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Summary: Where are Raj and Rerun when ya need 'em?
Review: ... I'm a little ticked off. This isn't a movie or even a documentary; it's an episode of a short-lived TV program called That Teen Show. Your hosts are nobody-boy, who-the-heck-am-I-girl, and Haywood Nelson, who was Dwayne on What's Happening!! I have fond "Hi, hi, hi!" memories of Haywood, I love the guy, but he still can't carry this video gack by himself. A lot of clips from kung fu movies (mostly cheapies with Dragon Lee -- Martial Monks of Shaolin Temple, if I remember correctly) are used as padding for a few brief interviews with a couple of kung-fu instructors and "I'm not really a martial artist but I play one on TV" actor David Carradine. For some reason they show repeated shots of Dave's left foot during the interview; I have no idea why. I didn't really want to see it once, much less looped. There are also some valuable "insights" from a "discussion group" of teens who share such ideas as "people fight in movies because it'd be boring if they just sat around." Profound! Thank god America's teens were given a forum in the '70's! Now I have wisdom. They probably could have put the entire series run of That Teen Show on this sonofagun. Come to think of it, they may have... this is 'bout the only episode I remember seeing. Anyway, if you're looking for David Carradine, go with Death Race 2000 instead, and if you're looking for kung fu, funnel your money into some of the good stuff instead, like Thundering Mantis (one of the most unbelievable movie experiences a human can have), Shaolin Master Killer (brilliant), Drunken Master (astounding) , Legendary Weapons of China (classic)... heck, even some of those no-budget Bruce Li / Bruce Le knockoffs (hilarious) are a better investment than this-here thing. You really can't do worse...
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Summary: ......WAY TOO MUCH!
Review: Judging from the cover and the description on the back of this DVD, you might guess it contains examples of several styles of Martial Arts, with David Carradine hosting, interviewing, and narrating. But you'd be wrong. The clever ones guessed this is a 30-minute episode of some early 80's teen talk show, in which Carradine speaks maybe 10 sentences (and one of those sentences is used up plugging the upcoming "Americana;" his bare foot do get a lot of camera time, though), the teen hosts sloppily don white belts and ask martial arts instructors a few basic questions, and, of course, there's the video of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" and a few clips from the bottom of the poorly-dubbed-kung-fu-theater barrel. Silly me. I was one of the dope's who guessed the first scenario. Sheesh, it's all so obvious now...
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Summary: Misleading Title and Cover Photo
Review: Looking for scenes from the Kung Fu television show starring David Carradine and Kwai Chang Cain? Based on the title and cover photo for this DVD, you'd probably buy this item. You would, however, be greatly disappointed upon viewing it. What you get is an episode of a late 70s Saturday morning kid's talk show (at least, that's what it looks like [and I do recognize one of the hosts from something, so maybe for nostalgia it's worth something]). Sure, the focus of the episode is martial arts, and they tease you with an "exclusive" interview with Carradine, and close-ups of his bare feet (woo-hoo!!), but it's really the most basic primer to martial arts, a few clips from old chinese karate movies, a visit to a dojo and about 2 minutes with Carradine. Wanna know what he says? - Kung Fu really just boils down to this [holds out a clenched fist]. Worth $15? Try 15 cents. You'll get more from Bruce Lee. "Punch is punch. Kick is Kick."
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