Given the title, and having already witness a scene with an asian man exploding, I knew I was expecting 80s absurdity. It's all well and good, but it does come at a price amounting to more than the cost of a number 67 from my local Chinese takeaway (egg fried rice between you and me). Truck driver Jack gets caught in an ancient battle where two girls are captured because they have green eyes. Yes, that's the best I can do. There's sorcery, cheesy one liners and Raiden from 'Mortal Kombat'. A "Chinese Showdown" consisting on atleast fifty extras flipping on wires in every direction, as director Carpenter bathes in the mayhem for a decent five minutes. Considering he is best known for crafting some of the best horror films ever, his authentic prosthetic trademark is put to good use here. A floating flesh ball comprising of eyeballs, a hairy yeti resembling a drugged up Chewbacca and, as mentioned before, a man enlarging himself to the point of explosion. It's madness, sheer lunacy. Yet, it knows what it is. You can't class it as "so bad it's good" because it isn't serious, and that only adds to the charm. Acting was serviceable, Russell revelling in his action glory days whilst Cattrall adds some sass with her character. The screenplay, unfortunately, is lacklustre. Having slept on this film (not literally...or maybe), I can't remember any of the one liners except Jack frequently shouting "Wang!" "Wang!?" "Waaaaaaang!!!!" whilst the script negates all racial context. The story seems like it has plenty of lore, yet hardly any of the fantasy elements are explored. Simply just used for environmental set pieces. It substituted an engaging story for B-movie action. Also, some of those effects have not aged well at all...but that's a given, I don't think you need me to reiterate that for you. Did I enjoy this? Yes, unquestionably. Do I think it's good? Now that's where I question myself. Perhaps it's just not to my taste, B-Movies have never enticed me.

I will try to keep this review short, if you want a film with lots of laughs, magic and far fetched action look no further, This is the film for you. It's Kurt Russell at his best and his character Jack Burton is a legend, his lines are pure comedy gold. Some of my favorite lines From good old jack, speaking to Lo Pan Are you crazy... Is that your problem? And This is gonna take crackerjack timing, Wang. Short Summary: Get on this film.

All the epic impact of a Power Rangers TV episode.It did nothing to challenge common Asian stereotypes either.How unfortunate that I saw this on the heels of Chinese New Year (Happy Year of the Rooster, by the way).Dialogue that gave me flashbacks from awful '70s sitcoms.One of the worst movies that I have ever seen.I can only hope that Kurt Russell received a decent paycheck for this effort.Please excuse me, I have to finish making some popcorn.After that I'm going to go to a Roger Ebert review of this movie, if it exists, and pray that the late great critic came to the same conclusion.Then, apologies in advance, I'm going to order some Hunan Chicken for take-out dinner tonight.Thanks for reading, 'til then.

Big Trouble In Little China casts Kurt Russell as your average working man truck driver who stops to help a damsel in distress Suzee Pai who is the fiancé of Denis Dun, Russell's friend. She's kidnapped and he loses his truck. Later on investigative reporter Kim Cattrall is kidnapped as well. Both of these women happen to have green eyes, in Asian women that's like finding the proverbial four leaf clover.Some very ancient, like 2000 year old ancient spirit needs a green eyed girl to make him mortal with a body so he can taste human pleasure again. Dun wants his girl back and Russell wants his truck back so it's into the mysteries of the inscrutable east searching for both women.John Carpenter reunites with Kurt Russell who starred in his Escape From New York. This time without eye patch and in a much lighter vein Russell looks like he's having a great old time as the ostensible hero of this piece. He has very little patience with all the rituals and rigmarole the Chinese martial artists are going through. But the other worldly creatures are a bit much for him.It looks like John Carpenter was in many spots doing special effects for the sake of same. That's all right as this a comedy. Poor Kurt he's trying so hard to learn the players in Chinatown. Someone should have handed the poor man a scorecard.Big Trouble In Little China is fast paced and easy to take and a lot of fun for the viewer.