Review of Big Trouble in Little China (1986) by Lucien L — 12 Mar 2015

There was something fresh about this movie back in 1986 but it was so poorly marketed by 20th Century Fox (One of the reason, the studio hardly marketed the movie and they focus more on "Aliens" instead) and it ended up being an box office failure in the summer of 1986. It was one of the main reasons why Carpenter left mainstream filmmaking and he went back by making independent features of this (Although "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" and "Escape from L.A., Carpenter went briefly to make those Studio movies but they both flopped like this one). But "Big Trouble in Little China" did went on to be a cult following over the year and it did very well on home video.

The movie has an tongue in cheek attitude, it is often very funny, it has plenty of memorable lines, thanks to Kurt Russell's amusing performance as Jack Burton. It has an entertaining if bizarre premise and it is incredibly often fast paced, thanks to some imaginative action sequences, interesting characters (James Wong seems to be having an great time as the immortal villian), great production designs and even Carpenter did the electronic score, which it is one of his best scores. If there is some flaws to his movie, it is very plot heavy and the film's heavy handed dialogue, when it is serious. It will probably won't appeal to all, since it makes very little sense. But if you get into the highly unlikely premise, it is a wild of fun. Especially since the lead character is hardly the hero in it! Arrow Video Blu-ray from the UK, it does have some new special features unlike the U.S. Blu-ray. It is been nearly 30 years, since this film came out.

"Big Trouble in Little China" in a way, it was ahead of its time. It plays better with audiences today than it did with audiences back in 1986. But good thing, it wasn't for home video and the movie being played on TV, once in a while. "Big Trouble in Little China" would be quickly forgotten. Grade:A-.