1986 Directed by John Carpenter
When trucker Jack Burton agreed to take his friend, Wang Chi, to pick up his fiancee at the airport, he never expected to get involved in a supernatural battle between good and evil. Wang's fiancee has emerald green eyes, which make her a perfect target for immortal sorcerer Lo Pan and his three invincible cronies. Lo Pan must marry a girl with green eyes so he can regain his physical form.
Kurt Russell Kim Cattrall Dennis Dun James Hong Victor Wong Kate Burton Donald Li Carter Wong Peter Kwong James Pax Suzee Pai Chi Chaoli Jeff Imada Rummel Mor Craig Ng June Kyoto Lu Noel Toy Jade Go Jerry Hardin James Lew Jim Lau Kenny Endoso Stuart Quan Gary Toy George Cheung Jimmy Jue Noble Craig Danny Kwan Min Luong Show All…
Jimmy Nickerson James Lew Jim Lau Jeff Imada Denise Kellogg Kent Hays Eddy Donno Kenny Endoso Mark Giardino George Endoso Debbi A. Davison
Monika Dorfman-Lightstone Eric Lindemann Don J. Bassman Richard Overton Robert Renga Kevin F. Cleary David M. Ice Thomas Causey Hal Sanders Martin Dreffke Lenny Jennings Laja Holland Peter Hubbard David A. Fechtor David Williams
Rescate en el Barrio Chino, John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, Os Aventureiros do Bairro Proibido, Големи неприятности в китайския квартал, Большой переполох в маленьком Китае, Masacre en el Barrio Chino, Golpe en la pequeña China, Wielka Draka w Chińskiej Dzielnicy, Големи неприятности в малкия Китай, Velké nesnáze v Malé Číně, Hvem springer Kineserne For?, Χαμός στην Τσάιναταουν, Rescate en el barrio Chino, Säpinää Chinatownissa, Les Aventures De Jack Burton Dans Les Griffes Du Mandarin, Les Aventures de Jack Burton dans les griffes du Mandarin, צרות גדולות בצ'ינהטאון, Velika gužva u Kineskoj četvrti, Nagy zűr Kis Kínában, Grosso guaio a Chinatown, ゴーストハンターズ, დიდი აურზაური პატარა ჩინეთში, 빅 트러블, As Aventuras de Jack Burton nas Garras do Mandarim, Beleaua mare în China mică, Veľké problémy v Malej Číne, Велика гужва у кинеској четврти, ศึกมหัศจรรย์พ่อมดใต้โลก, Küçük Çin'de Büyük Bela, Великий переполох у малому Китаї, 妖魔大闹唐人街, 妖魔大鬧唐人街
"What's in the flask, Egg? Magic potion?"
"Yeah."
"Thought so, good. What do we do, drink it?"
"Yeah!"
"Good! Thought so."
hm ... i get that carpenter’s intention is to poke fun at stale tropes about east asian mysticism and damsels in distress, but it feels more imitative than subversive. i’m also very very very wary of when a plot revolves around rescuing a woman who spends most of her screen time unconscious (even though Tenet came out 35+ years later i will still call it the Tenet Effect).
“John Carpenter envisioned the film as an inverse of traditional scenarios in action films with a Caucasian protagonist helped by a minority sidekick. Jack Burton, despite his bravado, is constantly portrayed as rather bumbling; in one fight sequence he even knocks himself unconscious before the fight begins. Wang Chi, on the other…
Saw this one in theaters last night, great, great fun, was bouncing in my seat and shadowboxing during the opening credits when that Porkchop Express theme drops. Out of all the American movies made by white people about the exotic orient and the magical powers of Asians, this one is by far the least racist, if for no reason other than the fact that not one, but TWO of the Asian characters actually get pussy, which pretty much never happens in any American movie. Also, it reverses the usual trope by having Kurt Russell as the buffoonish, bumbling, comic relief sidekick to Dennis Dun as the brave, romantic hero.
1) what the actual fuck
2) the abrupt 'creature scene' at the one hour
mark alone warrants at least a 4+ star rating
(and on a similar note, fuck yes to the film's final scene)
3) you must experience The Guardian
4) you must experience the entity which I can
only describe as self-destructive-balloon-man
5) what the actual fuck
93/100
"May the wings of liberty never lose a feather."
Compassionate and caring in a way that can only be explained as a vivid, fantastical John Carpenter romance, with the relationship between Jack Burton and Gracie Law showcasing a delayed attachment by never having enough time to even think about their mutual attraction. The magical, kung-fu action and the witty small talk between characters is raised to astonishing levels by having the two chaotically minded aspects become sublimely intertwined. Character is action and action is character, and Big Trouble in Little China takes adventure to a gleeful level by always trusting the audience to fall under the spell of the cinema. Its opening scene, set around a truck stop/market, takes…
"You're not even gonna kiss her?"
"No"
"I'll see you around!"
"You never know."
Because it's a genre film it'll never carry the same cache as something like "here's looking at you kid" in the public eye, but who cares. The romance between Gracie Law and Jack Burton *is* cinema.
Me watching this as a kid: Jack Burton rocks. He's just like me only bigger and stronger.
John Carpenter: Jack Burton is a bumbling fool. He's the dim-witted and self-aggrandizing comic relief character instead of the true protagonist.
Me: I hope one day I get strong.
93
Few moments in movie-history give me as much pleasure as when Jack Burton and Wang Chi talk gibberish as they stroll right into the bad guy's lair, thinking they got past security. The fact that Jack is holding a home-telephone for some reason is the icing on the cake. A classic in confusion.
Forgive me if I sound upset, but over the past few years I've seen a lot of takes from non-asians talking about asian film and asian people in an awful and, quite frankly, weirdly fetishistic way. Why do I keep seeing people talk about how it's "so so sad and upsetting to me as a foreigner what china has become today BUT(!!!) omg that's totally not a good reason to harass and brutally assault asians even though the criticisms against the country are sooo valid! btw asian films are so special and their country is so beautiful~~" Now, this is of course a grossly exaggerated example, but this is the DNA of a lot of the """discourse""" from the pandemic…
Liked this movie (especially Kurt Russell!) a little bit better on a second watch. Still feels like it’s not really up my alley, and that I wish it leaned way more on the satire. I think Carpenter is always gonna be one of those directors whose work I usually respect more than I actually enjoy it. I watched this at the Mission Tiki drive-in in Montclair and everyone honked when Margo got horny at the end. I love the drive-in.
