Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

A rough-and-tumble trucker helps rescue his friend's fiance from an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Gary Goldman, David Z. Weinstein

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kurt Russell	...	Jack Burton
Kim Cattrall	...	Gracie Law
Dennis Dun	...	Wang Chi
James Hong	...	David Lo Pan
Victor Wong	...	Egg Shen
Kate Burton	...	Margo
Donald Li	...	Eddie Lee
Carter Wong	...	Thunder
Peter Kwong	...	Rain
James Pax	...	Lightning
Suzee Pai	...	Miao Yin
Chao Li Chi	...	Uncle Chu
Jeff Imada	...	Needles
Rummel Mor	...	Joe Lucky
Craig Ng	...	One Ear

Storyline

Truck driver Jack Burton arrives in Chinatown, San Francisco, and goes to the airport with his Chinese friend Wang Chi to welcome his green-eyed fiancée Miao Yin who is arriving from China. However she is kidnapped on the arrival by a Chinese street gang and Jack and Wang chase the group. Soon they learn that the powerful evil sorcerer called David Lo Pan, who has been cursed more than two thousand years ago to exist without physical body, needs to marry a woman with green eyes to retrieve his physical body and Miao is the chosen one. Jack and Wang team-up with the lawyer Gracie Law, the bus driver and sorcerer apprentice Egg Shen and their friends and embark in a great adventure in the underground of Chinatown, where they face a world of magicians and magic, monsters and martial arts fighters.

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Plot Keywords:

truck driver | chinese | green eyes | sorcerer | chinatown | 

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Taglines:

They told Jack Burton to go to hell...and that's exactly where he's going! (From Trailer)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

2 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,723,211, 6 July 1986, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$11,100,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox,TAFT Entertainment Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kurt Russell felt that the film would be a hard one to market. "This is a difficult picture to sell, because it's hard to explain. It's a mixture of the real history of Chinatown in San Francisco blended with Chinese legend and lore. It's bizarre stuff. There are only a handful of non-Asian actors in the cast".

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Goofs

When Jack and Wang are rescuing the girls and a fight breaks out in the white plaster storage area, they use the same shot twice when one of the bad guys is kicked and lands on a table against a wall.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pinstripe lawyer: What I'd like to do today is get your version of what happened.
Egg Shen: Oh, you mean the truth.
Pinstripe lawyer: Of course. First, just state your name and your occupation for the record.
Egg Shen: Oh, Egg Shen. Bus driver.

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Connections

References Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)

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Soundtracks

Big Trouble in Little China
Written by John Carpenter
Performed by The Coupe de Villes

User Reviews

A B-Movie on purpose, and it's a beautiful thing

This movie occupied most my junior high years. Action, suspense, cheesy diaologue, and martial arts galore. What more could you ask for from a b-movie that is clearly a b-movie? Carpenter and the cast and crew must have had a blast on this film because I can't think of a single movie that combines some of my favorite things about movies: Action, comedy, violence, martial arts, and a small tour bus driver named Egg who also knows a little magic. Magic indeed. This is movie magic. Agree or disagree, you can't deny that Carpenter succeeded on all levels when he made this movie. Saturday matineeish? Yes. B-movie cheese? Yes. Pure movie-going fun? Absolutely. Watch and enjoy.