Wow! Such a good movie.

From my favorite movies..

Charming and brutal

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I loved this television series when it was aired in Sri Lanka in the 1980s. Every story had Applied Buddhism in it. I wonder whether the writers of the series were Buddhists. Or if not how did they get the knowledge of Buddhism to write such great scripts with Buddhist morals. I went through all the reviews here but none says who wrote them. Can anybody tell me?In the first episode itself it says students accepted to the Shaolin Temple must be Chinese. But I am a Sri Lankan. If there is any good I have done in this life, I have a wish, may by the force of that karma, I conceive the womb of a Chinese mother in my next life, and be eligible to enter the Shaolin Temple and become a Shaolin priest like the 'grasshopper.'

Highly intelligent scripts, superb acting, and authentic Eastern philosophy. This show still captivates 30+ years after the fact.The fight scenes are lame measured against what the great martial artists of the '70s were depicting. But the show isn't about that. Each week Cain would apply that which he had learned from his masters to resolve whatever conflict he faced. Fighting skill was only one tool in the Shaolin priest arsenal. I bought the first season DVD last week and recommend it highly to fans of the series. The extras are not all that great, but the first 15 episodes (along with the pilot) are well worth the purchase.Even those new to the series (like my wife) will enjoy this stand out drama from a golden age of television.

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.

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...