Kung Fu: The Complete Series Collection (DVD, 16 Disc Box Set)

And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. AeschylusWe may be taught only what we already know via loneliness solitude: compassion for self and others.Renaissance Man comedy Danny DeVito Mark Wahlberg Gregory Hines."From this day to the ending of the world,But we in it shall be remembered-We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;For he to-day that sheds his blood with meShall be my brother . . ."Shakespeare St Crispin's Day quoted by Benitez in comedy about the tool of literacy and education to waken the awareness to self esteem with the courage to feel failure regret apology offer amends.Shaolin Temple Master Kan and Master Po share the TaoTeChing The Way of Lao Tzu called Daoism, Confucian philosophy linkage through parents to our roots, and Buddhist parables with orphaned Kwai Chang Caine, American father, Chinese mother who is raised in temple to become a Shaolin priest: restraint self discipline to defend self if attacked, humility, truth, hard work, vegetarian, without alcohol smoking recreational chemicals contention or weaponry.This 3 season TV series 1972-75 contains character shaping spiritual homilies from temple masters to 13yo Caine (Radames Pera), vocabulary enlarging usages of common and uncommon words, used in unexpected ways to elicit a thoughtful pause, before acting, consider first the consequential impact of behavior on self and others, both malevolent and beneficial.Each generation sees what was through a haze of an edited pastEpictetus EnchiridionLearning accumulates from past experience of consequences. Caine reflects on flashback lessons from childhood in Temple to apply to adult moral dilemmas. Who we are may be shaped by practicing discipline humility or we may continue self-indulgent actions (caffeine alcohol hallucinogens smoking over-eating over-spending vanity pride promiscuity rudeness bullying seduction) choosing lifelong domicile in middle school culture.Dunning Kruger Effect: the most highly confident tend to remain the least competent.Self confidence approaches wisdom the way a spoon approaches a mouth which speaks truth. Chinese wisdomKwai Chang Caine becomes a pilgrim in the old West, post Civil War Reconstruction, eluding Imperial Police while seeking to validate his own history with alethea truth veritas.Caine carries cenotaphs of shame regret disgrace for choices between evils, choices between goods, choices between lying and truth, material attachment to objects and momentarily pleasurable dreams of memories which never were.Caine's journey is as The Empty Mirror memoir of Janwillem Van de Wetering, a Western interpretation of Buddhism which only admits convenient self discipline and ignores difficult self examination. Western translated TV Buddhism includes self indulgence, intercourse alcohol smoking guns knives, bereft of personal restraint in those arenas where most we need self curbing and which are more likely to benefit self regard.74 episodes plus multiple interspersed Special Features (visit to Shaolin Temple to observe monk demonstration of body discipline, TV actors conversation over dinner).The Kung Fu TV series is comedic, tragic, contemplative of human complexity, internal conflict, contradiction, and life's eternal continuity, always moving on.Man is seen as a wave in the sea, temporarily unique solid, identifiable, then subsiding into the Great Void of ocean nothingness.Departures Masahiro Motoki English subtitles, CC closed captions for hearing impaired on TV, Oscar Best Foreign Film. Abandoned 6yo raised by single parent, strives to please absent father devoting his life to his father's dream of his being a professional cellist, fails, remakes himself with role models for self sufficiency, meaningful work guiding families toward healing when cure is no longer possible, redefines his identity through discipline ritual meditation, appreciating food as life giving, conscious effort to understand himself. Heartwarming with hopeful gentleness.Shaolin Master Po and Master Kan's homilies are understandable to Asians raised on caring for elders, respecting the wisdom conferred by age. But I am perplexed as to what appeal this half century old television show had for non-Asians in the 1970s, a time of Equal Rights, Vietnam War, Voting Rights civil unrest, The Chinese Exclusion Act (challenged by JFK, overturned by LBJ 1965).Wild West is conveyed in Kung Fu with Western actor icons (Harrison Ford, Jose Feliciano, Cannonball Adderly), Native American tribes' cultural traditions beliefs funerary rites (Chief Dan George), Hoots (Hutterites like Amish and Mennonites, from 16th century Reformation), prejudice bias lynchings against Chinese (dvd The Chinese Exclusion Act 1882, dvd Asian Americans PBS video 5 episode series 2020, dvd Broken Trail Robert Duvall Thomas Haden Church), permanent damage lying does to identity (stealing innocence Jodie Foster), the rule of law (edX Harvard MIT platform for MOOC massive open online free college courses including Justice the most popular first year class at Harvard), how we may make amends for harm to ourselves and/or others mentally physically emotionally socially spiritually financially or choose to laconically float in Middle School mentality of seduction, seeking attention approval of others (John Drew Barrymore) despite self hatred.Hatred is envy, misunderstanding, fear of unfamiliar, lack of curiosity (Outpost of Progress Joseph Conrad), imposing personal fetish beliefs as superior to that of uncivilized masses (Incident at Badamya Dorothy Gilman, 12yo assesses parent: really a very selfish person, most unhappy people are don't you think?)Growing oneself up is an arduous task, not for the faint hearted, requiring courage to peer deep into our own weakness, shame in its many faces, harm we visit on life, and move beyond insatiable greed for power over others.5* series for me, but perhaps less attractive to those unacquainted with Daoism The Way, Confucianism or Buddhism based on non-judging, patience willingness to wait, beginner's mind innocence, trust, non-striving = without ambition, acceptance of what truly is, and letting go of control (which was never in our grasp anyway) through learning self discipline, practice, restraint and compassion.

Kung Fu drastically challenged the conservative, militaristic, and philosophically naive outlook I held as a 20 year old college student and "gung-ho" ROTC cadet in 1972. Now, 36 years later, I have had the opportunity to watch Kung Fu once more, and the impact has been nearly as powerful. I have been disabled for severe depression and anxiety for over 15 years, including close to two years of hospitalization. In all of that time I have barely moved forward--until re-watching Kung Fu. The show has visually reminded me of many things, repeatedly told me by therapists, in such a way that I am once again able to reflect--especially while watching the show--a little more positively on my life.That is the beauty and mastery of Kung Fu, one of the most intriguing shows ever made: it invokes one to THINK, discuss, and contemplate. The only other show I have seen have such an effect on so many people (nearly 90% of my ROTC class of 207 cadets watched Kung Fu as well as me), is the original two years of Star Trek. BUT, the level and intensity invoked by Kung Fu was immeasurably greater than that of Star Trek. The commentaries and features (see the Comments for listing of these items) often mention how teachers "required" students to watch Kung Fu, and then discussed the episodes in class. In deed, it is the philosophical nature of the show that most appeals to me and many who watch it.Conversely, I will not deny that the show led me to sign up for Judo classes too (over 50% of my friends signed up for some form of martial arts), but the Karate nature of the show was never that appealing to me. Kung Fu is frequently accredited for "introducing" thousands of people to the martial arts. Unfortunately, many who watch the show or have watched the show have followed the path of what I consider "aggressive" martial arts, forgetting the retrospective nature of true Kung Fu. But, I must believe that if parents watch the show with their children, they can have an opportunity to talk with their children about both aspects of Kung Fu.Another fabulous feature of the show is that viewers are presented with the reality of bigotry and hate--something that never ends, and is completely pertinent to today's world. (Please see the Comments for an example of how the mere fact that I lamented--now also in the Comments--that the DVDs are in English only prompted someone "disrespectful to Americans living in AMERICA.") Again, parents could easily use episodes to discuss and help their children--be they victims, violators, or naive--deal with bigotry and hate.PLEASE NOTE: Warner Brothers has apparently advertised, and thus Amazon has listed, this set to contain wide-screen formate; see the Comments for more discussion on this. While the Season One episodes have been digitally reformatted "IN A "MATTED" WIDESCREEN FORMAT PRESERVING A THEATRICAL EXHIBITION ASPECT RATIO. ENHANCED FOR WIDESCREEN TVs," all episodes and features in the Season 2 and 3 sets are in fact full screen. The release date (on Amazon and the back of the red slip case for the series) states 2007, but season boxes all state they were done in 2005; so I don't think there is any difference between the Complete Series Box Set and the single season box sets. On an even sadder note, while Warner Brothers did attempt to improve the quality of the shows and alter the formate, they did so, with varying success, for the first season only. (Again, please see the Comments for more discussion on this matter). For the second and third seasons, Warner Brothers either did nothing or very little to restore the negatives, so the episodes are littered with white specs, scratches, and so on (although I found them no less bothersome than those found when watching a well used copy of a movie showing at a theater; for more discussion on this, see the Comments). That said, one must remain mindful of the fact that "Kung Fu" was filmed for television not the theater, was on a limited budget, and the fact that the negatives, when placed in the vault for storage, were most likely not very high quality to begin with; after all, nobody anticipated cable television syndication, let alone VHS and DVD production when the negatives were stored. On the other hand, this inconsistency in DVD quality (be it television shows or movies) is what I have now come to expect from Warner Brothers: misinformation and little or no care for their consumers; out of seventeen letters I have sent to them with questions, they have never replied to a single one.All that said and done: Please consider renting (if available) or buying the Kung Fu series, and watch it with family and friends if you have them. "Kung Fu - The Complete Series" includes the award winning Pilot movie and all 62 episodes on 11 discs, starring David Carradine as Kiwai Chang Caine, Philip Ahn as Master Kan, and Keye Luke as Master PO. Special guest stars (some of which I have noted in the Comments) include David's father John Carradine, Benson Fong, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Don Johnson, Leslie Nielsen, William Shatner, and others. "Kung Fu" is a show that is thought provoking, educational, inspirational, and unforgettable. "Kung Fu" is a show that can be watched over and over--by yourself, with friends, or with your family. There is no other TV show that I would recommend for people of all ages than "Kung Fu"--so, treat yourself with the whole series.UPDATE--FEBRUARY 22, 2009: It came to my attention while reading "A Kid's Review--Kung Fu is the best, and this is the best way to own them," that I failed to mention the great extra features included in each of the three season sets. In particular, in the Season Three Set, there is a fascinating documentary that follows David Carradine and some of his friends on a trip to China, where David is given a Shaolin robe on their visit to the famed Shaolin Temple Monastery, a key location depicted in the series, and David plays his flute on the Great Wall of China while it is snowing. For Kill Bill - Volume One and Kill Bill - Volume Two fans, there is a bonus feature on the Season Two set that features David Carradine having dinner with stars/friends from these two films and the "Kung Fu" series. (See the Comments for more details on other bonus features and special guest stars, including Harrison Ford!).Also, I feel like this review has become too long in my efforts to answer questions. Therefore, I am going to cut my other updates and place them in a comment. For first time readers, these comments deal with the following: film format and transfer quality for each season; languages and subtitles for the episodes and extra features; the fact that the discs are double sided; more on how the series is packaged; and, bonus features (rather than listing them here). I sincerely apologize if this is an inconvenience for some, but if you look at the comments you will understand just how long this review was getting.June 14, 2009: I have deleted my response to the individual whose comments have been once again removed by Amazon, as they were out of place without that person's comments. If you wish to read them, I have saved them and would be happy to send them to you--just go to my Profile to get my email address. And thanks to everyone for making this my most successful, albeit declining in popularity vote percentages. Regardless, if my review sparks interests, then it has achieved one of my objectives.If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.

The peacefulness and forgiveness that is shown in this video!

Loved Kung Fu as a kid . The Carradines used to live in Topanga and I would see them in the local market “Joes”, and just lived the show. Nice dvd set for a great price.

... on two levels: watching the episodes again (did see them when they first aired) and being made aware (again) as to how Asian people were treated during Caine's era (the series was innovative in this respect when it was produced).No problems with the discs, sturdy packaging.

All the episodes are good I've only been able to do season 1 so far! On disc number two, the last two episodes Frozen! And my DVD player could not read the last two episodes I don't know about the other two seasons!

16 DVDs3 season hard cases1 soft sleeve to cover all seasons.Arrived fast, sealed and no broken plastic floating in the case.Very happy with quality over all."When you can take the pebble from my hand, you will be ready to leave"

I disconnected my TV nearly 10 years ago because reality TV doesn't interest me, and everything else is so political its annoying. This is an interesting and original series that does deal with some modern these such as discrimination and racism, but without beating you over the head. Always interesting.

I always liked watching it as a teenager. Great stories.

Geweldige die oude serie

che dire... cercavo da tempo la serie completa composta da 3 stagioni! avevo acquistato in passato le prime 2 stagioni singolarmente ed era presente anche la lingua italiana, questo box invece è solo in lingua inglese ma essendo la 3° stagione praticamente introvabile singolarmente questo box è un must! La serie, per chi la conosce ed è appassionato, è fantastica ed intramontabile. Unica pecca che ho riscontrato è che, probabilmente a causa del trasporto, un paio di dvd della terza stagione erano staccati dalla loro sede ed erano rigati, inoltre i lettori convenzionali hanno problemi nella lettura mentre se letti da un lettore cd del computer non ho avuto problemi.

Arrived safe thanks

It brought back wonderful memories of that time and what a wonderful TV series it was, and I want to Thank You all for giving me the opportunity to watch it again and again and again, so Thank You all very very much once again. Allan. W. Gray