Member bamboo spear Posted November 13, 2007 Member Share Posted November 13, 2007 At least I think that was the name. It was an early 90's show about a Caucasion ninja in Hawaii, kind of like the old "The Master" Sho Kosugi show. I barely remember it, but read that it may hit DVD eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted November 15, 2007 Member Share Posted November 15, 2007 OMG I remember seeing a few episodes of the series. It starred Jeffrey Meek as Raven, the titular character. Kind of like a martial arts Magnum P.I. and Lee "Six Million Dollar Man" Majors was in the series as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoBo Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 I am currently watching this series. I got a all episodes on 6 dvds. Too bad the commercials was not edited out. Seems like it was recorded using VHS. Honolulu in Hawaii sure does look nice. It made me want to travel there after watching a few episodes. I think Jeffrey Meek is a good martial artist and actor. Each episode usually have 3-4 fight scenes.Jeffrey gets occasionally doubled for kicks and some stunts. He gets doubled for things like that kick he does against the 3 guys in the intro. I think it has some good fights scenes. I sometimes find it surprisingly violent for a regularly network channel series. Intro can be seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZaCAsuKJD0 ________ Ipad Cases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted February 12, 2010 Member Share Posted February 12, 2010 Jeff was given a crash course in karate by Billy Blanks for the series. I remember the pilot was fun, but the subsequent episodes were formulaic tv action filler. It had the "You hit me, now I hit you" choreography style. And even as a white guy, I have to ask: did the hero have to be a white guy trained to be a ninja? Why not cast a Japanese actor? Of course, it was on CBS, the same network that sabotaged MARTIAL LAW. Trivia: Jeff played REMO WILLIAMS in the unsold tv pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoBo Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 He knew martial arts before making this series. Has a black belt in Aikido and Tae Kwon Do. I guess Blanks helped with training as such and teaching him how to fight on screen. Since it was the first time he used his martial arts skills on tv/film. ________ Glass Bongs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member danthemandmv Posted February 12, 2010 Member Share Posted February 12, 2010 I really liked this show(but of course,as is the case with TOO MANY shows I get into it went off the air rather quickly...)Jeffrey Meek made a pretty engaging lead though it would've been cool to have the part played by an Asian.And Lee Majors was a major hoot as good ol' boy private detective Herman''Ski'' Jablonski! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member bamboo spear Posted February 12, 2010 Author Member Share Posted February 12, 2010 I remember that I had a broken VCR so I couldn't record when this show was on. I was working evenings at the mall, going to junior college, and also studying judo and aikido and trying to date chicks, so I hardly ever saw it. But I remember reading the Eric Lustbader books at the same time and really wanting to check it out. Maybe I can pick up some bootlegs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted February 13, 2010 Member Share Posted February 13, 2010 He knew martial arts before making this series. Has a black belt in Aikido and Tae Kwon Do. I guess Blanks helped with training as such and teaching him how to fight on screen. Since it was the first time he used his martial arts skills on tv/film. In an interview with People magazine during the show's brief success (it was big with women for a few months), Meek said he had no martial arts experience. He said the same thing on Entertainment Tonight. Now he probably studied martial arts after the series was cancelled and then got the role on the Mortal Kombat tv series. But before Raven, no experience and it was easy to tell. Kelly Hu also claims to have black belts. Doesn't mean she does. And a friend who grew up with her says she's lying about ever studying martial arts in her youth. Kept Michiko Nishiwaki busy as her double. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoBo Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Strange he said that, because in this interview http://ravenshrine.tripod.com/home.html click on Jeffrey Meek interview on left. He says he began in the early 80`s. That interview is from 2001. "When and how did you originally get into martial arts? Did you have any influences? Early 80's. I wanted to know my body for the stage. I took up Aikido and was hooked. A monk named Kensho Furuya. He has a dojo in downtown LA. Amazing man. Bill Blanks. Bruce Lee. Chan." ________ Honda RA107 specifications Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted February 13, 2010 Member Share Posted February 13, 2010 A monk? Why is a monk teaching Aikido. Must sound more "mystical" for the background. What he says now is not what he said back then. And if you see him in the REMO WILLIAMS pilot, he displays no authentic ability whatsoever. He may have taken lessons in the 80s, but that doesn't mean he was good, proficient or stuck to it very long. He was enthusiastic about learning from Billy Blanks, so I don't doubt that he delved into the arts long after RAVEN. James Caan went nuts for karate after learning it for THE KILLER ELITE, to the extent of having Tak Kubota travel with him everywhere for decades. But in fairness, aikido is not a cinematic friendly art, and taking it isn't going to make you look better on camera. The moves Meek used in RAVEN were taught to him as the series was shot. Jeffrey Donovan has a black belt in aikido, but never displays the art on BURN NOTICE. Instead he opts for karate and jiujitsu moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LoBo Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Ok, that could true. I personally think he looks good doing martial arts on Raven. ________ Paoli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jesse Smooth Posted February 14, 2010 Member Share Posted February 14, 2010 But in fairness, aikido is not a cinematic friendly art. Only Seagal can make it look good, or does he? Jiro Chiba did a good job in Power of Aikido, but you're right, it isn't screen friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dionbrother Posted February 14, 2010 Member Share Posted February 14, 2010 Seagal's fights look good, but there is a lot of quick cutting and multiple angles to to get excitement out of a simple wrist lock and throw. Plus, he throws in karate moves as well with the punches, elbows and low kicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lung Wang Posted January 12, 2016 Member Share Posted January 12, 2016 This was a great show, with really well choreographed Martial Arts scenes. I bought the entire series on DVD from "ioffer". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted January 12, 2016 Member Share Posted January 12, 2016 I remember this...Raven took on Judson Scott, best known for the short-lived 80's sci-fi series The Phoenix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHZNG3TEWkU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted January 12, 2016 Member Share Posted January 12, 2016 Somehow, I expected this thread to be about another Raven... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lung Wang Posted January 13, 2016 Member Share Posted January 13, 2016 Good one, S.E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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