Kung Fu - The Complete Second Season

In the 1970's, there wasn't much in the way of action shows for kids and teens. Most of the action dramas were cop shows like Kojak, Starsky & Hutch, etc, or Saturday morning fare that was aimed at younger kids. Then Kung Fun came along and probably did more to spur interest in the martial arts than any single event in history. But more than an action show, Kung-fu doled out equally amounts of wisdom and life lessons to go along with those fists and feet of fury. Today, there'd no doubt be outcray about having a caucasian playing the role of an oriental, even if he was supposed to be half American.

David Carradine perfectly underplayed role as the wise Caine set this show so far apart from anything else in the 1970's. Season two features 23 episodes:

The Well
The Assassin
The Chalice
The Brujo
The Squawman
Spirit Helper
The Tong
The Soldier
The Salamander
The Hoots
The Elixir
The Gunman
Empty Pages of a Dead Book
A Dream Within a Dream
The Way of Violence Has No Mind
In Uncertain Bondage
Night of the Owls, Day of the Doves
Crossties
The Passion of Chen Yi
Arrogant Dragon
The Nature of Evil
The Cenotaph, Part I
The Cenotaph, Part II

The Best in my opinion are:

"The Chalice" A Franciscan priest, Benito Cardona, has stolen a golden chalice he made for the tabernacle at San Blaise. Caine sees him murdered by four men, the Gilchrist gang, who steal the chalice. Before Cardona dies, he begs Caine to retrieve the chalice, which he stole because he was obsessed by it.

"The Assassin" Caine witnesses an ambush by a Ninja and is mistakenly identified as having been part of it.

"The Spirit-Helper" Caine helps Nashebo, an indian boy, who thinks Caine is a spirit-helper sent to guide him in becoming a man. When they discover that Nashebo's mother has been kidnapped and his father killed, the young man expects his guide to help him with rescue and revenge.

"The Gunman" - Caine befriends a wounded gunman who is being tracked by a bounty hunter. The gunman insists on being taken to the ranch of a widow whom he first met during the war and to whom he feels he owes $50.

"The Way of Violence has no Mind" - A mine owner assumes Caine is involved with the Chinese 'Robin Hood' who has been stealing from him. When the mine owner takes the law into his own hands, Caine is almost drowned and a farmer is shot twice.

"Arrogant Dragon" - Caine, delivering a message given him by a dying man, becomes involved in an internal dispute in a local Tong. The daughter of the former Tong leader begs Caine to help her father who is about to be executed.

"The Nature of Evil" - On his way to Eureka, Caine gets a feeling which leads him to his old friend Serenity Johnson and a town called Ninevah that is full of fear. Guest stars John Carradine.

This really was an amazing series, especially for the time. Well-written and superbly acted with outstanding location shootings for a TV show. So glad this is out on DVD!

Caine, a Chinese-American immigrant, conflicts with a violent 1870's American West as he seeks a way of peace. The conflict that he feels within himself as a peaceful man who practices martial arts is portrayed excellently. The flashbacks that he has of conversations and lessons in a Shaolin temple are a glimpse into another world. An outstanding series.

The series has been criticized because Bruce Lee, an American actor of Chinese descent, was passed over in favor of an actor not of Chinese descent.

[...]
I've read that the extras are:
--Zen and Now: A Dinner with David Carradine & Friends featuring Carradine's Kill Bill co-stars Vivica A. Fox and Michael Madsen, Kung Fu series co-star Radames Pera and Technical Advisor Kam Yuen and more!
--David Carradine commentary tracks on 2 key episodes

The series is presented in the original aspect ration of 1.33:1, rather than the widescreen effect artifically created for Season 1. The running time is 1167 minutes and the soundtrack is the original 1.0 soundtrack. Reportedly, Closed Captioning and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish will be provided.

1. The Well: Caine drinks contaminated water and must rely on help from a reluctant ex-slave.
2. The Assassin gs: Dana Elcar: Caine gets in the middle of a life and death feud between two families.
3. The Chalice: A gold chalice must be return to the mission from which it was stolen.
4. El Brujo: A male witch casts a milicious spell that frightens everyone in a small town.
5. The Squawman: A farmer married to an Indian woman shoots the son of an outlaw.
6. The Spirit-Helper: Caine mentors an Indian boy who wants to rescue his kidnapped mother from the men who killed his father.
7. The Tong: The Chinese mafia targets Caine after gives refuge to an orphan.
8. The Soldier: An army lieutenant finds out that he is unable to shoot anyone.
9. The Salamander: A young man cannot tell illusion from reality.
10. The Hoots: A pacifistic religious group allows their water to be taken from them.
11. The Elixir gs: Diana Muldaur, Richard Caine: A medicine hawker's obsession for independence hurts those around her.
12. The Gunman: A man murders a man in the act of killing his wife, and the woman comes to his defense.
13. Empty Pages of a Dead Book: gs: Slim Pickens, Bruce Carradine: Caine and a former sheriff are accused of murder.
14. A Dream Within a Dream: gs: Tina Louise: Caine discovers a corpse hanging in a marsh and is accused of murder.
15. The Way of Violence Has No Mind: Caine is mistaken for being a member of a vigilante group of miners, robbing coaches to punish those stole their mine.
16. In Uncertain Bondage (a.k.a. The Pit): Caine tries to prevent a woman from being kidnapped by her servants and is injured.
17. Night of the Owls, Day of the Doves: A madam and her girls who have been bequeathed some valuable land are attacked by robbers.
18. Crossties: gs: Barry Sullivan, Denver Pyle, Harrison Ford: Railroad detectives are assigned to bring in a group of angry farmers whose land was taken by the railroad.
19. The Passion of Chen Yi: Two women try to con Caine out of his ivory carvings, and Caine is accused of murder.
20. Arrogant Dragon: gs: Richard Loo: Caine defends a former leader of the Tong sentenced to die by them because he wanted to return home to die.
21. The Nature of Evil gs: John Carradine : A blind man tries to revenge a murdered friend.
22. The Cenopath (1) gs: Nancy Kwan: Caine gets involved with an eccentric Scotsman in a burial odyssey. Caine remembers his relationship with a concubine.
23. The Cenopath (2) gs: Nancy Kwan: Continuance of Part 1.

A lot of the reviews for season 1 complaned about racisim.
Bruce Lee got beat out for th roll by David Carradine. The idea
of a white guy being a Saolin monk was silly. This only reminds
me of the words "Read not the times Read the eternities." Or in this case watch not the times watch the eternities.

Only once, in cinematic and television history has one character ever been so completely different, original, believable and constant such as Kwai Chang Caine. The Temple Teachings from the famous flashback sequences are now a part of the american heritage, as Finally, East meets West and both philosophies complement each other as Humanity should; each and every regular character (actor) in this series could not possibly improve on their performances; actors, writers, directors, producers, all were at the top of their art during those memorable three years. David Caradine, Keye Luke and Philip Ahn have inspired me as a young man and will live on and inspire future generations thanks to their colossal performances. I am gratefull to Warner Brothers for having the guts to distribute this landmark series and to Amazon Com to offer it online!

this is a review of the complete season 2 box seet that was released in the uk on nov 1st.
first of all the picture is fantastic bright clear and crisp
there are no special features and the image again is presented in a widescreen image.
over all i give the series 4 stars for series content and picture quality if only they had included special features and a 4:3 image