Kung Fu - The Complete Third Season
Binding: DVD
Region: Region 1
Director: Gordon Hessler, Robert Totten, Alex Beaton, Lee Philips, Walter Doniger
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Run Time: 1221 minutes
ASIN: B0009K7QZS
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Release Date: 2005-08-23
Average Customer Review: 
(From 31 total reviews)
List Price: $39.98
Amazon Price: $17.92 (43 new 24 used available)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours (Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping)
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon web site at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
Editorial Reviews
Product Description:
He is a man of peace in a violent land. He is Kwai Chang Caine schooled in the spirit-mind-body ways of the Shaolin priesthood by the blind avuncular Master Po and the stern yet loving Master Kan. Caine speaks softly but he hits hard. He lives humbly yet knows great contentment. He is the Old West’s most unusual hero.System Requirements:Running Time 1221 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 012569681477 Manufacturer No: 68147
Amazon.com:
While it may not rank with Richard Kimble’s fateful meeting with the One-Armed Man in the series finale of The Fugitive, Caine’s reunion with his long-lost brother, Danny, brings Kung Fu, to quote the title of the four-episode story arc’s conclusion, “Full Circle.” The series’ rich iconography and episodes featuring returning characters may make this final season heady going for newcomers. But those who have faithfully followed Caine (David Carradine in his iconic role) on his nomadic adventures will be richly rewarded with some of the series’ best episodes. The season begins with a stellar two-parter, “Blood of the Dragon,” in which Caine seeks the truth about his grandfather’s murder, while Imperial assassins are dispatched to kill Caine. The venerable Patricia Neal guest-stars as the grandfather’s iron-willed, cold-hearted former lover. Eddie Albert also stars as a doctor who sides with Caine. Other memorable guest stars this season include William Shatner broguing it up, Scotty-style, as a sea captain who arrives with an Imperial pardon for Caine (but at what cost?) in “A Small Beheading.” Barbara Hershey portrays an aspiring Shoalin priest in the two-parter, “Besieged.” In “The Brothers Caine,” a pre-Airplane Leslie Nielsen is a ruthless magnate who puts a $10,000 price on Danny’s head, making for an awkward reunion when Danny thinks that Caine is a bounty hunter. David’s father, John, returns as blind preacher Serenity Johnson in “Ambush.”
This season was distinguished by innovative episodes set in China during Caine’s “Grasshopper” tutelage. In “The Demon God,” the youth, poisoned by a prince, experiences mystical visions of his older, wandering self, who is stung by a scorpion. In “The Thief of Chendo,” young Caine’s Master imagines an adventure for the aspiring priest. Two Carradine commentaries, and a near-hour long chronicle of Carradine’s 30-years-on visit to a Shoalin monastery in China (an incredible journey that ends with Carradine’s soulful rendition of “America the Beautiful”) help to give Kung Fu a worthy DVD send-off. –Donald Liebenson
Customer Reviews
Try it you’ll liiike it…! by S. Klepper
If your a fan, you get more back stories and plot resolution. What more could you want? Also, it’s easy to see why David C. left after this season. But still worth the money.
Kung Fu Season 3 by D. G. Boddy
Price and service from Amazon was excellent,though the packaging of the DVD’s inside the case could be better as the small clips that hold them break easily.
Uniting The Mystical And The Mundane by Brian E. Erland
`Kung Fu - The Complete Third Season’ brought an end to the saga of Kwai Chang Caine, Shoalin priest and accused murder escaped to the American west of the 1800’s. While not quite as good as the first two seasons it still had a lot to offer.
Postives: I loved the infusion of mysticism and occultism that was absent from the previous two seasons. Episodes like `The Demon God’ and `Blood of the Dragon’ were among my favorite.
Negatives: The emphasis on his impending meeting with his half-brother Danny was too drawn out and ultimately unsatisfying.
All in all, a good end to a great iconic series. Enjoy!
My Kung Fu Review by indijo
I really enjoyed this series when it was first aired in the 70s. I’m not much of a fan of either old westerns or martial arts, but this genre-bender series is a rare exception, as it puts a Kung Fu expert and Shaolin Priest up against the bad guys in the American old west. Not your typical western series, by a long shot. Caine is a very unique hero, one that opposes senseless killing and violence, but has the superior ability to defend himself and others against criminal violations and wrongful injustice like no other. Like Richard Kimble of “The Fugitive” series, he is also forever moving from town to town, avoiding the law because he is wanted by the Chinese government for murder of the emperor’s nephew (who murdered his blind master), and also in search of his half-brother Danny Caine.
In this season, there are also a few episodes that take place in China, flashing back to a time before Caine fled to America. One is about a conflict that the temple had with an evil Mandarin, another about a warlord that threatens to destroy the temple unless it surrenders a woman seeking sanctuary, and another about Caine’s problems after he killed the emperor’s nephew (for killing his blind Master Po).
I couldn’t resist purchasing both seasons 2 & 3 of this series when it was on sale, and I am relieved to report that, even though the dvds are double-sided, I have not had any problems with them. It may be that the quality is better than many other double-sided dvds because, rather than squeeze 4 hour-long episodes on one side, this dvd collection has only 3 episodes per side. Less compression could make all the difference with the digital quality. Either that or I was lucky and got a really good set.
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Tags: adventure, buddhist, david carridine, dvd collection, jeremy, kung fu, lois nettleton, martial arts, philosophy, taoism
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