Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5.0 stars Reviewed by Chuck Dowling
Cast: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton, Donald Li, Jerry Hardin Written by: Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein Adapted by: W.D. Richter Directed by: John Carpenter Running Time: 99 minutes
"I'd go with you but..." "I know, there's a problem with your face." --- Typical (and hilarious) dialogue exchange between lawyer Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) and trucker Jack Burton, in the action-comedy Big Trouble in Little China.
Martial arts, fantasy, action, comedy, romance, drama, science fiction, horror... all these genres finally come together in one movie. John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China is that movie, and it sits along side Halloween and The Thing as one of his best films.
Truck driver Jack Burton (Kurt Russell, playing the role with just a touch of John Wayne) rolls into Chinatown and wins a sizable cash sum while gambling with his friend Wang (Dennis Dun). Wang has some business to attend to before he can pay Jack, so Jack tags along to ensure he gets his winnings. Jack and Wang wind up in the middle of mystical war between good and evil, with a 2000 year old demon sorcerer named Lo Pan (James Hong) leading the charge for evil.
I remember discovering this little gem of a movie at the discount theater in my town, right before school started up for the fall. After seeing it, I went back countless times... making sure both friends and family came along as well. What a great time at the movies this was.
Carpenter says that what he likes most about this film is how somewhere along the way, the hero becomes the sidekick, the sidekick becomes the hero, and the two are never aware of the switch. This is absolutely the film's main appeal... contrary to what studio execs might have thought at the time (they requested Carpenter add the scene which begins the film to make Burton seem more like a hero). It's a blast to see these two character-types reversed. It works wonders for what might have otherwise been a simple Indiana Jones clone.
It's interesting to note Kurt Russell's performance here. While he's no Robert DeNiro, Russell is a very fine actor in his own right. Just take for example the five times Russell has teamed up with Carpenter: Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., Elvis, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. While all but one of those films is an action film, Russell's performance completely differs in each one. Of the five, Jack Burton might just be my favorite.
As a sidenote, the mid-80s really excelled in some great looking lightning and other electrical effects. Movies like this one, Weird Science and My Science Project all featured this really well done type of effect (using nothing more than simple animation basically) that just can't be properly duplicated by today's CGI workstations.
Big Trouble in Little China is available on DVD in an excellent special edition package from Fox Home Entertainment. This two-disc set features a number of quality extras that should satisfy even the die hard fans of this film. The first disc features the film in its original widescreen theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, anamorphically enhanced. The film's transfer looks incredibly good, and the audio is equally impressive. The menu screens are nifty here as well, recreating the main set from the end of the film and having the menu selections interact with it. The main extra feature on this first disc is a full length commentary track with director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell.
If you're familiar with the commentary tracks on The Thing and for Escape From New York (laserdisc only at this time, unfortunately), then you're in for another treat with this one. Best nugget of info I learned here is that the original script was for a western (!) until writer/director W.D. Richter (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) adapted it to a modern day setting. Had this film been made as a western, I believe it would have successfully melded every single genre of filmmaking.
Watching and commenting on the film is essentially abandoned about halfway through, so while its not exactly screen specific, listening to these two men reminisce is simply delightful. Russell gets in a couple of anonymous shots at his (then) upcoming disaster 3000 Miles To Graceland, and poses an interesting theory late in the track about the current state of movies today and how many young directors have no vision. It's strange though that Carpenter agrees with Russell's assessment, since this was Carpenter's last "great" film to date. Carpenter also spends a lot of time mentioning Kurt Russell's film Captain Ron.
Disc two features a number of additional extras. First up is a rather large collection of deleted scenes, alternate takes, and an extended ending, all presented in what might be the best way I can think of to present such material. Each selection is first given a text screen, explaining the deleted material and why it was cut. Then, many times you're given the option of watching either the workprint or the video master version, which gives you a choice of quality and a choice between seeing just the deleted footage by itself, or as it would have been fit into a particular scene. Great stuff here.
A video interview with special effects guru Richard Edlund is also on the second disc, and it makes great use of both the still gallery feature and the multiple angle feature. I rarely find still galleries worthwhile, but the minds behind this disc found a way to do it right. Edlund is filmed in a sort of "TV news" manner where he's on one side of the screen, leaving empty space on the other side for graphics. It's in this space that you'll see a montage of special effects stills, mostly relevant to what Edlund is talking about at that given moment. Then, by using the angle feature on your DVD player, you can select to see the still montage full frame, while the audio of the interview plays underneath. Great, great stuff.
Also on the second disc is an absolutely goofy and typically 1980s music video for the film's theme song "Big Trouble in Little China" (which plays over the film's end credits). The song is performed by "The Coupe de Villes", a group consisting of John Carpenter, Nick Castle (Halloween's Michael Myers) and Tommy Lee Wallace (director of Halloween III: Season of the Witch). My only question: Did this actually receive airtime somewhere? I can't imagine that it would have, as it really helps to define the word "uncool". In any case, it's a rare extra feature related to the film and its fun to own.
Rounding out the extras on the second disc are three trailers for the film (one of which is in Spanish), six TV spots (including one for Pay Per View), biographies for the cast and crew, a still gallery, and two magazine articles from the time of the film's release. The articles are the only part of this release that even comes close to being considered a negative, but only because the text is a little too small to read (on most televisions anyway). Hidden on the second disc (although not hard to find) are additional trailers for Aliens and The Fly in a gallery called "Summer 1986", and screenshots from the Commodore 64 computer game version of the film.
Fox had high hopes for Big Trouble in Little China (it was their July 4th weekend release in 1986) and apparently due to a poor advertising campaign, the film wasn't as successful as it should have been. So it was surprising that they've given this film a super-deluxe DVD package. If you've never seen the film before, definitely give these discs a spin. It's a great set for a fun flick... and is one of the best DVD releases of 2001. PG-13 -- Chuck Dowling, Editor in Chief - The Jacksonville Film Journal Specializing in reviews of DVDs, cult favorites and the indie scene. http://www.jaxfilmjournal.com/ Proud Member of the Online Film Critics Society - http://www.ofcs.org/
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