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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 4952
Released: August 27, 2002 |
| Our Price: $4.14 |
| Used Price: $2.74 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Directed by thrill master John Carpenter, this edgo-of-your seat adventrue stars Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a tough-talking, wisecracking truck driver whose hum-drum life on the road takes a sudden supernatural tailspin when his best friend's fiancee is kidnapped. Speeding to the rescue, Jack finds himself deep beneath San Francisco's Chinatown, in a murky, creature-filled world ruled by Lo Pan, a 2000-year-old magician who mercilessly presides over an empire of spirits. Dodging demons and facing baffling terrors, Jack battles his way through Lo Pan's dark domain in a full-throttle, action-riddled ride to rescue the girl. Co-starring Kim Cattrall, this effects-filled sci-fi spectacle speeds to an incredible, twist-taking finish.
Description of Big Trouble in Little China (Single Disc Edition):
Once you settle into the realization that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. --Tom Keogh
Big Trouble in Little China (Single Disc Edition) Reviews:
John Carpenter At His Funniest 
2009-09-12 - I have never been sure whether this film was originally meant to be scary or not. Cartainly it has all the elements of a good ghost story. The inescapable fact is simply that this film is the funniest thing that John Carpenter ever did.
The story follows the adventures of Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), a freelance trucker, who finds himself mixed up in a gang war in San Francisco's China Town. Things turn supernatural when the god Lo Pan appears with his servants - the three storms: Ligthing, Thunder and Wind. Jack and his friend Wang Che find must rescue Wang's fiancé whom Lo Pan has chosen for his bride from a supernatural underworld lurking below a warehouse.
This film has horror elements but the overall effect is storybookish in many ways. Though there are some sort-of grusome scenes, there is nothing really bloody about this film. The film also features some really spectacular Kung Fu battles of the kind to be made popular in films like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' which would come much later.
The only thing keeping me from giving this film five stars is the presence of Kim Cattrall whose acting I have always found stiff and unbelievable. Thankfully, her performance is good enough not to get in the way of the rest of the brilliant actors including James Hong as Lo Pan.
Big fun. 
2009-08-20 - Directed by John Carpenter ("Halloween," "The Thing") and starring frequent collaborator, Kurt Russell, "Big Trouble in Little China" tells the tale of Jack Burton, a trucker who leads a normal and somewhat uneventful life. His only thrills in life are talking to his CB radio and petty gambling. All that changes, however, when his best friend's fiancé is kidnapped and he is thrust into the Chinatown underworld as an unlikely hero on a mission, perhaps for the sake of friendship or to ensure a pay-day. The film doesn't really make that part very clear. What is clear by the end of the film, however, is what a wild and strange ride you've just been through!
As can be expected, all the John Carpenter trademarks are present in "Big Trouble in Little China," even if the film itself is a departure from the director's previous work. From the signature score composed by Carpenter himself (along with Alan Howarth) to the stunning visuals (giant balls of green flame, anyone?) and the smooth pacing, all the right ingredients are there to make this a John Carpenter classic. Add in a knock-out performance by Kurt Russell as the hapless, reluctant hero, Jack Burton, and you've got one of the finest cult classics the 80's has to offer.
Russell plays the blue-collar anti-hero almost too well, sporting a mullet and appropriate wardrobe to boot. While Burton may be a far-cry from the over-confident Snake Plissken (see: "Escape from New York"), he is as interesting of a character, and is a stark and rather refreshing contrast to the often over-blown action heroes of the time. Perhaps that's why the film failed to make an impact when it first saw a release over 23 years ago. As it stands today, though, it's a film made by a confident director at the top of his game, with some wild ideas (which would ultimately bring his career crashing down a good decade or so later) and a brilliant leading man in Russell. The action, the fight sequences, the special effects and even the plot are just too much fun for one trip. The movie might not take itself too seriously, but make no mistake: John Carpenter means business with his film and Russell helps bring it to fruition in one of his finest two-hours. Truly, "Big Trouble in Little China" is pure fun, and is the kind of film you'll come back to again and again, a true classic in a league of its own.
The Best Movie Ever Made?
2009-07-21 - If you take this movie seriously the way you would a serious drama or if judge it on the terms in which you would say "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" or "Lord of the Rings" your being a total moron. But YOU know that. And part of you knows this movie is even better than those. Well in a way. Yeah that's right. Because this movie KICKS --- and rocks your world every time you see it. I'm not intoxicated right now. In terms of sheer entertainment value, it cannot be surpassed. It has it all: Black magic, wizards, Chinatown street gangs, demons, a truck driver, dungeons, monsters, hot chicks, martial arts, explosions, swords, guns, knives, black blood of the Earth, etc.
Yes file under: Cult classic, camp, kitsch, b-movie, "good bad movie"(-love that one), great 1980s film, or whatever. It a personal favorite from my childhood and adulthood and an American classic.
A word on one reaction to this fine classic of American cinema: I love Roger Ebert OK? But man sometimes he really is such a p.c. liberal dork (I say that as a guy often *very* sympathetic to liberals). Ebert's complaining about the 'stereotypes' helps me understand why people hate liberals.
Writer David Sirota offers a fine example of first rate film interpretation with his sociopolitical analysis:
Jack Burton symbolizes the United States while Lo Pan and his minions are "the Rest of the World, and more specifically, the Non-Aligned Countries, otherwise known as the Axis of Evil". Sirota says "the tongue-in-cheek flavor of the film suggests Carpenter is using the Burton character to deliberately ridicule American hubris (and let's not forget the very end of the movie just before the credits roll: the crazy-eyed demon about to get his final revenge on Burton could be the world taking revenge on that hubris)". Big Trouble in China is "a prescient warning - one that's more relevant today than when it first came out. China and India are both on the ascent economically and militarily, and the global power game has gone stateless and transnational".
Wow. It really makes you think.....it really does. Much more fun than reading Noam Chomsky.
(I read that Sirota piece awhile back and just ripped that summary from wiki.) A satirical send-up of American hegemony and prophetic warning, "Big Trouble in Little China" does indeed have it all.
7 stars.
Also, it has the baddest wizard of them all -Lo Pan- the baddest of all movie wizards (played by the incredible James Hong).
Big Trouble in Little China
2009-06-09 - This Movie is the best even thought it is an older movie it is good clean family fun!!!
You know what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like this?
2009-06-04 - This is Jack Burton in the Pork Chop Express, and I'm talkin' to whoever's listenin' out there.
This is my favorite movie of all time. I watch this movie about once a month. This movie did not have a huge budget, and was never intended to be Shogun. This was a box office failure, did not do well in the theater, critics bashed it, but has found a fan base as it has been available for home viewing. This was a fun script, good cast, and a good time.
The film takes you from a Chinatown kidnapping to an underground world of old sorcery, and you will laugh the whole way. Please check this movie out
Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."
