A Mystical, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Kung Fu, Monster, Ghost Story!

Big Trouble in Little China is like every genre mixed together in one weird package. If there’s any 80’s action movie that always left me puzzled it was this. Yet I never made the leap to watch it at any point when I was younger. Until its cult status grew. John Carpenter puts his signature stamp on Big Trouble in Little China with unpredictable action, creative music, and the always cool Kurt Russell. Influencing plenty of media in the process. Though its initial failure left Carpenter disillusioned.

Russell is chatty truck driving San Francisco outsider Jack Burton. The guy that seems like the lead, but he’s only in it for his truck. Yet Jack is still willing to help his friend Wang Chi through the increasingly weird underbelly of Chinatown. One that hides ancient Chinese mysticism, setting off a crazy action/adventure packed with absurd comedy, exciting kung fu battles, unexpectedly fearsome monsters, and one bizzare ghost story. Big Trouble in Little China is the kind of 80’s flick that asks you to accept the world you’re in no matter how strange it gets.

Jack and Wang search for Wang’s green eyed fiance Miao Yin when she’s kidnapped by a dangerous street gang. Then things get complicated when magic is introduced in the form of three lightning throwing warriors with giant straw hats. James Hong effectively plays Lo Pan, an evil Fu Manchu-like sorcerer with plans for using a green eyed girl to make himself mortal. Jack and Wang team up with equally green eyed Gracie Law played by Kim Cattrall. Together with friend Eddie, reporter Margo, and mystic bus driver Egg, they make a daring rescue. Monsters float around, people explode, and Jack bumbles his way to victory. Big Trouble in Little China is B movie fun that can last for generations.

Jack and Wang rescue Gracie and Miao