A rare and forgotten look at what could have been. This is Kung Fu: The Movie, a 1985 Backdoor Pilot for CBS. After years away, there were plans to bring back the classic TV Show. This was made to set it up. Of course, you likely know that this didn't succeed and was instead brought back about a Decade later as Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. I haven't seen that Show in ages, bur I was a fan. Would I have liked this Show better though? The Plot is a continuation of the original Series, as opposed to making him Caine's descendant in the later Show. With new Villains and a new Plot, could this work? The notable Cast includes Brandon Lee in his first Role (at least as far as billing goes) and Martin Landau. This came and went in 1985, but it does have a DVD. As for me, I found a VHS Copy 'in the wild' and bought it. Ah, glorious Hi-Fi! To find out how this mostly-forgotten Film turned out, read on...
Caine is still in the Old West, but he can sometimes summon his Dead Master Superman-style with a necklace.
Hey, they wanted him to be in the Film, so why not do this nonsense?
An old 'Chinese' man (actually Mako) and his young companion (Lee) show up and the latter seems to be easily set off by something.
He beats up the guy who wanted to rob them, giving us the only Action Scene for the first 1/3 of the Film.
After a faux Preacher is killed while looking into an Opium Den, Caine appears and is dragged into this mess.
He's also followed by Lee, who eventually tells him that he wants to be trained.
Well, he seems so friendly!
He gets him a job at the Factory, but he almost instantly tries to kill the Racist guy who runs it.
He has much to learn.
In the least surprising Plot Twist ever, we learn that he's actually Caine's Son.
They use Stock Footage (alot of it, in fact) to make him the Son from an earlier Episode's hook-up. Also that's Barbara Hershey, if I'm not mistaken.
Lee is under the control of Mako, who wants revenge on Caine for killing his Brother in the Pilot (the first one). He'll kill the Son if Caine won't show up...to be killed by his Son. Tough choices.
As my VHS Copy doesn't work in a Computer and Google is short on Images, you'll have to live with this kind of visual filler.
Just imagine Landau's handle-bar mustache and enjoy that glimpse of Mako's silly armor below...
Can Caine save his Son from Mako's mind-control?
Can he stop the obvious bad guy in Landau?
Will this not actually wrap up the Plot since it was meant to be the start of a TV Show ?
To find out, watch this Film like I did.
A nice little hidden gem. For better or worse, this feels like a continuation of the original Show. I guess you could make the fair argument that feeling *exactly* like a 1970s Show in the mid-80s was a bad thing. To a certain extent, I can see that. At the same time, the formula worked and everyone delivers here. Lee doesn't do all that much, but he's also the newest of the bunch. The heavy lifting is done by Carradine and Mako, though Landau does much in his small role. The format here really does him a disservice as he was setup as the bad guy for the Show. So with no Show, no payoff for him. Given how much he does indirectly in this, it is a real shame. There's some obvious stuff you have to ignore as a modern viewer if you watch this today. For instance, Mako is JAPANESE and playing Chinese and, you know, the whole Carradine thing. That leads to a fun irony of the Film...that was likely unplanned. Famously Bruce Lee pitches a version of this Show, but can't get the Lead Role. As such, a reliable hand like Carradine gets it. A decade later, Lee's Son is now Carradine's Son! No way they meant to do that. If you like the original Show, this is quite good. It can be a bit slow- since it feels like the Show-, but I found it quite enjoyable. As you can see, I'm not the only one who had a good time...
Next up, I cover...the other one?!? Yes, there's apparently ANOTHER TV Pilot, this time splitting the difference between this and The Legend Continues. Stay tuned...
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