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King Kung Fu
In China, a kung fu master named Alfunku instructs a gorilla named King Kung Fu (who thinks to himself in some sort of bizarre narration) in the martial arts, all set to some stereotypical 'Chinese' sounding music. Once King Kung Fu is fully prepared, Alfunku decides that King Kung Fu should go to the United States where he, in turn, can teach the martial arts he has since mastered. King Kung Fu is given his freedom from the Shaolin Temple and off he goes to the good ol' U.S. of A. where he arrives in a cage and is looked upon as a traveling tourist attraction. While the King Kung Fu tour stops in Wichita, Kansas of all places, he's discovered by a pair of down on their luck reporters named Herman and Beau Bridges. Herman's girlfriend, Rae Fay, works at the local Pizza Hut (which gets an unusual amount of attention in this movie) and she and Herman figure they can capitalize on King Kung Fu's new found fame and make some serious scratch. Unfortunately for those two, King Kung Fu breaks out of his cage and before you know it he's running around the streets of Wichita wreaking chaos. Herman, Beau and Rae want to protect King Kung Fu so they decide to capture him before the cops are called in but wouldn't you know it, Captain J. W. Duke and his partner Officer Pilgrim are on the case and they want King Kung Fu brought in dead or alive.
Where to start...?
King Kung Fu was obviously made on a very small budget using a cast of local unknowns. The picture is very cheap looking and the jokes are beyond corny. Whether or not some of this was intentional or not is really hard to say, but regardless the film is horrible. In the movie's defense it sports a 'G' rating which means it was intended for family or kids audiences at the time of its release and there are moments in the film that probably appealed to kids when it was made, but time has not been kind to the picture and it's difficult to imagine today's children being interested. Adults might enjoy some of the pop culture references that the movie is loaded with, although the John Wayne inspired police Captain is so far removed from the actual John Wayne that you have to wonder who chose to cast this unusually wimpy man in the part. Lance D. Hayes, who has writer and director credits in the film, plays Beau and is a little better than some of the other people he appears with but it's obvious in spots that many of the people are reading off of cue cards.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that the production values are just as bad as the performances in the film. When the monkey is dragged around it's obvious that the gorilla suit has been filled with stuffing of some sort. A supporting character with an eye for the ladies is shown with what looks like painted ping-pong balls in his sockets every time a cute girl walks by. We see the same police car from a few different angles in one scene that attempts to convince us that an entire squad has been dispatched. And then there's the inordinate amount of Pizza Hut footage. At one point, at a gun show, a man is scared out of his pants when he turns around and, expecting to see his partner, sees a gorilla. To demonstrate this, a dummy of some sort is yanked up towards a rooftop to the sound of a slide whistle. The camera cuts to the ground where his pants now lay empty.
Those who crave bottom of the barrel production values and completely amateurish productions might get a kick out of the film but even then, as a bad movie fan, this one was tough to finish. The highlight of the film is the 'shot in Simianscope' note at the beginning, a parody of the 'Shawscope' screen that would open some of the Shaw Brothers Studio's pictures. It should also be noted that although the title of the movie is King Kung Fu there isn't really much kung fu in the film. There are a couple of scenes but it's not the focus of the picture. Maybe more footage of a guy in a gorilla suit beating up people from Kansas would have made for a better picture, who can say, but the title sets you up to expect a lot of fight scenes which aren't even there.
The DVD Video: Surprisingly enough, King Kung Fu is presented in a 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that shows off the film in what appears to be its original theatrical aspect ratio. The colors are a bit on the flat side and there's some grain present throughout but by and large the movie doesn't look horrible. Some shots are a little softer looking than others but in all likelihood that's a problem inherent in the source material rather than with the transfer itself. There aren't any problems with edge enhancement, although there are some mild compression artifacts. It's far from reference quality but it's watchable enough even if parts of it looks a little washed out. The English language Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack has a bit of hiss here and there but otherwise is of reasonably quality. You won't have any problems understanding the dialogue and the levels seem to be properly balanced. The score is loud enough to add impact to a few scenes but doesn't overpower any of the performers. There's a bit of fluctuation here and there and the odd warble in the mix but for an older, low budget film it's fine. Aside from a basic main menu screen and chapter selection the only supplement on this release is the film's completely bizarre original theatrical trailer. Anyone looking for a serious cinematic message will be sorely disappointed but bad movie fans should find a whole lot to love about King Kung Fu. If a man in a monkey suit running around Wichita sounds entertaining to you, and you don't mind cornball seventies humor, then give this one a rental otherwise, keep on walking... there's nothing to see here.
Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.
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