Ah, David, what’s all this White Crane business? Don’t you know you’ll always be Grasshopper to us…?
Yep, David Carradine (Kill Bill, Death Race 2000) is back milking his cult appeal as star of mid-seventies TV series Kung Fu once again, this time as elder master White Crane. But perhaps the biggest surprise here is that this made-for-TV Chinese co-production isn’t that bad…
It’s 1920s China and the country is in a state of political unrest. When a temple of peaceful Wudang monks, led by martial arts Grandmaster Myling (Cheng Pei-Pei, Come Drink With Me, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), is attacked an army of mercenaries under the command of a local warlord Khan Xin (Kay Tong Lim), Crane is one of the few survivors, along with trainee monk Lang Han (Osric Chau).
Even outside of the temple, Khan rules his territory with a vice like grip, forcing villagers to grow and distribute opium for him. Crane vows revenge on Khan and travels to Shanghai to get close to him. There he befriends a club owner Bingo Quo (Jimmy Taenaka) and his American club singer girlfriend Jane Marshall (fellow Kill Bill star Daryl Hannah), in Shanghai to find her missing brother. Crane soon finds Khan will stop at nothing to wipe out insurgents in his territory, but can he stop him?
Well, let’s face it – there are no surprises here! And then there’s an entirely unnecessary second part as Crane and his new friends embark on a quest to free their, um, girlfriends from an old foe. I eman, how lame is that? No one’s going to mistake this for inspirational, revolutionary television – the original American title for this was Kung Fu Killer – yet the truth is it’s not actually badly done…
Despite a fairly clichéd script, and Crane’s rather convoluted revenge plot on Khan, there’s enough give the cast something to get there teeth in to. Though all too happy to relive or at least suggest some of Kung Fu’s more memorable moments (tattooing by holes in a caldron, for instance), there are playful hints that Crane’s character could indeed have been Kung Fu’s Kwai Chang Caine during the many years he spent ‘wandering’.
(After all it is just one letter different? At least this time he doesn’t have the rather insulting Chinese make-up anymore…)
The participation of top Chinese stars and crew help set this above what you’d normally expect from a TV production. The involvement of Cai Li, martial arts supervisor on Hero, Curse Of The Golden Flower and House Of Flying Daggers, means the choreographer is actually pretty solid and well paced, often referencing the (now old school) close hand combat style of Yuen Woo-ping. It even acknowledges Carradine’s age by allowing him to move slower, but of course still remain powerful, just as an old master should. The series even manage to get away with Philip Spink’s rather plodding direction.
Most of the cast do a fine job, Osric Chau, Anya, Yu Beng Lim, even Carradine himself. Hannah appears a little miscast for a role seemingly intended for someone younger, which is a real shame as she fits the 1920s look perfectly. A marginal rewrite to more of a feisty Katherine Hepburn type of character would have benefited both the film and her performance greatly. We also see far, far, FAR too little of Cheng Pei-pei for my liking.
With its fleeting references to tragic events in Cranes childhood, there’s no doubting that the makers of this mini-series anticipated it spawning a series, or at least several more features. We may never find out the details of Crane’s past, but if we do there are far worse ways to spend your time.
White Crane Chronicles is released on DVD by Brightspark Productions on 29 December.
DVD details
Distributor: Brightspark (UK)
This DVD offers no extras save the chance to watch the two features separately, or apart – making the benefits of owning this on DVD a little hard to see if you’ve already caught this on TV.
