Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11154 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Trying to explain the cult appeal of John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China to the uninitiated is no easy task. The plot in a nutshell follows lorry driver Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) into San Francisco's Chinatown, where he's embroiled in street gang warfare over the mythical/magical intentions of would-be god David Lo Pan. There are wire-fu fight scenes, a floating eyeball and monsters from other dimensions. Quite simply it belongs to a genre of its own. Carpenter was drawing on years of chop-socky Eastern cinema tradition, which, at the time of the film's first release in 1986, was regrettably lost on a general audience. Predictably, it bombed.

But now that Jackie Chan and Jet Li have made it big in the West, and Hong Kong cinema has spread its influence across Hollywood, it's much, much easier to enjoy this film's happy-go-lucky cocktail of influences. Russell's cocky anti-hero is easy to cheer on as he "experiences some very unreasonable things" blundering from one fight to another, and lusts after the gorgeously green-eyed Kim Cattrall. The script is peppered with countless memorable lines, too ("It's all in the reflexes"). Originally outlined as a sequel to the equally obscure Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Big Trouble is a bona fide cult cinema delight. Jack sums up the day's reactions perfectly, "China is here? I don't even know what the Hell that means!".

On the DVD: Big Trouble in Little China is released as a special edition two-disc set in its full unedited form. Some real effort has been put into both discs' animated menus, and the film itself is terrific in 2.35:1 and 5.1 (or DTS). The commentary by Carpenter and Russell may not be as fresh as their chat on The Thing, but clearly they both retain an enormous affection for the film. There are eight deleted scenes (some of which are expansions of existing scenes), plus a separate extended ending which was edited out for the right reasons. You'll also find a seven-minute featurette from the time of release, a 13-minute interview with FX guru Richard Edlund, a gallery of 200 photos, 25 pages of production notes and magazine articles from American Cinematographer and Cinefex. Best of all for real entertainment value is a music video with Carpenter and crew (the Coupe de Villes) coping with video FX and 80s hair-dos.--Paul Tonks

Synopsis
Action fantasy tale about a wise-cracking trucker who attempts to rescue his friend's fiance from a 2000 year-old magician who lives beneath San Francisco's Chinatown. He must battle demons, goblins and other terrors as he makes his way through the magician's dark domain.

Customer Reviews

Another Carpenter classic
Fortunately I have managed to miss this film over the last 22 years. I'm saying that because I suspect if I had seen it when it first came out I wouldn't have appreciated it. Now though, following Kill Bill and many other martial arts epics this is a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood stodge.

Kurt Russell is superb as Jack, a wise-cracking truck driver who accidently stumbles upon an extremly unlikely plot revolving around two girls with green eyes and an ancient magician who is seeking to gain ultimate power by marrying one or both of the girls. As intimated above the magician, who is called Lo Pan, has a vague similarity to Mei Pei in Kill Bill. Kim Cattrall is one of the two leading actresses, who is now of course much more famous for 'Sex and the City'.

This is all done with tongue firmly in cheek. Most of the time Kurt Russell uses a John Wayne voice which is completely inappropriate, but somehow its perfect for this film. Frequently the film is very funny and Russell's character is in general the butt of most of the jokes. The special effects are beginning to look dated now, but given that this film was probably made on a relatively low budget they actually stand up remarkably well.

This is a throughly entertaining film.

!!
such a weird film!!o my gosh, i was gobsmacked. It was so weird it was funny although i don't think its actually supposed to be a comedy. Kurt Russell is not my favourite actor and most films i've seen him in i found his acting poor. I wouldn't bother with this again.

Gimme your best shot... I can take it.
They don't make 'em like this any more. Big Trouble is a self-assured and knowingly absurd action/fantasy/adventure, and was not only one of John Carpenter's last great films, but perhaps the best work of both the cult director and his favourite leading man, Kurt Russell.

The plot is Chinese mythological hokum with an edge of comedy and modern-day Americana. Trucker Jack Burton, whose confidence and assuredness in his own capabilities seems unshakeable, gets embroiled in a street war between sorcerer Lo Pan, his henchmen the Three Storms and their gang Wing Kong, and the good guys, the Chang Sing. But before we know it his best friend's fiancée has been kidnapped, his prize truck (The Pork Chop Express) is stolen and we learn Lo Pan is trying to recoup his diminished power.

Teaming up with tour bus driver Egg Shen and the few remaining Chang Sing warriors, as well as intrusive reporter Gracie Law, Jack and his friend Wang descend into the literal underworld of San Francisco to stop Lo Pan and rescue Wang's fiancée Miao Yin.

What follows is one of the most colourful, elaborate and fantastic adventure movies of the '80s. Russell is perfect as cult hero Jack Burton, and his overriding uselessness is almost the comical antithesis of the other Carpenter/Russell favourite, Snake Plissken - in the final battle here Jack manages to knock himself out and spends most of the fight incapacitated. The special effects are still surprisingly good, the soundtrack is excellent and the cast brilliant all around, including great support from Victor Wong, Kim Cattrall and James Hong. This is backed up by some great fight scenes, an assortment of likeable characters and some perfectly pitched humour.

If you haven't seen this quiet classic yet then do yourself a favour and check it out. One of the most fantastically enjoyable and quotable films ever, and truly a perfect example of one of the best cult directors ever at the peak of his Golden Era.