BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA(1986)***1/2 out of **** Directed by John Carpenter,Starring Kurt Russell,Dennis Dun,Kim Catrall,Kate Burton,Carter Wong,James Hong,Suzee Pai,Victor Wong,Rated PG, 99 minutes Released by 20th Century Fox Home Video
Now that John Carpenter has returned to filmmaking with his new film THE WARD(2011) after an absence of ten years of making his last theatrical film GHOSTS OF MARS(2001),it makes sense to go back on one of John Carpenter's most popular cult films,BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA(1986) that wasn't a theatrical box office success in it's initial release 25 years ago but that attained it's current popularity from viewings on Home Video and Cable TV. Kurt Russell who is one of Carpenter's favorite leading men from their past film collaborations(ELVIS THE MOVIE,ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and it's sequel ESCAPE FROM LA,THE THING remake) plays Jack Burton a trucker who helps his Chinese buddy Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) to rescue his Chinese bride to be,Miao Yin(Suzee Pai) from the clutches of evil Chinese wizard Lo Pan(James Hong) from a sacrificial ceremony destined to make Lo Pan human after suffering a hunded year old curse that has made him a spectre. Part of the attraction of the film is it's reversal of roles in which the supposedly main character Jack Burton is not really the hero of the film but is the bufoonish clueless sidekick to the Wang Chi character who is the real martial arts master. Another amusing aspect of the film is Russell's use of a John Wayne imitation accent in his portrayal of Jack Burton.similar to Russell playing Snake Plissken with A Clint Eastwood imitation in the ESCAPE FROM NY and ESCAPE FROM LA films.
This very amusing Martial arts action adventure film is well served in the 2003 DVD release of the film that contains a very entertaining audio commentary with director Carpenter and star Russell about the film as well as featurettes about the making of the film,trailers,music video of the film's theme song by Carpenter's rock group the Coupe De Villes, deleted scenes. stills galleries ,magazine articles and production notes. The film looks absolutely great in 5/1 Dolby DTS Stereo and anamorphic widescreen and the recent 2010 BluRay video release looks even better.Anyone who is a fan of Carpenter's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA should get either the 2 Disc DVD or BluRay release of this great Carpenter Martial arts action/comedy film
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