Ancient Warrior, an aged Indian accompanied by Caine, seeks burial in his sacred, ancestral land. But the burial site is located dead center in a violent, Indian-hating town called Purgatory. Gary ...
Lordsville preacher Serenity Johnson is literally blinded by greed, while Caine locates his paternal grandfather, who has lived a bitter life blinded by prejudice.
Caine becomes a Barbary Coast prizefighter in an effort to locate his brother before he's killed.
Looking for a movie the entire family can enjoy? Check out our picks for family friendly movies movies that transcend all ages. For even more, visit our Family Entertainment Guide.
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: Kung Fu (1972–1975)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Series cast summary: | |||
| David Carradine | ... | Kwai Chang Caine / ... 63 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
| Radames Pera | ... | Young Caine 48 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
| Keye Luke | ... | Master Po 48 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
| Philip Ahn | ... | Master Kan 40 episodes, 1972-1975 | |
Kwai Chang Caine is a Shaolin Monk who is on the run after he killed the Chinese Emperor's nephew after that coward killed his teacher in cold blood with a gun. He flees to America to escape retaliation, and to search for his brother in order to settle down in this new land. However, in his travels in the wild west, he can not help but continually run into trouble from desperados and other ruffians as they oppress the innocent, while bounty hunters pursue the price on his head. Against this, he has his skill of Kung Fu martial arts, which proves to be devastatingly effective in this gun-dominated land. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@home.com>
Looking for some great streaming picks? Check out some of the IMDb editors' favorites movies and shows to round out your Watchlist.
It's a shame that the martial arts craze that this show created (in conjunction with the ascendant popularity of Bruce Lee in the early 1970s), in conjunction with the somewhat cheesy '90s spinoff, has served to somewhat obscure what a gem it truly was.
It's heartbreaking to think that a lot of people who haven't seen the show lump it in as old, campy action television, like "The A-Team" or "Charlie's Angels" or something like that. The fact is, any given hour-long episode of "Kung Fu" probably contained about 45 to 60 seconds of actual action--if not less. The fact is, David Carradine was as good a leading man as any TV drama has ever had.
And the fact is, far from being a cheap exploitation of martial arts and Eastern philosophy, "Kung Fu" was created and written in true reverance to those concepts. Meticulous research was conducted, and the lessons that Masters Kan and Po (wonderfully rendered by Philip Ahn and Keye Luke, respectively) teach Caine, and that Caine in turn teaches those he encounters, are routed in authentic Shaolin philosophy.
Nor was the show cheesily made. It involved lush cinematography by televisual standards and innovative use of devices such as forced perspective and slow motion (this was the first show or movie to use different gradations of speed within a single take--the shot would move at normal speed until Caine made contact with an elbow or a fist, and then suddenly switch to delicate, poetic slow motion).
Caine was a true archetype of television--a complete reversal of basically every American screen hero that went before. Not just peaceful--but passive and serene. As Caine described it--"Kung Fu" was an "anti-revenge television show"--an amazing concept when you think about it.
Remember, the American public was not even acquainted with the phrase "kung fu" before this show. Zen Buddhism was gaining popularity in the late '60s and early '70s, but no one had ever heard of Shaolin monks. The creators of this show took a big risk on an untested concept and came up with TV gold.
I hope that the DVD release will serve to remind us all what a special show this was, and of the lessons it has to teach us.