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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Kung
Fu: The Complete Second Season”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
1.33:1 full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
1.0 |
| Languages |
English,
French, Spanish |
| Subtitles |
None |
| Length |
1167 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
1/18/05 |
| Studio |
Warner Home
Video |
| Commentary:
|
David Carradine
on two episodes: “The Well” and “A Dream Within a Dream” |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
Zen and Now: A Dinner
With David Carradine & Friends”, |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
David Carradine,
Keye Luke, Philip Ahn, Radames Pera, Harrison Ford, Don Johnson,
Tina Louise, Gilbert Roland, Benson Fong, John Carradine, Slim
Pickens, Tim McIntyre, Jim Davis Frank Welker, Jerry Orbach,
John Rhys-Davies, CCH Pounder |
| Written
By: |
John T. Dugan,
Katharyn & Michael Michaelian, William Kelley, Gerald Sanford
|
| Produced
By: |
Alex Beaton,
Jerry Thorpe, John Furia, Jr., Herman Miller |
| Directed
By: |
Jerry Thorpe,
John L. Moxey, Richard Lang, Walter Doniger |
| Music:
|
Jim Helms
|
| The
Review: |
Dealing with issues of racism and
other topical issues, Kung Fu nevertheless was an entertaining
and creative series that sparked the imagination of a nation
during the early 70’s. With the success of Bruce Lee’s martial
arts movies, the series continued to attract a sizable audience
during its second season. Unlike a lot of TV shows of the
era Kung Fu overcomes the limitations of the medium that gave
birth to it due to the stylistic visuals and sharp acting
of the performers. Directed and written with style and intelligence,
Kung Fu has held up amazingly well. Caine (David Carradine)
a Shaolin priest on the run from a bounty on his head for
the accidental murder of a member of Chinese royalty continues
his quest for his half brother Danny in America’s west.
|
| Image
and Sound: |
The first
season was cropped and rematted for 16x9 widescreen TVs. Warner
learned their mistake with that first set when fans raised an
outcry of the alternation of the original series. The second
season is presented its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. With nice
vibrant colors and a crisp, clear image Kung Fu looks surprisingly
supple and lush on this DVD. Warner Home Entertainment and the
DVD producers spent a good sum of money to clean up the original
prints used here. Aside from occasional stray analog imperfections
(particularly noticeable in the title sequence), Kung Fu looks
marvelous. The original mono soundtrack has been cleaned and
beefed up as well. While it may lack the 5.1 remix used for
the reissue of Star Trek: The Original Series, the image and
sound quality are truly exceptional. |
| The
Extras: |
We get
one featurette where David Carradine discusses the making
of the series, the martial arts stunts and other features
of the show with Radames Pera (who played the young Caine
throughout the series), martial arts advisor Kam Yuen, members
of the cast from Kill Bill and martial artists. It’s a fascinating
featurette with the group dine and discuss the issues that
the series tackled during its run in the early 70’s. They
also discuss the cultural impact that the series had as it
exposed youngsters to their very first taste of martial arts
and complex themes. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
As if to
announce the commentary track, Carradine plays a wooden flute
similar in sound to that used for the soundtrack in the series
just before his commentary track. Warner generously added two
commentary tracks featuring star David Carradine. Carradine
discusses some of the techniques he uses in the two episodes
he comments on as well as what it was like working with the
actors in the series and his creative input at this early stage.
We also learn that in the first episode of season two Carradine
changed the color of the shirt he was wearing in honor of Bruce
Lee who had just exploded on the big screen with Enter the Dragon.
He also honestly assesses his shortcomings as an actor and human
being in the commentary track. Carradine also discusses the
key role that producer/writer/director Jerry Thorpe played in
protecting the series from network interference. While Carradine
was involved in the production of the series, he had no clue
as to how big a hit it was because he was working 16 hour days,
didn’t have a TV set and was living in what he describes as
a “shack in the hills” in Southern California. --- |
| Final
Words: |
A marvelous
TV series that both spawned a second inferior TV series and
was a huge hit when the series was original produced, Kung Fu:
The Complete Second Season looks exceptional on this four DVD
set with featuring the original complete 23 episodes from season
two, a exceptionally funny and fun featurette and two commentary
tracks featuring original star Carradine. |
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