Big Trouble in Little China

One of the Best Maverick, B-Movie Directors Ever, John Carpenter has Gained Legions of Fans and has Attained an Almost Deity Status that, say, Roger Corman Never Could, Mostly because of Home Video and the Internet.

He has Directed a lot of Entertaining Movies, mostly Outside the Hollywood System and has Always been Comfortable Making Low to Mid Budget Movies with that Carpenter Vision. He has made Sure Enough Classics, a Few Mediocre (although His Cult would never admit it) Movies, and a Handful of Bad Ones (Blasphemy).

This is One that when First Released was Unfairly Maligned, Dismissed, and Outright Blasted by the Critics. It was Ignored at the Box Office and was a Big Flop. But the Director Never thought He was in Big Trouble. He just Continued Making Movies as if Nothing Ever Happened. This Film is Part of the Carpenter Canon and has become a Cult Favorite.

It is a High Energy Hoot of a Movie. The Director's Homage to those Mystical Asian Movies Full of Sorcery, Fun and Fantasy, Combined with an Over the Top Take on Marital Arts and Monsters. This was a Colorful, Costumed Creation Done with Wire Works and Real Life Make Up with a Minimal Use of the Primitive CGI Available. It is Entertaining as All Get Out.

This is one of the wildest stories ever: a cartoon come to life and a mixture of an old-time serial with modern special-effects with bold colors all the way through.

This movie is pure tongue-in-cheek. One just has to take nothing seriously in here and just go along on the wild ride. From the nonsense mystical Chinese sorcery that is taken so reverently, to the American hero "Jack Burton" (Kurt Russell) who displays the fearless macho man, to combatants flying through the air (this was 15 years before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed), to one exotic character and situation after another - it's all absurd fun.

Russell plays his role to the hilt, playing his favorite kind of role when he was younger: brash, bold and an ignoramus who fears absolutely nothing. His lines are deliberately corny and one can bet he had a lot of fun making this movie. He even gets in a few good comedic lines. His partner, Dennis Dunn, is a likable guy with a devilish grin on his face and Kim Cattrell plays the more modern damsel-in-distress role to the hilt, too.

They could have lightened this up a bit on the action - it gets to be too much at times - but the movie is just slightly over an hour-and-half. It still wore me out the first few times I saw it.

All in all: ludicrous fun, a kind of Indiana Jones in Chinatown adventure flick.

What can one say. The movie plays like one of those great old comic books you read as a kid. The dialogue is so cartoonish that you expect to see balloons appear above the characters heads. The acting is excellent, with everyone taking a tongue in cheek approach and obviously having a good time making the film. Some of the best fight scenes in recent memory, with everyone "kung-fu fighting" at the drop of a hat. Kurt Russel is a hoot as the more than slightly dumb macho hero. Cartoon violence minus the gore, humourous special effects, evil magicians, green eyed damsels in distress, even a monster or two.

A great film for a night of light movies! See it if you get a chance!

I EMPHATICALLY recommend Big Trouble in Little China, but I must say that if you didn't grow up with this movie, I can see being very entertained but not in awe of it. I and many others like me repeatedly viewed this film throughout childhood and still love it just as much now as then. Nowadays, a new viewer who is past puberty will regard it with a more skeptical eye, comparing it to things it shouldn't be compared to. Some newcomers might get it right away, but I don't think they get the same thrill out of it as they might have as a child in the eighties. That's why this film needs to be shared with children (especially boys), who hopefully won't be too jaded by flashy nineties schlock to be impressed, which I think is exactly the problem for adults who are new to the movie. Perhaps it can't be taught, the reverence I mean, but the movie isn't any less fun and awesome for new viewers, just less magical. I would rate it with stars or something but that's like trying to grade your own religion. I love you, Mr. Burton.

Give this movie a ten, it has more excitement and pure fun than almost any other, John Carpenter has constructed a masterpiece. This movie is awesome, It's got Kurt Russell at his best. Every line that he says just rocks. This picture is the most unique film that had come around in years when it was released. Nothing comes close to its ingenuity or classic mixture of Chinese mythology. If you don't watch it I will personally search out and destroy you. Like some dude up there said, just chill with your popcorn snacks and drinks, and saddle up, because it's going to be one hell of a ride!