Big Trouble in Little China
| Big Trouble in Little China | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Carpenter |
| Produced by | Larry J. Franco |
| Written by |
Gary Goldman David Z. Weinstein Adaptation: W. D. Richter |
| Starring | |
| Music by | John Carpenter Alan Howarth |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Edited by | Steve Mirkovich Mark Warner Edward A. Warschilka |
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Production
company |
TAFT Entertainment Pictures
SLM Production Group |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $11.1 million |
Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 American fantasy martial arts film directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, and James Hong. The film tells the story of Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue Wang's green-eyed fiancee from bandits in San Francisco's Chinatown. They go into the mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown, where they face an ancient sorcerer named David Lo Pan, who requires an Asian woman with green eyes to release him from a centuries-old curse.
Although the original screenplay by first-time screenwriters Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein was envisioned as a Western set in the 1880s, screenwriter W. D. Richter was hired to rewrite the script extensively and modernize it. The studio hired Carpenter to direct the film and rushed Big Trouble in Little China into production so that it would be released before a similarly themed Eddie Murphy film, The Golden Child, which was slated to come out around the same time. The project fulfilled Carpenter's long-standing desire to make a martial arts film.
The film was a commercial failure, grossing $11.1 million in North America, below its estimated $20 million budget. It received mixed reviews that left Carpenter disillusioned with Hollywood and influenced his decision to return to independent filmmaking. It has since become a cult classic, with an 82% average rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a steady audience on home video.
Truck driver Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) wins a bet with his restaurant owner friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun), and accompanies him to the airport to pick up Wang's Chinese fiancée Miao Yin (Suzee Pai) to make sure he honours the payment. A Chinese street gang, the Lords of Death, tries to kidnap another Chinese girl at the airport who is being met by her friend Gracie Law (Kim Cattrall), intending to sell her as a sex slave. After Jack intervenes, they take Miao Yin instead. In Jack's big-rig truck, he and Wang track the Lords of Death to the back alleys of Chinatown, where they find a funeral procession that quickly erupts into a street fight between the Chang Sing and Wing Kong, two ancient Chinese societies. When "The Three Storms" - Thunder, Rain, and Lightning, mighty warriors with weather-themed powers - appear, slaughtering the Chang Sing, Jack tries to escape but runs over Lo Pan (James Hong), a powerful and legendary sorcerer and the leader of the Wing Kong. Horrified, Jack exits his truck, but finds Lo Pan entirely unfazed and glowing with malicious power. Wang hurriedly guides Jack through the alleys; the two escape the carnage and mayhem, but Jack's truck is stolen.
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Wikipedia