Review for Big Trouble in Little China

If you want a great film, there didn't seem to be anything better than John Carpenter in the 1980s. It seemed like he was able to turn his hand at anything. He had already conquered the Horror genre with Halloween, Science-Fiction was mastered with The Thing and the amazing They Live and now he took on the mix of Fantasy and Martial Arts with Big Trouble in Little China. This is a time capsule of the 1980s: Big hair, an awesome soundtrack, a wise cracking hero, practical effects and some amazing action.

Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) is a truck driver who seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. On his way to collect a debt from friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), they stop to pick up Chi's fiancee Miao Yin who is arriving from China. On the way she is kidnapped by a street gang and this (along with many other mishaps) leads her into the hands of Lo Pan (James Hong) a legendary sorcerer who is looking to use her in his plot to regain his youth and power again. He is aided by The Three Storms, who are mystical beings as well as an army of warriors at his command.

Burton and Chi try to rescue her with the help of lawyer Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall) and magician Egg Shen (Victor Wong) in a battle to save Miao Yin and possibly the world too. What follows is an funny, action packed mix of kung-fu, magic and good old fashioned guts.

The first thing about this film is that it is not one to be taken seriously. If you go into this film expecting a realistic martial arts flick or action then you will probably be disappointed. This is a ridiculous, over the top film in every aspect. The action ranges from amazing set pieces and martial arts fight choreography that you would expect in any Jackie Chan film mixed with the kind of action you would usually see Stallone or Schwarzenegger pulling off. The humour helps this, with Russell almost in a Han Solo role of wise-cracking hero.

The rest of the cast, particularly the always wonderful James Hong that many will recognise as Po's father from Kung Fu Panda, and Victor Wong is great. Cattrall puts in a typical spunky performance that I would have expected and anyone who only knows her from Sex and the City may be surprised seeing her here. The rest of the cast are wonderful at what they do and the Three Storms are very creepy as Lo Pan's supernatural henchmen.

Most of the effects still hold up and though I'd be lying if I said they all do, they work well with what they had to work with at the time. There is a mix of stop motion, green screen and basic CGI that works well with the film. This is the kind of film which, if remade (and no doubt they will at some point), would be top to toe with awful CGI.

The film itself is hugely enjoyable and not just as a nostalgia kick, but as a genuinely enjoyable and simple action/fantasy/martial arts hybrid. Not many films can pull that off, but this film does. I will agree that the film is as camp as it can be and to some extent they may overdo it at times, but I still can't help but enjoy it. This is a film to shut the brain off for. No plot twists, no learning, no having to keep up with characters, this is a film that you could watch half way through and still be able to follow what's going on. Very few films can say that.

For fans of the film and new comers there is a wealth of extras on the Blu-ray. Now it is true that most of them were on the previous 2-disk DVD release, but there are still much to enjoy here.

New interviews with Carpenter, Russell, Cinematographer Dean Cundey, Producer Larry Franco and Fight/Stunt Choreographer Jeff Imada are fine with them all adding nice bits and pieces to the film and how it was made. I do think that some should have been

Richard Edlund discusses the special effects, which seems like an older interview, but it is still fascinating to listen to. Edlund (who won Oscars for the orginal Star Wars Trilogy) discusses all the major effects shots and how they were achieved. One amazing fact was that the Eyeball Spy Creature that spies for Lo Pan cost $100,000!? When to be honest I thought it looked awful and one of the worst effects of the film. It's shame that there isn't more of this and it is surprising that no one has done a career retrospective film with him as looking at his IMDB and the films he has done it's almost every great effects film that was ever made.

Deleted Scenes and Extended Ending are all fine, with most seemingly cut for time or pacing, but some explanation or a commentary for what the scene was supposed to do or didn't do would have been better. A Making of from when the film was made is fine, but an update with people (even if it was fans) looking back at the film would have been better too.

The commentary by Carpenter and Russell is fine, but I think it's the same one from the previous version and so if you have that then there's nothing new here. The Trailers, TV Spots and Gallery do prove Kurt Russell correct in the commentary that no one had any idea how to market this film. There also includes an Isolated score option if you like that kind of thing.

Big Trouble in Little China is a film that I enjoy more each time I watch it. It's one of those cult classic films that everyone loves in retrospect, but then are surprised when they hear how badly it bombed (much like Carpenter's The Thing). This is the kind of film I could watch at any time and on this new Blu-ray transfer it means that it just looks even better. As old Jack Burton would say when someone tells you they want to watch a film, you look them square in the eye and say: Go watch Big Trouble in Little China.