Big Trouble in Little China

Director– John Carpenter

Starring – Kurt Russell, James Hong

Country of Origin - U.S.

Distributor - Scream Factory

Number of Discs - 2

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 01/01/2020

    Big Trouble in Little China was one of those films I was first introduced to by Joe Bob Briggs and Monstervision. Occasionally Briggs would show a film that wasn't horror (and oddly many times these non-horror films were John Carpenter Films like They Live).  I remember when the film started being disappointed as I wanted a horror film, but as the film played out I shut up and realized that I had a film that would live as one of my favorites.

    Big Trouble in Little China stars Kurt Russell (Escape from New York, Death Proof) as Jack Burton, a truck driver, who finds himself in the middle of a world-altering situation. When morning after a long-drunken night, Burton and his friend a Chinese restaurant owner  Wang Chi go to pick up Wang's fiancee, Miao Yin, from the airport.  Upon arrival she is kidnapped, and taken to the lair of Lo Pan, a Chinese mystic who plans for world domination.  Jack, Wang, and a group of China town misfits must enter Lo Pan's underground lair to rescue Miao Yin, and stop Lo-Pan.

    Big Trouble in Little China takes a lot of inspiration from films like Tsui Hark's Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain, and 80's Shaw Brothers titles like Holy Flames in a Martial World, but given a 1980's American action makeover.  The film is a bright-comic-book-ish mix of action and comedy that makes it one of the finest genre films of the 80's. Russell's Jack Burton is played like a guy who thinks he is a hero, but is more or less the sidekick. The rest of the cast from Dennis Dun and Victor Wong to a pre-Sex in the City Kim Cattrall are on the top of their game.  Carpenter of course directs the Hell out of this film. It is a gorgeous looking, colorful, and is never for one minute boring.

    Scream Factory apparently used the existing transfer of Big Trouble in LIttle China for their re-release of the film. That's fine, it looks quite solid, same with the audio which is handled by a DTS-HD 5.1 track that sound excellent. Extras include a mix of old and new, but this is also where this Collector's Edition Blu-ray truly excels. The original edition of the film had a load of excellent extras including interviews, and commentaries. The new edition adds a commentary by Steve Johnson, and a huge swath of new interviews with the cast and crew, that make this release so necessary for fans of Big Trouble in Little China, and thus this one comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.