
Extras
There are no extras on this release. Bit of a bummer but the material is pretty old and I assume Warner's couldn't justify the expense of commissioning anything for such a low profile release, which is also probably why they chose to release it on just four double-sided discs.
Overall
If you've already got Season One, then you'll not be disappointed with this season as it continues with the same quality of the first. Okay there are no extras, the discs are double sided and the sound is pretty basic and that is a pity but the episodes are well worth watching by themselves.
If you haven't seen the series before, rent or borrow the first season, watch the pilot and you might just get hooked and try snatching that pebble yourself or reciting some of Master Po's snippets of wisdom. Personally, having been re-introduced to something that I watched religiously first time round, I'll probably be trying to get hold of Season One myself. As Master Po says "I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself"
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