Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Dark Jedi September 17, 2014

★ 7/10

I think this movie was marketed as an adventure movie when it came out. I can imagine that some people were disappointed if they were indeed expecting a real adventure movie. I remember being one of those people when I first saw this movie. However, if you approach it seeing what it is, that is a comedy or at least an action-comedy, then it is actually a quite enjoyable movie. The entire movie is utterly ridiculous. The screaming, posturing Asian martial art champion parodies especially so. Everything in this movie makes you laugh as long as you do not try to take the movie seriously. The action scenes are often absolutely hilarious. They are also quite well done and choreographed actually. The special effects are of course utterly outdated but they are good enough for this movie. There is a story as well but it doesn’t really matter much. It is just there to tie the funny sce…

Gimly October 4, 2018

★ 6/10

_Big Trouble in Little China_ is not the movie it is marketed to be. But it is good. You wait the ten minutes it takes for the absurdity to kick in and then you ride the ridiculous ride until the closing credits. _Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

John Chard March 5, 2019

★ 8/10

Ol' Jack always says... what the hell? Out of 20th Century Fox, Big Trouble in Little China is directed by John Carpenter and stars Kurt Russell, Kim Catrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong & Victor Wong. The adaptation is by W.D. Richter with the screenplay from Gary Goldman & David Z. Weinstein. Dean Cundey photographs and Alan Howarth doubles up with Carpenter for the musical score. Truck driver Jack Burton (Russell) agrees to take his friend Wang Chi (Dun) to pick up his fiancée at the airport. Little does he know that he is about to get involved in a supernatural battle between good and evil beneath San Francisco's Chinatown district. A box office failure upon its release, and known to be the moment when John Carpenter gave up on Hollywood, Big Trouble in Little China has gathered "cult" momentum over the years and shows up rather well these days. Blending Chinese mysticism with c…

JPV852 November 27, 2019

★ 7/10

Enjoyable enough adventure flick with another charismatic performance from Kurt Russell. The plot certainly felt disjointed at times (and one sequence didn't really advance the plot all that much) but still had a lot of fun. Not one of Carpenter's best nor a standout amongst 1980s movies, however still liked it well enough. **3.5/5**

r96sk August 1, 2024

★ 5/10

'Big Trouble in Little China' didn't entertain me. There isn't anything about it that I really like, to be honest. It isn't a truly terrible movie by any means, but the story didn't take hold of me and the characters and their actors weren't all that watchable. I wasn't sold on the plot's set-up and then when it goes crackers it was too goofy for me to enjoy too. It's one of the weakest Kurt Russell performances that I've seen, and I'm someone who rates that guy fairly highly as an actor. Elsewhere, Kim Cattrall is kinda forgettable, while James Hong (unique voice aside) doesn't get given enough to stand out. The make-up/special effects, particularly for the latter, didn't do it for me either, likewise with the humour. A quick glance at Wikipedia suggests this had competition with 'The Golden Child'. Well, if we're comparing, then that one did it better, albeit only by a relativ…

Scott October 15, 2024

This is a fun, almost campy movie; don't try to think about it too hard. Rather, enjoy it for what it is. It has an almost folklore-ish feel to it, as if what's being presented is more of a tongue-in-cheek tale (which it is fully aware of) and as such some aspects _maaay_ have been exaggerated. And if you watch it in this vein, I think you will enjoy it quite a bit. But the second you start to take it seriously, it will crumble to pieces. It's entertaining to watch. The characters are very large (and sometimes goofy/campy) and the plot heads in the correct direction most of the time. This movie flew under the radar during its original release (not helped at all by being released 16 days before Aliens...) but had found extremely solid footing in home rentals/home video. I remember my first viewing of this movie -- I knew nothing about it going in, I just sat there and watc…