Big Trouble in Little China

Released: 1986
Comedy
Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, James Hong, Victor Wong
Director: John Carpenter (and by far my favorite movie of his)
Running Time: 99 minutes

The breakdown:
This is a truly unique 80's movie.  A salty truck driver gets involved with a kidnapping in Chinatown and the man responsible isn't of this world.  It's got a big mix of comedy, horror, sci-fi, and a little romance to boot.




This is a tough movie to summarize because it just has so many elements that simply don't work on paper, nevertheless, it works so very well on film that it has become one of my favorite's.

Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton, an American truck driver who's friends with a man named Wang Chi.  Wang, who's going to the airport (SFO a.k.a. San Francisco International Airport we can assume) to pick up his girlfriend, needs a lift from Jack.  As Wang and his girlfriends eyes meet across a busy airport, some Asian gang comes by and kidnaps her right in front of everyone.  It's now Jack and Wang's job to get her back.  Trouble is, they are fighting a 2,000 year old Asian wizard who has a ton of evil spirits at his command.  The wizard, David Lo Pan, needs a girl with green eyes to be his bride for a ceremony where he becomes young again and fully human.  During the movie, you see him switch between a very VERY old decrepit man in a wheelchair, to a young long haired very dangerous man.  Three of his minions are worth noting: Thunder, Rain, and Lightning. 

I think the video game, Mortal Kombat, totally stole their idea for a character, Rayden, from Lightning in this movie.  He wears a gigantic straw hat, a metal breastplate, and shoots lightning from all over his body at enemies.  Totally the same look for Rayden. 

One of my favorite on screen deaths ever is Thunder!  If you've seen this movie, you know what I'm talking about! 

The boys try to go undercover to find out where Wang's girlfriend is, but just end up alerting the bad guys that they are getting close to finding what they want.  Kim Cattrall plays a reporter who's doing a story on the Asian gangs and ends up getting kidnapped herself since she has green eyes as well. 

Wang gets in touch with Egg Shen, who seems to be the only one to help them with their quest to get the girls back.  He's good at witchcraft, and wizardry as well and leads them underground to Lo Pan's domain.  He also gives them some tools they need to help boost their confidence. 
Anyway, this is a great movie for laughs and a lot of imagination that just doesn't seem to permeate Hollywood today.

I give it 5 out of 5 ticket stubs because they just don't make them like they used to.  This is a classic that always brings me comfort and memories of my kid days in the 80's.