Pretty Good

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Blending the elements of action, fantasy, adventure, comedy as well as subtle shades of western & horror into one fun, farcical & frivolous entertainer, John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China is his first foray into martial arts filmmaking, and is a non-stop thrill ride that throws anything & everything on screen without caring about whether it will make any sense or not.The story of Big Trouble in Little China follows an all-American truck driver who accompanies his Chinese friend to the airport to receive his green-eyed fiancée but when she's abducted by a Chinese street gang, the two go after the group to rescue her but are inadvertently dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle where they confront an ancient sorcerer who's got plans for the girl.Directed by John Carpenter who's best known for his works in the horror genre, Big Trouble in Little China fulfils the notable director's long-standing desire to make a martial arts flick, and the passion, imagination & enthusiasm with which he's crafted this action-packed feature makes sure that the plot's momentum or the viewers' interest never fizzles out even when the unfolding set of events stop making sense.The set pieces do add flavours of China to its location & setting, and it's all illustrated in a detailed manner. Camera-work is fluid & frenetic and is always in tune with the scene requirements, Editing never lets the story come to a halt, Visual effects may have worked back then but it looks horribly dated today & almost threw me out of the movie. And Carpenter comes up with another cool score that only adds to its adventurous vibe.Coming to the performances, the film marks yet another collaboration between the director & Kurt Russell while Dennis Dun, Kim Cattrall, James Hong, Victor Wong etc make up the supporting cast. Russell delivers a terrific performance as Jack Burton, a character who looks tough as nails but is more or less hot air in actuality. Dun builds his input slowly but goes into high-flying mode in the story's final act while the remaining cast ably play their roles.On an overall scale, Big Trouble in Little China is an adventure fantasy that not only embraces its ridiculous premise but also runs with it. Weird, wicked & whacky, it's always on the move, makes splendid use of humour, is absurdly comical at times, and offers a good dose of laughs & silliness throughout its runtime. A slapstick, ludicrous & lighthearted delight that works best when you sit back, relax & enjoy it for what it is, Big Trouble in Little China is not my type of movie but it proves Carpenter's ability to handle projects that lie outside of his forte. Worth a shot.

Big Trouble In Little China casts Kurt Russell as your average working man truck driver who stops to help a damsel in distress Suzee Pai who is the fiancé of Denis Dun, Russell's friend. She's kidnapped and he loses his truck. Later on investigative reporter Kim Cattrall is kidnapped as well. Both of these women happen to have green eyes, in Asian women that's like finding the proverbial four leaf clover.Some very ancient, like 2000 year old ancient spirit needs a green eyed girl to make him mortal with a body so he can taste human pleasure again. Dun wants his girl back and Russell wants his truck back so it's into the mysteries of the inscrutable east searching for both women.John Carpenter reunites with Kurt Russell who starred in his Escape From New York. This time without eye patch and in a much lighter vein Russell looks like he's having a great old time as the ostensible hero of this piece. He has very little patience with all the rituals and rigmarole the Chinese martial artists are going through. But the other worldly creatures are a bit much for him.It looks like John Carpenter was in many spots doing special effects for the sake of same. That's all right as this a comedy. Poor Kurt he's trying so hard to learn the players in Chinatown. Someone should have handed the poor man a scorecard.Big Trouble In Little China is fast paced and easy to take and a lot of fun for the viewer.

This cult classic is one of carpenters best And without doubt one of Kurt Russell's best movies It's a movie that just works on every level With a cast that just nails it its one of those rare movies That has a cast that is just perfect It really found its audience on VHS and continues to today on DVD and Blue-Ray The movie center's around Jack Burton (Russell) and his bizarre conflict within, and underneath, the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown Lo-Pan an evil sorcerer kidnaps his best friend Wang Chi's fiancé He and Wang Chi set off to get back Wang Chi's fiancé With the help of a few friends along the way The great thing about this movie and what makes it so funny Is the movie is meant to be an action movie but it's got so much comedy What I love about it is despite Jack Burton being Put up as the hero and Wang Chi the side kick it's actually the other way Wang Chi is really the guy who tends to get the two out of trouble Why Burton well Burton is basically John Wayne without the Brain You must see it it's a classic

A John Carpenter's classic, this movie is so close to perfect it's unbelievable. Not as classic cinema, not as biting satire or high drama, but as fantasy comedy or a parody of fantasy adventure movies, it's the best I've ever seen. Everybody has fun in this movie. Russell shines as an Indiana Jones/Snake Plissken parody (a parody of Snake? Yes, indeed...). Carpenter's script is, as always, a combination of light action, horror and fantasy, with his usual meticulous research into his subject matter. Yes, all of the core fantasy elements are taken from Chinese fairy tales and mythology. Great cheesy lines, wonderful Day-Glo set design, some very weird hells, sloppy but enthusiastic wire-work and a furry monster that just won't go away make this a classic.Russell takes advantage of Gary Goldman and David Weinstein's script to deliver the best comic performance of his career as his swaggering trucker Jack Burton blunders through Chinatown in an attempt to recover his stolen truck and his friend's kidnapped fiancée. Masterminding the bad guys is demon/ghost David Lo Pan, played wryly by James Hong. Hong parodies practically his whole career in this role, and has some priceless lines in so doing. His motive in the kidnapping is to marry a girl with green eyes, which will appease his demon-god and restore his lost vitality. The plot grows more absurd and hilarious as the movie progresses and Burton and his companion, Wang (Dennis Dun) enlist the aid of local magician Egg Shen (Victor Wong) to thwart Lo Pan. Russell and Dun are perfectly over-the-top in their deliveries, and they provide constant laughs to propel the movie rapidly along to its conclusion. It is very hard to find someone who doesn't like this movie, and with good reason. The film is so novel and so funny that it can be enjoyed over and over again a real treasure.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.