Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic series forget about accusations of racism
Review: I too love Bruce Lee, but this series was not just about the Kung Fu, and I've fallen totally in love with David Carradine over the years. Based on seeing Bruce Lee in other roles, I think I would not prefer to see him as Kwai Chang Caine. As an Indian, I did think casting Ben Kingsley as Gandhi was ridiculous, but he did a fantastic job on the role, and while I rejoice in seeing Naveen Andrews in the English Patient or Parminder Nagra on prime time in ER, its the same with acting as with writing -- great writers don't only write autobiographies about what they directly live and experience. The same with great actors -- they play roles well, and not always what they are born as. So regardless, I love this series, the message is always uplifting, and the opposite of racism and discrimination. And to think that they actually had a non-white theme to a series barely a decade after forced desegregation in parts of this country, was a step in the right direction. So jcc while I get your message, this is fantastic!
Rating:
Summary: fung fu enligthment
Review: Although bruce lee help create the idea of the fung fu series
and did not get the role of Caine because of racism in Hollywood,
I'm gland Carradine got the roles. Carradine made it a more pacifictic show.In the '70 as well as today,TV and life is filled with sex and violence, and the ideas of only the strong survive and only beautiful people deserve the good things in life, Kung fu shows us violence should be the last resort and that all living things deserve respected.The philasphy on all aspectes of life presented in the shows are lessens we can all learn from and maybe this world would be a better place.
Rating:
Summary: Great show.....racism??
Review: This was a great show but racism in the 'olden days' in hiring David Carradine and not Bruce Lee?? Just about every week the show was about the evils of racism and discrimination. I thought the character of Caine was half Chinese and half American and he looked that way to me. Just about all of the racist characters in the show were white male cowboys. Why would the show pick a main character because they were racist and then do a show against racism??? I'm buying it as soon as it is available.
Rating: 
Summary: Slighty cropped Picture, but not really a problem
Review: I now have the DVD boxset, and have done a direct comparison with an old recording on VHS, and yes the DVD is cropped slightly at the top, and bottom when compared with the VHS recording.
However it really does not matter as the picture quality in the 30 minutes I have watched so far more than makes up for it. Having read the concerns about it being presented in widescreen I was not sure if I should go ahead and purchase it. I'm glad now that I did, the picture issue really does not matter, if you enjoyed the series you will enjoy the DVD's from what I can tell.
The memories of the fights at school the day after each episode was broadcast will come flooding back.
Rating:
Summary: Uplifting Epic for Humanity
Review: Remarkable that it took this long to come out...
This TV series was a defining moment of the times in the early 70's. Though I have not yet gotten the DVD, I have seen all the episodes it contains. No matter where you come from, no matter what you do, the ideas portrayed in this series have profound moral lessons and good entertainment value for everyone. All I can honestly say is the world would be a better place if everyone was compelled to watch this collection.
Rating:
Summary: composition more important than aspect ratio
Review: Original composition matters more than aspect ratio. The reviewer who wrote that widescreen films are shot on full-frame stock is correct. However, if the director composed his story in widescreen then that is how the story is intended to be viewed. For example, in the film A Fish Called Wanda, there is a scene in which the character played by John Cleese is supposedly running around an apartment naked. This film is composed in widescreen. When you view the film full-frame, the way it is originally shot(as opposed to composed), you see he is sometimes wearing shorts. When they show this film on tv, they actually crop from the way it was composed(widescreen), so you get much less than you could or should be seeing. In regard to Kung-Fu, this widescreen version has two possibilities. One is that they cropped from the way it was orinally shot(full-frame). This is bad if it was composed by the director in full-frame. And even if the director originally composed Kung Fu in widescreen, you would still get a cropped version of what you saw on tv. The second possibility is that Kung Fu was originally composed in widescreen. Then, they cropped from the widescreen to get a full-frame picture to show it on television. Then, to make this version, they restored it to widescreen. If this is the case, you would actually see more than what you did on the tv version. However, this scenario is extremely unlikely. The chances are that this new version is a cropped one of the tv version. When this dvd is released, I hope those of you with the tv tapes will let the rest of us know what the difference in versions is.
Rating: 
Summary: Bruce Lee > david carradine
Review: Bruce Lee would have been perfect for this role. But bigotry was strong during the olden days and david carradine was cast instead. david's Kung Fu skills were weak and such a horrible actor. This movie gives a bad name to Kung Fu. If you really want to see some real Kung Fu, do your self a favor and pick up some Bruce Lee or Jet Li flicks. Save your movie and skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: On aspect ratios and racism
Review: To finally beat this horse into submission, let me clarify that the "letterboxed" presentation of this set is, in fact, a CROPPED image of the full-frame image as was originally photographed and broadcast. To the reviewer that suggested the show was shot "widescreen" ratio and pan-and-scanned for its initial run, I would remind you that "widescreen" films are still shot on a full-frame (4:3)stock which is at some point cropped to achieve the widescreen frame, so you are basically suggesting the show was shot full-frame, cropped to widescreen, then cropped again for full-screen, and that this release reverts back to the cropped widescreen, which is, frankly, rubbish.
As to the reviewer that posted (twice, so far!) whiney rants about the racism of this show, he has completely glossed over the oft-repeated message of this series, which was that bigots are stupid and weak, and will get their comeuppance. While you COULD make an argument that Carradine was wrong for this part,(in my opinion, he BECAME the part!) the debate falls into the realm of artistic decision, not racism. Your comparisons to white actors in blackface is pure hyperbole... "blackface" performers were never attempting to portray legitimate black characters--they were always a farce (and therefore, offensive). Would you be equally outraged if an African American actor playing a dark-skinned character of a different nationality, say a Haitan or Jamacian? How about Ben Kingsley or Peter Sellars playing an Indian? The nationality of the actor is only relevant to the extent that it affects their ability to play the part. In the case of Kung Fu, David Carradine pulls his weight, whether he has the correct pedigree or not.
Rating:
Summary: pro-widescreen
Review: I can't wait to get this new dvd. Bruce Lee was meant to star in it. I'm a fan of Lee, but as Carradine put it in an interview, Bruce was not known for playing gentle, passive characters such as cain. I agree with this and it would not have been believable with lee as a shaolin priest while screaming and tearing everything up in his path. T.V. shows were filmed to have enough room on the top and bottom of the screen so they could be shown in theaters overseas, most movies are filmed like that. I have a widescreen television and a dvd looks best with 16x9 enhancement. I wish the other shows got the royal treatment like this.
Rating:
Summary: Great Series
Review: I always enjoyed this series when it was on tv. I didnt care who played what and or why. I enjoy Carradine in this series. He plays a great part. If you ever watched this series, you should pick up on the fact that it had great teaching in it. The series gave lessons on life. He never gave way to anger, but worked with it. He was always helping others to help themselves. He taught healing, self control, martial arts for the sake of themselves, not to hurt people. I also love the music.
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