Kung Fu Killer

[GeneChing]

I've seen the first screener of this and I must confess, I was entertained.


David Carradine and Daryl Hannah Reunite in Kung Fu Killer (http://www.spike.com/blog/david-carradine/65795)

DAVID CARRADINE AND DARYL HANNAH REUNITE IN “KUNG FU KILLER,” A TWO-PART SPIKE “ORIGINAL GUY MOVIE” MINISERIES PREMIERING THIS AUGUST

“Kung Fu Killer” To Premiere In HD Under The “Spike Guy Movies” Umbrella

New York, NY, June 19, 2008 – David Carradine and Daryl Hannah reunite for the first time since their roles on the big screen in “Kill Bill” to star in the two-part original movie miniseries, “Kung Fu Killer” slated to premiere this August on Spike in HD.

Set in late 1920s in China, before Communist rule, “Kung Fu Killer” tells the story of White Crane (Carradine), an orphaned son of Western missionaries who was raised as a Wudang monk to become a spiritual leader and master in martial arts, and his ultimate journey for revenge and justice.

In the first installment, Crane’s peaceful world is shattered when Kahn Xin (Lim Kay Tong) and his mercenaries raid his temple and slay his mentor. In search of his master’s murderers, Crane infiltrates the Shanghai underworld where he encounters Jane Marshall (Hannah), a lounge singer from Brooklyn, who is on a mission of her own – to find her lost brother, who is being held captive by Kahn. Realizing that Kahn’s evil plans are more intricate and widespread than originally thought, Crane teams up with Jane in order to enter Kahn’s inner circle. From there, they tread carefully in order to dismantle Kahn’s destructive plans before assassinating him. Soon, Crane’s battle becomes a moral one, as he finds himself torn between his peaceful Wudang upbringing and the cold-blooded life of an assassin.

The second installment, “Kung Fu Killer II” shifts gears to a more personal drama as Crane returns to help rebuild his shattered temple. However, the peace is short-lived as, back in Shanghai, nightclub singer Jane is kidnapped by Bai Yang, an old classmate and rival of Crane’s who plans to employ her in the sex trade. It is up to Crane and his young protégé Lang (Osric Chau) to save not only Jane, but Lang’s true love Wei.

“Kung Fu Killer” was shot entirely on location in China at the Zhejiang Heng Dian World Studios and the towns of Fong Yang and Heng Dian. The miniseries marked the first time a production of this scale was produced by a Western production company utilizing an almost exclusively Chinese crew. “Kung Fu Killer” also features the singing debut of Daryl Hannah, who sings such period standards as “You Made Me Love You” and “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows,” along with others done with a period-authentic jazz mixed with torch-song style arrangements.

“Kung Fu Killer” is presented as part of Spike TV’s “Spike Guy Movies” umbrella of original movies. Since its launch in January 2008, Spike TV’s original “Spike Guy Movies” average nearly 1.5 million viewers each month.

“Kung Fu Killer” is a production from RHI Entertainment. Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr. serve as executive producers. Shan Tam, Matthew O’Connor and Michael O’Connor are producers. Philip Spink is director. Jacqueline Feather and David Seidler are writers, and the teleplay is by John Mandel. Bill McGoldrick is vice president of development for Spike TV.

RHI Entertainment, LLC develops, produces and distributes new made-for-television movies, miniseries and other television programming worldwide, and is the leading provider of new long-form television content in the U.S. Under the guidance of Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr., RHI has produced and distributed thousands of hours of quality television programming, and RHI’s productions have received more than 100 Emmy Awards. During 2007, RHI developed, produced and distributed 43 new television movies and miniseries to broadcast and cable networks around the world. In addition to the development, production and distribution of new content, RHI owns rights to approximately 1,000 titles, or over 3,500 broadcast hours of long-form television programming, which are licensed to broadcast and cable networks and new media outlets globally.

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

[doug maverick]

i've been seeing this film on the films on demand on cablvision up here in ny and i have have been sleptic of it. but i'll check it out when it comes on spike.

[GeneChing]

David Carradine in Spike TV’s KUNG FU KILLER (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=779)

It debuts this Sunday, August 17th. There's a trailer on Spike's site (http://www.spike.com/video/kung-fu-killer/3016246).

[Zenshiite]

Maybe it's just me, but Gene I though Carradine came off as kind of an ass in that interview.

I'll check out the movies though.

[doug maverick]

well from reading his kill bill diary hearing him in interviews and most of all having dinner with him one time a long time ago when he was promoting kill bill and i was working at a comic book convention he was at. i can say he is a **** but so what so are most of hollywood types. but like all those seasoned actors like malcolm mcdowel and a few others the guy tells the best stories and boy do they like to talk they can go on and on. my only issue with david is that in his book he said that he didn't feel yuen woo ping was a master. and i'm like whaaat!!! his deffinition of what a master is, doesn't jive with what i think a master is. he thinks a master is more like his character in kung fu. well we all know that thats bull**** that humans are human and will always be subject to human nature. i think a master is someone who really haskung fu who knows and understands his craft to the fullist and in that respect woo ping is a master in every deffinition. 8th master is arguably the best fight choreagrapher in the world hands down.

[The Willow Sword]

Maybe it's just me, but Gene I though Carradine came off as kind of an ass in that interview.

Actually i kinda thought the opposite. Seems like Gene was kinda grilling David Carradine about the whole caucasian martial artist minstrel show thing. The questions seemed very short and abrupt.

You know i dont have any blinders on when it comes to these entertainers,actors,hollywood people. SO many of us want to put some fantastical stigma on these people and all they really are are entertainers. Sure we've all seen the cheesy DC taichi and qiqong vids. Its marketing, plain and simple, whether it is being done in a decent manner to respect the arts is always up for intereptation and critisism. If carradine comes off like an a$$ maybe its because he is confronted with someone else being an @ss trying to bait him into some useless debate.
I like DC and chatted with him on a radio show several years back when he rolled through town on tour for a play he was doing(forget the play). My questions to him were simple and light hearted, which is what interviews with these kinds of entertainers should be, in my opinion.
He is promoting a series, he is still working at his age, i give him props for that.

Peace,TWS

[GeneChing]

I've always felt the art of interview was to get the subject to reveal something about themselves, so I try my best to keep the questions curt. Just open doors and invite them to walk through. Carradine just ran with many of my questions, which made my job much easier. But I didn't intend to stand in judgment of the man. I'll leave it to you all to judge.

I'll be very interested to hear what you think of the show. Like I said above, I was entertained, but I confess more - Ricky O is one of my closet guilty pleasures. The second installment doesn't have so much of the Ricky O factor, so it fell more flat on me.

[GeneChing]

Tonight on the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® program "Night Talk," anchor Mike Schneider talks to Kung Fu Killer's David Carradine.

Carradine talks about leaving the Kung Fu television series in the 1970s, "I didn't want to play this little bald Chinese guy for the rest of my life."

He talks about playing “White Crane,” an orphaned son of Western missionaries who was raised as a Wudang monk. “I've always wanted to do…something about this character [the historical character in the new movie], but I never could because Warner Brothers owns the rights. But they don't own the rights to history. Nobody has a copyright on history."

"Night Talk" airs in the U.S., Europe and Asia on Bloomberg TV at 10PM on weeknights and is simulcast on Bloomberg Radio at 10PM. Bloomberg Radio is broadcast on 1130AM in the New York Metropolitan area and is available on XM and Sirius. The Friday night Show re-airs over the weekend Sat at 8:00-9:00pm, 10:00-11:00pm and Mon 12:00am - 1:00am.

"Night Talk" can also be seen on Bloomberg.com (http://www.bloomberg.com/tvradio/shows.html), is podcast at (http://www.bloomberg.com/tvradio/podcast/night_talk.html) and also on iTunes under Business News.

That quote sounds just like the one he gave me (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=779) ;)

This guy actually existed. The story is just based on his life. It's not a real biography of the guy, but that's what we're doing here. It's the only way we could do a character that has such a similar history without discussing it with Warner Brothers, because Warner Brothers does not have a copyright on history. So all we have to do is show them that this guy existed and we can go.

You know, I've always wanted to make my own thing about that character. Lots of people have come to me from Taiwan, places like that, with tons of money, and then you go to Warner Brothers and they say, "Yeah, well, you can't do it." So this time we get to do it. (It's) all because of Robert Halmi Sr. because he's the guy that found the historical character. I knew about him. I had read about him. But when Halmi pitched it to me, I just went “Yeah! Let's do it!”

[doug maverick]

so this comes on tonight 10pm est in nyc. i resisted the urge to just order it on on demand didn't want to waste 4.95 on something that might be crap, but if i like the first one i'll order the second. also gonna check out johnnie to's mad detective and bullet in the head remake blood brothers. **** cable is stepoping its game up with the imports.

[doug maverick]

actually its coming to the last minute. and i gotta agree with gene i was entertained, it was very watchable. one thing i liked is how they edited david carradines fight scene's while i can't say anything about his martial arts i can say that he is a horrible screen fighter which again has no baring on his actual martial arts skills (i've worked with people who had lots of martial arts exp. but didn't know how to do a staged fight and i've worked with people who had almost no exp. and look like masters on screen and stage) they used under cranking and close ups and they fights looked really good. however i thought darryl hannah was so misplaced not to mention that whoever did her make up and lit her should be dragged out and shot cause she looked like a total drag queen. the person who stuck out the most to me and was the best screen fighter in the film was white crane's(carradine) disciple bai who was played by yu beng lim who had a small role in anna in the king, his martial arts and fighting were great. as gene mentioned the action was very reminiscent of riki oh lots of blood and guts. the story was also not bad but the dialogue was riddled with cliche but you could forgive that. also you can forgive most of the chinese cast speaking with american accents. so if you haven't seen it then just wait till tomorrow when they are going to show both parts after the airing of part 2.

[kfman5F]

After the first half hour, I'm tempted to change channels. Carradine once again grows up as a kid in a monastery. Yawn. His kung fu sucked back then and it still sucks. The fight scenes editing is horrible. Anyone ever see his kung fu and tai chi VHS tapes way back? What a joke. If Carradine's character was a Taoist, why does he have a tiger tattooed on his forearm like a Shaolin Grasshopper? Maybe it will get better, but I doubt it. I think I'll watch a good Shaw Bros. movie instead.

[doug maverick]

After the first half hour, I'm tempted to change channels. Carradine once again grows up as a kid in a monastery. Yawn. His kung fu sucked back then and it still sucks. The fight scenes editing is horrible. Anyone ever see his kung fu and tai chi VHS tapes way back? What a joke. If Carradine's character was a Taoist, why does he have a tiger tattooed on his forearm like a Shaolin Grasshopper? Maybe it will get better, but I doubt it. I think I'll watch a good Shaw Bros. movie instead.

i have to totally disagree with you on that. i thought the film was good, i thought davud carradines fights were edited well, think about it for a minute he's not a good screen fighter as an editor or director you have to make th choice of either salvaging what footage you have or cute togather a bad fight. i go for the under cranking and quick cuts it was a good choice on the filmmakers part. and you can't sya that for all the fights as the other fight scenes not involving carradines character were great. as for ther storyline its suppose to be like a more hard core kung fu. i give it a 7 out of 10 over all. which is better then what i expected to give it.

[GeneChing]

Sounds like we're on the same page on this one, Doug. Truth be told, when the interview was first offered to me, I was more into interviewing Daryl than David - some latent Bladerunner/mermaid fantasy on my part, perhaps. :o But as it approached, I discovered I had more curiosity about talking to David and couldn't think of anything intelligent to ask Daryl, which is just as well, since she wasn't available.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, that was a total bait & switch. :mad::rolleyes:

[doug maverick]

i think we're alone on this gene, people can't get passed david carradine and the whole bruce lee thing so there biased, the thing is instead of david just saing look i'm an actor i gotta work i wasn't trying to steal bruce's role i just was trying to book a job. instead he tells that bogus ass story that bruce lee didn't come up with the story and some guy had it in his addict or some **** like that, that sounds so rediculous. anyway i watched it twice as i do everything, once as a normal joe and then again as a filmmaker(really i watch it twice as a filmmaker cause its just no way to turn it off seriously i been acused by more then one chick of directing the relationship) and as a fan i liked it as a filmmaker i had some issues with daryl hannah she just didn't do it for me(and she usually does because like gene i can't get her blade runner character out of my head) i didn't like her acting and again the lighting and make up did her no justice at all, straight up drag queen status. but i liked carridnes character, and his wardobe was dope. its not perfect but its good. i hope to see more of the young kid as it goes on, cause he steal's the show with his kung fu. and that little thing at the end(spoiler) where he kills for the first time you feel it, it take most people all there strengh to actually kill someone and from waht i'm told it changes you forever. and as we all know its like pringles once you pop you can't stop.lol

[RAYNYSC]

It was ok I think it could have been better though but that's just me.

[mkriii]

Kung Fu Killer Part 1 is great. Part 2 comes out tonight on spike. Can't wait to watch it. On a side not Daryl Hannah looks hot in the movie. Not bad for her age.

Got a question though.....Shaolin is Buddist and Wudang is Toaist, right? Why then did David Carradine have the brandings on his arm if he was Wudang? Historically did Wudang brand your arms as well?

[MasterKiller]

Historically speaking, no one branded their arms...

[mkriii]

Historically speaking, no one branded their arms...

Why is it that everyone thinks that then? Hell, I thought it was true about having to move a hot cauldren with the dragon and tiger on the sides to brand the forearms......LOL. :D

[GeneChing]

Carradine admits it himself in our interview. And no one blows their spinal cord out of their back. It's a lot tamer.

Read the interview (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=779) about the Buddhist Taoist thing.

[Zi Zheng]

Some of the gore scenes were unexpected for t.v. bonus points for catching me off guard.

but my fav. movie besides the starwars saga is big trouble in little china...

I blame TNT and USA for playing it everyday for the last 22 years of my life. and my OCD for making me watch it every time I see it.

[peace&love]

Well, I just got through watching part 1 of Kung Fu Killer and was impressed. I went in with pretty low expectations and was happy to see good fight scenes, acting, and camera work. David did a great job with the choreography for a seventy plus year old in my opinion.

In regards to Gene's interview, I found it very interesting. Gene did seem to come on strong in some of his questions, but I understand he has to get his subject to budge a little bit any way he can. That's his job. David has been in the business for decades and has heard about every question there is. I thought Gene allowed him to give some more candid answers about things than many others have in the past. As an actor I appreciate a lot of David's points of view and like his analogy of Mel Gibson playing Hamlet. Many people forget that after Kung Fu in the 70s, David gave some brilliant award winning and nominated performances in such films as Bound for Glory and North and South.

I'm looking forward to seeing part 2 of Kung Fu Killer. I've got the DVR set, so hopefully I will get around to it later in the week.

[Shaolinlueb]

i tried watching it, but the olympic beach volleyball was more interesting. kung fu killer looked cool, but was pure garbage filled with carradines hippy and mystical taste on kung fu, from the 1 minute i did pay attention. i left it on but didnt pay attention to most of it :o my opinion.

i acutally enjoyed circle of iron more. :o

[doug maverick]

i didn't like it to much. maybe cause i was tired from being awake for 48 hours. but i didn't enjoy nearly as much as the first. i didn't feel that that story was even necessary.

[mkriii]

I didn't like part 2 near as much as the first one. Almost all the fight scenes were filmed at night time or in a cave. I don't know if it was my tv or the filming but it was so dark you couldn't see what was happening. I think if they had a little more lighting when filming I would have liked it a little more. :D

[iron_silk]

I interested in watching the project because it starred a local wushu artist from Vancouver BC.

I wasn't expecting much in terms of production, though it looked very nice, I couldn't stand the dialogue. The faux Chinese in English was very irritating...it stinks of what Western people think is Asian rather than what is geuinely Asian. Which is too bad...since it could've been both. I like the noir-ish time period and all that. I think there was a lot of potential with actors and budget that wasn't capitalized. How come David Carradine fights like Kwai Chang Cane again? (I thought all the training for Kill Bill would have helped...but I guess that's more about choreography).

What's with the "Wu Dang" temple and huge "Fut/fo" Chinese character on building? Cheng Pei Pei dressed like a taoist but students like monks? Bai Yang's turn to evil is as convincing as Anakin turn to Vader in the Star Wars prequels.

Just too much....much too much....

Anya Wu is hot...I think that is something we can agree on?

[GeneChing]

it was a phoner, which is always challenging. i was only allotted 15 minutes, in which david had to break to quiet down his dog. his dog started barking in the background. i should add that i really enjoyed talking to david. every martial artist has an opinion about his contribution to martial arts but no one can deny his overall impact.

[Shaolinlueb]

F*CK DAVID CARADINE! DEATH RACE 2000 WAS HIS BEST MOVIE BECAUSE SLY STALLONE WAS IN IT!!! DAVID CARADINE AINT SH*T AND KUNG FU (TV series) RUINED PEOPLE'S VISION OF OUR ART!!!! F*CK IT.


man i had to get that off my chest.
moving along.

[Zenshiite]

^Hahaha.

A Taoist monk turning evil... sounds like Deng Ming-Dao's "The Chronicles of Tao" which is a great book.

[jethro]

Anya Wu is hot...I think that is something we can agree on?



uummmm... YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

[GeneChing]

Death Race 2000 was my personal fav Carradine film. Remember that old videogame based on it? And now there's a remake with Jason Statham opening this Friday (http://www.deathracemovie.net/)? How cool is that?

I don't think the Kung Fu TV series ruined America's vision of the art. It was one of the first visions and was groundbreaking during its day. I think Hai-Karate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAnU9zT87j4) did more damage to how the martial arts are perceived. Did you ever get a whiff of that stuff? Jow smells better. :rolleyes:

[Shaolinlueb]

Death Race 2000 was my personal fav Carradine film. Remember that old videogame based on it? And now there's a remake with Jason Statham opening this Friday (http://www.deathracemovie.net/)? How cool is that?

I don't think the Kung Fu TV series ruined America's vision of the art. It was one of the first visions and was groundbreaking during its day. I think Hai-Karate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAnU9zT87j4) did more damage to how the martial arts are perceived. Did you ever get a whiff of that stuff? Jow smells better. :rolleyes:

Gene, i kinda want to see the new deathrace :o

that Hai Karate video is hilarious. yeah it was america's first exposure to kung fu, but look at it. ooh its mystical, grab the pebble from my f*cking hand. im surprised they didnt have chi fireballs and sh*t.

[iron_silk]

uummmm... YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Gene,

I know we don't much or at all but I was curious...how come no interviews with the hotties of Kung fu Killer? or more specific ... why no interviews with Anya Wu?

[GeneChing]

I know now. (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00011V8HM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg) I did see Naked Weapon, but only Maggie Q stood out to me at the time. That was 2002, long before Maggie broke America in MI3 and Balls (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=727).

When we're contacted about film interviews, the promoters typically throw out the names of the big celebs like David and Daryl. The promoters have to coordinate the interviews. Keep in mind that for the celebs, the film is long in the can and they've gone on to other projects. That promoter failed to hook up Daryl for me because she was on a film somewhere and couldn't be bothered.

[No_Know]

Some story tellers might change descriptions for the point to be understood. Being creatures of Hear-Say, people knew Kwai Chang Cain knew he knew White Crane or could believe it. So a story with an actor kin a series called Kung-Fu whose repeats still runover thirty years later Ties the story with Kung Fu theme. Crane rhymes with his former character Cain and is a king Fu Style-who he should aspire to be and a style perhaps he uses. Since they continued the legend Lets solidify this and really make people comfortable. Let put in a young man who needs som fatherliness and call him Peter like the Character Cain's Son in the Legend continues. We'll allow the Actor to demonsrtate the trasmission of a lessonwith smacks and slaps...a guy thing That floats with our Promotional concept (So we LOve David Carradine).

They wore blue like Shao-lin and practiced weapons (which is Very WuDong to my understanding (Not so much with the empty hands) [Actually It seemed as though weapon first, then there is strength and focus for hand tecniques]. The blue and weapons says they train Kung-Fu there and are some kind of Spiritual.

The Fut symbol- a Southern Baptist and a Roman Catholic no difference it's all God? Their orientals There's that fat guy in temples or shrines and monastaries and the big Chinese or Japanese looking symbol is in Spiritual type places over there in Asia.

I think the blue and the Fut symbol or idol was like the fist and the palm but for the un initiated viewers or the armchair kungfu/Action/Adventure -ist.

The grl had great Kung-Fu with her bow, using it whirl a soldier as well as simultaneous close target area hits.

White Crane demonstrated Advanced Skill in striking and Dim Mak with the Tomato brick break and his multiple area strikes to finish an opponent...

I No_Know

[No_Know]

The Mercenary/Assassin--Meras was only treated nicely by a sister or young women or once a young girl such is the tendernes that promotes lesb ians. Meras breaks from her skilled viciousness reminded of the tenderness she appreciated years ago now far gone.

The young wudong now an initiate we all well are aware by the Dragon mark on the one arm (Possible pheonix or double Dragon), because we are used to someone graduating from a great level of accomplishment tatoos by branding a t least a dragon on the arm.

However nearly equal in skill as are the Brothers, their Bosses or the people to whom they answer, it is a toss-up, or throw-down and a kick to rid the threat to the wonderful girlfriend. Ohhh nooooo, She's dead! Why did she get between my stomp ant this pimple boy who dares be as good as me. Why did she have to love him. And why am I not dead instead of her. I so deserve it (No_Know no die talking from the minds as No_Know thought perhaps)...Noooooooooo! You killed her. Hnmf Hnmf, you are so going to get iit\I deserve this I so want to be punished for killing my new good friend...Fight...Looks bleak Let me just get this over with.\Wait I was just venting beating you like that, I realized later that you two were good friends but we were fighting and no place to sy until I beat you to where you might listen. Don't kill yourself because she loves you too....Darling!
Blah Blah Blah


No_Know

[Laukarbo]

i watched 30 minutes then turned it off...absolutely boring:rolleyes:
part 2 Im not even interested.

[doug maverick]

i watched 30 minutes then turned it off...absolutely boring:rolleyes:
part 2 Im not even interested.

should've kept watching.

[Shaolinlueb]

more pics of Anya Wu please.

[iron_silk]

i watched 30 minutes then turned it off...absolutely boring:rolleyes:
part 2 Im not even interested.

Agreed! Good for you man!

I just didn't watch it all the way though... I kept flipping back hoping either of more action, my friend, or more Anya.

It seems like it took forever... action was eh...but at least it meant they weren't talking (horrible horrible script writing).

Anya is the exception of course...more pics please

[GeneChing]

Obviously, he hasn't 'scotched that snake (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=779)' at all. ;)

More Anya (http://simonyam.com/hkmw/actors/anya/gallery/) (as if you guys can't do web searches on your own...:rolleyes:)

[Lucas]

I never got into the old kung fu tv show.

i think with out that influence, carradine comes across as kind of a douche. in all the interviews ive read, and some of his videos, hes always kind of seemed really full of himself.

[peace&love]

I have never met David personally, but have worked with some in acting who have a connection with him. Honestly, it appears to be hit or miss with David on his personality. I know of one director who worked with him and it was a struggle on the film because David was drinking heavily throughout the production. He talks quite a bit about his struggles with alcohol in his autobiography. It seems that he has put these demon behind him as of late because he is working on more quality productions the past few years.

Love him or hate him, the fact is he can be pretty blunt about things. As an actor I get a lot of what he is saying. I think of him as a blue collar actor. By that I mean he just keeps working away doing the best he can with what he's got. In the Kill Bill Diary he gives some excellent acting advice by keeping it simple. I recommend any other actors out there to read that book and the book on acting he recommends by Richard Boleslavsky. I have had that thing on my shelf for years and never looked at until I read Carradine's latest. It has really helped me develop as an actor more so than any expensive private lessons could...and I've done that too.

David is simply a working actor trying to make a living and like only a few others, he actually has. More power to him if you ask me.

Many slam him for what he has done to the martial arts and kung fu. Most people would of never even heard of kung fu without David. Most kung fu schools today are struggling to stay alive in my opinion. With that statement, I'm omitting the huge cities like NYC and LA. It would be interesting to see how fewer KF schools would be out there without David's TV and film work. If you do not like his work, simply do not watch it or just turn it off if you gave it a try. Many of you have as stated in previous posts. To make statements or accusations that he has somehow ruined CMA is just plain extreme in my opinion.

[iron_silk]

Let's not blame or give him complete credit here.

Kung Fu TV series was the hard work of many individuals (of course Bruce Lee was at the beginning of it) but there are producers, directors, writers, other actors, etc that are responsible for the final product.

Yes Carradine had a good performance he can be a good performer...but remember the action was in the 70's...who good was the other martial arts production?


It's also true how unashamefully full of himself that he thinks he's right about everything without really knowing what the heck he's talking about...

For example the interview Gene (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=779) gave when Gene asked him


GC: There's Buddhist symbols all over the temple. There's a big Buddha statue in one scene.

DC: Ah. I don't think so.

Ultimately though...Kung Fu Killer was written poorly...I'm just telling it like it is...just like David would have if he wasn't part of the project.

[doug maverick]

i guess we're alone on this one gene. i guess its because our expectation were way way way lower then everyone else's.

[iron_silk]

Well...you're not completely alone...

You found it entertaining...doesn't mean it's good...just that you enjoyed watching it.

...I watched Vanishing Son starring Russel Wong...keep in mind I was barely a teenager at the time...

so we're all guilty of something...or another

[doug maverick]

Well...you're not completely alone...

You found it entertaining...doesn't mean it's good...just that you enjoyed watching it.

...I watched Vanishing Son starring Russel Wong...keep in mind I was barely a teenager at the time...

so we're all guilty of something...or another

hey man vanishing son was not that bad. but yeah i was a kid to when it came out.

[pdf108]

in jet lee's movie, you will see a lot of kungfu skill.

[doug maverick]

in jet lee's movie, you will see a lot of kungfu skill.

huh? what jet li movie? we're not talking about jet li.

[iron_silk]

hey man vanishing son was not that bad. but yeah i was a kid to when it came out.

it certainly could've been worse...i remember the action for the first couple of tv movies weren't bad.....

oh the shame i felt....it's good to share

[peace&love]

I finally got around to watching part 2 today and was disappointed in it compared to part 1. I thought part 1 was really good, but part 2's story just seemed really weak and poorly written. The fight scenes were also not as good as part one. I am not a big fan of wire work in general, and this film contained some very bad wire work. I believe the creators have something good with the White Crane character and hopefully the next three films will be an improvement over part 2. Sadly, I do not think that will be very hard to accomplish. David mentioned in Gene's interview that the character will work for the mob in the US at one point. Maybe that story line will be more interesting.

[doug maverick]

i think the mob thing was a back story

[GeneChing]

Anyone hear if they're going through with the next three or not?

TV Review: Kung Fu Killer (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=879162)
September 13th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Kung Fu KillerKung Fu Killer (2008)
Directed by Philip Spink
Written by Jacqueline Feather, John Mandel, David Seidler
Starring David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Lim Kay-Tong, Lim Yu-Beng, Chau Osric, James Taenaka, Cheng Pei-Pei
Original Air Dates August 17th and 18th
Spike TV

In this two-part mini-series, an elderly Caucasian monk named White Crane (David Carradine) returns to his monastery after wandering the world for two decades to spend the rest of his days. But soon after he returns, an army battalion under the rule of criminal mastermind Khan sweeps into the monastery and systematically wipe out most of monks. White Crane vows to take revenge and soon finds himself in Shanghai, where he actually becomes the bodyguard of Khan in order to get close to him, and learns of Khan’s plan in creating a gas that will kill countless thousands.

White Crane also meets up with Jane (Darryl Hannah), a singer from Brooklyn who is now the main attraction at a local bar, and whose brother coincidentally is the scientist who is being forced to work on Khan’s death gas. When Khan is finally ready to test his new gas, White Crane sees this as the moment to show his true allegiance, and strikes with vengeance in his heart and in his fists! Meanwhile, back at the monastery which is slowly being rebuilt, White Crane is about to discover that there is one in the shadows who has been thirsting for his own revenge.

Originally aired on Spike TV August 17th and 18th as part of the network’s Spike Guy Movies original programming umbrella, this made-for-TV mini-series reunites Kill Bill co-stars Carradine and Hannah for a martial arts revenge romp through early 20th century China. Though it has been dubbed a mini-series, each night’s broadcast feels very much likes its own movie, as if the original and the sequel were merely filmed back-to-back and subsequently broadcasted as such. There is no cliffhanger or “to be continued” at the end of Part One, which wraps itself up with a nice little bow before letting the credits role, while the opening of Part Two simply just starts like any other sequel.

David Carradine slips easily back into his controlled martial arts persona that made him a star in the seventies television series Kung Fu and later in Kill Bill, but try as he may, can’t quite summon the fully dynamic energy needed for such a performance, which can be forgiven to a point being as the man is pushing seventy-two years. Much of his dialogue feels like its been pulled from a fortune cookie, while his fight choreography is mostly reduced to him blocking an attacker’s strike, and then reacting with a punch. Carradine can still whip up some great screen charisma though, and he seem genuinely excited to be in the movie, while the movie is likewise genuinely excited to have him as a star.

However, the same can not be said for Darryl Hannah, who is in this purely for her connection to Carradine. Hannah has trouble getting through her songs and with her chiseled jaw line looks more like a drag queen during her nightclub dance numbers rather than the object of desire the character is supposed to be. Hannah looks bored half the time, and probably longs to be holding a sword again, rather than be transformed into a subplot device and a marketing ploy.

What the film may lack in the acting chops, including some questionable English speaking dialogue from the almost exclusively Chinese cast (we’ll just leave alone the fact that all the peasants inherently can speak fluent English) it more than makes up for in sheer devastation and literally bone-crushing violence. It is surprising just how much Spike TV lets through over the airwaves, cable or no cable. Under the choreography of Hero stuntman Feng Shi and Wang Jun Kang, limbs are severed, soldiers are beheaded and poor monks are blown up by the military’s cannons, with copious amounts of blood spraying everywhere. Carradine is of course given a few of most memorable blows, including a palm attack that forces a soldier’s spine out of their back.

Kung Fu Killer, whose name recalls the rather generic retitling of many an English dubbed martial arts film throughout the seventies and eighties, is really geared toward this exact audience. It is not really meant as a slight towards them, but Spike TV knows their target demographic and this is nothing more than giving the masses what they want. It is certainly not an homage to this era, but there is the feeling that director Philip Spink is trying to recapture the energy of those Saturday afternoon television broadcasts. And on that note Spink just squeaks by with a success.

[doug maverick]

However, the same can not be said for Darryl Hannah, who is in this purely for her connection to Carradine. Hannah has trouble getting through her songs and with her chiseled jaw line looks more like a drag queen during her nightclub dance numbers rather than the object of desire the character is supposed to be
see i'm not the only one who thought she looked like a dude.